Johnson takes first Super Stock
feature of season at Monster Hall! August 17, 2001; Unity, WI. - A wild night of WISSOTA race action at the Monster Hall Raceway concluded with a double tear down of one of the area's finest drivers on Friday. Double duty driver Kevin Adams was not the victor in either the WISSOTA Super Stocks or the Street Stocks, but both cars had their engine, transmission and rear end protested at the conclusion of the feature races Friday night.
During the postrace inspection, which lasted until the wee hours of
the morning, nothing in either of Adams' cars was found be in violation of WISSOTA rules.
The findings should end all rumors about foul play by the The Affordable Modifieds were first to take to the raceway for their feature race and at the drop of the green Bill Purdy took the lead, leaving Troy Payne, Duane Geboy and Scott Anderson to duke it out for third behind Shane Halopka. The first caution of the race flew before one lap could be completed when Geboy got spun by Anderson. On the restart Purdy bobbled a bit in turn two, which allowed Halopka to over take the lead. Meanwhile Anderson jumped to the high side and appeared in fourth before one lap was completed under green flag racing. Anderson battled Payne over the next few laps and swapped the third and fourth positions before Anderson secured the position. Anderson then set off after Halopka and steadily closed in on his bumper.
After trailing Halopka for one lap glued to his bumper, Anderson found an opening and shot
to the lead. Once in front Anderson was gone and continued in the lead until the checkered
flew. However, officials deemed that he jumped one of the restarts and awarded Halopka
with the win. The WISSOTA Super Stock feature was a wild event, which began with the front row starters setting a fast pace to the green flag. Jim Willner and Scott Johnson ran wheel to wheel for one full circuit before Willner gained the edge out of turn four one lap into the contest. Shawn Huse held third. One lap later Huse passed Johnson for second; however, a caution waved for Shannon Williams and Jerome Kowalski, who spun in turn three. On the restart Johnson got a good run out of turn four and overtook Willner for the top slot out of turn two while a tight battle raged between Huse, Kevin Adams, Paul Lieders and Lonnie Leu. The second caution of the race appeared when Huse got spun in turn two; however, he was not replaced to his running position and was instead sent to the tail. On the restart Adams looked to the inside of Willner but there just wasn't enough room to complete the pass. Lieders searched for away around Adams. The battles simmered once again when Terry Gorst got turned around in turn four. On the next restart the race made a turn for the worse when the pack raced into turn one. It appeared that Adams was running about a half car length from the tires on the track behind Willner in turns one and two when Lieders shot to the inside of Adams. Lieders's right front made contact with Adams' left rear, which sent Adams into a spin out of turn two, and the caution flew once again. Officials were unsure of who to charge on the caution but eventually
decided to give all of the racers theirs spots back. When the race resumed, Lonnie Leu bolted to the inside of Willner for secong going into turn two and took the position down the back chute. After another quick caution, the race really heated up when Lieders looked to the inside of Willner for third on the front stretch. Willner was forced to run the high side and got loose in turn two, then was shuffled back to sixth before he spun in turn four. Paul Erikson, who was slowing for the spun Willner, was tagged by Lance Leu, ending Leu's night. Randy Spacek was in fifth for the restart and it was a mad three lap scramble to the finish. Scott Johnson continued to show the way and looked strong up front, but less than one car length behind him it was a four car battle for second which included Lonnie Leu, Lieders, Adams and Spacek. The four raced door to door over the final circuits and at the checkered Johnson held on to claim his first Super Stock feature win of the year followed by Spacek, Leu, Lieders and Adams. The first lap of the WISSOTA Street Stock feature was filled with nearly as much excitement as the Super Stock feature and included numerous spins. Brent Mindock grabbed the lead from the drop of the green flag; Bill Miller did a 360 degree spin on the front chute but kept racing. The caution was waved for the Miller spin and Mindock slowed in turn four; however, Chris Crapser did not see the yellow or Mindock and made heavy contact with him. The impact was at just the right angle for Crapser's machine to launch into the air and he nearly flipped. Surprisingly, damage to both machines was minimal and were able continue. On the complete restart Mindock wrestled the top slot away from Wayne Dean
while Kevin Adams made his way from 12th to fifth on the first lap of green flag racing.
Adams then closed in on Oertel, who was fourth, and when Adams pulled Oertel then stepped it up and raced by Mindock in turns one and two a few
laps later before a caution flew for Ken Heser, who sheared the right rear tire off his
ride in turn three. Three laps into green flag racing Oertel overtook Adams with an inside
move while Mindock tried the same. Mindock and Adams ran wheel to wheel to the finish
behind Oertel, who The WISSOTA Modifieds rolled onto the raceway for their feature next with
Paul Knauf and Jeff Spacek on the front row. The initial start was called back because the
flagman was not satisfied with it and on the second attempt Spacek rocketed to the lead.
As the field raced down the back chute, sixth place starter Ken Pankratz spun in turn
three and was left facing the wrong way. With nowhere to go, Scott Duval clipped
Pankratz's front wheel and was shot into the air Kevin Rogers went pitside to repair damage to his machine and returned before the green and the others were also able to continue. Since one full lap still had not been completed, an automatic restart was called. Like the last start, Spacek shot to the lead while Troy Kuyoth, who broke in a heat race and was forced to start from the rear, took to the high side and marched forward; however, mechanical problems ended his night a few laps later. Meanwhile, near lap six Spacek began to encouter wild lapped traffic. He patiently picked them off one by one while Knauf's engine seemed to be misfiring from the second position. A lengthy caution period occurred after Butch Steckbauer spun on the back chute but would not obey officials and go to the rear. He was later black flagged. Also under the caution, Knauf went pitside with engine trouble. Once again under green flag racing, Spacek was unbeatable and continued to lead from the high side. Current Modified track point leader Tyler Keyser tried the inside of Spacek on a few occasions but had nothing for the leader. Meanwhile, back in the pack Jed Moore was rim riding the high side in exciting fashion in his Laabs Ford powered Cobra chassis. Moore picked off cars lap after lap and soon appeared in eighth after starting 20th. Another caution waved over the raceway after Luke Schilling got spun in turn one. On the restart Moore got a good run and passed both Steve amd Tim Isenberg
in one corner, then closed on visiting South Dakota driver Scott Ward before yet another
caution flew for debris in turn two. Moore got another good run on the restart and jumped
to fifth behind Duval. At this point of the race the running order was Spacek, Keyser,
another South Dakota visitor Stan Halverson, Duval and Moore. Steve Isenberg was able to
slip by Ward for sixth before the checkered SUMMARY WISSOTA Modifieds: WISSOTA Super Stocks: WISSOTA Street Stocks: A-Mods: Cruisers: |
