Dunbar Does It in Modified Main
at Monster Hall!
By Matt Bablick
August 8, 2003; Unity, WI. - Monster Hall Raceway
presented a full racing program this past Friday sponsored by Clark Electric appliance,
Satellite & Co-op and WDEZ 101.9 FM. With the seasons point race winding down, the
fans were treated to some extremely close and competitive racing with each driver
scrambling to gain every point and position they could.
When the racing action came to a close it was Duane Dunbar who
picked up the win in a hotly contested Midwest Modified feature. Butch Kummer had a
dominating performance in the Street Stock Main Event by leading all 15 laps on his way to
his first feature win of the season. In the Super Stock feature it was Randy Spacek who
set the standard for competition by running flawlessly lap after lap for the entire event.
The Modified feature belonged to Andrew Baxter as he led from the green to the checkers
for his first win at MHR this season.
The Midwest Modifieds were the first to roll trackside for their feature with Duane Dunbar
and Jim Poyda filling out row number one. It took three attempts to start the race before
the field could complete a full lap. Duane Dunbar took the early lead, while Scott
Anderson came from the fourth row to challenge Dunbar on lap two. Ken Heser was also on
the move as he got around Mickey Nosser and Poyda to claim the fourth spot on lap three.
The caution flew soon after on lap four for a three car pile up in turn three. On the
restart it was Dunbar with the lead followed by Anderson, Bargender, and Heser.
After the race went green Heser immediately darted around Bargender and
caught up with Dunbar and Anderson. This started a fantastic battle for the lead with
Dunbar running low and Anderson and Heser tight on his bumper racing each other hard while
waiting to jump on any mistake made by the leader. The race for fourth was also a close
one late in the race as Brian Rodman used a late race pass on Bargender with only two laps
remaining to finish fourth.
Duane Dunbar held off his challengers for the entire 15 laps and picked up
a clean sweep for the night. Second place belonged to Scott Anderson who ran side by side
with Dunbar for much of the race. Ken “Hurricane” Heser proved worthy of the
name by thrilling the crowd as he worked the middle groove in the battle for the lead.
Brian Rodman charged from the seventh row to take fourth ahead of Randy Bargender.
The Wissota Street Stocks came out next to contest their feature race of the evening with
Butch Kummer drawing the pole position. The race got off to a rocky start as a spin on the
front stretch and a pile up in turn two caused a complete restart of the race. Kummer
jumped to the early lead with an immediate three car war beginning behind him. Brock
Wright ran in second with Roger Walker, Dan Gullikson close behind. Meanwhile Mike Paul
worked his way around Wayne Dean and joined the battle for second. Kummer built on his
lead while Brock Wright was heavily pressured by Walker for second. Paul worked his way
around Gullikson at the halfway point and again challenged the front runners.
A caution on lap 12 eliminated Kummer’s comfortable lead and put some
tough competitor’s on his rear bumper for the restart. Kummer again took the lead
while Walker stuck to the bottom of the track and got by Wright for second. Paul followed
Walker and claimed third ahead of Gullikson and Kevin Patrow. Butch Kummer had an
impressive run as he found the fastest groove on the track and ran away with the feature
win. Roger Walker has been a model of consistency all year and he continued that streak
tonight by picking up another second place finish after a late race pass. Third place
belonged to Mike Paul who currently sits second in the points looking to make a late
season push to the championship. Dan Gullikson came across fourth ahead of Kevin Patrow
who continued to impress me with another strong run rounding out the top five.
The Wissota Super Stocks were up next with a stellar front row consisting of Kevin Adams
and Randy Spacek. The two raced side by side with Spacek running up high and Adams down
low until lap four when Spacek pulled to a clear lead over Adams. John Feirn ran in third
with a three wide battle behind him between Terry Gorst, Adam Hensel, and Lance Leu. On
lap nine Adams caught up to Spacek and pressured him again for the lead but Spacek was
getting more grip up high and quickly pulled back out to a healthy lead. John Feirn held
on to third while Lance Leu got by Gorst on lap 11 where Leu began to reel in Feirn. Curt
Meyers started deep in the field but worked his way around Gorst on lap twelve to take
sixth.
Spacek continued to build on his lead late in the race while weaving through several
lapped cars in the process. Adams settled in to second ahead of Feirn and Leu. Fifth place
was still up in the air however, as Meyers pressured Hensel for the spot before Meyers
finally completed the pass on lap 19. Randy Spacek was able to hook his car up on the high
side from the start and held it all the way to victory lane for a clean sweep. Kevin Adams
mounted several challenges for the lead but settled for second at the end of the night.
