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Queensland victorious in Super return to Chateau
By Matthew Grage
© 2008 All The Dirt! Racing News, Inc.
LANSING, MN (May 9) - Chateau Raceway powered by Miners Outdoor and Recreation opened its 2008 season of AMSOIL Dirt Track Racing Series action with a nice field of cars scattered throughout six classes of action Friday night.
After five weeks of rain, snow and generally cold miserable weather wiped out any chance of racing, fans finally got their chance to see the cars take to the 1/3-mile oval and its fresh new layer of clay that was laid down last fall. As expected, there were some rough spots in the track by the end of the first full night of racing but the prospects for some very fast racing looked real good as cars were turning some very fast laps on the new surface.
Also included in the category of fresh items on the 2008 agenda was the return of the WISSOTA Super Stock division. The class was dropped a few years back but the decision was made during the off-season to give them another try this year. The car count wasn’t as high as it could have been, but it is hoped the class will pick up and drivers will start making Lansing their Friday night stop.
Seven cars showed up for Triple J Disposal WISSOTA Super Stock action and Cole Queensland of Grand Meadow led the way with a pair of wins. Chris Klinger of Austin came home second in the main event after he worked his way through the field and pressured Queensland during the final laps. Josh Bartel of Kasson was third in the feature followed by Tony Shaner of Owatonna and Jason Gabrielson of Austin.
Leading the way with a field of twenty-one cars was the Power 96 WISSOTA Midwest Modified division. Defending track champion Kenny Wytaske of Lansing picked up where he left off last season with a trip to victory lane after a wild feature win over Dan Wheeler of Columbia Heights and Jerry Young of Blooming Prairie.
Young charged off the pole and led the race up until lap 16. A caution regrouped the field with four laps to go when Wheeler was clipped as he was working lapped cars. Wheeler was given his spot back in third behind Young and Wytaske for the restart. Wytaske then slipped past Young, but Young came right back and regained the lead on lap 18.
Coming to the white flag, however, Wytaske reclaimed the lead and held on tight the rest of the way. Young made a hard charge in turn four down low, but as he and Wytaske charged toward the checkers, Wheeler went around Young and swiped the runner-up spot.
Albert Wytaske of Lansing and A.J. Wiste of Adams rounded out the top five.
Heat winners for the class were Young, Dustin Steinbrink of Austin, and Greg Pfeifer, Jr. of Austin.
In Affordable Portable WISSOTA Street Stock action, the first feature win of the 2008 season went to Bobby Kilby of Austin. Kilby started inside the second row, moved past polesitter Scott Olson of Rochester on the first lap and led flag to flag for the win. Ryan Goergen of Stacyville, IA, who started on the outside of the front row, outdueled Olson for second with Dave Stevens of Albert Lea and A.J. Zvorak of Blooming Prairie completing the top five.
Olson and Goergen took the heat wins for the class.
The Frenchs Repair and Fabrication of Dodge Center USRA Modifieds ran one of the wildest feature races of the night. An excellent field of drivers put on a great display as they battled each other as well as the new racing surface. A rut formed in the bottom groove in turn one and a bit of a hole in turn four presented a couple of challenges for the drivers. However, it appeared they chose to ignore the rough spots as they drove hard for the win.
Mike Sorensen of Rochester started on the pole and grabbed the early lead. Row three starters Mark Noble of Blooming Prairie and Kelly Shryock wasted little time moving toward the front and joined Sorensen in a three-car fight; they swapped positions and sent their cars flying in the air at times as they bounced across the rough spots.
On lap 10, Noble went to the outside of Shryock and took over second. Noble pulled up beside Sorensen and on lap 12 he took the lead down the backstretch and Shryock followed him into second. Shryock passed Noble for the lead one lap later and Sorensen shifted Noble back to third. Sorensen and Shryock then raced side by side for the next couple laps until Sorensen held the point at the end of lap 18.
Shryock made a few more challenges as the laps wound down but all proved to be in vain. Shryock held off Noble for second while Brad Bakken of Garner, IA came home in fourth with Doug Hillson of Blooming Prairie rounding out the top five.
Heat winners were Hillson, Shryock and Sorensen.
