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KNOBLOCK ENDS
SEASON WITH MARSHFIELD WCS VICTORY,
HASELEU REPEATS AS SERIES CHAMPION!
MARSHFIELD, WI. (September 16, 2006)
- The 2006 racing season drew to a close
for the Wisconsin Challenge Series
presented by Simply WOW. Stories
abounded at the final event of the 11
race season for the series which ranks
as one of it's most successful in it's
six year existence. The Rainbow
Casino / Earth Inc., Wisconsin Challenge
Series Championship 80 would unfold with
several drivers appearing to have the
pace to reach victory lane, but during
the final half of the contest it would
be Wausau's Neil Knoblock driving the
Mike and Patti Butz owned machine
reaching victory lane and scoring his
first career Wisconsin Challenge Series
checkered flag, bettering his career
best third place performance at Golden
Sands Speedway back on Memorial Day.
For Butz racing it was their second trip
to the winner's circle having reached
victory lane before in 2005, when Jeff
Van Oudenhoven topped the All-Star
Challenge 100 at Wisconsin International
Raceway.
Knoblock's drive to victory was
impressive coming from mid-pack and
passing the likes of Steve Carlson the
most recent WCS winner, 2006 Marshfield
Super Speedway and event champion Eugene
Gregorich Jr., and defending series
title holder Nathan Haseleu.
Knoblock's final pass came on lap 37 as
he drove under Charlie Menard for the
lead and proceeded to build up a solid
margin over Charlie Menard for the
victory.
While the battle for the
win caught the attention of the crowd,
those focusing on the point title had to
watch as Haseleu and Kenny Richards
played the final act of the point chase
story. Richards appeared to have
the speed needed in qualifying taking
third on the charts behind fast
qualifier Mark Eswein and runner-up
Steve Holzhausen. Haseleu, who
participated in the event with a backup
machine after his main car was destroyed
in a grinding crash one week ago,
struggled to find speed in the machine
and turned in the 11th fastest
qualifying lap of the day. The
result allowed Richards to close within
29 points heading into the feature
event. Should Richards win the
contest, Haseleu would need to finish
seventh or better.
Fate would take another
turn however as the Eswein, the event's
fastest qualifier, drew an invert of 12
placing Haseleu outside the front row
for the start of the 80 lap contest,
while Richards would be starting near
mid-pack in the 24 cars starting field.
At the drop of the green
flag polesitter Jeff Kendall of Montello
would dive deep into the first turn
taking the opening lead while Haseleu
worked the high line. Before the lap was
complete Carlson would also work by
Haseleu into the second spot.
Fresh off his win at Madison a week ago,
Carlson managed to nose under Kendall on
lap two reaching the line with the lead
by a matter of inches. Carlson and
Kendall would run side by side for the
next several laps before Carlson gained
a firm hold on the lead. Kendall
would get stuck in the outside line as a
freight train of cars worked past him.
Carlson, Haseleu,
Menard, Gregorich and Knoblock occupied
the top five spots by the time completed
the sixth loop around the track as
positions swapped back and forth
throughout the field. Menard would
sneak past Haseleu for the second spot
on the next lap just prior to the first
caution of the contest when Jeremy Lepak
spun in turn three. Though Lepak
protested the call to go to the back of
the pack, track officials were unable to
determine the initial cause of the spin
and no other cars would join him at the
tail of the field.
As the green flag
returned Carlson was back setting the
pace but he immediately came under
pressure as Menard began to contest the
top spot. Haseleu continued in third as
Gregorich and Knoblock began to wrestle
for the fourth position.
Gregorich, preferring the high groove
would allow Knoblock to work to his
inside as the pair ran wheel to wheel
around the raceway.
Out front Menard found
room under Carlson to become the third
leader of the race as the pair headed
for the stripe on lap ten.
Haseleu's efforts to remain among the
leaders began to falter a bit as
Gregorich roared by on the high side for
third and moments later Knoblock worked
by in the low groove to steal fourth,
dropping Haseleu into the fifth spot.
