Tony Wondra Captures Monster Hall
MSA Sprint Special!
By Ben Brost & Jay Ohman
June 15, 2003; Unity, WI. - The Midwest Sprint Car
association joined the program card at MHR on Sunday night. Miller Lite sponsored
the nights events, with the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds, and the WISSOTA Super Stocks
accompanying the MSA Sprint Cars.
The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds were first on track for their
feature event, with #44 Jack Larson on the point, with #01 Al Seehafer to his outside.
Larson jumped out to an early lead, with Seehafer falling back into second place,
but not for long as Seehafer found his way to the frontrunners spot. Halfway through
the race, Seehafer, Larson, and #3jr Shane Halopka broke from the rest of the pack,
leaving the other drivers with several car lengths of catching up to do to compete for the
top 3 positions.
The fight for the lead continued with Larson trying to work the
inside lane against Seehafer, with Seehafer keeping his momentum up, enabling him to hang
onto the first place spot. Veteran racer #1 Mickey Nosser, after starting in last,
found himself vying for 3rd place, halopka edged him in the end, putting Halopka in third,
with Larson ending in second, and Seehafer grabbing the win.
The WISSOTA Super Stocks came out of the pits next, with #17 Terry Gorst sitting on the
pole, and #8m Mike Duhr starting on the outside. At the start of the race, Gorst
jumped out to an early lead, with #55s of Jere Stanton taking second, leaving Duhr in
third. Smooth running #4 Paul Erickson carged pass Duhr for third, as the #55j of
Robby Bunkelman built momentum and found his way into the second place spot. Both
Bunkelman and Stanton took off, battlingeach other for the lead, with Bunkelman working
the outside line, and Stanton hugging the low groove.
#57 Paul Leiders found his way into fourth place after starting in
10th, and he continued to work his way to the front, having passed Erickson on the way,
but had too much track and not enough laps to make up the distance, giving Bunkelman the
win, with Stanton in second, and putting Leiders in the third spot to end the WISSOTA
portion of the program for the evening.
Unity, WI - Troy Wondra drove off with another Midwest Sprintcar Association feature win
Sunday June 15th at Monster Hall Raceway. Doug Schenck moved into the season points
lead holding a narrow margin.
Lloyd Dykstra jumped out to the lead from the front row with Kenjay Fiedler in hot pursuit
with the pair putting some distance on the field. A fourth lap caution erased the
lead and with the return to action Wondra bided his time slipping past both Fiedler and
Dykstra a couple laps later. While Wondra's car improved, Fiedler's faded a bit as
first Leroy Ostrowski then K.J. Skelton advanced.
After the race, an elated Wondra said "the car really hooked up for me, I started
hunting for traction and found the car was sticking anywhere on the track".
Wondra would go on to claim the checker in the 20 lap race, Dykstra followed in second and
Ostrowski third. Skelton and Schenck both advanced well to round out the top five.
Fiedler held on to the sixth spot and Al Schlafer finished seventh. Lance Fassbender and
Scott Conger both had impressive runs advancing seven spots to finish eighth and ninth.
Michael Emme recovered from an opening lap spin returning to the ten. Andy
Hunt finished 11th, and rookie Jeff Harder advanced nine spots to claim the KSE Hard
Charger award finishing 12th.
In the Triton Trailers B-Main, Lance Fassbender and Kenjay Fiedler went wheel to wheel for
several laps before Fassbender was able to edge out the lead over Fiedler. A mid
race red flag was brought out for Mark Wernes Jr. and Chris Wiser, Wiser was tipped over
onto his wing however repairs were made in time for Wiser to return to the action.
Fassbender would notch the win, Fiedler followed in second. Rounding out the top
seven transferring were Andy Hunt, T.J. Luedke, Jeff Becker, Jeff Harder and Chris Wiser.
In the Hepfner Race Products first heat, K.J. Skelton darted out to first lead to handily
take the checkers, David O'Neal followed in second. The second heat sponsored by JB
Enterprises had Keith Olejnik jumping out from the front row to take the win and holding
off the hard advances of Al Schlafer.
The MPD third heat was a wild opening lap battle as Danny Schalfer and Troy Wondra swapped
the lead several times, Schlafer held on for the win with Michael Emme entering the fray
and finishing second. The Wisconsin PC Fast Time Award went to Doug Schenck with a
fast lap of 14.004.
The next appearance for the MSA will be at Hales Corners Speedway, Franklin, in a
co-appearance with the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association on Friday June 28th.
For all of the latest standings, results, pictures and more, visit the MSA website at www.msasprints.com. |
