KELLY BIRES PINS DOWN FIRST WCS VICTORY IN NORTH AMERICAN CUP EVENT AT DELLS! WISCONSIN DELLS, WI. (July 3, 2003) -- 17 year old Kelly Bires, of Mauston a multi-time state wrestling champion at his high school simply put the the competition in a headlock as he refused to give up the lead on his way to winning the 10th Annual North American Cup event at Dells Motor Speedway on a steamy Thursday evening. Scoring the biggest win of his career thus far, Bires set a blistering pace in the event which saw the first three-quarters of the event go non-stop. This allowed Bires to lap all but the top eight cars at that point in the race. He also became the youngest driver to have won a WCS event. That distinction was held by current WCS point leader Erik Darnell who at the age of 20 won the Spring Fling 100 at Columbus 151 Speedway this May. After a late event restart Bires was able to fend off the challenges of Nathan Haseleu one of Wisconsin's top special events drivers to earn his first career victory in Wisconsin Challenge Series competition. With the win Bires became the 14th different winner in WCS competition and he continued the streak of no repeat winners so far this season in the series. Haseleu, who won a WCS event in May of 2002 at Golden Sands Speedway was attempting to become just the third driver in WCS history to have won more than one race. He fell short of that goal by two car lengths at the checkered.
On a hot and humid afternoon, 31 cars attempted to qualify for the 22 car starting field. Jeff Kendall of Montello, the current Dells Motor Speedway point leader earned fast time honors with a tour of 13.865 seconds around the semi-banked third-mile oval. Kendall, had also captured the fast time at Dells during the WCS opener in April giving him a sweep of this season's WCS qualifying at Dells. Close behind was Chris Weinkauf of Merrill, who won the most recent WCS race just a week ago when he won the 23rd Annual Larry Detjens Memorial race at State Park Speedway. In his qualifying effort today Weinkauf turned a lap of 13.891 seconds. Third quick was another youngster, as Andrew Morrisey at the age of 18 clocked third quick with a 13.920 second effort. With the field set in place for the drop of the green flag, Frank Kreyer shot into the initial lead getting the jump on Nathan Haseleu. Kreyer was quickly able to clear Haseleu and settle into the top sot before the completion of the first lap. With Haseleu stuck in the outside lane, Bires, who had started in the second row, was quick to capitalize on the situation. He was able to sweep to Haseleu's inside in turn two of the second lap to steal the position. Haseleu was unable to fall in behind Bires and wound up losing third to Ken Reiser by lap four before he was able to settle into the fourth spot. Out front Kreyer had his hands full with Bires closing in on his rear bumper. The two were nose to tail by lap seven with Bires looking to Kreyer's inside on a couple occasions before he got a good run. The top three of Kreyer, Bires and Reiser were nose to tail when Bires made his move. Using the low groove on the track on lap nine we worked to the inside of Kreyer. After a brief battle Bires was able to secure the top spot, while Kreyer was left to deal with Reiser who wanted the second position. Reiser was successful in taking the spot on lap 10. In front Bires was setting a blistering pace, pulling away from his rivals behind him. By lap 20 he had opened up a dozen car length lead on Reiser, who had Kreyer, Haseleu, Erik Darnell and Chris Weinkauf following in the top six spots. Haseleu, not wanting to let Bires gain too much of an advantage began to work his way forward. He replaced Kreyer in the third position on lap 21 and then set out after Reiser. Haseleu continued his charge working past Reiser on lap 27 to attain the second spot. Reiser quickly lost several more spots as Kreyer and Darnell slipped past for third and fourth. With each passing lap Bires appeared to increase his lead. He began encountering lapped traffic at lap 35 as a point where he had built up a straightaway lead on Haseleu. The lead would settle in at a quarter-lap over Haseleu as the race continued without interruption. Darnell and Kreyer spent much of the mid-portion of the race doing battle for the third spot. Darnell managed a move under Kreyer