Thunderhill Raceway Race Reports |
|
LaCrosse Reigns at Thunderhill
By
Tom Wagner |
|
April 28, 2007; Sturgeon Bay, WI. -
After a stellar 2006 season, Benji LaCrosse is missing
one thing from his championship resume - a title at the
Potawatomi Thunderhill Raceway.
The defending IMCA Modified National champion took a step on
the way to remedying that situation by topping the season
opening feature at the third mile clay oval Saturday night.
Photo Highlights |
|
Last year's
IMCA Modified National Champion, Benji LaCrosse, of
Luxemburg took home the season-opening feature win at
Thunderhill Saturday night. LaCrosse
had won two events in 2006 at Thunderhill to finish third in
track points.
IMCA Modified
#54 Benji LaCrosse, Luxemburg, went wheel-to-wheel with #8m
Jay Matthias of Green Bay, on his way to the front of
Saturday's IMCA Mod feature
race at Sturgeon Bay. LaCrosse had to get by a tough Dan
Ratajczak to take the season-opening win.
IMCA Stock
Car #8 Charlie Kroll, Forestville, scored his second feature
win in as many weeks with a win on opening night at
Thunderhill Raceway. Kroll's other
main event win came at Luxemburg's opener one week ago.
In the
early-going of Saturday night's IMCA Stock Car feature
event, #8 Charlie Kroll of Forestville and #21 Dave Bouche,
Algoma battled for the race lead. Kroll went on for the win
the season-opening event at Thunderhill Raceway, Sturgeon
Bay. Bouche finished third to Kroll and Shawn Havel, Algoma.
AStreet Stock
#95 Aaron Thornton won Saturday night's season opener at
Sturgeon Bay in a hard-fought battle
for the win. Thornton won six feature events in the 2006
regular season at Thunderhill.
A three-way battle for the race lead in the Street Stock
feature event gave fans a great show as #95 Aaron Thornton
of Maplewood, muscled his way to the front of Saturday's
main event at Sturgeon Bay. Thornton joined race leader #51
Jeremy Wiitala, DePere, and Scott Reinhardt of Baileys
Harbor joined in the fun!
IMCA
Hobbystock #10 Brandon Peterson, Sturgeon Bay, won his
second career feature win on Saturday night at Thunderhill
Raceway.
IMCA
Hobbystock #10 Brandon Peterson and #56 Jeff Lautenbach,
both of Sturgeon Bay, battled for the lead briefly in the
opening laps of the Hobbystock feature
event. Peterson held off all challenges and went on for his
second career feature win.
Thunderbomb
#41 Ryan Eickert, Brillion, won the opening night feature
event.
Thunderbomb
#41 Ryan Eickert, Brillion, held off challenges by #37 Brian
Belleau, Algoma, and went on to take the first win of the
2007 season.
Four-Cylinder #11 Brad Matuszak, Pulaski, scored his second
feature win in the opening weeks of local racing with a win
on opening night at Thunderhill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay.
Matuszak's other win came on Luxemburg's opening night just
last week.
Pulaski's #11 Brad Matuszak, goes to the outside of Sturgeon
Bay's #22 Kipp Burlo to take the lead and the win in
Saturday's Thunderhill Raceway opening night.
Burlo was forced to settle for second. |
Joining LaCrosse in victory lane were Charlie Kroll in the
IMCA Stock Cars, Brandon Peterson in the IMCA Hobby Stocks,
Aaron Thornton in the Street Stocks, Ryan Eickert in the
Thunderbombs and Shawn Matuszak in the 4 cylinder class.
The modified headliner proved to be a bit of a rugged affair
with five caution periods scattered through the first half
of the event. The first four laps produced three yellows
alone, with Dan Ratajczak pacing the field. Opening night
line-ups are decided by the luck of the draw. LaCrosse
started in the second row just behind Ratajczak, putting him
in contention from the outset.
Finding little success on the inside lane early, LaCrosse
quickly swung to the outside on a lap four restart. Gaining
the outside advantage, he powered around Ratajczak into the
lead to stay on lap seven. Aiding the victor's cause was a
tight battle for second.
Todd Dart, Jay Matthias, James Tebon, Sean Jerovetz, Shawn
Kilgore and Jeremy Jacobs were all in contention at one time
or another. Dart was able to finally take control of the
runner-up spot coming out of the final restart, but was
unable to catch LaCrosse. Dart, Matthias, Tebon and Jerovetz
registered top five finishes. Scott Boyea recovered from an
early pitstop to race from the back of the pack to sixth.
Kroll had a good starting spot in the IMCA Stock Feature, an
advantage he parlayed into a dominating run.
He raced to the outside of Dave Bouche and Jeff Vlies on the
fourth lap, then pulled away to a comfortable margin. Bouche
tried to hold second, under constant pressure from Shawn
Havel and Matt Junio. Havel took the spot with four laps
left, but had no hope of running down Kroll.
