McDermid Tops Mods; Two in a Row for Wiitala & Reinhardt at Thunderhill
By Chris Budzban
May 31, 2008; Sturgeon Bay, WI - Julie McDermid of Oconto Falls passed Shawn Kilgore after a late restart to capture the IMCA modified feature at the Forest County Potawatomi Thunderhill Raceway. Jeremy Wiitala and Bernie Reinhardt each won their second consecutive features in the street stock and IMCA northern sport mod divisions, respectively.
Photo Highlights
In the IMCA Modified feature, #90k Shawn Kilgore took a commanding lead but a late caution erased Kilgore's lead and allowed #1m Julie McDermid to slide underneath for the lead and the win. Todd Dart charged hard to second, followed by Kilgore, Randy LeMieux and Billy LeMieux.
Green Bay's #4 Darren Otto got the hole shot he needed against #12 Brian Anschutz and #8x Tyler Smith to lead wire to wire in the IMCA Stock Car feature, boasting a huge lead early and coasting to victory. The feature went green-to-checker with all twenty cars finishing the race.
IMCA Hobby Stock #40d Dave DeGrave and #69 Frank Paul went wheel-to-wheel for the race lead Saturday night with DeGrave eventually taking the lead and capturing the victory. He was followed by last week's winner Brandon Peterson, Paul, C.J. Weckler and Jarred VanLaanen.
#11 Bernie Reinhardt won his second consecutive feature in the IMCA Northern Sport Mod division. Reinhardt held off #31 Jeff DuBois to get to the front and take home the win.
Street Stock #51 Jeremy Wiitala won his second consecutive feature. Race leader and heat winner #44 Dennis Weidner led with three laps to go, but Wiitala took to the outside to make the pass for the win after a late race restart.
It was the battle of Thunderhill's current and past track champions as Green Bay's #8 Tony Everard passed Milwaukee's #2 Kenny Malcore enroute to victory in the caution filled 4-Cylinder feature. Charlie Gross, Jason Cornelius and Mike Sargent rounded out the top-five finishers.
In the Hobby Stock heat races, both #42 Jason LaViolette and #61 John Gilow each rolled their cars in separate incidents. Neither of the racers was injured and Gilow climbed out to give a wave to the fans. Photos by Patrick King.
Kilgore took a commanding lead from his front row starting spot in the modified feature, followed by James Tebon and McDermid. McDermid would get by Tebon, but Kilgore would hold his lead by a large distance. A late caution erased Kilgore's lead and allowed McDermid to slide underneath for the lead and the win. Todd Dart charged hard to second, followed by Kilgore, Randy LeMieux and Billy LeMieux.
Green Bay's Darren Otto led wire to wire in the IMCA stock car divison, boasting a huge lead early and coasting to victory. The feature went green to checker with all twenty cars finishing the race. Another good run netted second for Pat Davister, third to Shawn Havel, fourth to Tyler Smith and fifth to Tony Bouche.
Aaron Zellner took charge in the IMCA hobby stocks, with Frank Paul and Marcus Moede in hot pursuit. Trouble for both Moede and Jeff Lautenbach bunched up the field, with Dave DeGrave being the beneficiary. DeGrave and Paul went three wide with Zellner for the lead with DeGrave taking the lead and capturing the victory. He was followed by last week's winner Brandon Peterson, Paul, CJ Weckler and Jarred VanLaanen.
Sturgeon Bay's Bernie Reinhardt made the move on the outside of Jesse Kroll to win his second consecutive IMCA northern sport mod feature. Aaron Holiday would give chase but could not reel in Reinhardt. Following Holiday were Jeff DuBois, Keith Kickbusch and Jeff Vlies.
Jeremy Wiitala also made it two in a row as he captured the win in the street stocks. An early spin by Brian Weslow collected a bunch of cars, allowing the point leaders to jump to the front. Dennis Weidner led with three laps to go, but Wiitala took to the outside to make the pass for the win. John Sternard got the runner up spot, followed by Todd Everard, Weidner and James Iverson.
Tony Everard passed Kenny Malcore en route to victory in the caution filled 4 cylinder feature.
Next week is sponsored by Palmer Johnson of Sturgeon Bay. IMCA modified drivers will be introduced before their feature event. Racing gets underway at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening. The track's website is www.racethunderhill.com. For more information, call (920) 743-7052.
RACE SUMMARY
IMCA MODIFIED FEATURE - Julie McDermid, Oconto Falls; Todd Dart, Algoma; Shawn Kilgore, New Franken; Randy LeMieux, Sturgeon Bay; Billy LeMieux, Sturgeon Bay
Semi-feature - Tim Van De Hei, Green Bay; Jeremy Jacobs, Luxemburg
Heat 1 - McDermid; Jay Matthias, DePere
Heat 2 - Dan Ratajczak, Frog Station; Kilgore
Heat 3 - James Tebon, Algoma; Randy LeMieux
IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE - Darren Otto, Green Bay; Pat Davister, Luxemburg; Shawn Havel, Brussels; Tyler Smith, Luxemburg; Tony Bouche, Algoma
Semi-feature - Rick Mahlberg, Green Bay; Troy Muench, Brussels
Heat 1 - Bouche; Greg Gretz, Kewaunee
Heat 2 - John Anschutz, Brussels; Davister
Heat 3 - Charlie Kroll, Forestville; Matt Junio, Casco
IMCA HOBBY STOCK FEATURE - Dave DeGrave, Luxemburg; Brandon Peterson, Sturgeon Bay; Frank Paul, Luxemburg; CJ Weckler, Sturgeon Bay; Jarred VanLaanen, Green Bay
Heat 1 - Jeff Lautenbach, Sturgeon Bay; Roger LaViolette, Forestville
Heat 2 - DeGrave; Paul
IMCA NORTHERN SPORT MOD FEATURE - Bernie Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; Aaron Holiday, Green Bay; Jeff DuBois, Luxemburg; Keith Kickbusch, Kewaunee; Jeff Vlies, Kewaunee
Heat 1 - Jesse Kroll, Algoma; Reinhardt
Heat 2 - Dennis Miesler, Luxemburg; Holiday
STREET STOCK FEATURE - Jeremy Wiitala, Seymour; John Sternard, Sturgeon Bay; Todd Everard, Green Bay; Dennis Weidner, Maplewood; James Iverson, Luxemburg
Heat 1 - Thom Therrien, New Franken; Wiitala
Heat 2 - Weidner; Jimmy Anderson, Sturgeon Bay
4 CYLINDER FEATURE - Tony Everard, Green Bay; Kenny Malcore, Milwaukee; Charlie Gross, Gleason; Jason Cornelius, Oneida; Mike Sargent, Green Bay
Heat 1 - Kipp Burlo, Sturgeon Bay; Cornelius
Heat 2 - Jody Cornelius, Oneida; Everard
