Brust Beats Mother Nature in
Monster Hall Lates! Moore Masters Mod Action!
By Ben Brost
June 7, 2002; Unity, WI. - Rapidly deteriorating weather
conditions didn't halt the action from getting completely washed out, nor did it stop the
race fans from showing up. The fans came out in full force to see a spectacular,
efficiently run show with over 87 cars signed in to do battle. The track officials decided
to call the late model feature on lap eleven due to the rain that came at 10:00 PM. All
classes put on a great show for the fans, with a host of new competitors giving the
regular Monster Hall Raceway wheelmen a big time run for their money.
Kwik Trip in conjuction with the Special Olympics of Wisconsin
sponsored the night's events bringing a host of great prizes for the drivers and fans
alike, including everything from t-shirts to Green Bay Packer tickets. The heat races gave
everybody a taste of what was going to happen in the nights features with cars going 3
wide into turns 3 and 4, and multiple groove racing in corners one and two. The bumps in
the track worked themselves out as the night went on, and the racing improved race after
race.
The nights first feature race was the Midwest Modifieds, with #44 Brian Rodman starting on
the point, and #13 Dave Salzman rounding out the first row. Two feature winners made up
row number two, being that of #01 Al Seehafer and #4 Jim Poyda. The top four cars weren't
going to have an easy time keeping those spots, with the 2001 Midwest Mod Track Champion
#27 Scott Anderson, and longtime strong runner #34 Mickey Nosser completing row 3, and #21
Brian Jensen started shotgun on the field.
The green went up and down bringing the cars up to speed, with Seehafer flying around turn
one and two on the high side getting the holeshot and Nosser right on his trail. This left
Poyda in 3rd place, waiting patiently to capitalize on any mistakes that the top two
frontrunners might have made. Anderson in his red #27 was driving anywhere and everywhere
to try to find his way up to the front, and after successfully passing Poyda, he had his
target established on that first place spot.
After waiting patiently for a few laps, Seehafer and Nosser got together
coming out of corner 2, Anderson, in a brilliant move, shot underneath the two cars, and
set his car into turn 3 with nobody ahead of him. Anderson was left all alone up front
while the cars behind him fought for position. Poyda wanted to catch up to Anderson, and
successfully did so by driving around his former teammate, #44 Brian Rodman, and picking
off Seehafer, to come home with the second place spot. When the dust settled, Anderson,
once again, came out victorious.
The Street Stocks once again put on a wonderful show, and were able to hone their driving
skills by testing each other's abilities on the track. #8 John Goulden and #33 Mike Paul
grabbed the lead spots in the lineup, bringing the field of street machines up to speed.
Paul, showed that he had what it took to defend his title after winning the feature race
last week by jumping out to a sizeable lead over the rest of the pack. Caution flew 5 laps
into the race, bunching the cars back up again, with Paul still out front.
But, #51 Chris Oertel was going to make it a point to dethrone the red and
yellow #33, but Paul would not have it. Paul continued to hold onto his lead, but, the man
on the move was #71R Rod Herman, hooking his car up in whatever line he chose to run. Lap
12 came, the battle for the lead was on.
Paul, still out front, stuck to his line, and Oertel stuck to his. Oertel
made a brilliant move to get side by side with Paul. They stuck to their lines, Oertel
running high and pitching his multi colored #51 into the corners, with Paul finessing the
low groove, and Herman running right on Paul's bumper. "I got a good look at him
(Chris) when he was on the high side, and I was running low, but I had to keep my line,
after I realized that I was being challenged", Paul stated. When the smoke cleared,
it was Chris Oertel taking home the checkers, with Mike Paul in 2nd, and Rod Herman in
3rd.
Rolling out of the pit gate next were the Super Stocks. Jim Willner in his red and black
#77 started on the point. A good mix of luck, with a strong mix of skill launched the red
#24 of Butch Kummer alongside Willner, giving him the outside front row. As Willner and
Kummer brought the field up to speed, the fans were in for an instant treat. Kummer dove
low to ride the inside lane coming out of 1, and Willner swept high coming out of two.
Willner, #22 Randy Spacek, #14L Lance Leu, and Kummer battled for 8 laps before mechanical
troubles struck the red #24.
"We had the car working great after the heat, and going into the
feature we were pretty confident that we were going to be alright," Kummer said.
"Our luck ran out a little too soon, we just gotta keep tryin', and we're gonna come
around" crew chief Davey Sapinski added. Kummer pulled off the track, giving up his
4th place spot to the "Colby Comet" #57 Paul Lieders. On lap 9, it was still #77
Jim Willner out front, followed very closely by Spacek, and #14L Lance Leu running in 3rd.
The track saw single file racing for a little while, until caution came on the track,
bunching the cars back up again. Willner was still out front, with Spacek in 2nd, Leu in
3rd, and Lieders in 4th. The last few laps saw #27 Mark Stender moving in on Lieders,
eventually taking over the 4th place spot. Almost simultaneously, Spacek overtook
Willner's first place run, to end up with the win.
The Modifieds saw great action on Friday night, with #80 Troy Kuyoth and longtime dirt
track veteran #16 Rob Genett on the front row, following suit was the expert driving #151
Tyler Keyser, and one of the few living legends in the modified #51 Butch Oertel on the
outside. Trouble struck Kuyoth early on, leaving the field wide open for anybody to
capitalize. Starting in 7th place, passing five cars on the inside line in just a couple
of laps, #33 Jed Moore proved that he had what it took to be a contender on the high banks
with #22 Jeff Spacek following suit.
