The Prison Guard and the Flying Farmer Win WISSOTA Features at Tomahawk Speedway
By Gene Harmelink
Heavy rains earlier in the week left the track at the Tomahawk Speedway a bit wet, but in spite of the moisture, the racing was excellent and so was the race-night weather. While the heat races had to deal with a bit of a rough track, the feature races saw a smooth and quick track after some track maintenance was completed.
The feature program began with the WISSOTA/Amsoil Midwest Modifieds taking to the track with Brian Fuchs and Steve Brown on the front row. Fuchs was off to an early lead with heat winner and fifth-place starter, George Dalbeck, giving chase. Fuchs led for the first three laps and then Dalbeck made one of his high-powered moves to take the lead. Dalbeck led until lap ten when there was break in the action for a caution involving a single car spin by heat winner, Jimmy Barttelt, Sr., coming out of turn three. On the restart, Duane Dunbar, who had started eighth and was running second prior to the caution, made a nice pass coming out of turn four to take the lead, with Dalbeck settling into second and Bruce Belland, who had started seventh, running in third. Dalbeck continued to run second and then slowed two laps later, pulling his car into the pits.
With eight laps to go, Dunbar was still in the lead, Belland was running second, Mickey Nosser, who had started sixth, was running third, Chad Boettcher, who had started ninth was running fourth and Will Roffers, who had started tenth, was running fifth. At the completion of lap 15, there was a caution for Jimmy Barttelt, Jr. who had started third and was running sixth, as Junior’s car went up in a cloud of smoke. Once racing resumed, Dunbar once again was off to the lead and continued to set the pace for the rest of the field, with Belland in second. By race end, Dunbar had widened his lead taking his first feature win of the year at Tomahawk Speedway, Belland finished second, Nosser finished third, Boettcher finished fourth, and Will Roffers rounded out the top five.
Winning $100 in the Dash for cash was Bruce Belland and placing second was George Dalbeck with $50 in winnings.
The WISSOTA/Amsoil Street Stocks were up next for their feature with Keith Troutman and Bill Froelich on the front row. Froelich took a commanding lead right from the get-go and led the first three laps. With three laps into the books, the car of C. J. Hedges, Jr., who had started sixth, began to show smoke, but Hedges, Jr. continued. Froelich continued to lead with heat winner, Chris Rindfleisch, who had started third following in his tracks. Cliff Houle, who had started fourth, ran third, Jeff Hoogland, who had started fifth, ran fourth and Keith Troutman ran fifth.
By lap nine, Hedges, Jr’s car was showing heavy smoke and Hoogland was challenging for second. Lap twelve saw Hedges, Jr. pulling off into the pits, Froelich was still in the lead, Hoogland had moved up to second, Rindfleisch and Houle battled for third, and Troutman continued to run fourth.
Lap 17 saw Froelich hanging onto the lead by a fender over Hoogland and Houle passing Rindfleisch for third. It was lap 18 when Hoogland made the pass for the lead as Froelich’s car began to slow with an electrical gremlin. By lap 20, race end, Hoogland had stretched his lead to ten car lengths over Froelich, Foelich led Houle by three or four car lengths, Houle led Rindfleisch by four and Rinfleisch led Troutman by about the same margin. With the win, Hoogland expanded on his track point’s lead over Roger Walker and the rest of the Tomahawk Speedway Street Stock contenders.
Winning $100 in the Dash For Cash was Jeff Hoogland and placing second was Cliff Houle with $50 in winnings.
The Tomahawk Pure Stocks saw their largest car count of the year with six pure stocks coming to the line for their feature. Jay Wilberding and “The Wildman”,Terry “Toby” Selmer, led the Pures to the green flag, with Selmer jumping to a comfortable lead right off the bat. Selmer had the field covered in this caution-free race with Wilberding, Andy Nylund, who started fourth, and Wayne Nylund, who started third, running bumper-to-bumper and often door-to-door for the second spot. At the end of the race, the top four cars were all running just one car length apart, but Selmer proved to be the victor with a very “wide” Monte Carlo. Rounding out the top five were: Andy Nylund, Jay Wilberding, Wayne Nylund, and Wally Laffin, who had started sixth and ran fifth most of the race.
The Tomahawk Four Cylinder Bandits were led to the line by Mike Warga and “Crazzy Kenny” Schram. Schram was off to an early lead with Jayme July, who had started fourth, hot on his heels. By lap two, July had passed Schram for the lead, with Schram running second and Ryan Schuppler holding onto his third spot. Midway through the race, July had expanded his lead to a full front stretch, but then a caution came out for contact between the car of track point’s leader, Adam Johnson, and Ryan Schuppler. Johnson was sent to the back and in an unrelated situation, Kurt Komarek who had started seventh and was running sixth, had his car stop on him in turn four with a broken front suspension. When the race resumed after the only race caution, July again assumed the lead and never looked back, taking his second victory of the season. Rounding out the top five were: Schram, Schuppler, Johnson, and Will Lundberg who had started fifth and ran fifth most of the night.
Racing action resumes on Friday, July 25, when the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, WISSOTA Street Stocks, Tomahawk Pure Stocks, and Tomahawk Bandits once again take to the dirt. Hot laps are at 7:00 with racing at 7:30. Call for information on Super Stocks.
See http://www.tomahawkspeedway.com for further details. Or, call 715-891-2901.