Third place was settled by a matter of inches as Bouche held
off Junio at the line. Pat Davister topped Vlies in a battle
for fifth.
Peterson's sure victory turned into the win that almost
wasn't in the closing stages of the IMCA Hobby Stock
feature. He used his front row starting spot to pull away to
what appeared to be a safe margin.
But behind him, defending champ Keith Kickbusch had other
ideas. Kickbusch took second from Ed Anschutz on the seventh
lap, and steadily closed the gap on Peterson.
He caught him on the last lap, with time for one shot at a
pass. On the final corner, Peterson slipped high, with
Kickbusch diving to the inside. Now it was a drag race to
the finish, with Peterson hanging on by less than a car
length.
Anschutz held third, followed by Dave DeGrave, Jared
VanLanen and Marcus Moede in the top six.
Call it a high speed chess match - the Street Stock feature
saw the division's probable title contenders duke it out
from the drop of the green. Jeremy Wiitala and Scott
Reinhardt joined Thornton up front, passing the lead baton
back and forth until the 10th lap when Thornton took over
for good.
The eventual pass for the lead came after a thrilling
sequence - featuring Reinhardt running the low line, Wiitala
up high and Thornton trying to weave his way through the
middle.
At the line, it was Thornton, Reinhardt then Wiitala in
close order, followed by John Sternard, James Iverson and
Dan Davister.
In the Thunderbombs, a spirted three-way battle for the lead
between Eickert, Brian Belleau and Robby Waechter turned
into a twosome when Waechter bounced off the second turn
concrete on the seventh lap.
One circuit later, Eickert shot to the inside to pass
Belleau and race away to the win.
Matuszak passed Kip Burlo on the fourth lap, then was forced
to hold him off after a late caution to record his first
career Thunderhill 4 cylinder feature victory.
Saturday night, the Appliance Center will host the show,
with spectator gates opening at 4:30 and racing at 6:00.
Potawatomi Thunderhill Raceway is located at the John Miles
Fair Park in Sturgeon Bay. For more information, visit the
track's website at www.racethunderhill.com.
IMCA MODIFIED 20 LAP
FEATURE - Benji LaCrosse, Luxemburg; Todd Dart, Algoma; Jay
Matthias, Green Bay; James Tebon, Algoma; Sean Jerovetz,
Little Suamico; Scott Boyea, Abrams
Heat 1 - Shawn Kilgore, New Franken; Jerovetz
Heat 2 - LaCrosse; Boyea
Heat 3 - Jeremy Jacobs, Luxemburg; Tom Stark, Egg Harbor
IMCA STOCK CAR 18 LAP
FEATURE - Charlie Kroll, Forestville; Shawn Havel, Algoma;
Dave Bouche, Algoma; Matt Junio, Casco; Pat Davister,
Luxemburg; Jeff Vlies, Kewaunee
Semi-feature - Cory Cochart, Kewaunee; Don Aregoni, Sturgeon
Bay; Troy Muench, Sturgeon Bay; Scott Pagels, Egg Harbor
Heat 1 - Davister; Havel
Heat 2 - Bouche, Kroll
Heat 3 - Vlies; Von Eytcheson, Forestville
Heat 4 - Bernie Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; Tony Schlei, Zion,
IL
STREET STOCK 15 LAP
FEATURE - Aaron Thornton, Maplewood; Scott Reinhardt,
Baileys Harbor; Jeremy Wiitala, Green Bay; John Sternard,
Sturgeon Bay; James Iverson, Green Bay; Dan Davister,
Sugarbush
Heat 1 - Thornton; Sternard
Heat 2 - Wiitala; Reinhardt
IMCA HOBBY STOCK 15 LAP
FEATURE - Brandon Peterson, Sturgeon Bay; Keith Kickbusch,
Kewaunee; Ed Anschutz, Algoma; Dave DeGrave, Luxemburg;
Jared VanLanen, Green Bay; Marcus Moede, Casco
Heat 1 - DeGrave; Scott Boulanger, Luxemburg
Heat 2 - Jeff Lautenbach, Sturgeon Bay; Moede
4 CYLINDER 15 LAP
FEATURE - Shawn Matuszak, Pulaski; Kip Burlo, Sturgeon Bay;
Jamie Miller, Suamico; Ian Lassanske, Oconto; Tony Everard,
Green Bay; Ben Daoust, Seymour
Heat 1 - Everard; Lassanske
Heat 2 - Matuszak; Jason Cornelius, Oneida
Heat 3 - Burlo; Miller
THUNDERBOMB 10 LAP
FEATURE - Ryan Eickert, Brillion; Brian Belleau, Algoma; Dan
Merkle, Egg Harbor; Jesse Kroll, Forestville; Amber Weidner,
East Maplewood; Robby Waechter, Ellisville
Heat - Eickert; Merkle
|
|
|
|