Moore masters Modified action at
Monster Hall!
By Chris Burback
May 4, 2001; Unity, WI. - The Monster Hall Raceway held
its second event of the 2001 race season on Friday, May 4. Despite the forecast for a dry,
sunny day, it was cool, damp and dreary, but nothing was more chilling than the action on
the track.
The 24 car WISSOTA Super Stock feature was the first of four main
events of the night and the luck of the redraw put defending point champion Paul Lieders
on the pole.
At the drop of the green Lieders shot out to a four car length advantage over Lonnie Leu
and Jason Johnson; however, a quick caution after the first lap for Scott Geiger, who
stalled in turn two, put Leu back on Lieders' rear bumper for the single file restart.
On the restart Lieders again pulled out to a slight advantage while Johnson applied heavy
pressure to Leu for second and last week's feature winner, Randy Spacek, battled with Mike
Bauer for fourth.
On lap five a wreck in turn three brought out a lengthy caution period to remove scattered
debris and to burn off spilled fuel. Those involved were Lance Leu, Terry Gorst and Jim
Willner. Leu and Gorst went off on the hook while Willner was able to continue with
only minor sheet metal damage.
While track personnel directed the field to their appropriate positions, a light drizzle
started to fall over the raceway. At the drop of the green for the restart the leader,
Paul Lieders, suffered mechanical problems, causing a chain reaction behind him that sent
cars scattering. Mike Bauer seemed to be the one who suffered the most damage, losing
nearly all the sheet metal off the front of his ride. Lonnie Leu inherited the lead
for the restart with Jason Johnson still pressuring for the top position.
Meanwhile, on lap eleven, Butch Kummer suffered a flat tire and had to go pit side. Kevin
Adams had worked his way from the 21st starting position to a very respectable sixth
behind Bauer, Randy Spacek and Jere Stanton.
Kevin Sonnentag brought out the final caution of the feature event and the race went green
from that point on. Lonnie Leu was able to hold off heavy pressure by Spacek to claim the
win while Johnson finished third ahead of Bauer. Stanton was able to hold of the Erikson
for fifth.
A rather small field of WISSOTA Street Stocks was next on the card for their feature event
and, like the Super Stocks, last year's point champion, Kevin Adams, held the pole
position.
At the drop of the green Adams immediately shot out to a healthy lead but he was not
alone. Chris Oertel was glued to Adams' rear bumper the entire race and provided stiff
competition the entire nonstop distance. Oertel, at times, was able to get a nose under
the backfiring car of Adams in the corners but Adams fought back and pulled away down the
chutes.
Meanwhile, back in the field, Brent Mindock, who started shot gun on the field, had worked
his way to fourth and began to close the gap between himself and Teatz. However, his
efforts ended as the white flag flew.
In turn four on the final circuit Oertel drove hard to the inside of Adams in search of an
advantage, but he clipped a tractor tire on the inside of the track and completely sheared
off his left front wheel. Oertel was able to hold on to second while Adams went on to
record another clean sweep for the 2001 race season. Dave Teatz finished third ahead
of Brent Mindock and Ken Heser.
Next up were the WISSOTA Modifieds, the raceway's premiere division, and what a show they
put on for the fans.
Butch Steckbauer and Tyler Keyser paced the 20 car field to the stripe and at the drop of
the green Steckbauer drifted high, squeezing Keyser towards the wall. Keyser was able to
keep control of his Specialty Fab car and raced with Steckbauer into turns one and two.
As the rest of the pack chased Keyser and Steckbauer, Jeff Spacek clipped a tractor tire
on the inside of the track, causing a large pile up in turn two.
Dan Konrardy, who started 14th, had nowhere to go and drove over the top of one of the
cars in the wreck and was sent airborne into the backstretch retaining wall.
Konrardy was uninjured but his car went off on the hook. Others involved in the wreck
included Ken Pankratz, Brad Seehafer, Ray Karl, Jr. and Kevin Rogers.
