Photos Courtesy Jess Riedner / Website
Taylor, Schmidt, and Koerner Also Winners
Rookie Will Rece took home the win in the 30 lap feature for the Whelen All American NASCAR Late Models at Madison. Veteran Mike Taylor picked up the victory for the Dave’s White Rock Sportsman while Dave Schmidt made it two in a row for the Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits and Scott Koerner won in the ILLINI Midgets. Chris Koepke defended his championship in the second annual Beer Mile.
Due to a threat of severe weather moving towards the track, speedway management decide to eliminate the heat races for all divisions which allowed the racing program to be completed before the rains hit.
Rece Goes Wire to Wire in Late Models
In only his third start in a Late Model, Will Rece started on the pole and won the caution free 30 lap feature for the Whelen All American NASCAR Late Models.
Rece and Austin Nason paced the field of eighteen cars to the green flag. Rece took the early lead followed by Nason, Brian Beale, Brent Edmunds, and Dale Nottestad. On lap 4 Nottestad moved to the inside of Edmunds to take the fourth position.
Out front Rece was continuing to hold off Nason. On lap 13 Nason and Rece made slight contact coming out of turn four allowing Rece to increase his lead to six car lengths. On lap 16 Beale appeared to be in position to pass Nason, but drifted up the track coming out of turn two allowing Nason to keep the second spot, Nottestad to move into third, and Rece’s lead to increase.
On lap 19 Jeremy Miller moved into fifth place. With six laps to go Miller moved into fourth when he worked his way past Beale. But out front Rece was building a huge lead over Nason and the rest of the field. Two laps later Miller moved into third when he passed Nottestad, and then two laps later took second from Nason.
But Rece was on a mission tonight and cruised his way to victory lane. Miller, Nason, Nottestad, and Beale rounded out the top five.
Fast time was Jeremy Miller with a lap of 18.604 (96.753 mph). Zack Riddle won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash.
Mike Taylor Wins a Sportsman Thriller
Much to the delight of the crowd, long-time racer Mike Taylor held off Robert Hansberry Jr. to win the 20 lap feature for the Dave’s White Rock Sportsman.
Mike Taylor and Mark DePorter brought the field to the green flag. The two ran side by side for the first lap before Taylor got the advantage. Behind the leader DePorter, Josh Madell, and Trevor Robinson were fighting it out for second. Robinson would eventually get the advantage, but it allowed Taylor to build a huge lead.
On lap 5 Robinson and Madell made contact on the front stretch bringing out the caution flag and negating Taylor’s sizeable advantage.
Taylor and Ray Hellenbrand brought the field back to green with Taylor choosing the inside. Hellenbrand took the top spot from Taylor by running the outside with DePorter, Hansberry, and Gary Hellenbrand rounding out the top five.
On lap 7 Taylor and Ray Hellenbrand were running side by side before Taylor regained the point. On lap 9 DePorter and Ray Hellenbrand were side by side for second with Robert Hansberry Jr. on the outside looking in. Hansberry Jr. was able to take the third spot on lap 11 and was trying to work his way past Ray Hellenbrand. On lap 13 Hansberry Jr. moved to the outside of Ray Hellenbrand to take the second spot but still one second behind Taylor.
With four laps to go Hansberry Jr. had cut Taylor’s lead down to two car lengths. But nobody was going to deny Taylor on this night who picked up the win.
Hansberry Jr. set fast time with a lap of 20.282 (88.749 mph) which was .001 seconds ahead of Ray Hellenbrand and also picked up his third straight win in the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash.
Two in a Row for Dave Schmidt
Dave Schmidt took home the checkered flag in the 20 lap feature for the Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits.
Tyler DePorter and Lyle Phillips led the eleven car field of Bandits to the green flag. DePorter had the early advantage before Dan Snyder and Dave Schmidt were up to challenge. Snyder had the lead on lap 2 before Schmidt wrestled away the top spot on lap 4.
Behind Schmidt Phillips and Snyder were running side by side for second followed closely by McKayla Adams and Bill Kohn. The tight racing behind Schmidt allowed him to build a huge lead. On lap 12 Snyder had won the race for second with Adams up to third place.
With two laps to go, Adams worked her way to the inside of Snyder to take third. But Schmidt was simply too fast tonight as he picked up his second straight win followed by Adams, Snyder, Nick Schmidt, and Jeremy Bredeson.
Quickest in qualifying with a lap of 15.128 was Dave Schmidt. Steve Dickson won the RA Heating and Air Conditioning Dash.
Scott Koerner Wins ILLINI Midget Feature
Scott Koerner edged Ryan Probst by less than one foot to take home the victory in the 20 lap feature for the ILLINI Midgets.
Doug Orseske led for the first lap before drifting up the track on lap 2 to give the lead to Jordan Caskey. Caskey looked like he was going to run away from the field, but Scott Koerner was up to challenge him by lap 4 and was able to take the lead on lap 5 coming out of turn four when he worked to the inside of Caskey.
The caution flag came out on lap 7 when rookie Chris Adrien spun in turn four. Koerner was able to maintain his lead on the single file restart. On lap 9 Ryan Probst moved to the outside of Caskey to take the second position. Two laps later the caution flag waved for the second time when Taylor Fenske spun in turn two.
Koerner brought the field back to the green on the restart and was able to keep the lead as Probst was working the outside groove. On lap 14 Probst dove to the inside of Koerner coming out of turn four to take the lead. But Koerner was not about to give up as he tried to work his way to the inside and regained the lead with two laps to go. The two ran side by side with Koerner edging Probst at the stripe to pick up the victory.
