New Richmond, WI
by Greg Parent (7-30-09)

The opening night of the 22nd Annual USA Nationals got underway on Thursday evening July 30 with a huge field of 65 WDRL Late Models on hand in addition to 23 NASCAR Midwest Modifieds and 14 Outlaw Winged Modifieds.  Scattered showers in the area steered clear of the track and it turned out to be a fine evening for racing at the popular western Wisconsin oval.  Tim Fuller raced to victory in the 50 lap WDRL main event, as he defeated Tim McCready, Jimmy Mars, Chad Simpson and Brian Birkhofer with a large crowd on hand to watch one of the strongest WDRL fields ever assembled.  Jason Miller made a late charge to the lead to earn his second Outlaw Winged Modified win of the season.  Jeremy Houle also picked up his second win of the season in the NASCAR Midwest Modified division when he passed defending track champion Shawn Phillips with six laps to go.

Kicking off feature race action for the evening, 22 NASCAR Midwest Modifieds lined up for 20 racing laps to determine the victor.  Rookie Tony Schill and Bryan Siercks brought the field to the green, but a caution on the opening lap required a complete restart when Jake Miller spun in turn four.  The second attempt was good, as Schill busted out into the lead over third starter Shawn Phillips and Siercks.  Positions behind Schill changed hands often in the early going with Jason Vandekamp quickly moving up to third just three laps into the race.  The following lap Phillips ducked underneath Schill for the lead with Jeff Marshall advancing to fourth.  The second caution slowed the pace with four laps in when the fifth place car of rookie David Swearingen broke in turn four and collected A J Roschen.  Roschen went to the work area and changed a flat tire while Swearingen needed wrecker assistance to the pits.  When the green blinked back on, Phillips continued to show the way.  At the halfway mark, it was Phillips holding a slim lead over Vandekamp, Marshall, ninth starter Jeremy Houle, and Schill.  An accident on the backstretch with 11 laps in collected the cars of Bryan Siercks, Mike Gibson and Mike Mueller.  Ryan Johnson was tagged with the caution.  Gibson's night ended on the wrecker while the other cars were able to continue.  Fans suddenly became aware that 22nd starter Curt Myers was on the move forward in a big way.  Myers was now in sixth with nine laps to go and soon found himself in fifth a lap later.  On lap 14, Houle made a solid move from fourth to second with Marshall getting past Vandekamp for third as it was three cars wide in the battle for second.  The final caution flew one lap later when contact between Bob Smith and Andy Jones sent Jones' car sliding off the turn one exit to the pits.  Since both cars had been involved in some beating and banging for several laps, they were both sent to the rear of the field for the restart along with a strong warning from track officials.  With the green replacing the yellow, Houle made a bid for the lead exiting turn four on the next lap and slipped by under Phillips for the top spot.  The race ran clean and green the rest of the way with Jeremy Houle earning his second win of the season.  Shawn Phillips, Jeff Marshall, Jason Vandekamp and Curt Myers rounded out the top five.  Completing the top ten finishers were Tony Schill, Jake Miller, Andy Jones, Mike Mueller and A J Roschen.  Heat races were won by Phillips and Vandekamp.

Making their third appearance of the season, the largest turnout so far saw 14 Winged Outlaw Modifieds sign in to the pits.  All cars were able to make the call for their 20 lap feature race.  Jason Gross immediately blasted to the lead from his pole starting spot with Brad Waits in second ahead of Shaun Kelley and his brother Mike Kelley Jr.  Fifth starter Jason Miller slipped back to ninth on the opening lap, but he was soon on the move forward.  On lap 3, Rick Kobs passed Dave Friendt to crack the top five.  The lone caution bunched up the field with six laps in when Dave Siercks dropped his transmission on the track in turn four and rolled to a stop.  Gross was in command, but his lead evaporated with Waits, Shaun Kelley, Kobs and Miller occupying the top five positions.  Gross once again bolted away from the field when the race restarted.  Several spirited battles for positions behind the leader were taking place.  Miller moved past Kobs a lap later and then got by Shaun Kelley on lap 9.  Miller closed in on Waits and the two drivers battled each other for several laps.  On lap 14, MIller got around Waits for second.  Gross had built up a good lead by this time, but Miller began eroding the margin lap after lap.  With three laps to go, Miller had reeled in Gross and the race was on.  On lap 19, Miller dove underneath Gross for the lead at the white flag.  Jason Miller went on the win his second Winged Outlaw Modified feature race in three attempts.  Jason Gross held off Brad Waits for second with Shaun Kelley topping Mike Kelley Jr to complete the top five.  Rick Kobs, Dave Lear, Terry Hanson, Scott Gilbertson and Les Duellman rounded out the top ten.  Kobs and Duellman won the heats.

Racing action continues at the 22nd Annual USA Nationals when a field of 60-70 open late models take to the track on Friday evening for time trials, heat races and a dash in order to earn a starting berth in the big 100 lap $50,000 to win championship feature race on Saturday night.  A full show is also scheduled for the NASCAR Late Models with 30-40 cars expected to be on hand for their $2,500 to win main event.  Racing is slated to get underway at 6:30 PM.  The level of competition in the open late model ranks this year is outstanding, so race fans will not want to miss the exciting action this weekend at the Cedar Lake Speedway.

Winged Outlaw Modifieds
Heat 1- Rick Kobs, Mike Kelley, Dave Lear, Jason Gross, Dave Friendt, Dave Siercks, Mike Raboin
Heat 2- Les Duellman, Jason Miller, Brad Waits, Scott Gilbertson, Shaun Kelley, Lonnie Louschke, Terry Hanson
A Main- Miller, Gross, Waits, Kelley, Kobs, Lear, Hanson, Gilbertson, Duellman, Louschke, Friendt, Raboin, Siercks

Midwest Modifieds
Heat 1- Shawn Phillips, Bryan Siercks, Andy Jones, Dave Swearingen, Mike Kyllonen, Mike Mueller, Steve Strandlund Jr, Jake Miller, Mike Raboin, Steve Strandlund, Shawn Wihren, Jared Gorka
Heat 2- Jason Vandekamp, Jeff Marshall, Jeremy Houle, AJ Roschen, Tony Schill, Bob Smith, Jason Fall, Ryan Johnson, Jeremy Penman, Mike Gibson, Curt Myers
A Main- Houle, Phillips, Marshall, Vandekamp, Myers, Schill, Miller, Jones, Mueller, Roschen, Smith, Penman, Johnson, Raboin, Wihren, Siercks, Gibson, Strandlund, Kyllonen, Swearingen, Gorka, Fall, Strandlund Jr