Oertel came out very strong, working his car on the high side, keeping
Spacek behind him. Moore worked his way up to second, giving Keyser a run for his
position. Keyser stuck to the high line in one and two, and Moore continued to hook his
car in the low line, side by side with Keyser for several laps. The battle between Oertel
and Spacek raged on behind them, with Spacek having all he can do to get around Oertel.
The two pairs grew closer to each other on the track, making for anybodies race of those
top four. But, in classy fashion, the sharp looking #33 of Jed Moore emerged victorious
after a hard battle in the car.
The Late Models brought the noise once again, with last weeks feature winner #19 Paul
Brust on the pole, and late model rookie #00 Robby Bunkelman starting on the outside.
Brust jumped out to his lead, but national points second placeman #42 Terry Casey was on
the move, working his car everywhere on the track, hunting for that top spot.
Casey worked his way up to second by lap eleven, and was looking to pass,
when the clouds opened on lap eleven of the main event, causing a race fans worst
nightmare, a rain out. So, Brust was accredited with the win, and Casey was the runner up,
and Robby Bunkelman running 3rd, followed by Terry and Nick Anvelink, respectively.
Almost all 6 of the classes were completed by the time the rain came at 10:00, making for
a fast paced night of great WISSOTA racing. The drivers came, the fans saw, but, in the
end, mother nature did indeed conquer.
MID WEST MODIFIEDS:
Heat 1: 27 Scott Anderson, 34 Mickey Nosser, 01 Al Seehafer, 4 Jim Poyda,
44 Brian Rodman, 13S Dave Salzman, 3JR Shane Halopka, 21 Brian Jensen
Feature: Anderson, Poyda, Nosser, Rodman, Seehafer, Salzman, Jensen
STREET STOCK:
Heat 1: 8 John Goulden, 33 Mike Paul, 93 Lee Christjohn, 36 Dave Teatz,
23 Mike Warga, 7 Chris Crapser, 3 Jared Lindner, 29 Zach Kauth, 99W Brock Wright
Heat 2: 71R Rod Herman, 51 Chris Oertel, 07 Cory Crapser, 27 John Becker,
17X Joe Bablick, 35 Ken Heser, 1A Dave Pospyhalla, 94 Mark Rose
Feature: Oertel, Paul, Herman, Teatz, Warga, Bablick, Christjohn, Cory
Crapser, Becker, Lindner, Chris Crapser, Pospyhalla, Goulden
SUPER STOCK:
Heat 1: 55S Jere Stanton, 57 Paul Lieders, 14L Lance Leu, 8J Scott
Anderson, 77W Jim Willner, 75 Scott Geiger, 55J Robby Bunkelman
Heat 2: 97 Eric Bolosky, 22 Randy Spacek, 27 Mark Stender, 24 Butch
Kummer, 02 Jamie Strebig, 77S Bill Schwantes, 46 Shannon Williams, 10T Larry Jackson
Feature: Spacek, Willner, Leu, Stender, Lieders, Bunkelman, Jackson,
Bolosky, Geiger, Stanton, Strebig, Johnson, Kummer, Williams
MODIFIED:
Heat 1: 51 Butch Oertel, 33 Jed Moore, 16S Dan Schloer, 10 John Frydrych,
21 Roger Andres, 95 Kent Baxter, 33S Jeremy Shilts
Heat 2: 151 Tyler Keyser, 40 Paul Knauf, 16G Rob Genett, 24 Kevin Rogers,
7 Steve Surprenant, 3 Mike Bauer, 17D Scott Duval
Heat 3: 22 Jeff Spacek, 35B David Baxter, 80 Troy Kuyoth, 61 Ray Karl
Jr., 25 Dan Konrardy, 58 Scott Vesely, 29 Dave Harrison
Feature: Moore, Keyser, Spacek, Oertel, Karl, Duval, Bauer, Genett,
Andres, Vesely, K Baxter, Frydrych, Surprenant, Kuyoth, Konrardy, D Baxter, Schloer,
Knauf, Rogers
LATE MODEL:
Heat 1: 42 Terry Casey, 00 Robby Bunkelman, 15 Nick Anvelink, 444 Todd
Flannery, 8C Scott Cramer, 8L Brent Larson, 21 Todd Frank
Heat 2: 80 Troy Kuyoth, 19 Paul Brust, 0 Jim Rychtik, 32 Terry Anvelink,
36 Dave Meierotto, 7 Tyler Keyser, 500 Dave Morgan
Feature: Brust, Casey, Bunkelman, T Anvelink, N Anvelink, Kuyoth,
Meierotto, Cramer, Keyser, Larson, Rychtik, Flannery, Frank, Morgan
2 MAN CRUISERS:
Heat 1: 8UP Travis Hamm/Jeff Hallin, 6.2 John Virnig/Mark Virnig, 13 ½
Shawn Peterson/Ben Mann, 11 Jamie Kilty/Darin Geiger, 8UP2 Eric Hamm/Luke Rindt, 66 Randy
Rueth/Ryan Smith
Heat 2: 44 Jared Loos/Josh Olson, 07 Jim Stargardt/Mike Bauer, 22 Dave
Curtin/Shaun Sandley, 27 Jim Dietsche/Eric Dietsche, 99 Andres Derks/Joel Zawislan, 01
Jason Smazal/Matt Smazal
Feature: Rained Out |
