Cedar Lake Speedway Celebrates 51st Season at 2008 Banquet
(1/23/2009 New Richmond, WI ) Cedar Lake Speedway celebrated their 51st season at Grand Casino in Hinckley Minnesota on January 17th. This year’s banquet spotlighted accomplishments by their loyal drivers and upcoming events on tap for the 2009 season. Most of all, Cedar Lake Speedway was proud to hand out the largest track point fund in the area, a whopping $25,000!
Festivities began around 4:00 with a social hour outside the banquet hall. This gave drivers, crew members and families the opportunity to catch up on winter activities, talk about plans for the upcoming season and reflect on the past season’s accomplishments. At 5:30 nearly 250 people filed into the banquet hall for the meal and DVD presentation which followed. This year’s DVD presentation highlighted the top 10 in each division along with images of special events and guests at the Cedar Lake Speedway in 2008. After a short break the awards portion of the banquet began with an introduction by track owner Brad Both. Brad thanked everyone for the largest turnout in Cedar Lake banquet history and for the great season behind them. Brad touched on all the upcoming events for 2009 and how excited everyone at Cedar Lake Speedway was to continue their relationship with NASCAR.
Cedar Lake Announcer, Chris Stepan was brought to the stage to begin the trophy and point fund check distribution. But first, Kevin Nevalainen, NASCAR Whelen All-American Representative was asked to talk about NASCAR and their involvement with dirt short track racing and specifically Cedar Lake Speedway. Kevin talked about how NASCAR focuses on families and their efforts to continue promoting grassroots racing at select tracks like Cedar Lake Speedway and Superior Speedway. Kevin looks forward to continuing their relationships with corporate sponsors like Whelen, USG and others who have the same passion for short track racing. Following Kevin, 2008 Cedar Lake Speedway & NASCAR Wisconsin State Champion Late Model driver Brent Larson from Lake Elmo, Minnesota was asked to share his experience he and wife Nena had in Las Vegas at the NASCAR Whelen banquet. Brent was impressed with NASCAR’s efforts to make them feel welcomed and important. Brent was proud to be part of a truly 1st class presentation and looks forward to defending his championship and battling for the national title. For his efforts Brent was rewarded an additional $4,000 along with a Bell helmet, Sparco racesuit, shoes & gloves emblazoned with the NASCAR Whelen colors.
The top 10 in each class were brought to the stage one by one and given their point fund check along with trophy or plaque. Drivers finishing in 6th thru 10th received a photo plaque displaying their accomplishments in 2008 and their point fund earnings. Trophies and point fund checks awaited the top 5 in each division. In addition, the top 3 received beautiful plaques from NASCAR. NASCAR also rewarded Lou Woods, Rick Hanestad’s pitman with the Cedar Lake Speedway crew chief of the year with a plaque, $100 cash & a $450 credit for Craftsman tools. Warren Gerbauer, Brent Larson’s pitman was named the Wisconsin crew chief of the year and received $500 cash. Following short interviews with the champions, group photos were taken. After a short break the audience was entertained by hypnotist, Frankie Z. Several drivers and pit men participated in the show.
Cedar Lake Speedway would like to thank all the drivers, fans, sponsors, NASCAR & families for a fantastic 2008 season and equally entertaining banquet.
2008 Cedar Lake Speedway Track Champion & Wisconsin Whelen All-American State Champion Brent Larson
(L to R) Mike Nutzmann 5th, Jeff Keeney 7th, Ashley Anderson 4th, Brent Larson 1st, Chuckie DeSmith 8th, Rick Egersdorf 2nd, Kelly Anderson 6th, Rick Hanestad 3rd
2008 Cedar Lake Speedway Modified Champion Dave Cain
(L to R) Shaun Kelley 10th, Jason Gross 4th, Craig Brightbill 2nd, Kevin Viebrock 9th, Dave Cain 1st, Terry Hanson 3rd, Scott Splittstoesser 8th, Jeremy Gross 5th
2008 Cedar Lake Speedway Super Stock Champion Dan Carlson
(L to R) Ryan Wiome 8th, Rich Bishop 2nd, Dan Carlson 1st, Jim Gullikson 3rd, Greg Nippoldt 4th, Tim Borgeson 6th
2008 Cedar Lake Speedway Midwest Modified Champion Shawn Phillips
(L to R) Alex Gerlach 10th, Jeremy Houle 4th, Josh Bazey 8th, Clark Perry 2nd, Bob Smith 6th, Shawn Phillips 1st, Kyle Steffen 9th, Jason Vandekamp 3rd, Bryan Siercks 7th, Sam Nelson 5th
2008 Cedar Lake Speedway Street Stock Champion Devin Neske
(L to R) Devin Neske 1st, Shawn Kammerud 2nd, Chanda Fjorden-Nord 3rd, Jared Gross 4th, Scott Splittstoesser 6th
A crowd of nearly 250 were on hand for Cedar Lake Speedway's 2008 Banquet
Chris Stepan interviews Kevin Nevalainen, NASCAR All-American Representative prior to awards presentation.
Drivers, crew members, families & fans gather for social hour prior to the banquet.
Thank you to Stan Meissner for the photos, Cedar Lake Speedway sponsors & door prize contributors and most of all our loyal drivers & fans!