New Richmond, WI
by Greg Parent (5-16-09)

The 5th Annual School Bus Race Night once again proved to be a gigantic success at the Cedar Lake Speedway with the largest crowd of the season on hand along with season-high turnouts in the NASCAR late model and midwest modified divisions on Saturday May 16.  The much anticipated return of the winged outlaw modifieds was also a success, as one of the larger crowds in the history of the track filled the popular western Wisconsin facility to near capacity on a cool spring evening.  Jason Miller had a memorable night, as he subbed for Sam Nelson in the NASCAR midwest modified division and showed the 38 car field the quick way around the 3/8 high-banked oval for his first 2009 victory in that division.  Coming off a win the previous week in the modified class, Miller donned a wing on his mod and topped a talented field of winged outlaw modifieds in the return of that division after a 17 year absence at the track which made the class famous.  Jimmy Mars raced to victory over a season-high stellar field of 33 NASCAR late models.  In the always popular school bus races, the feature event saw the Baldwin-Woodville bus narrowly defeat the Osceola bus in a slam-bang race filled with excitement.

With the School Bus Race Night continuing to gain in popularity each year, the 5th Annual event proved to be the biggest yet with local area high schools providing a band, choir and tons of students.  School buses from six area local high schools were painted in various schemes and driven by teachers from Amery, Baldwin-Woodville, Osceola, New Richmond, Somerset and Unity.  Add in two additional buses, one from the Cedar Lake Speedway driven by Ron "The Swamp Man" Bernhagen and the other piloted by stunt driver Clay "The Wild Man" Gallagher, and you have a formula for a very entertaining evening.  Local area high school students and their families packed the place cheering for their respective buses with each school painting and preparing their bus ahead of time.  One bus even had a wing on top while another was painted to the Bat Man theme.  With Osceola and Amery winning the two heat races, the stage was set for the big feature event.  As school buses raced two and sometimes even three wide, the wild event was filled with slam-bang crashes and dramatic moments for the large crowd.  The New Richmond Bat-Mo-Bus thrilled the crowd with a two wheel effort one time while nearly rolling over.  The speedy Osceola bus was involved in an early crash on the frontstretch, but was able to get going again and overcame a huge deficit to make for an exciting finish.  With flagman Jeff Stacken waving the checkers, the Baldwin-Woodville bus narrowly held off the Osceola bus for a popular victory.  Finishing third on back was Amery, New Richmond, Unity and Somerset.  Where were Ron and Clay?  Well, their buses sustained some damage and brought up the rear of the field.  Following the race, "Wild Man" Clay jumped his bus through a burning wall of flames in the infield.  The popular promotion will return next May for what will likely be another record-setting night at the Cedar Lake Speedway, as local area high schools vie for bragging rights on a fun-filled evening at the races.

It's always fun to race in front of a large crowd, and the two NASCAR sanctioned divisions in action joined right in with their largest car counts of the season so far.  The NASCAR midwest modified division usually produces the highest turnout each race night, and tonight was no exception.  A season-high field of 38 cars were on hand.  Following heat race wins by Kyle Jumbeck, Clark Perry, Dustin Scott, and Jeremy Houle, Clayton Wagamon topped a 17 car B Main to set the stage for the 20 lap feature event.  Paced by front row starters Dan Wheeler and Clark Perry, a wild scramble for the lead at the completion of one lap saw cars cross the line three wide with sparks flying.  Bob Smith led the opening lap, but it was fifth starter Jason Miller on the move.  Miller, subbing for Sam Nelson, blasted his way to the front on the second lap.  The race was under caution with three laps scored for debris from Clark Perry's car that resulted from the first lap scramble for the lead.  Perry was done for the night.  With Miller continuing to show the way, a tremendous battle for the runnerup spot developed behind him when the race returned to green amongst the cars of Smith, Wheeler, Wayne Troseth, Jason Vandekamp and defending track champion Shawn Phillips.  The race was back under caution on lap nine for a four car crash in turn four.  The battle behind Miller saw Wheeler, Troseth, Vandekamp and Phillips in the top five.  Vandekamp moved to third on lap 12 and took second the next lap from Wheeler only to have Wheeler return the favor on lap 14.  The third caution slowed the pace with 14 laps in the books for a spin in turn four.  On the restart, Phillips went from fourth to second in just two laps with 10th starter Taylor Leuthner cracking the top five.  A final caution for a spin in turn four with 17 laps in set the stage for three lap dash to the checkers.  Jason Miller proved to be too strong and went on to record his first NASCAR midwest modified win of the season.  Shawn Phillips won the spirited battle for second ahead of Jason Vandekamp.  Dan Wheeler and 2008 Legendary 100 winner Taylor Leuthner completed the top five.  Rounding out the top ten finishers were Jeremy Houle, Wayne Troseth, 15th starter Dennis Jones, Kyle Jumbeck, and 21st starter Clayton Wagamon.

