NATHAN HASELEU WINS PEPSI 100 AT MADISON INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY!

Sunday, May 6, 2007 (Oregon, WI) – A cool, windy day greeted fans at Madison International Speedway who were treated to four divisions of exciting racing action.  When the racing was done it would be defending Wisconsin Challenge Series champion Nathan Haseleu in victory lane after capturing his first victory of the 2007 season in WCS competition.

Haseleu would reach the finish line a half-dozen car lengths ahead of his nearest rival Chad Wood.  Wood a former champion at Madison International Raceway turned in a stellar performance in his WCS debut.  This position went to Super Late Model rookie competitor Kyle Calmes.  The former Limited Late Model title holder at Wisconsin International Raceway turned in a stellar performance earning a career high third place finish in WCS competition.

A cool, windy day greeted fans at Madison International Speedway who were treated to four divisions of exciting racing action.  When the racing was done it would be Nathan Haseleu, Steve Dickson, Erik Gehrke, and Morgan Schissel who would be going home winners.

Nathan Haseleu of Pardeeville, Wisconsin, cruised to victory in the Wisconsin Challenge Series Pepsi 100 at Madison International Speedway.  Haseleu topped a field of twenty-four cars in the second WCS event of the 2007 season

And what a difference a few months makes.  In last September's WCS event at MIS Haseleu drove a fantastic race only to see everything go away late in the race when an incident coming out of turn four saw him take a wild upside down ride along the front stretch wall. 

Today it would be different. 

"It's great to win a WCS event here at Madison.  This is kind of my home track and it's nice to win here," said Haseleu, who has numerous super late model victories at MIS.

Setting fast time was Bobby Wilberg of Orfordville, Wisconsin.  The quick qualifier then rolled the dice to determine the invert.  Rolling a thirteen meant Wilberg would start thirteenth and DeForest's Andrew Morrissey would start on the pole.  With two super late model feature wins to his credit already in 2007 most people figured Morrissey would be awfully tough to beat from the pole.

Morrissey and Brandon Hill led the field to the green flag and it would be Morrissey taking the top spot with Haseleu, who started in row two, up to second.  Morrissey could only hold off Haseleu for the first eleven laps until Haseleu made an inside pass on lap twelve for the lead.  From there on it was all Haseleu.

Never really threatened for the lead, Haseleu continued to increase his lead followed by Morrissey, Chad Wood, and Trent Snyder.  On lap 39 Kyle Calmes moved into the top five and by lap 41 Wilberg had moved up seven spots into sixth place.

Meanwhile Haseleu continued to build a seven car length advantage over the field.  On lap 75 Mark Eswein joined the top five with Morrissey continuing to lose ground on Haseleu.  Eventually Wood would overtake Morrissey for second before the race's final caution flag came out on lap 87.

A great restart by Haseleu kept Wood at bay followed by Calmes, Eswein, and Morrissey.  Haseleu continued to hold off the field for the remainder of the race and avoided any late race difficulties and came home victorious.  Rounding out the top five were Wood, Calmes, Eswein, and Brian Johnson Jr.  Taking home top ten finishes were Morrissey, Wilberg, Andy Monday, Jeff Richards, and Frank Kreyer.

Wilberg set fast time with a lap of 17.546.  Jason Weinkauf won the twenty-five lap qualifying race.

Race Results

Wisconsin Challenge Series
Feature: (100 Laps) (1-10) Nathan Haseleu- Pardeeville, Chad Wood- Madison, Kyle Calmes- Freedom, Mark Eswein- Wisconsin Rapids, Brian Johnson Jr.- South Beloit, IL, Andrew Morrissey- DeForest, Bobby Wilberg- Orfordville, Andy Monday- Appleton, Kenny Richards- Montello, Frank Kreyer- Pardeeville

(11-20) Trent Snyder- Ironton, MN, Tim Rothe- Appleton, Brandon Hill- Lake Geneva, Jeremy Lepak-
Wausau, Don Turner- LaCrosse, John Wood- Madison, Jacob Goede- New Germany, MN,  Dave Feiler- Sun
Prairie, Jason Weinkauf- Merrill, John Zimmerman- Markesan

(21-24) Jacob Humphrey- Lake Geneva, Steve Carlson- West Salem, Tommy Pecaro- Janesville, Dillon Kralovetz- Bonduel


Fast Time: Bobby Wilberg- Orfordville, WI 17.546

Qualifying Race: Jason Weinkauf- Merrill