Thunderhill Raceway Race Reports |
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LaCrosse and Junio Strengthen Grip at The Hill!
By
Tom Wagner |
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August 4, 2007; Sturgeon Bay, WI. -
Benji LaCrosse and Matt Junio edged closer to track
championships, grabbing features wins Saturday night at the
Potawatomi Thunderhill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay.
LaCrosse scored his second feature win in a row and fifth of
the season in the IMCA Modifieds, while Junio charged from
deep in the field to win for the fifth time in the IMCA Stock
Cars. Also taking home trophies on the night were second year
racer Tim Czarneski in the Street Stocks, Dave DeGrave in the
IMCA Hobby Stocks, Charlie Kroll in the IMCA
Northern Sport Mods, Jeremy DeBois in the 4 Cylinders and
Jesse Kroll in the Thunderbombs.
Photo Highlights |
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IMCA Mod #54 Benji LaCrosse scored his second feature win in
a row and fifth of the season at Thunderhill Raceway.
LaCrosse won the Friday feature at Luxemburg also.
On the 16th lap of the IMCA Mod feature, #54 Benji LaCrosse
crossed to the inside to steal the lead away from #3L Billy
LeMieux, who had dominated the race up to that point.
Charlie Kroll passed points leader Jeff DuBois for the lead
and his ninth 2007 win.
#27 Charlie
Kroll passed #31 Jeff DuBois for the lead on the fourth lap
of the IMCA Northern Sport Mod feature, but was never able
to shake the points leader DeBois. Kroll notched his ninth
win in the class.
Points leader #10 Matt Junio won his sixth feature at
Thunderhill on Saturday night and gained in the IMCA Stock
Car points chase.
IMCA Stock Car #10 Matt Junio looked ahead in deciding when
was the best time to get around race leader #6 Rick Mahlberg.
Junio methodically moved though the field to solidly take
the lead and win on the final lap.
“CZ” Czarneski picked off Thom Terrien to take control of
the Street Stock headliner on the eighth lap. He cruised
from there to his third straight division win.
Street Stock #30 Tim Jandrin and #44 Dennis Weidner had
their hands full with #21cz Tim Czarneski on their outside.
Czarneski took home a first place trophy while Weidner
finished fourth with Jandrin fading out of the top five.
Dave DeGrave had a great weekend of racing, topping the IMCA
Hobby Stocks at Luxemburg and Thunderhill Raceway. It was
his first 2007 win at the Burg and his fourth at the Hill.
#40d Dave DeGrave and #31 Jarred VanLaanen battled for much
of the Hobby Stock feature race after VanLaanen inherited
the lead on the fourth lap. At the line, it was DeGrave by
just feet.
#8 Jesse Kroll was awarded his third feature win of 2007
after post-race inspection disqualified the Robert Waechter,
Jr. car.
Ellisville‘s #12 Robert Waechter, Jr. held off defending
track champ #11 Dan Merkle, Baileys Harbor, in Satuday’s
Thunderbomb feature event.
#17 Jeremy DuBois won his second Sport Four feature of the
season.
In the early going of the Sport Four feature, #17 Jeremy
DuBois was able to speed away from #1 Patrick King. DuBois
took the lead at the drop of the green and motored away for
another win. |
The Modifieds recorded 20 straight green flag laps, meaning
LaCrosse had
little time to spare in his quest for the win. He teamed
with fellow
title contender Todd Dart to challenge for the win from
their sixth row starting spot.
With Billy LeMieux out front, the duo moved in on Chris
Derenne and Jeremy Jacobs for second by lap nine. Dart took
the spot with LaCrosse in tow, and they quickly began to
reel in LeMieux.
On the 12th lap, LaCrosse swung to the outside to pass Dart,
then four laps later crossed to the inside to snare LeMieux,
grabbing the lead for good. Dart pressured LeMieux the rest
of the way for runner-up, but had to settle for third,
losing two more points to LaCrosse in the standings.
Junio was forced to drive from even deeper in the field to
notch his feature win. Despite a tenth row starting spot, he
ascended to fourth by the event's mid-point. His adversary
for the night was Rick Mahlberg, who established the lead on
the fifth lap, taking over for Mark Derenne.
Junio's methodical advance brought him to 2nd with seven
laps to go. With four to go, he worked to the inside of
Mahlberg and was heading for the pass when caution wiped out
the lap.
Junio was set up the inside of the second row with Troy
Muench on the outside for the restart. Again, Junio
established the inside on Mahlberg, and when they crossed
the line to complete the 15th lap he had the lead. Mahlberg
fought off Muench to retain second.
The tenth row starting spot was the furthest back Junio had
ever come from to win a feature in his long career.
Czarneski picked off Thom Terrien to take control of the
Street Stock headliner on the eighth lap. He cruised from
there to his third straight division win.
A wild, side-by-side, race for second finally went to Jeremy
Wiitala, as he bested Scott Reinhardt, Dennis Weidner and
Shanon Guelette for the position, with Terrien fading late.
