July 31, 2004; Sturgeon Bay, WI. -  Picture perfect weather and perfect track conditions added up to another successful race night at Thunderhill Raceway on Saturday night. In the Budweiser IMCA Modifieds, the fast, multi-lane
track conditions led to some great side-by-side action as Luxemburg’s Benji LaCrosse showed off his skills, taking his fourth feature win of the season.

Corey Haen, Sturgeon Bay, won his first T Simon Jewelers IMCA Stock Car feature of the year. May’s Sports Center IMCA Hobby Stock Tom Brumlic, Denmark, scored his fourth feature win on a last lap pass for the win. AmericInn Street Stock Aaron Thornton, Maplewood, won his fifth feature of the year and Sport
Four Chad Williams of Brussels came away with his fifth feature victory. Coldwell Banker / Door County Horizon was the night’s sponsor, giving fans the opportunity to see their favorite drivers with out-of-the-car driver introductions.

In the Budweiser IMCA Modifieds, rookie James Tebon of Algoma came out strong on the first circuit of the 20-lap event. Tebon looked good tonight after taking the earlier heat win, but fell victim to veteran Darrell Massart of Brussels on lap two. Massart led Tebon through much of the early going, but Tebon slipped up the clay surface and fell back at mid-race. Second year driver Benji LaCrosse grabbed the inside groove to snatched the lead away from Massart on lap seven.

Four-time track champ Todd Dart of Algoma and Sean Jerovetz, Suamico, wrestled for the runner-up spot and were only able to shadow LaCrosse through the remainder of the race. With the win, LaCrosse was able to shake off a couple of bad point weeks after leading in points for much of the season. Dart and Jerovetz settled for second and third while the current points leader Jeremy Jacobs came across fourth. Hard charging Jared Siefert came all the way from the back of the pack to finish fifth in Billy LeMieux’ mount. Heat winners were Tebon, along with Billy LeMieux and points runner-up Sean Jerovetz.

T Simon Jewelers IMCA Stock Car driver Corey Haen of Sturgeon Bay, took advantage of his second row starting spot and seized the opening lap right from the drop of the green. Kewaunee’s Mark Derenne trailed Haen but the faster Haen
was able to extend his lead even more over the Derenne and the pack. Last year’s track champion Shawn Kilgore, Kewaunee, was able to jockey towards the front from his third row spot and pressure the race leaders. A caution with only four laps to go reset the field with Derenne and Kilgore ready to battle Haen, but the speedy Haen pulled away. Derenne and Kilgore slipped up, allowing Troy Muench of Green Bay to slide into second place behind Haen. At the
checkers, it was Haen taking his first 2004 main event win. Muench finished second with Kilgore, third. Dave Bouche and Craig Paque rounded out the top five. Earlier heat winners for the night included Derenne, Jamie Suchocki and Don
Aregoni. Gary Reinhardt won the semi-feature.

In the May’s Sports Center IMCA Hobby Stock feature event, earlier heat race winner Roger LaViolette of Sturgeon Bay looked strong coming off the front row for the start of the race. Zion, Illinois, pilot Tony Schlei grabbed the top groove and outdistanced LaViolette to the race lead by the second go round. LaViolette fell back and was forced to pit about mid-race. The battle for position was from second on down as Dave DeGrave, Tom Brumlic and points leader Ed
Anschutz mixed it up. Brumlic was able to advance and chase down Schlei. But Schlei’s win was not to be as he spun going through the final turns of the last lap. Brumlic darted by and took home his fourth feature win. Anschutz and DeGrave slipped by as well, as Schlei was able to must a fourth-place finish. Marcus Moede finished fifth. Schlei and LaViolette won their respective heat events.

AmericInn Street Stock feature winner Aaron Thornton, Maplewood, started the feature race from the fifth row and focused on another win. Several early cautions and subsequent restarts plagued the event as the deck was shuffled several times. Early race leaders included Sturgeon Bay’s Dennis Weidner and Michael King Jr. of Little Chute. Both drivers would eventually fall back and it was rookie contender Kevin Damrow, Manitowoc, that would pace the others though
mid-race. Damrow held off King’s charges as well as Jeremy Wiitala of Green Bay, but it was a relentless Thornton that shadowed Damrow. With only five laps to go, Damrow fell prey to Thornton. Thornton went on to take his fifth feature win of the year. Damrow was forced to settle for second and Wiitala, third. Scott Reinhardt and Mike Pierrard rounded out the top five. Earlier heat winners were Reinhardt and Todd Polster.

