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HASELEU
HUSTLES TO OVERALL WIN AND VICTORY IN
BLUE RACE!
WHEELER TAKES OPENING 50 LAPPER!
KAUKAUNA, WI. (August 19, 2006)
- For the first time in the 35 year
history of the Red, White and Blue State
Championships, the Wisconsin Challenge
Series presented by Simply WOW
participated as the sanctioning body.
The Red, White and Blue finale, known as
the Blue Race was the eighth event of
the 2006 WCS schedule. The program
also marked the first time the WCS
Series has presented a program with a
twin 50 lap feature format, where the
overall finish of both events would
determine how the championship points
were awarded.
With all these first time events
transpiring the pits were full with 50
of Wisconsin's finest Super Late Model
competitors vying for a shot at victory
lane. When the evening concluded the
awards were handed out a plenty amid a
fireworks display.
Nathan Haseleu who rolled past Mike
Gardner near the mid-point of the second
50 lap feature would win the overall
Blue Race title. For Haseleu it
was his second trip to victory lane at
Wisconsin International Raceway, as he
had also captured the Spring Opener WCS
contest at the track during the 2005
season. In the first 50 lap
feature it would be Rod Wheeler who
captured the Spring Opener this year
winning out in a ferocious battle with
Tim Rothe. The local hotshoes
thrilled the fans with their no holds
barred racing, while Haseleu settled for
third in the opening 50 lap contest.
By virtue of his finishes Haseleu was
the overall victor followed by Rothe and
Wheeler. With his overall win
Haseleu, the defending Wisconsin
Challenge Series champion, became the
first driver in series history to have
claimed three straight events. An upped
his career WCS win total to seven.
Haseleu surpassed 2003 series champion
Erik Darnell for the most WCS victories
earlier this season.
It was Gardner however that would win
the overall Red, White and Blue State
title, with the highest points amassed
during the three races series which
included events in June and July that
were not WCS contests. Rothe was second
overall in the Red, White and Blue
points and WCS series regular Andy
Monday finished third in the overall
series standings.
With a dice roll making
for an invert of 14, the star
studded field of 24 ready was to take
the green flag for the first 50 lap main
event. It would be Super Late Model
rookie Nick Hammer of Sun Prairie
starting next to 11-time track champion
Terry Baldry on the front row.
Holding the low line Hammer ran wheel to
wheel with Baldry throughout the opening
laps as the pair tossed the lead back
and forth every lap. Baldry would
surge ahead in the corners, but the
youngster held fast to the low groove
and would fight ahead on the straights.
Baldry appeared to have finally pulled
ahead of the hard charging youngster
Hammer, when the caution flew on lap
eight when Dennis Prunty looped his ride
in turn four after he and Nate Van
Wychen tangled.
The transponder scoring
shown Hammer ahead by inches on the last
completed lap and he took the lead
position at the head of the pack for the
restart followed by Baldry, Rothe,
two-time series champion Mark Eswein and
Wheeler.
As the green flag
returned Baldry and Hammer resumed their
battle for the lead. Hammer would
be up to the challenge and shot back
into the lead. Rothe meanwhile
would work the high line to pull
alongside Baldry and grab the second
spot on lap 10. Wheeler also chose
the outside line to advance and charged
into the third spot on the next lap.
Hammer's reign at the
front of the pack came to and end when
Rothe nosed to his inside on lap 14 to
take the top spot. Wheeler was
also quick to take advantage of the
opportunity and powered by Hammer for
second before the lap concluded.
As lap 15 lap began
Rothe and Wheeler exchanged paint as the
pair battled around the oval.
Wheeler would find room to Rothe's
inside through turns one and two on lap
16 and put himself into the lead, with
Rothe falling in behind Wheeler's rear
bumper.
The lead duo of Wheeler
and Rothe continued to battle for the
top spot and pulled away to a several
car length advantage on third place
Jeremy Lepak who had worked by Hammer
for the position. Haseleu was also
on the charge reaching fourth by lap 20.
Haseleu continued to press forward
working under Lepak for third before the
halfway point.
The private battle
between Wheeler and Rothe soon included
Haseleu who closed in behind Wheeler on
lap 35. Each driver waited for a
mistake by the other seeking to move
forward. During the final ten laps
Rothe made several attempts to go high
on Wheeler but each time he had to drop
back in line to defend second as Haseleu
would charge forward to try and take the
spot.
At the finish, the first
50 lap contest would conclude with
Wheeler edging out Rothe for the win.
Haseleu would settle for third followed
by Lepak and Lowell Bennett.
Eswein would take sixth, John Meidam
seventh, fast qualifier and defending
Red, White and Blue series champion Jeff
Van Oudenhoven claimed eighth, while
Monday and Gardner would comprise the
top ten finishers.
For the second 50 lap
contest the dice roll was done once
again, this time with an invert of 10.
This placed Gardner on the pole for the
contest with Monday to his outside.
Gardner and Monday would
provide fans a similar side by side
battle for the lead, much like the
opening laps of the first contest.
