New Richmond, WI
by Greg Parent (5-23-09)

The seventh race of the season saw two new winners emerge while two other drivers earned repeat feature victories on a pleasant spring evening at the Cedar Lake Speedway during Saturday night racing action on Memorial Day weekend.  A strong field of 107 cars signed into the pits to race for top honors in the four weekly NASCAR divisions.  Jeff Marshall drove to his second win of the season, his first since the opening night, in the NASCAR midwest modified division in dominating fashion.  Mike Weber took full advantage of his pole starting spot leading all the way in the NASCAR super stock main event, but he had to withstand a late challenge from Jason Schill to secure his first win of the 2009 season.  Darrell Nelson has been a dominating force in the NASCAR modified class so far at CLS, and tonight was no different as he garnered his fourth victory in six attempts.  The NASCAR late model division remains the only class to see a different feature winner each night so far in 2009.  Multi-time track champion Rick Egersdorf took his first win in several seasons when he topped a very strong field of late models.

For the second week in a row, an incredible field of 33 NASCAR late models was on hand.  Following heat race wins by Jim Carlson, Chuckie DeSmith, Jeff Patchen and Jake Redetzke, a late model B Main was once again necessary.  It is not very often that you see Pat Doar in a B Main, but tonight was such an occasion.  Doar pulled away for the win over Keith Foss, Adam Hensel and Jeff Martire.  The field was now set for their feature event.  Jake Redetzke and first-time 2009 visitor Mike Prochnow paced the 24 car starting grid, as race fans would feel the rumble of the late models for 30 racing laps around the high-banked 3/8 mile oval.  With the first start attempt called back for a jump by outside front row starter Prochnow, the second attempt saw veteran racer Rick Egersdorf move up one row and switch spots with Prochnow.  Egersdorf, who literally has tens of thousands of laps around the track, wasted no time in finding the quick lane and got the lead over Redetzke.  A spin in turn one with three laps scored brought out the second caution of the race, as Joel Cryderman and Jeff Patchen made contact.  Cryderman retired to the pits with what appeared to be some kind of front suspension or steering damage.  Third place runner John Kaanta got by Redetzke on the restart and settled into the runnerup spot behind Egersdorf.  One final caution for a six car incident in turn two one lap later kept the field bunch up.  It would be 26 laps nonstop to the finish when the green blinked back on.  A tremendous battle developed for the fourth spot for several laps between Prochnow and opening night winner Rick Hanestad.  Hanestad finally secured the spot near the midway point of the race.  On lap 20, Darrell Nelson moved past Prochnow for fifth.  The leaders remained the same for the remainder of the race, as Rick Egersdorf held a comfortable margin enroute to his first win at CLS in a number of years.  John Kaanta, Jake Redetzke, Rick Hanestad and Darrell Nelson rounded out the top five.  Completing the top ten finishers were Mike Prochnow, Jim Carlson, Jeff Patchen, Chuckie DeSmith and Kelly Anderson.

Darrell Nelson has ruled the roost in the NASCAR modified division this season at CLS.  After driving to a heat race win, Nelson lined up sixth on the starting grid for their 20 lap A Main.  Pole sitter Jason Gross took the lead over fellow front row starter Craig Brightbill at the drop of the green.  The race was under caution after just one lap for a four car crash in turn two.  Chris Gorka's mod required wrecker assistance.  Again Gross led Brightbill on the restart with Darrell Nelson from sixth to third ahead of Jason Miller and Ron Schreiner.  The yellow was displayed a second time for a spin by Dave Friendt in turn two with eight laps in the books.  Miller had slipped back to sixth with the winner of the other heat race, Rick Kobs, now in fifth.  Two laps later, it was Miller with a spin in turn four relegating him to the tail of the field.  Bad luck struck race leader Jason Gross on the restart when something let go in the rear end of his car and he immediately drove off the track into the pits.  This gave Nelson the lead.  One more slow down for a spin by Bruce Mattison, and it was Nelson earning his fourth NASCAR modified win of the season.  Ron Schreiner worked his way past Craig Brightbill on lap 17 to grab the runnerup spot.  Jeremy Gross and Mike Kelley Jr completed the top five.  Rounding out the top ten were Dave Lear, Rick Kobs, Marc Johnson, Scott Splittstoesser from 19th, and Shaun Kelley.

