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RICHARDS RULES
GOLDEN SANDS MEMORIAL 100!
PLOVER, WI. (May 29, 2006)
- On extremely hot day in front of a
large sun baked crowd, Kenny Richards of
Montello, Wisconsin added his name to
the winners list in Wisconsin Challenge
Series competition. The WCS series
presented by Simply WOW Cleaner/
Degreaser headed to the high banked high
banked third mile Golden Sands Speedway
oval for the traditional Memorial 100,
with current track point leader Richards
taking the lead from fellow local
hotshoe Brandon Selle on lap 33, and
then proceeding to dominate the
remainder of the race for his first
series victory.
Richards trip to victory lane would make
a sweep of the weekend at the speedway
as he had also won the weekly racing
program Super Late Model contest on
Friday Night. Richards would
outdistance Selle by 12 car lengths for
the victory. Sell would lay claim
to second place, his best in series
competition after leading the opening
stages of the contest. Neil
Knoblock, driving for Butz Racing Team,
finished solidly in third place, in just
his second showing in WCS competition.
The day was highlighted by a WCS track
entry record of 51 participants who
attempted to make the 24 car starting
grid for the main event.
The green flag would
wave with WCS regulars Frank Kreyer and
Brandon Selle bringing the field to the
green flag as 24 of the Midwest's finest
Super Late Model competitors brought the
field to the green flag. The pair
would run wheel to wheel for the opening
circuits with Kreyer pacing the opening
two laps before Selle would nose ahead
on lap three. Selle would begin to
pull away slightly, with Kreyer,
Minnesota native Dean Cornelius,
defending series champion Nathan Haseleu
and Rory Melbinger giving chase.
The race was just eight laps old before
the first caution flew when Todd
Stapleman and Charlie Menard became
tangled, causing Stapleman to spin.
It would be 10 laps
before the next caution with Selle again
leading the way. Kreyer would
drift wide on lap 10, allowing Cornelius
to grab the second spot, with Haseleu
advancing to third. Further back
Richards was slicing through the pack,
making his way to seventh from deep in
the field before the yellow flag flew a
second time on lap 18 when Tim Hintz
spun collecting Burton Brown.
Upon the resumption of
the event Selle burst back into the lead
with Cornelius and Haseleu giving chase.
Richards meanwhile was running the
outside line to perfection reaching the
top five on lap 20. At the same
time the fortunes of Cornelius began to
go awry as he began to drift up the
track falling back in the field.
He would eventually come to a stop in
turn four on lap 23 bringing out
the third caution of the contest.
The race resumed with
Selle bolting back to the lead with
Haseleu following. Richards had
worked past Melbinger for the third spot
and began to race down the lead pair.
Continuing to use the high line Richards
reeled in Haseleu and would take the
second spot before the fourth caution of
the contest which occurred when Andy
Monday spun in turn two on lap 32.
As the green flag waved
resuming action Selle found himself
pressured by Richards who would find a
line under Selle. On lap 33 Richards
would nose ahead for the lead, a
position he would find himself in for
the duration of the contest.
While Richards and Selle
kept a solid gap on the field the third
spot became hotly contested. Haseleu,
whose car had lost power steering began
to wrestle with the machine trying to
hold the third spot. Eugene
Gregorich Jr., who had won the last WCS
contest he had entered last September in
Marshfield had been moving forward and
began to pressure Haseleu. On lap
43, Gregorich would succeed in garnering
the third spot.
At the halfway point of
the contest Richards led Selle,
Gregorich, Haseleu, Kreyer, Knoblock and
Minnesota hotshoe Adam Royle.
A total of 14 cars
remained on the lead lap when current
series point leader Jeff Kendall looped
his ride in turn two on lap 61, bringing
out the next caution. The green
flag waved and the field completed one
additional lap when the final yellow
flag flew when Elliott Weiler lost a
wheel and spun in turn two. bringing out
the final caution of the contest.
Underway again for the
final 38 laps, Richards went back to
setting the pace. Selle would
secure the second spot, but was unable
to close on Richards. Behind the
lead duo, Gregorich Jr., and Knoblock
began to contest the third position.
Knoblock would muster
the speed to secure the third spot on
lap 72, followed closely by Royle.
The laps passed swiftly with Richards
extending his lead to a quarter-lap when
he encountered lapped traffic. The
traffic proved especially thick forcing
Richards into performing a daring three
wide pass with ten laps to go. The
move would prove successful and he would
race the final laps flawlessly to secure
the win, his first in series
competition.