In the Sport 4 division, feature winner Chad Williams, Brussels, muscled his way through traffic and walked away with his fifth feature win of the season. Charlie Gross, Gleason finished second to Williams while Tim Jorgenson, Oneida, finished third. Gross took home the heat win, his first of the year..

Saturday night, August 14th will be a night off for the local drivers during the Door County Fair. During Door County Fair Week, one of two special nights of racing has been slated for Wednesday night, August 11th when the Forest County Potawatomi-sponsored 2nd Annual Dirt Late Model ShootOut opens the Door County Fair. The card will also include two of the raceway's regular divisions, IMCA-style Modifieds and Stock Cars, with increased winner's purses for both
classes. It'll be possible for the Late Model overall winner to pocket $2,500 in feature earnings, while the Modifieds will race for $700 to win and the Stock Cars $350. Feature qualifying Late Models will compete in not one, but two 25 lap main events, with $1,000 going to the winner of each. A clean sweep of both headliners will be worth an additional $500 bonus, bringing the winner's share to a possible $2,500 total

A second night of racing will be on tap on Thursday, August 12, when all five exciting divisions compete under the lights for an anticipated large Door County Fair crowd. Points will be awarded for the Thursday night event.

Budweiser IMCA Modified, T Simon Jewelers IMCA Stock Car, May’s Sports Center IMCA Hobby Stock, AmericInn Street Stock divisions along with the Sport-4 class compete weekly on Saturday nights, with competition getting underway at 6 p.m.

Next week’s Saturday night event is sponsored by Bill Boettcher Automotive!

Thunderhill Raceway is located at John Miles Park, the site of the Door County Fairgrounds, just off Highways 42/57, and west on County Trunk T. For more information call 920-743-7052 or 920-746-0387, the track phone number.
The track’s website is www.racethunderhill.com.

RACE SUMMARY

20 lap Budweiser IMCA Modified Feature - Benji LaCrosse, Luxemburg; Todd Dart, Algoma; Sean Jerovetz, Suamico; Jeremy Jacobs ,Algoma; Jared Siefert, Green Bay; Doug Maurer, DePere; Darrell Massart, Brussels; Dan Ratajczak, Frog Station; Randy LeMieux Jr., Sturgeon Bay; Tim VanDeHei - R, Green Bay.
10 lap heats 1)James Tebon, Algoma; Doug Maurer; 2)Billy LeMieux, Sturgeon Bay; LaCrosse; 3)Jerovetz; Scott Derenne, Luxemburg.

18 lap T Simon Jewelers IMCA Stock Car feature - Corey Haen, Sturgeon Bay; Troy Muench - R, Green Bay; Shawn Kilgore, Kewaunee; Dave Bouche, Algoma; Craig Paque, Algoma; Mark Derenne, Kewaunee; Mike Wietor, Green Bay; Bernie Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; Rick Mahlberg, Denmark; Jeff Vlies, Brussels.
10 lap semi-feature - Gary Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; Shawn Havel - R, Brussels; Dave Davister, Luxemburg.
10 lap heats - 1)Derenne; Kraig Gretz, Kewaunee; 2)Jamie Suchocki, Kewaunee; Haen; 3)Don Aregoni, Sturgeon Bay; Vlies.

15 lap May’s Sports Center IMCA Hobby Stock feature -Tom Brumlic - R, Denmark; Ed Anschutz, Algoma; Dave DeGrave - R, Luxemburg; Tony Schlei, Zion, IL; Marcus Moede, Casco; Keith Kickbusch - R, Kewaunee; Evan Madden, Algoma; Brandon Peterson, Sturgeon Bay; Jeff Lautenbach, Sturgeon Bay; Dave Lane, Green Bay;
10 lap heats 1) Schlei; Joe Hegnet, Sturgeon Bay; 2) Roger LaViolette - R, Sturgeon Bay; Anschutz.

15 lap AmericInn Street Stock feature - Aaron Thornton, Maplewood; Kevin Damrow - R, Manitowoc; Jeremy Wiitala, Green Bay; Scott Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; Mike Pierrard - R, Green Bay; Todd Polster - R, Baileys Harbor; Scott Iverson, Sturgeon Bay; John Sternard - R, Sturgeon Bay; James Anderson, Sturgeon Bay; Jerry Denil.
10 lap heats 1) Reinhardt; Damrow; 2)Polster; Von Eytcheson, Forestville.

10 lap Sport Four feature - Chad Williams, Brussels; Charlie Gross - R, Gleason; Tim Jorgenson - R, Oneida; Butch Beyers - R, Green Bay; Steve Schaumberg; Gene Sternard - R, New Franken.
8 lap heat - Gross, Malcore.