A handful of new drivers debuted in the Albert Lea Pizza Ranch Pure Stock division, where a driver with a couple years of racing under his belt led the way. Brandon Skalicky of Claremont, who picked up a pair of feature wins last season, started off the new year in victory lane. Tyler Peterson of Hollandale charged forward and out raced heat race winner Billy Steinberg for second. Heat winner Jason Newkirk of Austin came home fourth followed by Dylan Nelson of Freeborn.
Veteran Gary Stahl topped a field of fresh new faces in the S&S Auto Salvage of Hayfield Hornet division. Randy Rauen of Austin finished runner-up to Stahl in the heat and the feature. Rounding out the top five in the feature were Bob Weber of Waltham, Jesse Harang of Northwood, IA and Kevin Vogt of Rose Creek.
Week two of racing on Friday night will feature car rides for the kids on the raceway prior to the night’s events so everyone is encouraged to get the kids out there early. The 11th annual Mike Guttormson Memorial will be held on Friday, May 23. The Memorial event this year will once again be a USMTS special.
WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature - Cole Queensland, Chris Klinger, Josh Bartel, Tony Shaner, Jason Gabrielson, John Thissen, Jeff Brauer
Heat - Queensland, Brauer, Bartel, Shaner, Klinger, Gabrielson, Thissen
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
Feature - Kenny Wytaske, Dan Wheeler, Jerry Young, Albert Wytaske, A.J. Wiste, Dustin Steinbrink, Bryan Hernandez, Ryan Stebbins, Joe Horgdal, Jason Born, Jeremy Misgen, Rick Toutges, Matt Olson, Troy Dahle, Brandon Davis, Greg Pfeifer, Jr., John Rishavy, Travis Nelson, Travis Wytaske, Ric Fynbo
Heat 1 - Young, A. Wytaske, Wheeler, Wiste, Stebbins, Toutges, Rishavy
Heat 2 - Steinbrink, Misgen, Dahle, Born, T. Wytaske, Olson, Ovrebo
Heat 3 - Pfeifer, Jr., Davis, K. Wytaske, Horgdal, Hernandez, Fynbo, Nelson
WISSOTA Street Stocks:
Feature - Bobby Kilby, Ryan Goergen, Scott Olson, Dave Stevens, A.J. Zvorak, Jesse Stahl, Jason Barber, Chad Frank, Dan Holland, Mike Kohn, Matt Paczkowski, Matt Eustice
Heat 1 - Olson, Kilby, Stahl, Eustice, Kohn, Frank
Heat 2 - Goergen, Holland, Stevens, Barber, Paczkowski, Zvorak
USRA Modifieds:
Feature - Mike Sorensen, Kelly Shryock, Mark Noble, Brad Bakken, Doug Hillson, Steve Wetzstein, Jacob Dahle, Joe Wernecke, Wally Bustad, Dave Wytaske, Jr., Alan Mondus, Shaun Olson, Greg Jensen, Thomas Wasmund
Heat 1 - Hillson, Wernecke, Wasmund, Brady Peterson, Olson
Heat 2 - Shryock, Dahle, Mondus, Bakken, Shawn Peterson
Heat 3 - Sorensen, Noble, Jensen, Bustad, Wyaske, Wetzstein
Pizza Ranch Pure Stocks:
Feature- Brandon Skalicky, Tyler Peterson, Billy Steinberg, Jason Newkirk, Dylan Nelson, Ross Spitzer, Samantha Stark, Matt Miller, Daniel Klingfus, Sammie Fromm, Adam Godeke, Myles Moreno, Tony Jensen, Jake Siemers, James Weber
Heat 1 - Steinberg, Skalicky, Peterson, Spitzer, Stark, Miller, Fromm, Weber
Heat 2 - Newkirk, Godeke, Nelson, Klingfus, Jensen, Moreno, Siemers
S & S Auto Salvage Hornets:
Feature - Gary Stahl, Randy Rauen, Bob Weber, Jesse Harang, Kevin Vogt, Ben Sprung, Cody Boverhuis, Michael Wytaske, Dan Weckwerth, Trae Diaz, Brianna Grinstead, Jacob Stark, Charlie Steinberg, Jim Briggs
Heat 1 - Stahl, Rauen, Weber, Wytaske, Diaz, Sprung, Grinstead, Briggs
Heat 2 - Harang, Vogt, Boverhuis, Weckwerth, Steinberg, Stark, Mark Houston
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