John Feirn had a good run while staying up front throughout the race and coming home
third. Lance Leu had another strong run as well taking home fourth after charging all the
way through the field on Tuesday’s Motor Mania show. Curt Meyers took home fifth
place after starting 11th.
The Main Event of the evening was in the Wissota Modified division. Andrew and David
Baxter shared the front row for the 20 lap feature race. Once the race was restarted after
a first lap spin in turn four
The two Baxter’s ran door to door for several laps before Andrew pulled ahead for the
lead. Roger Andres ran the high line trying to hold off the charge of Paul Knauf for
third. With Jed Moore giving chase in fifth. Two consecutive cautions on lap five slowed
the pace and bunched the field up for the restart. When the race returned to green flag
status Andrew Baxter held the lead over Dave Baxter and Paul Knauf. Luke Schilling began
to pressure Moore for fifth on lap nine before completing the pass on lap 12. Andrew
Baxter continued to hold the lead on lap 13 but was being challenged by Dave Baxter while
Jeff Spacek climbed into the top five with a pass on Moore. Andrew Baxter held off the
charge of Dave Baxter late in the race and grabbed the win. Paul Knauf and Luke Schilling
battled each other in the closing laps with Knauf gaining the advantage and a third place
finish. Jeff Spacek finished in fifth place after a dominating heat win earlier in the
night.
The Two-Man Cruisers were up next for the final race of the night. Mike Wildmann/Eric
Luepke and Gary Mann/Ken Clark filled out the front row. Wildmann/Luepke took the early
lead ahead of Scott Davis/Joe Fitzgerald and Josh Olson/Jared Loos. Olson/Loos got around
Davis/Fitzgerald on lap three and quickly reeled in the leaders. Wildmann/Luepke and
Olson/Loos ran side by side for several laps until a flurry of cautions flew on laps six,
seven, and eight. On the lap eight restart Wildmann/Luepke and Olson/Loos got together on
the backstretch bringing out the yellow flag. Both cars were sent to the back for the
incident handing the lead over to Shawn Schultz/Shawna Knauf. Schultz/Knauf paced the
field to the green ahead of Mann/Clark and Ron/John Kunninger. The caution flew once more
and since the time limit had been reached it signaled the end of the race. Shultz/Knauf
picked up the win in a race that featured enough bumping and banging to satisfy even the
most hardcore race fans.
Monster Hall Raceway returns to to action Friday night August 15th with the annual season
Championship program presented by BUD and R&J promotions.
Wissota Midwest Modifieds
15 lap feature- Duane Dunbar, Scott Anderson, Ken Heser, Brian Rodman, Randy Bargender, Al
Seehafer, Mike Molitor, John Kowalski, Jason Weinfurtner, Shane Halopka
Heat 1- Seehafer, Bargender, Jim Poyda, Duane Geboy
Heat 2- Dunbar, Anderson, Mickey Nosser, Molitor
Heat 3- Halopka, Brian Jensen, Dave Salzman Jr.
Wissota Street Stocks
15 lap feature- Butch Kummer, Roger Walker, Mike Paul, Dan Gullikson, Kevin Patrow, Ryan
Lindner, Brock Wright, Wayne Dean, Mike Warga, John Gouldon
Heat 1- Dean, Gullikson, Paul, Patrow
Heat 2- Lindner, Steve Bangart, Wright,
Heat 3- Walker, Gouldon, Kummer, Tom Brust
Wissota Super Stocks
20 lap feature- Randy Spacek, Kevin Adams, John Feirn, Lance Leu, Curt Meyers, Adam
Hensel, Paul Erickson, Mike Duhr, Jim Willner, Mike Hince
Heat 1- Erickson, Duhr, Scott Johnson, Shannon Williams
Heat 2- Spacek, Adams, Leu, Terry Gorst
Heat 3- Meyers, Feirn, Hensel, Hince
Wissota Modifieds
20 lap feature- Andrew Baxter, Dave Baxter, Paul Knauf, Luke Schilling, Jeff Spacek, Jed
Moore, Rob Genett, Mike Bauer, Dan Schloer, Roger Andres
Heat 1- Spacek, Ray Carl Jr., Genett, Kevin Rogers
Heat 2- Paul Harelstad, Schilling, Andrew Baxter, Dave Baxter
Heat 3- Todd Siddons, Knauf, Andres, Moore
Two-Man Cruisers
Feature- Shawn Schultz/Shawna Knauf, Gary Mann/Ken Clark, Ron/John Kunninger, Matt
Hartwig/Dave Kuenne, Travis Hamm/Ed Hoffman
Heat 1- Josh Olson/Jared Loos, Hartwig/Kuenne, Mike Wildmann/Eric Luepke
Heat 2- Gary Schubert/Rich Delis, Jason Hartwig/Mike Goodman, Mann/Clark |
