Matthias Claims IMCA Modified Victory
By Chris Budzban
July 5, 2008; Sturgeon Bay, WI - DePere's Jay Matthias held off Luxemburg's Jeremy Jacobs to capture his first IMCA modified feature win of the season at the Forest County Potawatomi Thunderhill Raceway. Meanwhile, Sturgeon Bay's Bernie Reinhardt picked up his fourth IMCA northern sport mod feature victory.
Photo Highlights
The IMCA Modified capped the night in a photo finish at the line. A late caution set up a two-lap dash to the finish, with #8m Jay Matthias just edging out #90 Jeremy Jacobs by inches at the line. Julie McDermid took third, Randy LeMieux, Jr. fourth and Mike Wedelstadt took fifth.
IMCA Stock Cars feature leaders #27 Willie DeGrave and #3p Todd Polster battled down low while #10 Matt Junio found his fast line on the outside of the pack. Junio continued his upper line and went on to his first feature win of 2008. Shawn Havel spun early on the in race, but charged back through the field to take second from DeGrave at the checkers.
Luxemburg's Dave DeGrave found his way back to the winner's circle in the IMCA Hobby Stock division. #40d Dave DeGrave took a look around #19 Scott Boulanger, made his pass, and dodged lapped traffic on his way to his fourth feature victory. Boulanger would hang on to second, followed by C.J. Weckler.
Bernie Reinhardt continued his recent dominance of the IMCA Northern Sport Mod division, taking home his fourth feature win in the last 5 races at Thunderhill. #11 Bernie Reinhardt made the pass for the lead from early leader #9 Dennis Miesler. Marcus Yarie moved up to finish second, followed by Jeff DuBois, points leader Jeff Vlies and Keith Kickbusch.
With just two laps to go, Seymour's #51 Jeremy Wiitala was able to survive a late race caution and held off Sturgeon Bay's #76 John Sternard to take his third feature win of the season at Thunderhill. Tony Everard came up to cross the checkers in second while Sternard took home a third place finish.
The IMCA modifieds got off to a rocky start with a couple of cautions without getting a lap in. Brett Wenzel and Randy LeMieux, Jr. battled for the lead early, with Mike Wedelstadt closing in fast. Wedelstadt tried to squeeze between LeMieux and Wenzel, but made contact with Wenzel sending both drivers into a spin. LeMieux was handed the lead and tried the high line around the track, but Matthias dove underneath to take the lead away. A late caution would set up a 2 lap dash to the finish, with Matthias edging out Jeremy Jacobs by inches at the line. Julie McDermid took third, LeMieux fourth and Wedelstadt recovered to take fifth.
The IMCA stock cars also had their share of caution flags early, shuffling the point leaders to the front early on. Luxemburg's Willie DeGrave and Casco's Matt Junio fought side by side for nearly the entire feature, with Junio getting the lead on the outside. Several cautions would shorten the race, with Junio pulling away for the victory. Shawn Havel spun early on the in race, but charged back through the field to take second from DeGrave at the checkers. Todd Polster and Charlie Kroll rounded out the top five.
Luxemburg's Dave DeGrave found his way back to the winner's circle in the IMCA hobby stock division. DeGrave took the lead from Scott Boulanger on the inside, and dodged lapped traffic on his way to victory. Boulanger would hang on to second, followed by C.J. Weckler, points leader Jarred VanLaanen and Keith Kickbusch.
Bernie Reinhardt continued his recent dominance of the IMCA northern sport mod division, taking home his 4th feature win in the last 5 races at Thunderhill. Wausau's Marcus Yarie charged to second place on the outside, but Reinhardt had already checked out by then. Yarie held on to second, followed by Jeff DuBois, points leader Jeff Vlies and Keith Kickbusch.
Seymour's Jeremy Wiitala made a three-wide pass and survived a late caution to take his 3rd feature win of the season at Thunderhill. Early on it was Aaron Thornton with the lead, but trouble on a restart ended his night prematurely. Wiitala got around last week's winner Todd Everard and cruised to victory. Everard followed in second, John Sternard took third, Thom Terrien fourth and Dan Merkle fifth.
The 4 cylinders were not able to run their feature due to curfew. Tony Everard and Kipp Burlo took home heat wins in the division.
Next week is sponsored by Havel Welding of Brussels. 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 - Jay Matthias, DePere; Jeremy Jacobs, Luxemburg; Julie McDermid, Oconto Falls; Randy LeMieux, Jr., Sturgeon Bay; Mike Wedelstadt, Fremont
Semi-feature - Shawn Kilgore, New Franken; Brian Joski, Luxemburg
Heat 1 - Tim Czarneski, Denmark; Matthias
Heat 2 - Jacobs; Wedelstadt
Heat 3 - Todd Dart, Algoma; Rick Johnson, Gills Rock
IMCA STOCK CAR FEATURE - Matt Junio, Casco; Shawn Havel, Brussels; Willie DeGrave, Luxemburg; Todd Polster, Sturgeon Bay; Charlie Kroll, Forestville
Semi-feature 1 - Scott Pagels, Egg Harbor; Tim Czarneski, Denmark
Semi-feature 2 - Darren Otto, Green Bay; Pat Davister, Luxemburg
Heat 1 - Dave Bouche, Algoma; Von Eytcheson, Forestville
Heat 2 - Kroll; Tony Bouche, Algoma
Heat 3 - Havel; Junio
Heat 4 - John Heinz, Green Bay; DeGrave
IMCA HOBBY STOCK FEATURE - Dave DeGrave, Luxemburg; Scott Boulanger, Luxemburg; C.J. Weckler, Sturgeon Bay; Jarred VanLaanen, Green Bay; Keith Kickbusch, Kewaunee
Heat 1 - Boulanger; Jeff Lautenbach, Sturgeon Bay
Heat 2 - Jason LaViolette, Little Sturgeon; Frank Paul, Luxemburg
Heat 3 - Marcus Moede, Luxemburg; DeGrave
IMCA NORTHERN SPORT MOD FEATURE - Bernie Reinhardt, Sturgeon Bay; Marcus Yarie, Wausau; Jeff DuBois, Luxemburg; Jeff Vlies, Kewaunee; Keith Kickbusch, Kewaunee
Heat 1 - DuBois; Dennis Miesler, Luxemburg
Heat 2 - Reinhardt; Brad Lautenbach, New Franken
STREET STOCK FEATURE - Jeremy Wiitala, Seymour; Todd Everard, Green Bay; John Sternard, Sturgeon Bay; Thom Terrien, New Franken; Dan Merkle, Bailey's Harbor
Heat 1 - Everard; James Iverson, Luxemburg
Heat 2 - Aaron Thornton, Maplewood; Terrien
4 CYLINDER FEATURE - CURFEW
Heat 1 - Tony Everard, Green Bay; Kasey Gross, Gleason
Heat 2 - Kipp Burlo, Sturgeon Bay; Charlie Gross, Gleason