Richards, the other title contender was
having difficulties of his own, unable
to make much headway into the top ten as
the race reached the 20 lap mark.
Knoblock on the other hand continued his
march forward working by Carlson for the
third spot on lap 16, then closing back
up on Gregorich to battle for the second
spot.
Deeper in the field if
was Eswein slicing though the pack
having disposed of half the cars which
started in front of him before
one-quarter of the race was in the
books.
With Menard pulling
away, Gregorich Jr. and Knoblock
revisited their earlier side by side
battle, and again Gregorich opted to run
the high groove while Knoblock could hug
the bottom of the raceway with ease.
The pair treated the fans to another
great side by side battle before
Knoblock gained the upper hand.
This battle was interrupted by the
second caution of the day as Travis
Sauter spun in turn three on lap 24.
This erased the margin
Menard had built and placed Gregorich
and Knoblock on his rear bumper for the
restart, with Carlson, Haseleu and
Eswein following.
On lap 28, Carlson
drifted wide and allowed both Haseleu
and Eswein to slip by reaching fourth
and fifth respectively.
Lap 31 would see the
third slowdown of the contest as Tim
Hintz was tagged by Frank Kreyer sending
him spinning into the inside wall down
the front stretch. This send Hintz
to the pits with the assistance of a
wrecked while Kreyer went to the tail of
the field for the restart.
Just prior to the
caution Knoblock had worked past
Gregorich Jr. for the second spot and it
would be Knoblock who would be next to
test Menards hold on the lead.
Knoblock using his
ability to dive low coming off the turns
managed to work under Menard and take
over the lead position on lap 37,
becoming the event's fourth and final
leader. From there on out the
field would be chasing Knoblock's black
number 8 machine.
Menard would hang tight
on Knoblock's rear bumper for the next
several laps before Knoblock slowly
began to pull away. It would be at
this point that Haseleu would begin to
drift further back in the field falling
out of the top five by lap 42. His
hold on the point lead however continued
to remain intact as Richards' was still
unable to make any progress forward into
the top ten.
The final caution would
fly on lap 55 as Gajewski began to spark
heavily drawing the yellow flag as he
slowed and pulled into the pits.
The 25 lap sprint to the checkered would
see Knoblock leading the way with
Menard, Gregorich Jr., Eswein and
Holzhausen in pursuit.
On the restart Knoblock
would again assume command with Menard
trying to stay close. Eswein would
work by Gregorich for the third position
and the close on Menard.
In the without any
further cautions to interrupt his pace
Knoblock continued to build on his lead
over Menard with each passing lap.
Knoblock was further aided by Eswein as
Eswein began to pressure Menard heavily
for the second spot as the race neared
the final ten laps.
Knoblock would reach the
conclusion of the 80 lap with a three
second advantage on Menard who was able
to fend off the late race challenges of
Eswein. In the closing laps
Holzhausen would work into the fourth
position leaving defending race winner
Gregorich Jr. in the fifth spot.
Jason Weinkauf would be
the winner of a qualifying race earlier
in the day drove a solid race working
through the field and up to the sixth
spot. In an act of sportsmanship
Eswein had loaned Weinkauf a rear end
for his machine after Weinkauf's had
failed earlier in the program.
Weinkauf was able to compete with the
borrowed pats and have a successful day
as a result. Carlson earned the
seventh spot with Blake Horstman
grabbing eighth. Chris Weinkauf
finished ninth with Haseleu holding onto
the final top ten spot. Richards'
would end the contest in 13th place.
At the end of the day
Haseleu managed to extend his point lead
on Richards' by two more markers winning
his second straight series title by 38
markers. As a result Haseleu
became the first back to back champion
in series history and joined Eswein as
the only two time champion.
