Images by Mike Roth  (Maxim Graphics)

09/10/08

By Greg Parent

With a very strong field of 40 NASCAR street stocks and 69 NASCAR Midwest modifieds signed into the pits, the opening night of the annual Legendary 100 got underway at the Cedar Lake Speedway on Wednesday night September 10.  Although it was a somewhat cool and breezy late summer evening, race fans were treated to some great racing action throughout the course of the night capped off by two very entertaining championship feature races.  Chris Peterson defeated Cory Rosen by a matter of inches to claim his second straight Legendary 100 title in the street stock division while young Taylor Leuthner passed race leader Matt Leer with less than four laps to go to grab an exciting victory in the Midwest modified main event.

Cedar Lake Speedway track point titles were also determined on this evening, and the point championship in the NASCAR Midwest modified division came down to the final feature race of the season with Shawn Phillips edging out Clark Perry by a mere one point to earn his first-ever CLS track point title.  Devin Neske also claimed his first CLS track point championship in the NASCAR street stock division, as he continued his strong performances dating back to the first race of the season.  Congratulation to these two fine track champions!

Racing at any of the big season-ending specials always places extra emphasis on having a strong run in your heat race.  The passing point system is used during the running of the Legendary 100, so a less then desirable starting spot in your heat race does not necessarily mean a driver cannot earn a feature race starting position.  The top eighteen cars in passing points from the heat races transferred to the main event in each division while the remainder of the field would have to qualify through a B Main.  A number of drivers scored well in the passing points, coming from deep starting positions to earn good finishes in their heat races.

Racing action for the evening got underway with four NASCAR street stock heat races featuring ten cars for ten racing laps.  Polesitter Kelly Knutson grabbed the early lead in the opening heat until the yellow blinked on when Shawn Kammerud and Trisha Nyreen made contact in turn 3 just three laps into the race.  On the restart, 7th starter Devin Neske took the lead and went on the record the win ahead of 5th starter Jeff Heintz and 8th starter Tommy Richards.  In the second heat, Cory Rosen drove to a commanding win from his pole starting spot, but a very good battle was waged for the runnerup position during the last half of the race.  Justin Vogel was able to hold off Chanda Fjorden-Nord for second, as the pair swapped the spot a couple of times with 10th starter Chris Peterson looking on from his fourth place position.  The third street stock heat race ran nonstop, but also featured a good battle for the lead.  Cory Hanson led the first half of the race, but in a side-by-side battle on lap 6, Jimmy Randall emerged with the lead and eventual win.  Adam Soltis came from 7th to finish second ahead of Ryan Kostreba.  The final heat race saw a tremendous battle develop for the lead late in the race.  Pole starter Ron Hanestad grabbed the early lead only to see the yellow wave with two laps in for a multi-car crash on the frontstretch involving four cars.  In all, five cars were out of the race at this point leaving only half the field.  As the race returned to green, the laps clicked by and suddenly Butch Kummer was applying the pressure on the leader. Kummer led lap 8, but Hanestad came back strong to retake the lead with one to go and hold off Kummer for the win in front of 7th starter Mark Schuenemann.

The large field of NASCAR Midwest modifieds would see six heat races with 11 or 12 cars in each running for 12 laps.  Sam Nelson led the opening lap of the first heat before Alex Gerlach stormed to the front on lap two.  Following a couple of cautions, Karth Mitchell applied the pressure and took the top spot on lap 8.  The first red flag of the evening flew shortly thereafter when Ryan Bauers flipped on the frontstretch after contact with the concrete wall.  Ryan was okay, but the car was done for the night.  Mitchell went on to defeat Gerlach and Nelson.  Although Lonnie Louschke led all the way in the second heat, he only won by a small margin in the end.  Sixth starter A J Roschen and Shane Patrin put on a show for second until Roschen took control late in the race and then moved right in on the leader.  Roschen nearly got Louschke on the last lap, but he had to settle for second.  The third heat race featured numerous lead changes and an exciting finish.  Tim Siercks led the first three laps before rookie Jeremy Houle motored by.  Track point leader Shawn Phillips was steadily on the move forward and closed in on the leader.  Phillips got by Houle for the lead on lap 9 only to see Houle regain the top spot a lap later.  Phillips moved to the front again on lap 11 and held off Houle by several feet for the win.  Taylor Leuthner raced from 11th to finish third.