Since a lap had not been completed, a double file restart was called for. Again,
Steckbauer drifted high and squeezed Keyser towards the wall but Keyser was able to
maintain his position and raced three wide with Steckbauer and Steve Isenberg into turns
one and two. Keyser was able to gain the advantage out of turn two and pulled out to a
four car length lead before a caution waved for Larry Mendrzycki and John Heser, who
stopped in turns three and four.
On the restart Keyser again led the field but Troy Kuyoth came alive and used his patented
high line, wide open march to the front. Also on the move was defending Modified track
champion Scott Duval. Duval, Kuyoth and Isenberg battled heavily for second for
several laps, swapping positions numerous times. Duval was able to make the pass on both
Isenberg and Kuyoth for second; however, a caution for Brad Seehafer, who stalled against
the turn four wall, negated the pass.
Back under green flag racing Keyser continued his dominance and gained a four car length
advantage near the mid point of the race. Meanwhile, the battle for second rekindled
itself as Isenberg, Kuyoth and Duval mixed it up for several more laps. Kuyoth eventually
gained the position and set his sights on Keyser. Just as Kuyoth caught Keyser in turn
one, he hooked a rut which sent him airborne and into a spin. Kuyoth came to rest on a
tire on the inside of the track and was almost t-boned by the charging Isenberg, who had
nowhere to go.
Kuyoth was relegated to the rear for the restart and Isenberg now had a good look at
Keyser. Keyser and Isenberg fought for the top slot until Robby Bunkelman entered
the picture. Bunkelman was able to pass Duval for third
and began to pressure Isenberg for second before he and Duval bumped front tires, sending
Duval airborne towards the turn two wall and bringing out another caution.
Duval was relegated to the rear of the field, which had dwindled over the course of the
race.
The final restart had Keyser still in the lead followed by Isenberg, Bunkelman, Jed Moore
and Butch Oertel. However, Kuyoth was not about to settle for the position he was in, nor
was Duval.
When the green flag waved over the field Kuyoth and Duval put on a great show, charging
hard to the front. Both made their way to the front but fell short at the line, finishing
third and fourth, respectively.
Meanwhile, Jed Moore came alive and, as the white flag waved, he made a move on the
outside of Keyser in turns one and two. Moore pulled alongside of Keyser and they raced
door to door down the back chute into turns three and four. As the two came out of
turn four Moore found some extra traction and was able to pass Keyser in a photo finish
for his first ever feature win. Keyser wound up second ahead of Kuyoth, Duval and
Isenberg.
The A-Mod feature was the last event on the card for the evening and went nonstop.
Scott Anderson had his number 27 machine dialed in and dominated the event, leading from
green to checkered and scoring a clean sweep on the night. Shane Halopka crossed the
stripe in second ahead of Mickey Nosser, Brian Rodman and Mark May, who rounded out the
top five.
SUMMARY
WISSOTA Modifieds:
Feature - Moore, Keyser, Kuyoth, Duval, Isenberg, Oertel, Bunkelman, Knauf,
Andres, Pankratz
Heat 1 - Moore, Keyser, Steckbauer, Knauf, Karl, Jr.
Heat 2 - Duval, Spacek, Andres, Isenberg, Konrardy
Heat 3 - Bunkelman, Kuyoth, Oertel, Schilling, Rogers
WISSOTA Super Stocks:
Feature - Lo. Leu, Spacek, J. Johnson, Bauer, Stanton, Erikson, Willner, Bolosky,
Adams, Dunbar
Heat 1 - Erikson, J. Johnson, Bolosky, Bauer, Westaby
Heat 2 - La. Leu, Truscott, Lo. Leu, S. Johnson, Willner
Heat 3 - Spacek, Lieders, Gorst, Stanton, Stanley
WISSOTA Street Stocks:
Feature - Adams, Oertel, Teatz, Mindock, Heser, Krause, Kellner, Miller, Goulden,
Stark
Heat 1 - Adams, Teatz, Krause, Goulden, Stark
Heat 2 - Oertel, Kellner, Heser, Lindner, Mindock
A-Mods:
Feature - Anderson, Halopka, Nosser, Rodman, May, Purdy, Geboy, Poyda, Genett
Heat 1 - Anderson, Genett, May, Halopka, Geboy |