Earlier in the day a
pair of qualifying races would complete
the field for the main event. In
the first contest Jason Weinkauf
handedly won the race over Travis Sauter
and Dennis Prunty. All three
advanced to the feature contest, while
Dave Feiler and Chris Skrede finished
fourth and fifth/
In the second qualifying
race Dean Cornelius captured the contest
over John Zimmerman. The final
transfer spot was hard fought between
Don Turner and M.G. Gajewski, with
Gajewski taking third at the wire.
Turner would settle for fourth and Bryan
Roach comprised the top five.
The program would
conclude with a hard fought 30-lap
B-Feature. Veterans Turner and
Feiler would toss the lead back and
fourth as the pair thrilled the fans
with some hard racing throughout the
contest. Turner would pull ahead
in the final laps and win the event by
less than a car length over Feiler.
Keith Bohmsach, Frank Nitzke and Nick
Hammer completed the top five finishers.
With the season now
concluded plans are underway for the
awards banquet expected to take place in
late November. The 7th season of
Wisconsin Challenge Series action is in
the planning stages and the 2007 series
opener will be announced shortly.
COMPLETE RACESTAT RESULTS
RAINBOW CASINO / EARTH INC. WISCONSIN
CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP 80
Marshfield Super Speedway -
September 16, 2006
100 Lap
Feature: --
1.) Neil Knoblock, Wausau; 2.)
Charlie Menard, Eau Claire; 3.) Mark
Eswein, Wisconsin Rapids; 4.) Steve
Holzhausen, Bangor; 5.) Eugene Gregorich
Jr., Kewaunee; 6.) Jason Weinkauf;
Merrill; 7.) Steve Carlson, West Salem;
8.) Blake Horstman, Rockland; 9.) Chris
Weinkauf, Merrill; 10.) Nathan Haseleu,
Pardeeville; 11.) Jeremy Lepak, Wausau;
12.) Adam Royle, Farmington, MN; 13.)
Kenny Richards, Montello; 14.) Frank
Kreyer, Pardeeville; 15.) Andy Monday,
Appleton; 16.) Jeff Kendall, Montello;
17.) Dennis Prunty, Lomira; 18.) Jacob
Humphrey, Lake Geneva; 19.) M.G.
Gajewski, Wausau; 20.) Dean Cornelius,
Chaska, MN; 21.) Travis Sauter, Necedah;
22.) John Zimmerman, Markesan; 23.)
Brandon Selle, Dale; 24.) Tim Hintz,
Nekoosa
First 25
Lap Qualifier: -- 1.)
Jason Weinkauf, Merrill; 2.) Travis
Sauter, Necedah; 3.) Dennis Prunty,
Lomira; 4.) Dave Feiler, Sun Prairie;
5.) Chris Skrede, LaCrosse; 6.) Kyle
Kinder, McFarland; 7.) Dean Lapointe,
Marshfield; 8.) Benjamin Brinkman,
Oshkosh; 9.) Eric Klawitter, Montello;
10.) John Frazier, Merrill
Second 25
Lap Qualifier: -- 1.)
Dean Cornelius, Chaska, MN; 2.) John
Zimmerman, Markesan; 3.) M.G. Gajewski,
Wausau; 4.) Don Turner, LaCrosse; 5.)
Bryan Roach, Goodhue, MN; 6.) Pete
Moore, McFarland; 7.) Keith Bohmsach,
Wisconsin Rapids; 8.) Frank Nitzke,
Berlin; 9.) Nick Hammer, Sun Prairie;
10.) Mark Kraus, Stratford
30 Lap
B-Feature: 1.) Dave Feiler,
Sun Prairie; 2.) Don Turner, LaCrosse;
3.) Keith Bohmsach, Wisconsin Rapids;
4.) Frank Nitzke, Berlin; 5.) Nick
Hammer, Sun Prairie; 6.) Benjamin
Brinkman, Oshkosh; 7.) Bryan Roach,
Goodhue, MN; 8.) Kyle Kinder, McFarland;
9.) Eric Kalwitter, Montello; 10.) Pete
Moore, McFarland
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