for the position on lap 45, but the lead pair of Bires and Haseleu were well ahead. At the halfway point Bires had lapped all but the top 12 cars and had a comfortable straightaway lead on Haseleu. Bires appeared give up a little ground to Haseleu when encountering traffic but always managed to rebuild the cushion when clear of lapped cars. By lap 60 only eight cars remained on the lead lap as only Haseleu, Darnell, Kreyer, Weinkauf, Kendall, Morrisey and Charlie Menard were able to stay on the same lap as the leader. The pace of the race got it's first slowdown on lap 76, when Morrisey has power steering failure causing him to lose the handle on his ride in turn two. He was able to rejoin the race at the tail of the field, but the spin resulted in his loss of just one position on the track due to the number of lapped cars. The green returned with Bires back out front. In second place, Haseleu quickly dispatched some lapped traffic and pulled within a car length of Bires with 20 laps remaining. Further back Kendall was making some quick maneuvers and replaced Weinkauf in the fifth spot. The race for the lead intensified as Haseleu hugged the bottom of the track looking for a way past Bires. Bires however proved up to the challenge even though his car began to experience some engine problems as the tone of his machine changed as he lost power in one of the cylinders. With just 13 laps left in the race, the caution flew for just the second time when Jeff Watters spun in turn two. Everyone avoided his errant machine and he was able to rejoin the field of 17 cars still running at this point in the race. The green returned again and Bires got a good jump on Haseleu, with Darnell just behind the lead pair. Further back Kendall was putting on a late race charge working under Kreyer on the backstretch on lap 91 to take fourth spot. The lead trio were also in close formation when the final caution appeared with just four laps remaining in the race when the caution flew for Joe Kryzkowski. A fire was spotted under the hood of his car and he was stopped on the backstretch to extinguish the blaze. The source of the blaze was tire buildup on his exhaust system and as the caution appeared for safety concerns he was given his spot back, leaving him in ninth, the front running car a lap down. With the series rules mandating that the leaders are placed at the front of the field without lapped traffic between them, the front eight cars would accept the green flag to contest the front running positions. When the green flew Bires again got a good start and Haseleu fell back a car length. Darnell meanwhile immediately felt the pressure of Kendall who was working to his outside and the would engage in a wheel to wheel due over the final laps contesting the third spot. This left Haseleu free to challenge Bires for the lead without fear of losing a position. Bires however was able to keep Haseleu at bay taking the win by two car lengths. At the strip Darnell edged Kendall by less than a foot for third with Kendall settling for fourth. Weinkauf, Menard and Morrisey would make up the lead lap cars and top eight finishers. Krzykowski was the first car to cross the line a lap down in ninth, and Kevin Brescia the winner of the WCS season opening event here at Dells Motor Speedway drove a smooth race to finish in tenth. Earlier in the day, two qualifying races helped to fill out the field for the main event. In the first race Rory Melbinger took a comfortable win over Jeff Watters and Allen Check to claim the first three spots. John Zimmerman and M.G. Gajewski just missed the show finishing fourth and fifth respectively. The second qualifier had numerous slowdowns but for the majority of the race Jason Weinkauf comfortable set the pace. Adam Royle would finish second with Russ Weiler claming third. Dean LaPointe who recovered from an earlier tangle finished fourth and Jeff Falbe earned fifth. One of the most disappointed drivers in the event was Scott Broughton who was running in the third spot when his car developed a fuel leak in the closing laps of the race. His crew made quick repairs and he again worked through the field to third when the car again began leaking ending his day. Of the cars that transfer into the main event by way of the qualifier Allen Check turned in the best performance taking 11th. Other