Gardner hugging the low line and Monday
worked the high groove. Gardner
would eventually gain the upper hand
over Monday, while Van Oudenhoven worked
into the third spot. While Bennett and
Haseleu found themselves in the top five
when the first caution of this contest
appear on lap eight.
Battling for position,
Duchow nosed under Eswein heading into
turn one making contact. The pair
would spin into the turn with Eswein
tagging the softwall and Duchow coming
to a stop behind him. Both cars
were sent to the tail of the field, with
Eswein heading to the pits for repairs
before returning.
The race would come back
to speed with Gardner again showing the
way. Haseleu was working forward
reaching fourth on lap 11. Haseleu
continued to advance slipping past Van
Oudenhoven for third on the following
lap. Out front Monday continued to
pressure Gardner for the lead hoping for
a slip to steal the top spot.
Gardner however
continued to run a flawless race keeping
Monday in his tire tracks. On lap
20, Haseleu drove deep into turn one
making an impressive outside pass on
Monday to garb the second spot. On
lap 22, Van Oudenhoven would drive under
Monday for third.
Debris on the track the
next lap forced the caution to appear to
remove a fender which had come from the
machine of Bob Danes. As the field
prepared to come back to the green flag
Monday would come to a stop in turn
four, a victim of a broken wheel, ending
a very strong performance at the font of
the pack. While Monday headed to
the pits for repairs, the field again
came up to speed but before a lap could
be completed Van Wychen hit the front
stretch wall and came grinding to a halt
ending his night stopped beneath the
flag stand with a damaged race car.
Monday would return to
the track on the lead lap before the
next restart, while Van Wychen's car was
removed from the racing surface.
The green returned with
Gardner, Haseleu, Van Oudenhoven, Meidam
and Rothe in the top five. Gardner
would come under immediate pressure from
Haseleu who again opted to use the high
line to his advantage. Haseleu
would work past Gardner for the lead on
lap 26.
Heading into the final
half of the contest the points chase for
the overall Red, White and Blue title
would be decided between Gardner and
Rothe as whichever driver would reach
the finish line first would receive the
title. As Haseleu pulled away from
Gardner, Rothe began to make his charge
toward the title. Rothe would
again quickly surpass Meidam and Van
Oudenhoven to reach the third spot.
With Haseleu out front, attending
focused on Gardner and Rothe.
Rothe would close in knowing a pass on
Gardner would setup a shot at the title,
Gardner however also knew that the title
laid in his hands should he be
successful in holding down his spot.
The lead trio of
Haseleu, Gardner and Rothe blistered
around the track for the final laps.
At the wire Haseleu would have a two car
length advantage on Gardner and secure
the overall Blue Race victory.
Gardner would fend off Rothe to finish
second and take the overall Red, White
and Blue State Championship. Rothe
would settle for the third spot.
Van Oudenhoven, who nearly broke the
track record in qualifying when he
bested a field of 50 cars for the
fastest lap of the day would settle for
fourth. Wheeler, who won the
opening 50 lap contest comprised the top
five runners.
Frank Kreyer would
charge from the 23rd starting spot up to
sixth in the final 50 lap contest
engaging in a torrid late race battle
with Wheeler for the fifth spot.
Lepak would take seventh followed by
Bennett, Meidam and Neil Knoblock.
Earlier in the day, a
pair of 20 lap qualifying races would
set the tone for the contest as some
heavy hitters needed to work their way
into the main event through those
contests. In the first race Dennis
Prunty would fend off the challenges of
Jamie Iverson to win by less than a car
length. Jeff Kendall would make a
late race pass on Todd Stapleman to take
third and the final transfer spot.
Stapleman and Adam Royle would complete
the top five, just missing the big show.
In the second 20 lap
qualifier young Jacob Humphrey dominated
the contest besting Neil Knoblock and
Jim Duchow. John Zimmerman and Don
Turner would just miss the show taking
fourth and fifth respectively.
The day would conclude
with a 30-lap B-feature contest, where
26 cars would take the green flag.
Stapleman proved to be the man to catch
in this contest. Over the final
laps of the race Stapleman would have to
fend off the challenges of Zimmerman for
the win taking the checkered by a slim
margin. Zimmerman would settle for
second followed by Andrew Morrissey,
Eugene Gregorich Jr., and Pete
Vandermolen.
Three events remain on
the 2006 Wisconsin Challenge Series
schedule with the next event being the
Governor's Cup 50 held at the Legendary
Milwaukee Mile. The one day event
will be held on Sunday Afternoon, August
27th. The slightly banked mile
oval, has been hosting motor sports
events for over 100 years and is the
largest race track in the state of
Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Challenge
Series presented by Simply WOW will be
making it's first appearance at the
track, making it the largest oval many
of the competitors in the series have
competed on.
The highlight of the WCS
portion of the race day program will be
the 50 lap feature contest, which will
see 32 cars take the green flag.
In addition to the main event a
qualifying race will take place as well
as a B-feature for those missing the
main show.
The WCS series will be
the under card to the main event of the
day with is the ARCA RE/MAX Series which
will hold a 200 lap main event in the
late afternoon.