Although he's had a fast race car each night he has been at CLS this season, Mike Weber had not been able to earn a trip to Victory Lane yet.  With the good fortune of a pole starting position, Weber blasted into the lead over two time winner Jason Schill.  Ryan Wiome was quickly up to second followed by Mike Keller who was making his first appearance of the season.  A very good battle soon developed for the third through sixth positions.  The first caution slowed the pace with 12 laps scored when Ryan Olson spun in turn two.  Weber's lead now evaporated with Wiome, Schill, Keller and Jim Gullikson occupying the top five spots.  Gullikson got past Keller on the restart while Schill was looking for a way past Wiome.  Schill moved to second on lap 15 and began to close in on Weber.  A good battle right behind Schill saw Wiome, Gullikson, Keller, Mike Loomis and Greg Nippoldt involved.  The second yellow was displayed when Wiome and Gullikson made contact and spun in turn four while battling for third.  It was a tough call, but track officials deemed Wiome to be at fault and he had to tag the tail.  On the restart, Tyler Boumeester and Jeff Pellersels got together on the backstretch.  Pellersels' car needed two wreckers to remove it from the track.  Another restart attempt was foiled by a spin in turn four by Brian Lick.  Lick pulled off the track with a flat tire.  This set the stage for a green-white-checker dash to the finish.  Schill tried to work to the inside of Weber, but Weber was able to withstand the challenge to earn his first win of the season.  Gullikson was third ahead of Keller while Loomis edged past Nippoldt for fifth on the final lap.  Completing the top ten finishers were Justin Dodge, Cory Davis, Chad Johnson, and Cody Campeau.  Heat race winners included Nippoldt, Justin Stahl, and Weber.

With the 29 car field in the NASCAR midwest modified division pared down to 24 starters, the 20 lap feature saw Jason Vandekamp and Andy Jones bring the field to the green.  Jones charged hard into turn one up top, but his car looped around in front of the whole field.  Cars scrambled every which way to avoid him, but several cars were collected.  Only Alex Gerlach was unable to continue.  With Jones now at the back of the field, A J Roschen moved up to the outside front row starting spot.  A four car crash on the next attempt to start the race saw Dave Siercks, Dennis Jones and Jake Miller eliminated while Jeremy Houle went to the work area.  Houle returned to tag the tail.  Roschen liked the outside lane and edged past Vandekamp to lead the opening lap when the race finally got underway.  The green flag was short-lived though, as the race was under its third caution with just one lap in for a spin in turn four.  When the green replaced the yellow, Roschen was battling Vandekamp and Jeff Marshall for the top spot when he spun in turn three to put the race under its fourth caution.  This gave the lead to Vandekamp.  On the restart, Marshall got by Vandekamp for the top spot.  Once again, the race was under caution a lap later when John Clark tagged the turn four wall and stopped.  Finally, the race was able to put together a string of green flag laps after this.  As Marshall pulled away from the field, fans were keeping tabs on the progress of Jones and Houle from the back.  Jones was back up to tenth in just a couple of laps.  When the final caution waved for Mike Gibson's contact with the turn one wall on lap 13, it was Marshall, Vandekamp, Bob Smith, Clark Perry and Josh Bazey in the top five.  Jones and Houle were seventh and eighth behind Eric Herbison.  Two laps later Smith moved past Vandekamp for second, but the battle for positions five through eight was spectacular at times.  Houle moved to sixth on lap 15 while Herbison and Jones swapped the seventh spot behind Bazey.  Clark Perry began to fade a bit in the late stages of the race with Houle and Bazey now battling for fourth.  Bazey retook the spot from Houle on the final lap.  Jeff Marshall was in control up front and recorded his second win of the season.  Bob Smith and Jason Vandekamp completed the top three in front of Bazey and Houle.  The remainder of the top ten were Andy Jones, Clark Perry, Eric Herbison, B Main winner and 21st starter Clayton Wagamon and Kyle Steffen.  Midwest mod heat races were won by Steffen, Marshall and Smith.

