June 5, 2004; Sturgeon Bay,
WI. - With two rainouts from May in the history books now, Thunderhill
Raceway fans enjoyed some of the best weather and racing action of the young season on
Saturday night at John Miles Park with five exciting racing divisions. Northland
Steel sponsored the night’s events.
Photo Highlights |
With this week’s win, IMCA Mod Dan
Ratajczak can boast of two wins back-to -back, last week’s being a semi-feature win
in a backup car.
#73 Dan Ratajczak, aka “Frog Station Flash” was the winner of the 20-lap
feature event after a daring three-wide move through the middle with five laps to go.
Feature race leader #22 Doug Maurer held the inside line to find some bite on the
clay oval, and could not hold off the hard charging #73 Dan Ratajczak.
Green Bay’s Jared Siefert won the
mod
consi, passing #76 Kevin Sternard on the way to the front. Siefert is currently
third in points in the mod class.
Defending Thunderhill Stock Car Track
Champion, Shawn Kilgore of Kewaunee took home his second feature event win of the season
along with a heat win for the night.
IMCA Hobby Stock feature winner, #47
Keith Kickbusch celebrated his first feature event win of the year with a Polish Victory
Lap.
IMCA Hobby Stock #47 Keith Kickbusch
passed rookie driver #88 Dave Serrahn on his way to his first feature event win of
the season. Serrahn finished third.
Street Stock feature winner, #95 Aaron
Thornton wrestled his way to the front to take his first feature win of the year
after an earlier heat win.
Street Stock feature winner, #95 Aaron
Thornton, passed #75 Thom Terrien on his way to the front of the feature event.
In the Sport 4 division, defending Thunderhill Track Champion Ken Malcore swept the
night with a heat and subsequent feature win. Malcore held off pressure from #9 Charlie
Gross in the feature.
|
In the Budweiser IMCA Modifieds, Dan Ratajczak, aka “Frog
Station Flash” was the winner of the 20-lap feature event after a daring three-wide
move through the middle with five laps to go. Early race leader Doug Maurer held the
inside line to find some bite on the clay oval, and could not hold off the hard charging
Ratajczak. At the same time, Jeremy Jacobs looked to have mastered the outside
groove, taking the race three-wide with Maurer and Ratajczak to the inside.
With this week’s win, Ratajczak can boast of two wins back-to-back, last week’s
being a semi-feature win in a backup car. Maurer finished a season-high second, with
Randy LeMieux Jr. finishing third. Jacobs and Sean Jerovetz rounded out the top
five. Four points now separate the top five drivers in the division’s hotly
contested points battle. Ratajczak and Jacobs share a tie in the points race with
128 points each. Earlier heat winners were Tony Herbst, Maurer, and Jacobs with the
consi victory going to Jared Siefert.
Defending Thunderhill Stock Car Track Champion, Shawn Kilgore of Kewaunee took home his
second feature event win of the season. Kilgore grabbed the lead from early leader
Rick Mahlberg on the fourth circuit, putting Mahlberg to do battle with Jeff
“Pepe” Vlies. In the closing laps, Vlies passed Mahlberg to finish second
with Tracy Koontz and divisional points leader Bernie Reinhardt filling out the
top-five. At the end of the night, Reinhardt keeps a slim lead in the points battle
with only four points separating the top six cars in the class. Earlier heat winners
were Koontz, Mike Wietor, and Kilgore with the consi win going to Matt Junio.
In the May’s Sports Center IMCA Hobby Stock feature event, Keith
Kickbusch celebrated his first feature event win of the year with a decisive win over
points leader Ed Anschutz. Kickbusch took the lead on the fourth lap and
outdistanced Anschutz for the win. Rookie driver, Dave Serrahn finished third with
Evan Madden and Wayne Moore taking the top spots. With the win, Kickbusch moves into
a tie with Madden for second place in points behind Anschutz. Eleven points separate
the top five drivers in points. Earlier heat winners were Kickbusch and Anschutz.
In the AmericInn Street Stock feature event, Sturgeon Bay’s Aaron Thornton wrestled
his way to the front of the 20-car field by the fifth lap and went on to take his first
feature win of the year. Last week’s feature winner, Scott Iverson was able to
get some lead time early on, but fell victim to Thornton. Michael King finished a
strong second to Thornton after an Iverson miscue. Iverson held on for a third-place
finish, followed by Mike Pierrard and Brian Ambrosius. Earlier heat winners were
King, Thornton, and Jeremy Wiitala with the consi win going to Von Eytcheson.