The Mid-American Stock
Car series will also be on hand with a
special Dash for Cash event.
The Wisconsin Challenge
Series events run in the morning and
early afternoon on Sunday.
Practice will take place
at 9:00 a.m., with qualifying taking
place at 10:30 a.m. The last
chance event will began at 11:45 a.m.,
with the feature contest for the
Wisconsin Challenge Series getting the
green flag at 1:00 p.m.
Following the Milwaukee
Mile contest, the WCS season will
conclude with events at Madison
International Speedway on Friday Night
September 8th and draw to a close at
Marshfield Super Speedway on Saturday
Night September 16th.
Information on the
Governor's Cup 50 at the Milwaukee Mile
can be found by directing your web
browser to www. milwaukeemile.com
More information and a complete
season schedule for the Wisconsin
Challenge Series can be found at
www.wisconsinchallenge.com
COMPLETE RACESTAT RESULTS
THE BLUE RACE - Wisconsin International
Raceway - August 19, 2006
First 50 Lap
Feature: -- 1.) Rod
Wheeler, Hortonville; 2.) Tim Rothe,
Appleton; 3.) Nathan Haseleu,
Pardeeville; 4.) Jeremy Lepak, Wausau;
5.) Lowell Bennett, Neenah; 6.) Mark
Eswein, Wisconsin Rapids; 7.) John
Meidam, Appleton; 8.) Jeff Van
Oudenhoven, Kimberly; 9.) Andy Monday,
Appleton; 10.) Mike Gardner, Gladstone,
MI; 11.) Jim Duchow, Appleton; 12.)
Terry Baldry, Omro; 13.) Dennis Prunty,
Lomira; 14.) Dave Feiler, Sun Prairie;
15.) Nate Van Wychen, Appleton; 16.) Bob
Danes, New Holstein; 17.) Neil Knoblock,
Wausau; 18.) Jamie Iverson, Escanaba,
MI; 19.) Nick Hammer, Sun Prairie; 20.)
Jacob Humphrey, Lake Geneva; 21.) Kenny
Richards, Montello; 22.) Jeff Kendall,
Montello; 23. Frank Kreyer, Pardeeville;
24.) Mark Schroeder, Green Bay
Second 50
Lap Feature -- 1.)
Haseleu; 2.) Gardner; 3.) Rothe; 4.) Van
Oudenhoven; 5.) Wheeler; 6.) Kreyer; 7.)
Lepak; 8.) Bennett; 9.) Meidam; 10.)
Knoblock; 11.) Baldry; 12.) Monday; 13.)
Feiler; 14.) Prunty; 15.) Kendall; 16.)
Richards; 17.) Duchow; 18.) Humphrey;
19.) Eswein; 20.) Hammer; 21.) Danes;
22.) Van Wychen; 23.) Iverson; 24.)
Schroeder
Overall
Finish ( Blue Race Results- WCS Points) -- 1.)
Haseleu; 2.) Rothe; 3.) Wheeler; 4.)
Gardner; 5.) Lepak; 6.) Van Oudenhoven;
7.) Bennett; 8.) Meidam; 9.) Monday;
10.) Baldry; 11.) Eswein; 12.) Feiler;
13.) Prunty; 14.) Knoblock; 15.) Duchow;
16.) Kreyer; 17.) Danes; 18.) Van
Wychen; 19.) Kendall; 20.) Richards;
21.) Humphrey; 22.) Hammer; 23.)
Iverson; 24.) Schroeder
First 20
Lap Qualifier: 1.) Prunty; 2.)
Iverson; 3.) Kendall; 4.) Todd
Stapleman, Wautoma; 5.) Adam Royle,
Farmington, MN; 6.) Brandon Selle, Dale;
7.) Tommy Pecaro, Edgerton; 8.) Keith
Romenesko, Kaukauna; 9.) Jason Weinkauf,
Merrill; 10.) Eugene Gregorich Jr.,
Kewaunee; 11.) Robb Vanderloop,
Kaukauna; 12.) Pete Kempf, Nekoosa
Second 20
Lap Qualifier: 1.) Humphrey; 2.)
Knoblock; 3.) Duchow; 4.) John
Zimmerman, Markesan; 5.) Don Turner,
LaCrosse; 6.) Andrew Morrissey,
DeForest; 7.) Pete Vandermolen Jr.,
Oshkosh; 8.) Tom Gee Jr., Sobieski; 9.)
Blake Horstman, Rockland; 10.) Todd
Kropf, Watertown
30 Lap
B-Feature: 1.) Stapleman; 2.)
Zimmerman; 3.) Morrissey; 4.) Gregorich
Jr; 5.) Vandermolen; 6.) Weinkauf; 7.)
Turner; 8.) Gee Jr.; 9.) Kropf; 10.)
Vanderloop; 11.) Horstman; 12.)
Romenesko; 13.) Cal Harrell, Harrison;
14.) Kempf; 15.) Cory Kemkes, Appleton;
16.) Eric Klawitter, Montello
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