Racing action continues next Saturday May 30 at the Cedar Lake Speedway.  The Hot City Nights promotion is once again in effect.  The program for the four regular NASCAR divisions is scheduled to get underway at 6:30 PM.  Come on out to the Cedar Lake Speedway and see who will earn top honors in the late model, modified, super stock and midwest modified divisions.  For more information, please check us out on the web at

NASCAR Impact Printing Late Models (33 cars)
Heat 1 Jim Carlson, Rick Hanestad, Darrell Nelson, Eric Breeschoten, Cory Mahder, Pat Doar, Kevin Kuehn, Keith Foss, John Meeds
Heat 2 Chuckie DeSmith, Rick Egersdorf, John Kaanta, Paul Brust, Steve Laursen, Jake Hartung, Jeff Martire, Mike Nutzmann
Heat 3 Jeff Patchen, Joel Cryderman, Doug Herrick, Bob Slater, Keane Laakson, Mike Raboin, Bryan Wennen, Toby Patchen
Heat 4 Jake Redetzke, Brent Larson, Mike Prochnow, Kelly Anderson, Lance Mathees, Mike Bear, Adam Hensel, Dave Friendt
B Main Doar, Foss, Hensel, Martire, Kuehn, Raboin, Meeds, Patchen, Friendt, Wennen, Bear
A Main Egersdorf, Kaanta, Redetzke, Hanestad, Nelson, Prochnow, Carlson, Patche, DeSmith, Anderson, Mathees, Mahder, Foss, Larson, Hensel, Slater, Doar, Brust, Laursen, Martire, Laakson, Breeschoten, Herrick, Cryderman, Wennen, Friendt

NASCAR Amsoil Modifieds (22 cars)
Heat 1 Rick Kobs, Craig Brightbill, Jason Miller, Jason Gross, Mike Kelley, Marc Johnson, Don Brightbill, Lonnie Louschke, Lance Hofer, Scott Splittstoesser, Jason Schill
Heat 2 Darrell Nelson, Ron Schreiner, Dave Friendt, Dave Lear, Jeremy Gross, Shaun Kelley, Chris Gorka, Keith Lepinski, Brad Loveday, Bruce Mattison, Chris Magistad
A Main Nelson, Schreiner, Brightbill, Jeremy Gross, M Kelley, Lear, Kobs, Johnson, Splittstoesser, S Kelley, Miller, Louschke, Hofer, Friendt, Magistad, Loveday, D Brightbill, Lepinski, Mattison, Gross, Gorka, Schill

NASCAR Goodyear Super Stocks (22 cars)
Heat 1 Greg Nippoldt, Jason Schill, Cody Campeau, Brian Lick, Lyle Archambeau, Ryan Olson, Jeff Pellersells, Tim Borgeson
Heat 2 Justin Stahl, Jim Gullikson, Mike Keller, Chad Johnson, Justin Dodge, Kevin Ayotte, Mike Raboin, Adam Ayotte
Heat 3 Mike Weber, Ryan Wiome, Mike Loomis, Cory Davis, Tyler Boumeester, Shawn Kammerud, Marcus Berget
A Main Weber, Schill, Gullikson, Keller, Loomis, Nippoldt, Dodge, Davis, Johnson, Campeau, Kammerud, Olson, Berget, Wiome, Boumeester, A Ayotte, Lick, Pellersells, Ayotte, Raboin, Archambeau, Borgeson

NASCAR Grand Casino Midwest Modifieds (29 Cars)
Heat 1 Kyle Steffen, Jason Vandekamp, Mike Gibson, Steve Strandlund Jr, Eric Herbison, Dave Siercks, Clayton Wagamon, EJ Heitala, Ryan Johnson, Don Swearingen
Heat 2 Jeff Marshall, Andy Jones, Jake Miller, AJ Roschen, Tony Schill, Kyle Matuska, Matt Steffen, Robbie Franklin, Shawn Phillips
Heat 3 Bob Smith, Alex Gerlach, Clark Perry, Josh Bazey, Jeremy Houle, Dennis Jones, John Clark, Jeremy Penman, Steve Strandlund, Jason Fall
B Main Wagamon, Strandlund, Franklin, Steffen, Heitala, Clark, Swearingen, Fall, Johnson, Penman
A Main Marshall, Smith, Vandekamp, Bazey, Houle, A Jones, Perry, Herbison, Wagamon, K Steffen, Schill, Matuska, Franklin, Heitala, Strandlund, Strandlund Jr, M Steffen, Gibson, Roschen, Clark, Siercks, D Jones, Miller, Gerlach