September 2, 2001; Seymour, WI - A perfect day greeted the Potawatomi National Shootout to the Labor Day weekend with 112 teams making for an exciting night of racing Sunday at the Seymour Tri Oval Raceway.
The Mods kicked off the feature portion of the program. Darrell Massart set the pace for the first 2 laps before Travis Spaulding moved into the lead on lap 3. Two time defending Nationals Champ, Brain Mullen moved into the runner up spot and challenged Spaulding , finally moving into the top spot on lap 10. Craig Priewe moved into third and while the battle for second was going on, Mullen quietly pulled away from the field. Priewe moved into the runner up spot on lap 15, but over the final 10 laps, could not close enough on the leader to mount a serious challenge. Randie Back led a three car race for fourth with 2001 track champ, Scott Mullen and R.M. Van Pay. Mullen sped off with his third straight Nationals crown with Priewe, making his first tri oval appearance in 2 years, taking second with Spaulding third. Scott Mullen was able to work by Back on lap 20 and took fourth with Back holding off Van Pay for fifth. All 20 starters finished the race. The Street Stock main was tough from start to finish with the race running caution free. Jamie Colwell took charge from the front row and pulled ahead in the early laps while Shawn Van Ooyen, Jamie Colwell, Darren Otto, Dave Charles, Chaz Van Ooyen and Dean Kellner fought out behind. Otto hung out on the outside of the track and battled in the top three before dropping out of the race on lap 14. Over the final 10 laps, the Greenleaf connection, brothers Colwell ran nose to tail while working through lapped traffic. Van Ooyen was able to close in somewhat over the final laps, but could not mount a serious challenge. Jamie topped his 2001 division track championship by winning his first Nationals title. He joins brother Jesse as a Nationals champ having won in 1999. Jesse was right behind in second with Van Ooyen taking third. The next five spots were close to the finish with Keith Kickbush making his best tri oval run taking fourth. Charlie Van Ooyen, Sr was fifth and Shawn Van Ooyen rounded out the top six. Jerry Wilinski took the lead from the pole in the Stock Car main and built a lead over the pack with Troy DeGrave, Larry Karcz, Jr, Bryan Techmeier, Eric VanIten and Shawn Kilgore behind. John Heinz moved into the top five and one lap after Karcz took the second spot on lap 5, Heinz moved into third. and Kilgore moved into fourth. The battle for the lead grew after each lap before a pair of cautions on lap 13 bunched the pack for the final 12 lap run. Wilinski continued to lead after the restart with Heinz moving into second. Kilgore followed into third with Dave Bouche VanIten and DeGrave still right behind. Wilinski and Heinz were working the low groove and Kilgore decided to try the outside line. After a couple laps, Kilgore found the rhythm outside and pulled into the lead. Heinz fought his way into second a couple laps later and challenged the leader. Kilgore was able to hold on and settled into a smooth pattern to hold off Heinz and Wilinski and drive off with his first career tri oval feature win and became the fifth different division Nationals winner. Heinz and Wilinski were right behind at the finish. Dave Bouche led the next group of cars to finish fourth. Kyle Fredrick started the race in the back and drove to a fifth place finish, with DeGrave rounding out the top six. Doug Blashe set the pace as 22 late models took the green for their Nationals feature. Three time track champion, Troy Springborn, worked on the leader, taking over the top spot on lap 6. He pulled away from the pack until a lone caution erased his lead and bunched the field on lap 11. Blashe was holding onto second followed by Nick Anvelink, Pete Parker, Terry Casey, Terry Anvelink and Mike Babino, Jr. The front stayed close for several laps before the cars doubled up for the runner up spot. This allowed Springborn the opportunity to again open up a lead and he was able to work through traffic to record his first Nationals title which was his fifth feature win of the season here. The battle for the runner up spot was a three car battle. Nick Anvelink was hugging the inside line with Casey using the outside line. Parker was right behind waiting for an opening. Second place swapped several times but at the finish, it was Anvelink taking second to Springborn. Casey took third with Parker settling in fourth. Babino ran to a strong fifth with Blashe taking sixth. N.E.W. DIRT would like to THANK Potawatomi for their sponsorship of the fifth annual Nationals event and all the fans, drivers and crews for their support. Next week, September 9, will be the final night of racing for the 2001 season at the Tri Oval. SUMMARY IMCA MODIFIEDS WISSOTA LATE MODEL STREET STOCK IMCA STOCK CAR |