Dan Wheeler came from fifth to first to lead the opening lap of the fourth Midwest mod heat race and went on to post the win eleven laps later.  Steve Strandlund and 11th starter Clark Perry rounded out the top three.  Another multiple leader heat race was on tap for the fifth heat.  After an opening lap caution caused a readjustment to the starting lineup, Brad Hudson came from the second row to lead the first four laps with Dane Durbin close behind.  Durbin grabbed the point on lap 5 only to see Hudson regain the lead on lap 6.  On lap 7, 8th starter Jason Miller had worked his way into the battle and passed both cars to take the lead.  Less than a lap later, contact between Durbin and Hudson saw Durbin's car spin exiting turn 4 while a short time later Brett Hoium lost a rear wheel.  The caution had already been displayed and Hudson was sent to the tail.  Miller led the remainder of the race with Durbin second and Justin Oestreich third.  The last heat race was loaded with talent and went nonstop.  Wayne Dean led the first six laps before 8th starter Matt Leer drove to the front.  Leer held off Dean and Clayton Wagamon for the win just in front of Brock Gronwald and Andy Jones.

Following some track maintenance to blade off a couple of rough areas and do some misting, the track was ready for B Main action.  All 22 starters made the call for the only street stock B Main.  Shawn Kammerud led the opening lap with Kevin Schmidt taking over on lap 2.  The race was slowed early under caution and then under red when Ed Puariea rolled his car on the frontstretch with three laps in.  Fortunately Ed was okay.  The race then ran 12 laps nonstop to the finish with Schmidt maintaining his lead over Kammerud.  Earning feature race transfer spots behind the lead duo were Scott Splittstoesser, Leon Sorell, newly wed Gary Pischke, and Rod Debernardeaux.  It was then time for three 15 lap NASCAR Midwest modified B Mains.  Only the top two finishers in each would garner the remaining six transfer positions into their feature race, so the racing would be intense for those two prize finishing positions.

The first NASCAR Midwest mod B Main lined up 15 cars strong.  Veteran modified racer Ron Jones led the first three laps until, following a restart for a spin by Justin Oestreich, contact between second runner Brock Gronwald and Jones in turn two saw Jones' car spin around and collect Bruce Belland and Eric Herbison.  All three cars required wrecker assistance and were out of the race while Gronwald was tagged with the caution.  This gave the lead to Dan Svee.  Svee would lead the remainder of the race, but many fans were watching the progress of young Brock Gronwald.  After restarting tail-end, Gronwald drove past eight cars to grab the second and final transfer spot.  In the second 15 car B Main, Clayton Wagamon moved from third to first on the opening lap and proceeded to lead the first four laps.  On lap 5, fifth starter Brad Hudson drove to the front.  The lone caution waved with 8 laps in when Wayne Dean looped his car in turn 4.  Hudson went on to record the win with Wagamon holding off Brock Haines in a tight battle for second with plenty of back-and-forth racing.  Tim Siercks led the entire 15 lap distance in the final B Main, but 8th starter Ronnie Rihn made it very close at the finish in a race slowed only once under caution with three laps in.  With the starting grids set for the big Legendary 100 feature races, it was show-time at the popular West central Wisconsin 3/8 mile high-banked dirt oval.

Pacing the 25 lap NASCAR Street Stock Legendary 100 feature race were Devin Neske and Adam Soltis.  As starter Jeff Stacken brought the field to life with the drop of the green flag, Neske immediately took the lead.  Just one lap into the race, the red flag was displayed when Mark Schuenemann rolled his car on its side on the backstretch.  Track workers righted the car, and Schuenemann was able to restart in his running spot with the caution being charged to another car.  When the green replaced the yellow, Neske picked up where he left off with 6th starter Chris Peterson moving to second on lap 2.  As the laps rolled by, Soltis, Jimmy Randall, Tommy Richards and Cory Rosen battled for the 3-6 spots.  Peterson, in search of his second straight Legendary 100 win, closed in on Neske and began to apply the pressure.  On lap 13, Peterson squeezed by on the inside of turn 4 and took the top spot.  With 18 laps in, the yellow was displayed when Kelly Knutson slowed in turn 4.  This set the stage for an exciting seven lap dash to the finish.  Peterson continued to lead Neske on the restart, but Cory Rosen had moved up top and was coming forward in a hurry.  Rosen moved by Tommy Richards a lap later and then sped around Neske on lap 20.  Rosen closed in on Peterson during the next couple of laps and soon the battle was on for the lead.  With the white flag flying, Rosen pulled alongside Peterson exiting turn four but Peterson led by about a car length at the line.  It was Peterson down low and Rosen up top, as the pair raced hard during the final lap.  With the momentum off the high side exiting turn four, Rosen pulled alongside Peterson once again.  As the crowd rose to their feet, Rosen came up short by just inches in his bid for the win.  Chris Peterson had held off Cory Rosen in an exciting finish to earn his second straight Legendary 100 victory and a $1,000 pay check.  Devin Neske held on to third in front of another close finish for fourth place with Tommy Richards narrowly defeating 13th starter Jay Kesan.  Rounding out the top ten finishers were Jimmy Randall, Kris Peterson, Mark Schuenemann, Chanda Fjorden-Nord, and B Main winner Kevin Schmidt.  Adam Soltis crossed the finish line in seventh, but was disqualified when he failed to go to the scales following the race.