Chris Koepke Wins the Beer Mile
Four laps and four beers later, Fort Atkinson’s Chris Koepke won the Beer Mile for the second straight year after taking the lead on the final lap. Runner-up Joe Jacobus won the Over 50 division, Kevin Gassner won the Big Man’s Challenge, and Paige Munns won the Women’s Division.
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards is here next Friday night for the Montgomery Ward 200. Practice takes place from 1:30 – 3:30 PM, qualifying at 5:00 PM, on-track autographs from 6:30 – 7:30 PM, and racing at 8:00 PM.
Results
NASCAR Late Models
A Feature 1 30 laps
1. 15WR-Will Rece, [1]; 2. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [12]; 3. 14N-Austin Nason, [2]; 4. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [6]; 5. 18B-Brian Beale, [3]; 6. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [11]; 7. 87E-Brent Edmunds, [5]; 8. 14R-Zack Riddle, [10]; 9. 2MB-Michael Bilderback, [13]; 10. X-Jon Reynolds Jr, [7]; 11. 18L-Brady Liddle, [8]; 12. 19B-John Baumeister, [14]; 13. 78L-Matt Lundberg, [4]; 14. 15R-Pat Richgels, [15]; 15. 12B-Billy Baumeister, [17]; 16. 1A-Steve Anderson, [16]; 17. 40G-Tom Gille, [9]; 18. 3G-Shawn Gunsolus, [18]
Dash 1 6 laps
1. 14R-Zack Riddle, [3]; 2. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [5]; 3. 18L-Brady Liddle, [2]; 4. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [6]; 5. 40G-Tom Gille, [1]; 6. 2MB-Michael Bilderback, [4]
Qualifying 1
1. 5M-Jeremy Miller, [2]; 2. 28W-Bobby Wilberg, [5]; 3. 14R-Zack Riddle, [4]; 4. 2MB-Michael Bilderback, [6]; 5. 40G-Tom Gille, [10]; 6. 18L-Brady Liddle, [13]; 7. X-Jon Reynolds Jr, [11]; 8. 51N-Dale Nottestad, [3]; 9. 87E-Brent Edmunds, [9]; 10. 78L-Matt Lundberg, [14]; 11. 18B-Brian Beale, [7]; 12. 14N-Austin Nason, [1]; 13. 15WR-Will Rece, [12]; 14. 19B-John Baumeister, [8]; 15. 15R-Pat Richgels, [16]; 16. 1A-Steve Anderson, [18]; 17. 12B-Billy Baumeister, [15]; 18. 3G-Shawn Gunsolus, [17]
Dave’s White Rock Sportsman
A Feature 1 20 laps
1. 4T-Mike Taylor, [1]; 2. 7H-Robert Hansberry, [6]; 3. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [5]; 4. 00H-Gary Hellenbrand, [8]; 5. 1H-Bryan Hellenbrand, [7]; 6. 84W-Tim Wondrash, [9]; 7. 5S-Dan Silberhorn, [11]; 8. 71JM-Josh Madell, [4]; 9. 28D-Mark DePorter, [2]; 10. 99TR-Trevor Robinson, [3]; 11. 14DD-Dwight Dunlap, [10]; (DNS) 7M-Sam Messell,
Dash 1 6 laps
1. 7H-Robert Hansberry, [1]; 2. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [2]; 3. 71JM-Josh Madell, [3]; 4. 28D-Mark DePorter, [5]; 5. 4T-Mike Taylor, [6]; 6. 99TR-Trevor Robinson, [4]
Qualifying 1
1. 7H-Robert Hansberry, [1]; 2. 78H-Ray Hellenbrand, [2]; 3. 71JM-Josh Madell, [8]; 4. 99TR-Trevor Robinson, [12]; 5. 28D-Mark DePorter, [3]; 6. 4T-Mike Taylor, [5]; 7. 1H-Bryan Hellenbrand, [6]; 8. 00H-Gary Hellenbrand, [4]; 9. 84W-Tim Wondrash, [7]; 10. 5S-Dan Silberhorn, [9]; 11. 14DD-Dwight Dunlap, [10]; (DNS) 7M-Sam Messell,
Pellitteri Waste Systems Bandits
A Feature 1 20 laps
1. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [8]; 2. 49A-McKayla Adams, [7]; 3. 51S-Dan Snyder, [4]; 4. 09S-Nick Schmidt, [10]; 5. 7B-Jeremy Bredeson, [5]; 6. 13S-Travis Schneeberg, [9]; 7. 83K-Bill Kohn, [6]; 8. 10D-Steve Dickson, [3]; 9. 35P-Lyle Phillips, [2]; 10. 2D-Tyler DePorter, [1]; 11. 44S-Todd Snow, [11]
Dash 1 6 laps
1. 10D-Steve Dickson, [1]; 2. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [6]; 3. 7B-Jeremy Bredeson, [3]; 4. 83K-Bill Kohn, [4]; 5. 51S-Dan Snyder, [2]; 6. 49A-McKayla Adams, [5]
Qualifying 1: Lineup
1. 10S-Dave Schmidt, [1]; 2. 49A-McKayla Adams, [2]; 3. 83K-Bill Kohn, [4]; 4. 7B-Jeremy Bredeson, [5]; 5. 51S-Dan Snyder, [3]; 6. 10D-Steve Dickson, [7]; 7. 35P-Lyle Phillips, [11]; 8. 2D-Tyler DePorter, [8]; 9. 13S-Travis Schneeberg, [10]; 10. 09S-Nick Schmidt, [6]; 11. 44S-Todd Snow, [9]