A hot, sunny summer afternoon ended up with a very pleasant evening for the fourth night of the NASCAR Dash Series at the Cedar Lake Speedway.  Another talented field of 88 cars in the four weekly NASCAR racing divisions saw some familiar faces grace Victory Lane.  When the final checkers waved, Jason Vandekamp, Dan Gullikson, Matt Leer and John Kaanta drove to victory in the NASCAR Midwest Modifieds, Pro Stocks, Modifieds and Late Models.

The NASCAR Midwest Modifieds drew a 24 car field and all 24 cars started their 20 lap feature.  Three heat races using passing and finishing points were run with Corey Jones, Alex Williamson and Mitch Weiss the winners.  Defending NASCAR Dash Series champion and current point leader Jason Vandekamp earned the most points in the heats and started on the pole alongside fellow Scandia racer Mitch Weiss.  Leading up to the Midwest Mod feature, only three cautions during all of the heat races had slowed the pace.  The Midwest Mod feature would see the yellow wave six times for a variety of incidents.  Four-time track champion Vandekamp led all the way for his 45th career CLS victory in the Midwest Mod division.  Alex Williamson, David Swearingen, Weiss and Gunnar Watkins completed the top five, as only half of the starting field was around at the checkers.

With heat race wins in the NASCAR Pro Stocks going to Willie Johnsen and current NASCAR Dash Series point leader Dan Gullikson, Gullikson and two-time track champion Mike Loomis would earn the most points and start on the front row for their 20 lap feature.  Adam Ayotte broke a driveshaft earlier in the evening and was the only Pro Stock not able to start the feature.  Gullikson wasted little time in showing the way up front.  Unlike the Midwest Mod main, the Pro Stock feature was only slowed once under caution for debris in turn three with eight laps scored.  Gullikson led the entire distance for his third straight NASCAR Pro Stock feature win and 10th of his career at CLS.  Jesse Redetzke finished second ahead of Cody Campeau, Willie Johnsen and Loomis.  in the top five.  Only one car dropped out of the Pro Stock main event.

Matt Leer was looking to rebound from a tough night at an area track on Friday, and his run to his third career victory in the NASCAR Modifieds certainly would help to salvage a portion of the weekend for the young driver from Bruce.  After Jason Gross and Brandon Jensen won the heat races, the front row would see Leer and Jensen bring the 18 car starting field to the green.  Just two cautions during the final four laps would slow the pace, as Leer held off all challengers throughout the 20 lap feature event.  Gross, Jensen, 9th starter and current NASCAR Dash Series point leader Darrell Nelson and Curt Myers round out the top five.  Attrition was fairly light in this race as well with only three cars dropping out.

To conclude the fourth night in the NASCAR Dash Series, the powerful NASCAR Late Models rolled on to the track for their 30 lap main event.  Earlier in the evening, John Kaanta and Rick Hanestad had won heat races, and they would start on the front row.  Kaanta jumped out into the early lead, as the laps clicked off quickly.  Kaanta began lapping cars at the 1/3 mark with A J Diemel on the move forward.  As Diemel went to second, Kaanta continued to hold a comfortable lead and continued to work traffic.  As Kaanta approached a group of four cars running side-by-side, the margin between his car and that of Diemel's car began to shrink lap after lap.  With Diemel only a few cars lengths behind Kaanta, the veteran driver did a masterful job of working through that group of cars and gaining a little bit of breathing room again during the final handful of laps.  When the checkers waved after 30 laps on nonstop racing, Kaanta recorded his 20th career late model victory at Cedar Lake.  Current NASCAR Dash Series point leader Diemel turned in a solid second place run.  Rick Hanestad held on to third.  Another consistent performance for late model rookie James Giossi once again saw him garner a top five with a fourth place finish which moved him just one point behind Darrell Nelson in the NASCAR Dash Series standings after four races.  Darrell Nelson rounded out the top five.  Jesse Glenz, Steve Laursen, Pat Doar, Jake Redetzke and Greg Nippoldt completed the top ten finishers.  All 17 starters finished.  Jeff Keeney was scratched early in the evening with mechanical issues and was not able to race.

On tap next Saturday night July 22 at the Cedar Lake Speedway is NASCAR Dash Series event #5.  As the points edge upwards in a progressive manner, the battle for the championship in all four NASCAR divisions will continue.  The following Saturday evening July 29 will be the Eric Herbison Memorial for the Midwest Modifieds.  Check out our website at www.cedarlakespeedway.com to get information on upcoming races, results, photos, news and much more.  You can call us toll free at 1-866-4-CLS-FUN or find us on the social media outlets of Facebook and Twitter.