The runner-up finish brought Wiitala to within four points
of Reinhardt and the division lead.
The IMCA Hobby Stock headliner proved to be a dogfight
between DeGrave and Jarred VanLaanen. VanLaanen had
inherited the lead on the fourth lap as front runners C.J.
Weckler, Scott Boulanger and Roger LaViolette
were all flagged for a caution.
Jeff Lautenbach led briefly, but the second half of the race
spotlighted the VanLaanen-DeGrave duel. As they traded paint
across the line, it was DeGrave by a matter of feet.
Charlie Kroll passed Jeff DuBois for the lead on the fourth
lap of the IMCA Northern Sport Mod feature, but was never
able to shake the point leader.
Aided by a late caution, both DuBois and Aaron Holiday kept
the heat on , but in the end it was Kroll notching his ninth
win in the class.
The father-son combination of Charlie and Kasey Gross gave
chase, but to no avail, as Jeremy DuBois pulled away in the
4 cylinders. DuBois took the lead at the drop of the green
with the Gross family breaking free from Patrick King, Kipp
Burlo and Kenny Malcore on lap five.
Despite having ten laps to do it, they couldn't catch DuBois,
who motored away to his second feature win of the season.
Rob Waechter, Jr led all of the laps in the Thunderbomb
feature, holding off Jesse Kroll by half a car length at the
checker for the apparent win. However, his car didn't meet
the division construction standards, and he was
disqualified.
With that, Kroll's late pass of Dan Merkle turned out to be
the pass for the win instead of second. The victory was his
second in a row, and cut Merkle's point lead to one in the
T-Bombs.
Racing continues this Wednesday night with the annual opener
to the Door County Fair. The Wisconsin Dirt Late Model
Association will once again headline the event, with the
four IMCA classes running in support. Pete Parker of
Kaukauna is the defending late model race champion.
The Modifieds, Stock Cars, Hobby Stocks and Northern Sport
Mods will be running for track, state, regional and national
points. Start time is 6:30, with no midway admission
necessary to attend the races.
There will be no racing Saturday night August 11.
The track is located at the John Miles County Park on
Sturgeon Bay's east side. For more information, visit the
track's website at www.racethunderhill.com
Race Summary:
IMCA MODIFIED 20 LAP FEATURE - Benji LaCrosse,
Luxemburg: Billy LeMieux, Sturgeon Bay: Todd Dart, Algoma:
Shawn Kilgore, New Franken: Jeremy Jacobs, Luxemburg: Jay
Matthias, DePere
Heat 1 - Willie DeGrave, Brussels: Dart
Heat 2 - Jacobs: LeMieux Heat
3 - Kilgore: James Tebon, Algoma
IMCA STOCK CAR 18 LAP FEATURE - Matt Junio,
Casco: Rick Mahlberg, Denmark: Troy Muench, Brussels:
Charlie Kroll, Forestville: Cory Cochart, Kewaunee: Bernie
Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay
Heat 1 - Jeff Vlies, Kewaunee: Tony Schlei, Zion, IL
Heat 2 - Kroll: Mahlberg
Heat 3 - Reinhardt: Muench
STREET STOCK 15 LAP FEATURE - Tim Czarneski,
Denmark: Jeremy Wiitala, Green Bay: Scott Reinhardt, Baileys
Harbor: Dennis Weidner, East Maplewood: Shanon Guelette,
Algoma: Jimmy Anderson, Forestville
Heat 1 - Guelette: Thom Terrien, Green Bay
Heat 2 - Czarneski: Reinhardt
IMCA HOBBY STOCK 15 LAP FEATURE - Dave DeGrave,
Luxemburg: Jarred VanLaanen, Green Bay: Frank Paul,
Kewaunee: Jeff Lautenbach, Jacksonport: Marcus Moede, Casco:
Keith Kickbusch, Kewaunee
Heat 1 - Scott Boulanger, Luxemburg: Brandon Peterson,
Sturgeon Bay
Heat 2 - DeGrave: Roger LaViolette, Forestville
IMCA NORTHERN SPORT MOD 15 LAP FEATURE - Charlie
Kroll, Forestville: Aaron Holiday, Green Bay: Jeff DuBois,
Luxemburg: Dave Davister, Luxemburg: Jason Jach, Pulaski:
Dave Budzban, Luxemburg
Heat - DuBois: Kroll
4 CYLINDER 15 LAP FEATURE - Jeremy DuBois,
Algoma: Charlie Gross, Gleason: Kasey Gross, Gleason: Kenny
Malcore, Milwaukee: Jason Cornelius, Oneida: Tony Everard,
Green Bay
Heat 1 - Kasey Gross: Jesse Madoche, Little Sturgeon
Heat 2 - DuBois: Malcore
THUNDERBOMB 12 LAP FEATURE - Jesse Kroll,
Forestville: Dan Merkle, Baileys Harbor: Kody LaViolette,
Forestville: Amber Weidner, East Maplewood: Chad Naze,
Forestville
Heat - LaViolette: Rob Waechter, Jr, EllisvilleT
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