The final race of the night would prove to be plenty entertaining and have some drama play out for the NASCAR Midwest modified track point title.  A stout field of 24 Midwest mods was led to the green by Jason Miller and Matt Leer for their 25 lap feature event.  The race was immediately under caution for a two car incident in turn one involving Alex Gerlach and A J Roschen requiring a complete restart.  Under this caution, polesitter Jason Miller exited to the pits with mechanical woes.  On the second start attempt, contact on the backstretch between Steve Strandlund and A J Roschen saw Roschen's night end on the wrecker.  Jason Miller returned to the race at this time and tagged the tail.  The third start attempt would see one lap completed, but a blown engine by Jeremy Houle and a large cloud of white smoke brought out yet another yellow.  With not all cars being scored due to the smoke, a fourth complete restart was called for by track officials.

This time the race would go green for 14 laps.  Some great racing took place during this run.  Matt Leer grabbed the early lead from his outside front row starting spot with Shawn Phillips, Taylor Leuthner and Dan Wheeler running right behind him.  A number of cars were on the move forward from deep starting spots.  As Leuthner moved past Phillips for second, fans were also keeping tabs on 17th starter Andy Jones.  Jones had quickly moved to 7th on lap 3, battled with Wheeler for 5th & 6th on laps 4-6, and then raced to fourth on lap 8.  Jones got by Phillips for third on lap 10.  Just as Jones was edging past Leuthner for second, Ronnie Rihn's engine erupted in smoke with 14 laps scored.  Under this caution, the drama for the track points battle developed when fourth running Shawn Phillips exited the race with transmission/rear-end problems.  Suddenly Clark Perry had a shot at the track point championship, as he was running in 11th place.  When the green blinked on again, Leer continued to hold a slim lead over Leuthner and Jones.  With 20 laps down, Brock Gronwald saw his night end with an ignition failure.  Gronwald had come from 22nd to 7th.  It was Leer, Leuthner, Jones, Wheeler and Jason Vandekamp in the top five with Jason Miller from the tail now running in sixth.  A very entertaining final five laps were in store for the fans.  Leer held a slim lead on the restart, as Leuthner and Jones were running high with Leer in the low lane.  Leuthner continued to build momentum each lap while Jones searched for a way around both of them.  On lap 22, Leuthner had the run off the high side to propel him into the lead.  Leer fought back on the bottom though.  Jones was also in the mix.  Taylor Leuthner now held a small margin over Matt Leer and Andy Jones on laps 23 & 24.  The three leaders raced across the line with the white flag flying.  Leuthner up top and Leer on the bottom.  Off of turn four it was Taylor Leuthner by about a car length over Matt Leer for his biggest win of his young career and the $1,000 payday.  Andy Jones finished a close third ahead of Dan Wheeler.  Although Jason Miller crossed the finish line in fifth, he was later relegated to a 24th place finish when it was determined by track tech officials he had not performed the repairs to his car in the work area.  Jason Vandekamp rode home in fifth from his 13th starting spot with 14th starter Jesse Ogston, 16th starter Wayne Troseth, Karth Mitchell, Clark Perry and 23rd starter Clayton Wagamon rounding out the top ten finishers on a track that had multiple racing lanes.  Clark Perry came up one point short in his bid for the track point title.

Under moon-lit skies, the winners and track point champions celebrated their victories, racers relived some of the moments from the evening, fans headed for home, the pits or the camping areas, and race haulers exited and entered the pit area.  The second night of the Legendary 100 would soon be in store for racers and fans with the NASCAR late models, modifieds and super stocks taking center stage on Thursday night September 11, a full qualifying program including heats, B Mains and Features highlights the program for the three NASCAR racing divisions.  For the first time ever, the local area Hornet class is also running a full show on Thursday night at the 100.  Come on out and enjoy an action-packed and entertaining final three nights at the one and only Legendary 100 at the Cedar Lake Speedway.

