Gottwald Gets First, Olson Wins Race And Championship At I-94 Raceway By Dean Reller
SAUK CENTRE, MN Sep 08, 2008 - The 2008 season wrapped up in grand style as John Gottwald won his first career American Speed Association Super Late Model Feature and then later in the night, Jon Olson took the second ASA Super Late Model Feature and earned enough points to capture the Championship at the I-94 Raceway in Sauk Centre.
In the first 25 lap Feature, Gottwald took the lead from the start and then
raced wheel-to-wheel with Tim Olson. Olson would grab the lead with ten laps
remaining, but Gottwald wasn't about to waste the opportunity to get a win. On the final lap, the lapped car of Gordy Mason forced Olson to check up just enough to let Gottwald retake the lead and hold on for the win.
In the second feature, all eyes were on Joey Johnson, Jon Olson and Nick Panitzke, who were in a three-way battle for the Championship entering the final race of the season. Tyler Sjoman led the field to the green and swapped the top spot with Olson a couple of times in the race's first five laps, before Olson took command of the race. The race would run caution-free and that allowed Olson to pull away from Sjoman, by the time the checkered flag waved for Olson's second win of the season, earning him enough points in the process to take the Track Championship.
Joey Johnson had already wrapped up the Modified Championship, so the pressure was off and that played into Johnson's favor as he put a period on the season with the win in the Modified Feature. Johnson outran Jonathan Olmscheid from the start as Johnson planted himself in the lead. Cody Lee stepped up to challenge as he and Johnson would run nearly the entire race alongside or within a car's length of each other. Lee couldn't put together enough momentum to pull off the pass as he chased Johnson to the win.
Casey Traxler started the season with a win in the Legend Car Feature, so it was only fitting that he ended the season with another win. Traxler took the lead from the get-go as Dirk Henry and Matt Hendrickson applied pressure. Henry would take the lead from Traxler on lap nine, but that would be the only time that Traxler would surrender the top spot the entire race as he retook the lead on lap ten. Henry and Hendrickson battled hard the entire race, swapping spots several times, before Hendrickson finally took the position as Traxler finished off the race to take home the win. Hendrickson came away with the biggest prize of the night as he racked up enough points to take his second-straight Legend Car Championship.
Kyle Kirberger again had his car running in tiptop condition as he won the Thunder Car Feature. Kirberger took the lead right away as Dustin Karl followed in hot pursuit. Kirberger slowly pulled away from everyone as he went easily to the win. Karl finished a bit back to take second, but had collected enough points to garner the Thunder Car Championship.
Dean Peterson took the win in a photo finish in the UCAR Feature. Peterson took the lead from the start, as his son Matt Peterson pulled to his rear bumper. The pair freight trained their way around and late in the race, found themselves in heavy lapped traffic. Matt was able to work the traffic to his advantage as he took the lead with one lap remaining. Dean wasn't going to give up, as he charged back, setting up a drag race out of the final turn. Dean had a little bit more behind him as he crossed the line inches ahead of Matt to take the overall and Pro-4 Truck division win. Anneke Jenkins, who broke a week ago, didn't start the race, but was able to take the Pro-4 Truck Championship. CJ Karl took the win in the 4-Tracker division. The win coupled with Josh Christy's flat tire late in the race, gave Karl the 4-Tracker Championship. Tom Gjerstad outran the competition to take the win in the Just 4 Fun division, while Michael Lofquist took home the Track Championship.
The final activity for the 2008 season will be the annual awards banquet to be held on Friday November 7th at Gerard's Dining and Banquet in Sauk Centre. For more information visit www.i94raceway.com.
As an American Speed Association sanctioned track, the I-94 Raceway is part of the "first ever" ASA Member Track National Championship.
The goal of the ASA Short Track National Championship is to activate a measuring system which takes into account many variables, such as field size, inversion, wins and number of races in a season, and create a level playing field to determine who is the 'best-of-the-best' of the ASA Member Track Champions Nationwide.
The Joe Gibbs Driven ASA National Member Track Champion Award was designed to give the National Champion exposure with one of the top teams in racing - Joe Gibbs Racing. Joe Gibbs Driven, a division of Joe Gibbs Racing, sells the actual oil products developed and used by Joe Gibbs Racing to racers at all levels. More information can be found at www.joegibbsdriven.com.
The ASA Member Track program is comprised of a network of short tracks around the United States, as well as a variety of regional and national touring series. For news and information from all the racetracks and tours involved in the American Speed Association, visit www.ASA-Racing.com.
