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05-11-13 Results: Large Crowd on Hand for Chilly School Bus Night!

By Jamie Nutzmann, 05/12/13, 10:45AM CDT

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Large Crowd On Chilly School Bus Night at Cedar Lake Speedway

(Schill and Schultz Kick Off Season With Wins)

New Richmond, WI

By: Greg Parent (5-11-13)

 

Despite cool temperatures and a strong, chilly wind, a large crowd of fans were on hand for the 9th Annual School Bus Night at the Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday May 11.  The yearly May tradition is very popular with the local area high school students, as teachers, bus drivers and one principal from seven area schools participated in a series of bus races during the evening.  The NASCAR Midwest Modifieds and Hornets were also part of the event in addition to the NVRA vintage cars.  Jason Schill drove to a thrilling come from behind victory in the NASCAR Midwest Modifieds to record his first CLS victory in that division.  Eric Schultz drove to his fifth career CLS win in the Hornet class to record an opening night victory.  It was the first racing program held at the popular western Wisconsin 3/8 mile dirt oval in 2013.

 

With many young fans on hand to watch the popular School Bus Race Night, a total of seven buses were ready to do battle in a series of three events.  The local area schools paint and prepare their buses ahead of time in pursuit of a championship title.  The always powerful Osceola High School bus driven by veteran bus racer Brian Meyer went on to record a clean sweep in winning the 8 lap heat, the 12 lap feature, and the 30 lap super finale.  It was the fifth championship title for Meyer and the Osceola students in the nine year history of the event.  The Unity High School bus driven by Neil Larson finished second in all three races, as it sported a #95 sprint car wing courtesy of Kevin Bradwell from Luck, WI.  The Baldwin-Woodville bus driven by Kyle Miller needed to make repairs following the heat race but managed to return for third place finishes in the two features.  Also on hand was the Hudson High School bus piloted by Tom Klatt, the New Richmond High School bus driven by principal Tom Wisink, the Somerset High School bus with Eric Olson behind the wheel, and the Amery High School bus with Chris Chelberg driving.  In the final event of the evening, the Car Quest CLS bus appeared with track co-owner Brad Both strapped in.  No buses rolled over this year, but plenty of carnage took place in the finale with parts strewn about the track.

 

One final point of interest this year, the school buses ran time trials for the first time ever.  Brian Meyer in the Osceola bus turned the quickest lap with a 31.54 second tour around the track.  Track announcer Chris Stepan recorded the school bus track record in his summary of all CLS track record holders for future reference.  Likely not many tracks around the US can lay claim to having a time trial recorded for school buses, but CLS is always trying to come up with some kind of new twist for the event each year.

 

In the regular race program, the NASCAR Midwest Modified division provided some excitement during hot laps when young Patrick Kelley hooked an infield tire and rolled over in turn four.  Following heat race wins by Jason Schill and Vince Corbin, the NASCAR Midwest Mods lined up for their 15 lap feature with Eric Gadach and Vince Corbin on the front row.  Fourth starter Jason Schill however led the opening two laps before spinning all by himself on the third lap in turn two.  Schill collected Josh Bazey in the process, but it was Schill tagging the tail on the restart.  Bazey quickly got by Gadach and led laps 3-8.  Vince Corbin got around Bazey on lap 9 and held the top spot through lap 13.  With two laps to go, it was Jason Schill back to the lead having come from the tail on the lap two restart.  Schill went on to record the win over Corbin, Dean Grube, Gadach, and Mike Raboin.  Bazey dropped out the race with two laps to go.    An altercation in the tech area following the feature race between two drivers may lead to possible fines and penalties being levied.  Stay tuned to the Cedar Lake website for further details pending a review of the incident.

 

The 12 lap Hornet feature saw Eric Schultz pass Barret Hammond prior to the halfway mark with Schultz going on to record his fifth career CLS victory in that division.  Hammond held on to second ahead of Kris Kaphing, Darrell Wold, and William Voeltz.  The race ran nonstop.  Voeltz and Schultz won the heats.

 

In Northern Vintage Racing Association action, Will Matsch won the heat and Greg Sheffer record his first-ever feature race win in his first appearance in the NVRA full body division. Mike Bjorklund won the NVRA super modified heat while Butch Bethke topped the super mod feature.  A total of 16 NVRA cars were on hand.

Next Saturday night May 18 at the Cedar Lake Speedway will see all five regular divisions on the program.  It will be the first appearance of the season for the NASCAR Late Models, Modifieds and Pro Stocks.   The NASCAR Midwest Mods and Hornets will return for their second show, as adverse early season weather forced CLS to cancel the first six nights of the 2013 season.  Hopefully the first full racing event with all divisions on hand can be held next Saturday.  For more information, please visit our website at
www.cedarlakespeedway.com or call 1-866-4CLS-FUN.  You can also follow Cedar Lake Speedway on Facebook.

RACE SUMMARY MAY 11, 2013:

NASCAR Midwest Modified Feature (15 laps): Vince Corbin, Dean Grube, Mike Raboin, Chase Friendt, James Wall, Josh Bazey DNF, Shane Berndt DNF, A J Roschen DNF, Cody Borgeson DNF, Bryce Johnson DNS, Douglas Toepper DNS, Patrick Kelly DNS, Jason Schill DQ, Eric Gadach DQ.

Hornet Feature (12 laps): Eric Schultz, Barret Hammond, Kris Kaphing, Darrell Wold, William Voeltz, Jess Seim, Buddy Hanestad, Derrick Johnson, Derek Reding, Samantha Yarusso DNF, Kayla Lallier DNS, Eric Albrightson DSN, Nick Axelson DNS, Chris Dyke DNS, Natalie Rogers DNS.

NVRA Full Body Feature (10 laps): Greg Sheffer, Mike Pappenfus, Mike Kelly, Rick Heber, Will Matsch, Paul Dolphy, Tim Stoltzman, Lee Lovgren, Tom Getchell DNS.

NVRA Super Modified Feature (10 laps): Butch Bethke, Dennis Olson, Joe Lallier, Mark Peine, Mike Bjorklund, Wally Stoltzman, Tom Getchell DNF.