Race Results:

NASCAR 3M Midwest Modifieds (69 Cars)

Heat 1- Karth Mitchell, Alex Gerlach, Sam Nelson, Jason Vandekamp, Wayne Troseth, Kyle Matuska, Brock Haines, Eric Herbison, Pat McCarthy, Josh Muzik, Jared Gorka, Ryan Bauers

Heat 2- Lonnie Louschke, AJ Roschen, Shane Patrin, Chris Mensen, Paul Fontecchio, John Clark, Justin Supri, Al Stettner, Josh Bazey, Mike Hernke, Stan Rychlock, John Harer

Heat 3- Shawn Phillips, Jeremy Houle, Taylor Leuthner, Tim Siercks, Ron Jones, Rob Caho Jr, Dan Svee, Mark Trog, Kyle Steffen, Gary Inman, Kelly Gallipo, Robbie Franklin

Heat 4- Dan Wheeler, Steve Strandlund, Clark Perry, Jesse Ogston, Lucas Milz, Doug Frederick, Derek Schwanz, Cory Bauman, Richard Crear, Shawn Olson, Steve Strandlund Jr

Heat 5- Jason Miller, Dane Durbin, Justin Oestreich, Jake Hiatt, Brad Hudson, Cooper Dohms, Vince Corbin, Brett Hoium, Jake Miller, Cory Breitung, Jeremy Kerzman

Heat 6- Matt Lear, Wayne Dean, Clayton Wagamon, Brock Gronwold, Andy Jones, Dave Siercks, Ronnie Rihn, Bruce Belland, Bryan Siercks, Duane Dunbar, Adam Archer

B Main 1- Svee, Gronwold, Strandlund Jr, Dohms, Inman, Schwanz, Crear, Gorka, McCarthy, Jones, Belland, Herbison, D Siercks, Oestreich, Matuska

B Main 2- Hudson, Wagamon, Haines, Kerzman, Nelson, Mensen, Corbin, Stettner, Bazey, Miller, Muzik, Bauman, Dean, Clark, Harer

B Main 3- T Siercks, Rihn, Caho Jr, Dunbar, Milz, B Siercks, Steffen, Archer, Patrin, Frederick, Trog, Hiatt, Supri

A Main- Leuthner, Leer, Jones, Wheeler, Vandekamp, Ogston, Troseth, Mitchell, Perry, Wagamon, Fontecchio, Strandlund, Hudson, Gerlach, T Siercks, Louschke, Svee, Gronwold, Phillips, Rihn, Durbin, Houle, Roschen, Miller

NASCAR Dodge Street Stocks (40 Cars)

Heat 1- Devin Neske, Jeff Heintz, Tommy Richards, Kelly Knutson, Shawn Kammerud, Marcus Simsonson, Rob Low, Ed Puariea, Jared Gross, Trisha Nyreen

Heat 2- Corey Rosen, Justin Vogel, Chanda Fjorden-Nord, Chris Peterson, Mark Blom, Kevin Schmidt, Scott Walker, James Becker, Cody Kummer, Kim Korstad

Heat 3- Jimmy Randall, Adam Soltis, Ryan Kostreba, Cory Hanson, Jay Kesan, Rod Debernardeaux, Kris Berg, Justin Pogones, Mark Larson, Steve Golat

Heat 4- Ron Hanestad, Butch Kummer, Mark Schuenemann, Kris Peterson, Gary Pischke, Scott Splitstoesser, Leon Sorrell, Mike Raboin, Ben Rothstein, Dave Keyeski

B Main- Schmidt, Kammerud, Splittstoesser, Sorrell, Pischke, Debernardeaux, Walker, Becker, Pogones, Golat, Rothstein, Nyreen, Berg, Simsonson, Low, Larson, Gross, Kummer, Puariea, Raboin, Keyeski, Korstad

A Main- Peterson, Rosen, Neske, Richards, Kesan, Randall, K Peterson, Mark Schuenemann, Fjorden-Nord, Schmidt, Kammerud, Hanestad, Vogel, Kummer, Kostreba, Hanson, Splittstoesser, Knutson, Blom, Sorrell, Pischke, Heintz, Soltis, Debernardeaux