In the Sport 4 division, defending Thunderhill Track Champion Ken Malcore swept the night
with a heat and subsequent feature win. Points leader James VanDenBogart holds a
slim lead in the points race.
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 event is the Lakes Gas at Thunderhill Raceway!
A special night of racing has been slated for Wednesday night, August 11 when the Forest
County Potawatomi- sponsored 2nd Annual Dirt Late Model ShootOut opens the Door County
Fair. 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- Dan Ratajczak, Frog Station; Doug Maurer, Green Bay; Randy LeMieux, Jr., Sturgeon
Bay; Jeremy Jacobs, Algoma; Sean Jerovetz, Suamico; Jared Siefert, Green Bay; Todd Dart,
Algoma; George Henkel, Sturgeon Bay; James Tebon, Algoma; Bob Waechter, Ellisville.
12 lap semi-feature - Siefert; Benji LaCrosse, Luxemburg; Mike Cole, Baileys Harbor;
Waechter; Rick Johnson, Gills Rock.
10 lap heats 1) Tony Herbst, Sturgeon Bay; Dart; 2) Maurer; Randie Back, Green Bay;
3) Jacobs; Chris Derenne, Luxemburg.
20 lap T Simon Jewelers IMCA Stock Car
feature - Shawn Kilgore, Kewaunee; Jeff Vlies; Brussels; Rick Mahlberg, Denmark; Tracy
Koontz, Brussels; Bernie Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; Charlie Kroll, Algoma, Dave Bouche,
Algoma; Matt Junio, Casco; B.J. Soquet, Green Bay; Troy Muench, Green Bay.
10 lap semi-feature - Junio; Shawn Wagner, Pulaski; Chris Hendricks, Green Bay;
Jamie Suchocki, Kewaunee; Don Aregoni, Sturgeon Bay.
10 lap heats 1) Koontz; Mahlberg; 2) Mike Wietor, Green Bay; Craig Paque, Algoma; 3)
Kilgore; Vlies.
15 lap May’s Sports Center IMCA Hobby Stock
feature - Keith Kickbusch, Kewaunee; Ed Anschutz, Algoma; Dave Sarrahn, Algoma; Evan
Madden; Algoma; Wayne Moore, Sturgeon Bay; Marcus Moede, Casco; Tom Brumlic, Denmark;
Brandon Peterson, Sturgeon Bay; Dave DeGrave, Luxemburg; Carl Laughlin.
10 lap heats 1) Kickbusch; Madden; 2) Anschutz; Dwayne Mertens, Luxemburg.
15 lap AmericInn Street Stock feature
- Aaron Thornton, Sturgeon Bay; Mike King Jr., Little Chute; Scott Iverson, Sturgeon Bay;
Mike Pierrard, Sturgeon Bay; Jeremy Wiitala, Green Bay; Von Eytcheson, Forestville; Kevin
Damrow, Manitowoc, Dennis Weidner, Sturgeon Bay; Scott Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; Thom
Terrien, Green Bay.
Scott Iverson, Sturgeon Bay; Von Eytcheson, Forestville; Jeremy Wiitala, Green Bay; Aaron
Thornton, Sturgeon Bay; Mike Pierrard, Sturgeon Bay; Brian Ambrosius, Pulaski; Harley
Simon; James Iverson, Sturgeon Bay; Kevin Damrow,
Manitowoc, Michael King, Appleton.
10 lap semi-feature - Eytcheson; Scott Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; John
Sternard, Sturgeon Bay; Joe Hegnet, Sturgeon Bay; Don Polcen, Sturgeon Bay.
10 lap heats 1) King; Terrien 2) Thornton; Iverson; 3) Wiitala; Kevin
Jandrin, Forestville.
10 lap Sport Four feature - Ken
Malcore, Algoma; Chad Williams, Brussels; Butch Beyers, Green Bay; Jon Beilfuss Jr.;
Charlie Gross.
8 lap heat 1) Ken Malcore, Algoma; Chad Williams, Brussels. |
