BROWN BEST IN SPRING FLING 75 WCS OPENER AT COLUMBUS 151 SPEEDWAY! COLUMBUS, WI. (May 5, 2002) -- Neenah, Wisconsin's Burton Brown captured the 2002 Season Opening event of the Wisconsin Challenge Series season. Brown, the 2001 Golden Sands Speedway track champion passed Ken Reiser of Waukon, IA in the closing laps of the Spring Fling 75 to earn his first career Wisconsin Challenge Series victory. The contest also marked the first time that Super Late Models have appeared at Columbus 151 Speedway since a special event was last held in 1995. The fans were treated to an almost flawless show, with only two caution flags appearing during the feature contest for minor spins.
A solid field of 22 cars took the opening green flag of the feature event with Greg Bowers a regular at the Columbus 151 Speedway, who won the track's own Pepsi Triple 60's series title in 2001m, and Jon Hornby setting up the front row for the green flag. Hornby and Bowers ran wheel to wheel for the opening pair of laps before Hornby slipped ahead on the challenging outside groove. Hornby was able to motor away from the rumbling hoard behind. Reiser who finished in the runner-up spot in the Wisconsin Challenge Series title chase slipped under Bowers through turns one and two in the fifth lap to claim second. Bowers, unable to get back to the inside lane lost several spots. Don Turner was able to secure the third spot at Bowers expense. The first caution of the event flew on lap 7 when Luke Westenberg spun in turn two. The field reset with a single file restart that circulated half the distance around the track. It was solid restart with Hornby again taking the lead with Reiser, Turner, Bowers, Brown occupying the top five spots on the restart. Reiser rode close to Hornby after the green flag returned and managed to slip under Hornby coming off turn four on lap 12, to annex the top position. At nearly the same time Brown was able to slip under Bowers for the fourth spot as he began to work forward. Former 2-time track champion Scott Patrick cracked the top five one circuit later, as Bowers fell back in the field. With 25 laps in the books, Brown managed to sneak under Turner down the backstretch to claim third. Patrick managed to follow Brown past Turner to grab third one lap later. Meanwhile Reiser maintained his gap over runner-up Hornby. Brown, whose car handled especially well off turn four, managed to nose under Hornby getting a good run to claim second on lap 36. Patrick, again followed Brown advancing to third on the next circuit. Moments later Hornby would slip up the track giving up several spots in the process. The race had it's final slowdown period when Frank Kreyer looped his machine between turns three and four on lap 46. The caution proved to be very beneficial to Reiser as Reiser had just lost the lead to Brown. However since the lap was not complete the field realigned in the running order of the last green flag lap giving Reiser the lead position back. The race resumed with 29 laps remaining in the contest with Reiser, Brown, Patrick, Turner and fast qualifier Jeremy Lepak holding down the top five positions. At the 50 lap mark Lepak advanced into the fourth spot, but the lead trio had pulled out some distance ahead of him. Brown not content to run in the second position began to pressure Reiser for the top position, while Patrick, waited patiently in third looking for a way to advance. The lead group began to encounter lapped traffic with ten laps remaining in the contested. The slower cars moved well out of the way so the lead battle could continue. Brown hugging the bottom of the track waited until the closing laps of the contest, making his bid for the lead with just two laps to go. Coming off turn four, Brown got a good jump on Reiser, winning the drag race into turn one and nosing ahead. Brown then powered ahead down the backstretch to secure the top spot as the white flag flew. Patrick again followed Brown's maneuver, and got door to door with Reiser as the pair wheeled down the backstretch on the final lap. As the checkered flag flew Brown streaked acrossed the finish line with the victory. Patrick edged out Reiser by the slimmest of margins for second, with Reiser following in third. Lepak came home a comfortable fourth. On the final lap Gary Back edged out Turner by less than a foot for fifth. Turner claimed sixth. Last season's hard charger award winner Allen Check took seventh followed by Rock Breezer the winner of the last WCS race held as Dells Motor Speedway last fall. Breezer also captured top honors in a qualifying race to make the main event today. Defending Wisconsin Challenge Series champion Mark Eswein took ninth and Kyle Kinder took tenth. An amazing 21 of 22 feature starters were running at the checkered flag. In earlier action, Pete Kempf expertly used the outside groove to slip past Brandon Selle to win the first of two qualifying races. Dave Gawronski in third took the final advancement position into the main event. In the other qualifying event Rocky Breezer came from the seventh starting spot to win the 30 lap contest edging Kyle Kinder and Jim Carlson To start the day Lepak, blazed around the semi-banked paved oval to best the 36 car field for fast qualifying honors with a 13.168 second tour around the track. Back set second quick time with a 13.302 second tour and Kreyer turned third fast with a 13.312 second lap. The next event on the 2002 Wisconsin Challenge Series schedule is the twice weather delayed Ice Breaker 75, originally intended as the season opening show the race will now take place on May 19th at Golden Sands Speedway. Pit gates will open at 10 a.m., time trials are set for 12:30 p.m., and racing is set to get underway at 2:00 p.m. In addition to the WCS Super Late Models, a $400 to win Super Stock Invitational known as the Conqueror's Cup 35 will also take place. The Wisconsin State 2-Man Cruiser Championship events will conclude the day's activities. Golden Sands Speedway is a high-banked third-mile paved oval located on Highway 54 between Wisconsin Rapids and Plover, Wisconsin. For complete RACESTAT Computer Results Click Here Spring Fling 75 -
Results 75 Lap Feature: 1.) Burton Brown, Neenah; 2.) Scott Patrick, Dousman; 3.) Ken Reiser, Waukon, IA; 4.) Jeremy Lepak, Wausau; 5.) Gary Back, Vesper; 6.) Don Turner, LaCrosse; 7.) Allen Check, Shantytown; 8.) Rocky Breezer, Poynette; 9.) Mark Eswein, Wisconsin Rapids; 10.) Kyle Kinder, McFarland; 11.) Al Weishoff, Columbus; 12.) Jon Hornby, Sun Prairie; 13.) Gerry Junget, Rio; 14.) Frank Kreyer, Cottage Grove; 15.) Dave Gawronski, Reedsburg; 16.) Pete Kempf, Nekoosa; 17.) Frank Nitzke, Berlin; 18.) Mike Cusick, Edgerton; 19.) Brandon Selle, Dale; 20.) Luke Westenberg, Palmyra; 21.) Greg Bowers, Waterloo; 22.) Jim Carlson, LaCrosse First 30 Lap Qualifier: 1.) Kempf; 2.) Selle; 3.) Gawronski; 4.) Benjamin Brinkman, Oshkosh; 5.) Jeff Weinfurter, Wisconsin Rapids; 6.) Troy Nelson, Antigo; 7.) Brent Knight, Watertown; 8.) Don Woller, Marathon; 9.) Scott Volm, Mosinee; 10.) Kelly Willman, Adams Second 30 Lap Qualifier: 1.) Breezer; 2.) Kinder; 3.) Carlson; 4.) Justin Hirt, Tierton; 5.) Steve Dobbratz, Rio; 6.) Bruce Havel, Deerfield; 7.) Mark Van, Wautoma; 8.) Mark Taylor, Stoughton; 9.) Scott Hatton, Waterloo; 10.) Jerry Mueller, Hubertus For additional information check out the series website at www.wisconsinchallenge.com |
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