Tomahawk Speedway Appreciates the Fans By Gene Harmelink
Tomahawk, WI Sep 06, 2008 - Friday, September 5, was fan appreciation night at Tomahawk Speedway with free admission for fans, an awards ceremony with free food and drinks, and trophy presentations following the night's racing program.
Trophies were presented to the top five track champions in each division with the top awards going to Bruce Belland in the WISSOTA Midwest Modified Division, Jeff Hoogland in the WISSOTA Street Stock Division, Wally Laffin in the Pure Stock Division, and
Ken Schram in the Four-Cylinder Bandit Division.
In WISSOTA/Amsoil Midwest Modified action Jimmy Barttelt, Jr. and Wayne Dean started on the front row with Barttelt, Jr. jumping to an early lead. Barttelt, Jr. led the first two laps of the feature with Dean settling for second and Jimmy Barttelt, Sr. running in third. A caution occurred after lap two when Barttelt, Jr. made hard contact with the front stretch wall, ending his night. On the restart, Barttelt, Sr. went for the lead with Dean once again running in second, Will Roffers in third, Duane Dunbar in fourth,
and Steve Brown in fifth.
By lap five, Barttelt, Sr. was still in the lead, Dean was in second and Dunbar had moved into third, with Roffers dropping to fourth, as Brown continued to run fifth. Midway through the race, the top five continued to run in the same order, but a great battle was breaking out for fifth with Cody Schmidt and Steve Brown swapping places every other lap. Lap fifteen saw the same running order.
Dean had been showing signs of going for the lead since lap fifteen, but it was during lap eighteen that Barttelt, Sr. and Dean ran side-by-side as Dean attempted to make the pass for the lead. Dean did complete the pass on lap nineteen and then bolted to a nice margin of victory by the end of the race between himself and Barttelt, Sr., to take his first-ever feature win in a Midwest Modified. Rounding out the top five were: Dunbar, Roffers, and
Schmidt.
Dean celebrated by climbing the flag stand and accepting the checkered flag from Flagman Jeff Eisner. Dean then proceeded to do a "Kulwicki" victory lap prior to getting his victory lane picture taken.
In WISSOTA/Amsoil Street Stock action, Steve Karshbaum and Keith Troutman rounded out the front row with Karshbaum taking an early lead. Karshbaum led the first nine laps of the feature, but it was John Kallas, who had started third and was testing a new power plant just installed that day, who would take the lead after making a pass midway through the feature, after having started third.
Kallas then put his new motor to the test, stretching his lead over Karshbaum to a full turn by lap sixteen. Track champion, Jeff Hoogland, steadily moved up from his fifth-place starting spot to run third, but it wasn't enough, as Karshbaum just proved to be too strong. Meanwhile, Jordan Kurtti, who had started fourth, was making a charge to the front of his own as Troutman dropped to fifth.
In the end, it was Kallas with the win, Karshbaum in second, Kurtti in third, Hoogland in fourth, and Troutman in fifth. Bill Froelich had to settle for sixth but in a way it was a victory for him as he completed the 100th feature race on a very trusty Adams motor.
The Pure Stocks and Four-Cylinder Bandits only ran feature races on Friday night in an effort to get the program done at a reasonable time to complete the awards festivities.
In Pure Stock action, there was plenty of bumping and grinding as track champion, Wally Laffin, and newcomer, J. J. Woller, led the field to the flag stand for the start of the race. Unfortunately, Woller would not complete the race as his car suffered enough damage midway through the race to be sidelined for the rest of the night.
Wayne Nylund, who had started fifth, proved not only to have the fastest car, but also proved to be the best at avoiding confrontation and entanglement as he went on for the win. Rounding out the top five were: Toby Selmer in second, after starting fourth, Jay Wilberding, who had started third, John Jarrett, who had started sixth, and Wally Laffin.
In the Four-Cylinder Bandit feature, Ryan Schuppler was off to an early lead after starting on the pole, but track champion, Ken Schram moved quickly from third, to take second after the completion of lap three.
By lap seven, Schram had passed for the lead as Schuppler began a slow fade to
eventually finish fifth. By race end, it was Schram with the win, Bobby Sheldon, Jr. in second, followed by Elliot Marquardt, Kurt Komarek, and Schuppler.
The race night ended with a variety of mechanic and powder-puff races. Most notable of the mechanic race wins was one by former Midwest Modified driver, Scott Anderson, piloting the Wayne Dean machine. Anderson doesn't seemed to have lost the magic touch and appeared to be having way too much fun as he cruised to a victory.
Racing at Tomahawk Speedway resumes on Friday, September 12, when the Speedway
together with Bob Troutman as part of Bubba's Big Party, will host motor cycle
racing and four-cylinder racing as part of Tomahawk's Fall Ride and Harley Week.
The last regular night of racing will be on Friday, September 19, when Tomahawk
Speedway will host double-pay Midwest Modified and Street Stock specials, along with Pure Stocks and Bandits.
