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WHEELER'S LAST LAP PASS ON KENDALL
PROVIDES THRILLING FINISH TO
BUDWEISER/WAPL SPRING CLASSIC WCS
CONTEST!
KAUKAUNA, WI. (May 21, 2006) -
On a day where drama and excitement
appeared to happen on almost every lap
of the Budweiser/WAPL Spring Classic at
Wisconsin International Raceway, it was
likely the final lap of the 100 lap main
event which will stick in race fans
minds for many years to come. The
Wisconsin Challenge Series presented by
Simply WOW, made it's spring stop at the
semi-banked half-mile D-shaped oval with
52 cars checking into the pit area.
It was the final lap of the main event
however that was the highlight of a
thrilling day. Jeff Kendall, a
multi-time champion at Dells Motor
Speedway and a title contender in this
season's WCS contests had stretched out
to a six car length lead with 10 laps to
go in the contest. However
defending track champion Rod Wheeler,
who came from deep in the field after
making the show through a qualifying
race methodically cut into Kendall's
lead. As the pair headed into turn
one on the final lap, Kendall drifted up
the racetrack allowing Wheeler to work
to his inside. Going down the
backstretch Wheeler pulled ahead.
On the way to the checkered the pair
would work past two lapped cars, with
Kendall working the low line in effort
to steal back the lead. That
effort fell short however with Wheeler
taking a standing ovation from the
partisan hometown crowd as he raced
under the checkered for the win.
Kendall would settle for second after
turning in his strongest performance in
any previous appearance at Wisconsin
International Raceway.
The action began early
as 52 cars appeared in the pit area to
attempt to gain spots in the main event.
Track officials generously expanded the
feature contest to include 28 racing
machines for the main event, which would
be earned though qualifying, a pair of
qualifying races and series
provisional's. The action started
early as an extremely quick track would
show many cars flirting with the
all-time track record. Local racer
Andy Monday, who had previously held
track qualifying marks in the Wisconsin
Sport Truck class, and the Limited Late
Model division at the raceway, turned in
a stunning 19.228 second trip around the
oval, besting the all-time track record
for stock cars at the raceway. In
all some 46 cars times in below the 19
second mark. setting an all-time record
for the most cars into the 19 second
bracket at the raceway.
With the field extremely
close on time the 100 lap main event
would prove to be a thrilling contest.
It began with two-time series champion
Mark Eswein of Wisconsin Rapids darting
out ahead of Kendall, and Steve Rubeck
who won the season opening WCS contest
at Rockford Speedway in early April.
Rubeck would work to the
inside of Eswein on lap 8 to secure the
top spot, brining former Wisconsin
International Raceway title holder
Lowell Bennett with him into second as
Eswein drifted back in the outside line.
Kendall would continue to give chase in
the third spot, followed by defending
series champion Nathan Haseleu who won
the Spring Classic on year ago.
Rubeck would set the
pace holding the low line around the
raceway, with Bennett opting for a
higher groove. Bennett would pull
alongside Rubeck and the pair ran wheel
to wheel around the raceway for
the next several laps before Bennett
would surge ahead to officially become
the third leader of the race on lap 14.
Kendall would follow
Bennett's move into second with Haseleu
giving chase from the third spot.
Bennett received only a brief respite
from the challenges to his lead as
Kendall and Haseleu began to battle over
the runner-up spot with Haseleu gaining
the position on lap 22.
With the race
one-quarter to completion, Bennett,
Haseleu, Tim Rothe, Kendall and Terry
Baldry were holding down the top five
positions. For Rothe the
performance was especially impressive as
his car experienced mechanical ills in
practice and was quickly repaired to
participate in the days events.
As the race neared the
halfway point the top four cars ran nose
to tail, with Monday the reaching the
top five just two laps before the
mandatory break at lap 50. The
yellow flag would wave at the halfway
point allowing teams to head to the pits
for adjustments on their cars prior to
the final 50 lap run to the
checkered.
After the 15 minute
break action would resume with Bennett
brining the field to the green flag.
As the race began, Haseleu worked under
Bennett to momentarily grab the lead.
He had done so in a similar fashion one
year ago, taking the lead just after the
break. On that day he would go
onto victory. This day however would be
different. After pacing lap 52,
Haseleu's filtered back in behind
Bennett and gave chase until his car
began to go up in a puff of smoke
signaling engine failure. He
quickly dropped off pace as the caution
flew retiring to the pit area on lap 57.
Underway again Bennett
now had a new opponent on his tail with
Rothe in hot pursuit followed by Kendall
and Monday. Rothe's machine would
hug the low line and he used it to his
advantage to grab the top spot on
lap 58. Bennett remained close
with Kendall and Monday dueling for the
third spot. Monday's fine drive
suffered a major setback on lap 65, as
his machine began to leak rear end
grease on the raceway, forcing a caution
as several cars slipped in the fluid as
they entered turn one. Monday
would art into the pit area for repairs
but would fall to the tail of the field
for the restart.
As the green flag flew
again Rothe held the upper hand for just
one more lap before his car began to
stall. The field charged around
him on both sides as he fell back in the
field helplessly, retiring a couple laps
later with mechanical ills.
Rothe's demise put Bennett back into the
lead with Kendall, Frank Kreyer, Baldry
and Rubeck in the top five spots.
Further back however,
the chase was on as Wheeler began to
charge though traffic. With 25
laps to go in the contest Kendall would
surpass Bennett for the top spot and
begin to open a small lead.
Wheeler meanwhile reached the fifth spot
with 20 laps to go and was clearly among
the fastest cars on the track. He
would pass Baldry for fourth on lap 85.