notable showing included defending WCS champion getting the call to drive the Pete Kempf owned machine after the car checked into the pit area. Back, drove a solid race as a substitute driver earning a 12th place run. Kirby Kurth appeared for the race and he along with Jeff Weinfurter who are the only multi-time event winners in WCS competition heading into the show with two wins. Kurth's effort to earn a third WCS victory fell by the wayside when his engine expired in practice. In the series standings, with four races remaining, Darnell maintains the point lead with a 20 point gap on Kendall who reassumed the second place point position. Darnell has 707 markers to Kendall's 687. Weinkauf remains a close third with 676 points. The all-time WCS point leader Ken Reiser had a challenging day finishing 13th after running strong early, holds down fourth spot with 507 points. Frank Kreyer posted yet another strong run to reach the top five in the standings with 506 points. Kreyer was dead last in the standings after the first race as he broke during qualifying. The 2003 point chase is decided by allowing drivers to count their eight best performances in the ten race series. In the event of a rainout the best seven runs count toward the title. As such, inspite of the point gap between the lead trio and those giving chase, every car in the top 20 in points still has a mathematical shot at the title. A victory at the next event by Darnell, Kendall or Weinkauf could reduce that number of championship challengers to ten. The top ten cars in the series final standings receive point fund checks. If the balance of the races are held without a rainout the number of positions awarded at the banquet will increase. The next the Wisconsin Challenge Series scheduled will mark the first ever trip for the series to the 141 Speedway. The track is a semi-banked quarter-mile paved oval located near Francis Creek, WI, roughly about 20 miles northeast of Green Bay. The highlight of the program will be a 100 lap feature dubbed "The Creek Classic 100", the show will be run featuring a skating grid of 22 cars. Twin 30 lap qualifying races will also be on the agenda for the Wisconsin Challenge Series Super Late Models. Wisconsin Sport Trucks, a frequent support class to the Challenge Series will also be on hand with their snowmobile powered mini-trucks. The tracks own Hobby Stock class will run a complete program, and the day will conclude with a 4 cylinder "Double O" race, which will see cars turn laps on both the quarter-mile oval and the tracks victory lane turnaround which is estimated a 1/16th of a mile!! Pit gates will open at Noon. Practice will begin at 2:00 p.m. and qualifying will take place at 4:00 p.m. The first green flag of the evening will take place at 5:30 p.m. 141 Speedway is located just off County Trunk R, approximately four miles north of Francis Creek, Wisconsin. For additional information you may contact the track at (920) 863-3377. The track has a website at www.141speedway.com You can find out all the highlights of the Wisconsin Challenge Series with current results, updates and standings online at www.wisconsinchallenge.com For complete Computer Results Click Here 10th Annual North
American Cup - Results 100 Lap Feature: 1.) Kelly Bires, Mauston; 2.) Nathan Haseleu, Marshall; 3.) Erik Darnell, Beach Park, IL; 4.) Jeff Kendall, Montello; 5.) Frank Kreyer, Cottage Grove; 6.) Chris Weinkauf, Merrill; 7.) Charlie Menard, Eau Claire; 8.) Andrew Morrisey, Deforest; 9.) Joe Krzykowski, Junction City; 10.) Kevin Brescia, Baraboo; 11.) Allen Check, Shantytown; 12.) Gary Back, Vesper; 13.) Ken Reiser, Waukon, IA; 14.) Jim Carlson, LaCrosse; 15.) Jason Weinkauf, Merrill; 16.) Jeff Watters, Mineral Point; 17.) Adam Royle, Farmington, MN; 18.) Rory Melbinger, Marshfield; 19.) Tom Litchfield, Pardeville; 20.) Russ Weiler, Marshfield; 21.) Dan Howard, Baraboo; 22.) Kyle Kinder, McFarland First 30 Lap Qualifier: 1.) Melbinger; 2.) Watters; 3.) Check; 4.) John Zimmerman, Markesan; 5.) M.G. Gajewski, Wausau; 6.) Terry Violetto, Montello; 7.) Kurt Guralski, Wausau Second 30 Lap Qualifier: 1.) J. Weinkauf; 2.) Royle; 3.) Weiler; 4.) Dean LaPointe, Marshfield; 5.) Jeff Falbe, Beaver Dam; 6.) John Wasserburger, Poynette; 7.) Scott Broughton, Stoughton |
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