Not since the end of the 1991 season have the winged outlaw modifieds raced at the Cedar Lake Speedway.  The long awaited return saw a talented field of cars on hand.  Several drivers from the previous era returned to the popular class while several drivers were making their winged modified debut.  When the final checkers waved, the return of this class of cars was deemed to be a success for their first time back.  Heat races were won by Rick Kobs and Jason Gross.  Mike Kelley Jr and Jason Miller brought the 11 car starting grid to the green for their 15 lap main event.  Miller, fresh off a win in the midwest mod division, wasted little time in motoring into the lead.  The race was under caution immediately when Shaun Kelley snapped a drive shaft and rolled to a stop in turn two.  Called for a jump on the restart, Mike Nutzmann was moved back one row when the yellow blinked backed on.  The third time was the charm, as Miller once again set a blistering pace.  The winged outlaw mods were turning laps nearly as quick as the late models, as Rick Kobs settled into the runnerup spot behind Miller.  Brad Waits, Mike Kelley Jr and Jason Gross mixed it up for the third spot for several laps before Waits settled in.  Just three laps into the race, Les Duellman pulled to the infield when the air cleaner cover flew off his winged mod.  Not taking any chances to incur engine damage, the veteran Fountain City driver pulled off.  A final caution blinked on for debris in turn four with nine laps in.  The running order up front remained the same with the field once again closed up.  Six more quick laps rolled by, and it was Jason Miller recording his second win of the night and etching his name in the CLS record books by winning the winged outlaw modified feature race.  Rick Kobs finished second ahead of Brad Waits, Mike Kelley Jr, Jason Gross, Scott Gilbertson, Mike Nutzmann driving the Lepinski #87L car, Dave Lear, and Lonnie Louschke.  Les Duellman and Shaun Kelley did not finish.  With word that several more cars will bolt on wings for the second show of the season, the popular class will return to the Cedar Lake Speedway on Thursday night June 18 to help kick off The Masters weekend.

The final event of the evening featured the ground-pounding action of the NASCAR late model division.  The weekly car counts have been strong all season long in the late model division at CLS, but tonight would see the largest turnout so far with a tremendous field of 33 cars on hand.  Rick Egersdorf, Lance Matthees, Pat Doar and Ashley Anderson topped heat race action.  Most weekly tracks do not have enough cars to run a B Main for the late models, but on occasion CLS needs to do so.  Tonight was such an occasion.  Doug Herrick bested Jake Redetzke, Keith Foss, and Don Copp for the four transfer positions into the 30 lap feature race.  With the starting field determined, Rick Egersdorf and Jimmy Mars brought the field to life as track announcer Chris Stepan pumped up the crowd.  Jimmy Mars is certainly no stranger to the Cedar Lake Speedway having won a track point title, Masters championship, and USA Nationals event to his credit amongst numerous other victories.  Mars wasted little time in showing the field the quick way around with Egersdorf and Eric Breeschoten the top trio.  Making his first appearance of the season, Ashley Anderson began working his way forward from his 8th starting spot.  Anderson moved to fourth on lap five and engaged in a very good battle with Breeschoten for several laps.  While the race remained under green, Anderson moved past Breeschoten for third on lap 13 as the leaders began to encounter lapped traffic.  A couple of laps later, Lance Matthees moved past Steve Laursen for fifth.  With Egersdorf quickly closing the gap on Mars in traffic, the lone caution of the race blinked on.  Unfortunately it was for third place runner Ashley Anderson.  Anderson jumped the cushion entering turn one and contacted the concrete wall.  His night ended with a ride on the wrecker.  The race then ran 13 laps nonstop to the finish with Matthees getting by Breeschoten for third a couple laps after the green replaced the yellow.  In his second appearance of the season, Jimmy Mars recorded his first NASCAR late model victory.  Another strong performance saw Rick Egersdorf in the runnerup position.  Overcoming some bad luck from a few weeks ago at CLS, Lance Matthees ran a solid third.  Eric Breeschoten and Steve Laursen completed the top five.  Rounding out the top ten was Pat Doar, Jesse Redetzke, Brent Larson, Rick Hanestad, and last week's winner Darrell Nelson.

Weekly NASCAR racing action returns to the Cedar Lake Speedway on Memorial Day Weekend with a full show of late model, modified, super stock and midwest modified events on Saturday night May 23.  The racing has been entertaining and exciting so far in 2009 with good car counts, good track conditions and well-run programs ending at a very reasonable hour on Saturday nights.  Please join us for another fun-filled experience at west central Wisconsin's fastest piece of real estate, the legendary Cedar Lake Speedway.  Thank you to all the drivers and fans for your support so far during the 2009 racing season.  With plenty of great racing and stellar events still to come, we shall see you at the Cedar Lake Speedway!