Selle would give chase
but was unable to close and would settle
for second position a dozen car lengths
behind. Knoblock would win out the
battle with Royle to lay claim to third,
while Royle and Gregorich would comprise
the top five finishers.
Kreyer would finish in
the sixth spot ahead of Ken Reiser and
the seven cars were the last on the lead
lap. Haseleu, Steve Holzhausen and
two-time series champion Mark Eswein
completed the top ten finishers.
Earlier in the day a
pair of 25 lap qualifying races would
set the field. former Golden Sands
Speedway champion Burton Brown would
collect the win in the first contest
outdistancing Reiser and Frank
Nitzke. Ben Pettis and Jason Weinkauf
would comprise the top five finishers.
In the second qualifying
race Super Late Model rookie competitor
Jason Tyler would collect the checkered
over veteran Don "Thunder" Turner.
Jason Vandenberg would finish third in
the final transfer spot. Eswein
and Jeff Weinfurter would comprise the
top five finishers. Provisionals
for the event would fall to Reiser and
Eswein both of whom made the best of the
starts both reaching into the top ten in
the main event.
The day would conclude
with a 30 lap B-Feature, where Jeremy
Lepak proved to be the class of the
field taking a convincing win.
Jeff Way would drive from the middle of
the pack and close in Lepak as the laps
would down but would have to settle for
second. Dave Feiler, Weinfurter and
Pettis comprised the top five.
The Wisconsin Challenge
Series will now head to Dells Motor
Speedway on Saturday Night, July 1st for
the running of the North American Cup
100. The race, which had been
marked as tentative on the schedule,
will now take place at the semi-banked
third mile oval in what has become a
traditional stop for the series each
season. Additional details, on the
event will be announced shortly.
For
more information on the Wisconsin
Challenge Series presented by Simply WOW
consult the Wisconsin
Challenge Series website at
www.wisconsinchallenge.com
COMPLETE RACESTAT RESULTS
Memorial 100 - Golden Sands Speedway - May
29, 2006
100 Lap
Feature: -- 1.) Kenny
Richards, Montello; 2.) Brandon Selle,
Dale; 3.) Neil Knoblock, Nekoosa; 4.)
Adam Royle, Farmington, MN; 5.) Eugene
Gregorich Jr., Kewaunee; 6.) Frank
Kreyer, Pardeeville; 7.) Ken Reiser,
Waukon, IA; 8.) Nathan Haseleu,
Marshall; 9.) Steve Holzhausen, Bangor;
10.) Mark Eswein, Wisconsin Rapids; 11.)
Chris Weinkauf, Merrill; 12.) Andy
Monday, Appleton; 13.) Dean Cornelius,
Chaska, MN; 14.) Jeff Kendall, Montello;
15.) Charlie Menard, Eau Claire; 16.)
Don Turner, LaCrosse; 17.) Elliott
Weiler, Marshfield; 18.) Frank Nitzke,
Berlin; 19.) Jason Vandenberg, Appleton;
20.) Rory Melbinger, Marshfield; 21.)
Jason Tyler, Stoughton; 22.) Burton
Brown, Neenah; 23.) Tim Hintz,
Marshfield; 24.) Todd Stapleman, Wautoma
30 Lap
B-Main -- 1.) Jeremy
Lepak, Wausau; 2.) Jeff Way, Burlington;
3.) Dave Feiler, Sun Prairie; 4.) Jeff
Weinfurter, Wisconsin Rapids; 5.) Ben
Pettis, EauClaire; 6.) Jim Carlson,
LaCrosse; 7.) Nick Hammer, Edgerton; 8.)
Jason Weinkauf, Merrill; 9.) Terry
Patnode, Oak Creek; 10.) Gregg Ruffalo,
Plainfield
First 25
Lap Qualifier -- 1.) Brown;
2.) Reiser; 3.) Nitzke; 4.) Pettis; 5.)
J. Weinkauf; 6.) Feiler; 7.) Way; 8.)
Ruffalo; 9.) John Zimmermann, Markesan;
10.) Dexter Bean, Westby
Second 25
Lap Qualifier -- 1.) Tyler;
2.) Turner; 3.) Vandenberg; 4.) Eswein;
5.) Weinfurter; 6.) Lepak; 7.) Carlson;
8.) Erik Klawitter, Montello; 9.)
Hammer; 10.) Patnode
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