Out front a slide up the
raceway by Bennett on the next circuit
allowed both Kreyer and Wheeler to
squirt past for second and third
respectively. Kreyer would hold
the second position until five laps to
go when Wheeler powered pats him for the
runner-up spot. Kendall's lead
would shrink with each passing lap, but
it appeared he had the pace to reach the
finish line for the win. On the
final lap a quick twitch forced Kendall
to slid up the track to keep his machine
from spinning, Wheeler took advantage
and would motor past to lead the final
half lap and steal the victory.
Kendall would lay claim to second
followed by Kreyer, Baldry and Bennett
in the top five.
Charlie Menard making
his first series start of the 2006
season drove a steady race to finish
sixth, chased to the line by Jim Duchow
in seventh. Monday would recover
from his pit stop to charge back to the
eighth spot turning in an impressive
performance. Jason Weinkauf would
finish in ninth followed by Terry Korth,
running his first race in several
seasons completing the top ten finishers
on the day.
Earlier in the afternoon
a pair of 25 lap qualifying races were
held. In the first event, Tommy
Pecaro scored the victory fending off
the challenges of Wheeler. Jamie
Iverson nailed down the third position
which was the final transfer spot into
the main event. Jeff Storm edged
Brandon Hill for the final transfer spot
as the top four positions were added to
the main event.
In the second 25 lap
qualifier it was Charlie Menard who was
making his first WCS start of the season
snaring the victory. Local
competitor Bob Danes finished in second
ahead of Neil Knoblock and Robb
Vanderloop with each of the drivers
making the big feature race. Nick
Hammer came from deep in the field to
finish fifth and just missed the show.
The final event of the
day was a 30 Lap B-Feature race.
Tod Kropf would fend off a last lap
challenge by John Meidam. Heading
into the final turns Meidam worked to
the inside of Kropf, but his car broke
free leaving him spinning just before
the finish line. Meidam safely
guided his car to the inside wall
allowing the field to rush by.
Brandon Selle would cross the line in
second followed by Brandon Hill, Pete
Vandermolen and Tom Hockers in the top
five.
The next Wisconsin
Challenge Series event will be held on
Memorial Day, Monday Afternoon, May
29th, at the Golden Sands Speedway.
The highlight of the day is the Memorial
100, a 100 lap feature contest for the
Super Late Models. 24 cars will
take the green flag in the event.
A pair of 30 lap qualifiers will also be
held, along with the popular "B-Feature"
which will be contested at 40 laps.
While the Wisconsin
Challenge Series Super Late Models
highlight the card, fans can also expect
plenty of excitement in the Wisconsin
Sport Trucks. The snowmobile
engine powered mini-pickup trucks will
compete in a full program. For
those wanting a little more fender
rubbing there will also be several 2-Man
Cruiser feature contest held, and the
day will conclude with the behemoths of
the raceway.. with the school bus races
taking to the track.
Practice will begin at
10:30 p.m., with qualifying at 12:30
p.m. and racing at 2:00 p.m.
Golden Sands Speedway is
located in Highway 54, between Wisconsin
Rapids and Plover, Wisconsin. For
additional information consult either
the Golden Sands Speedway website at
www.goldensands.com or the Wisconsin
Challenge Series website at
www.wisconsinchallenge.com
COMPLETE RACESTAT RESULTS
Budweiser / WAPL Spring Classic -
Wisconsin International Raceway - May
21, 2006
150 Lap
Feature: -- 1.) Rod Wheeler,
Appleton; 2.) Jeff Kendall, Montello;
3.) Frank Kreyer, Pardeeville; 4.) Terry
Baldry, Omro; 5.) Lowell Bennett,
Neenah; 6.) Charlie Menard, Eau Claire;
7.) Jim Duchow, Appleton; 8.) Andy
Monday, Appleton; 9.) Jason Weinkauf,
Merrill; 10.) Terry Korth, Menasha; 11.)
Steve Rubeck, Cherry Valley, IL; 12.)
Mark Eswein, Wisconsin Rapids; 13.) Jeff
Storm, Waterford; 14.) Jamie Iverson,
Escanaba, MI; 15.) Neil Knoblock,
Nekoosa; 16.) Dave Feiler, Sun Prairie;
17.) Kenny Richards, Montello; 18.)
Chris Weinkauf, Merrill; 19.) Terry
Patnode, Oak Creek; 20.) Jacob Humphrey,
Lake Geneva; 21.) Tommy Pecaro,
Edgerton; 22.) Robb Vanderloop,
Kaukauna; 23.) Tim Rothe, Appleton; 24.)
Nathan Haseleu, Marshall; 25.) Bob
Danes, New Holstein; 26.) Steve Carlson,
West Salem; 27.) Blake Horstman,
Rockland
30 Lap
B-Main -- 1.) Todd Kropf, Waterton;
2.) Brandon Selle, Dale; 3.) Brandon
Hill, Lake Geneva; 4.) Pete Vandermolen,
Oshkosh; 5.) Tom Hockers, DePere; 6.)
Matt Kocourek, Franklin; 7.) Cal
Harrell, Appleton; 8.) Dennis Prunty,
Lomira; 9.) Nick Hammer, Sun Prairie;
10.) Tom Gee Jr., Sobieski; 11.) Don
Turner, LaCrosse; 12.) Kyle Calmes,
Appleton
First 25
Lap Qualifier -- 1.) Pecaro; 2.)
Wheeler; 3.) Iverson; 4.) Storm; 5.)
Hill; 6.) Kropf; 7.) Kocourek; 8.)
Harrell; 9.) Prunty; 10.) Turner
Second 25
Lap Qualifier -- 1.) Menard; 2.)
Danes; 3.) Iverson; 4.) Vanderloop; 5.)
Hammer; 6.) Selle; 7.) Vandermolen; 8.)
Hockers; 9.) Calmes; 10.) Erik Klawitter,
Montello
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