Marshall, Davis, Schreiner and Larson Top Cedar Lake Features
New Richmond, WI (4-17-10)
by Greg Parent
The second weekend of the 2010 racing season at the Cedar Lake Speedway get underway on Saturday April 17 under clear skies. Windy conditions throughout the day made for a bit drier track than usual, but as the evening progressed and the track blackened up, it became quite racy for the features. The national, state and track points battle in the four NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions began with 97 cars on hand.
Repeating his opening night victory, Thunder Bay driver Jeff Marshall earned his second feature win in the NASCAR Midwest Modified division. Cory Davis dominated the NASCAR Pro Stock main event for his first win of the young season. Ron Schreiner passed leader Dave Cain enroute to a solid performance and his first win in the NASCAR modified division. A late race caution with four laps to go allowed Brent Larson to close the gap on race-long leader Rick Hanestad in the NASCAR Late Model feature race. Larson made the most of the opportunity, as the 2007-2008 track champion raced to his first win to overcome early season engine problems.
A pair of feature winners from opening weekend, Dan Wheeler and Jeff Marshall, found themselves on the front row of the NASCAR Midwest Modified feature. The veteran drivers brought the 24 car field to the green for 20 laps of entertaining racing action. Following a spin on the opening lap, the field realigned for a complete restart. When flagman Jeff Stacken waved the green, Dan Wheeler raced ahead of Jeff Marshall to grab the lead. Wheeler held the point through the second caution with seven laps in. The third and final caution quickly blinked on again on the restart for a Pat Cook spin in turn four. With Marshall right behind him, the two drivers put on a great battle for the lead when the green replaced the yellow. Wheeler narrowly led the following lap, but Marshall drove around Wheeler on lap nine to take the lead. A run of thirteen green flag laps to the finish saw Jeff Marshall pull ahead to take his second win of the season over Dan Wheeler. Clayton Wagamon, Robbie Franklin, and 14th starter Bob Smith rounded out the top five. Completing the top ten finishers were Mike Gibson, Vince Corbin, Bryan Siercks, Jake Miller, and A J Roschen from the back after pitting seven laps into the race. Heat race wins went to Siercks, Miller and Wheeler. Mike Raboin won the B Main.
A strong field of 24 NASCAR Pro Stocks lined up for their 20 lap feature race with Brian Lick and Cory Davis leading them to the green. Davis, who won three times in the division last year, immediately blasted away from the field. Davis proceeded to open up a comfortable margin. The only caution of the race blinked on for a Mike Dyerdahl spin in turn four with just three laps in. One again Davis took command up front for what would be a seventeen lap green flag run to the checkers. Tim Borgeson quickly moved from his 8th starting position to run third by lap four. Borgeson continued his march forward when he passed Brian Lick for second just past the halfway mark. That's as far as the 2009 Legendary 100 champion would go though, as Davis had the race well in hand. A very good battle waged on for the fourth through sixth spots for many laps, but Cory Davis was well ahead. The Turtle Lake driver raced to his first win of the season. Tim Borgeson, Brian Lick, Rich Bishop and Jason Forehand completed the top five. Mason, Wisconsin driver Nick Oreskovich ran a solid sixth followed by Mike Loomis, Justin Dodge, Greenland, Michigan driver Ken Truscott with the long haul, and Chris Gorka to complete the top ten. Bishop, Lick and Borgeson won the heats.
The mighty NASCAR Modifieds lined up 26 cars strong for their 20 lap main event paced by opening night winner Jason Gross and to his outside Jason Miller. Gross grabbed the early lead over fourth starter Dave Cain. The yellow blinked on three laps in for a Mike Wood spin with Miller, Ron Schreiner and Terry Hanson behind the lead duo. Cain battled with Gross for the lead, and on lap five the five-time modified track champion gained the point. The battle for several spots behind Cain was intense and kept the crowd's focus. The caution waved for the second time at the halfway mark when Michael Truscott turned sideways on the backstretch. Scott Duvall had now moved from tenth to fifth with Schreiner up to third. Schreiner immediately drove under Gross for second on lap 11 and quickly closed in on Cain. One lap later, the 1997 modified track champion brought the crowd to their feet when he passed Cain for the lead.
A couple of cautions with fourteen laps in slowed the pace, but Schreiner resumed his strong run when the race returned to green for the final six laps. Jason Miller's car came to life later in the race, and he moved past Cain for second on lap 15. Miller closed in on Schreiner, but he was unable to make a serious bid for the lead. Schreiner, the defending Legendary 100 champion, went on to record his first win of the season. Miller, Cain, 12th starter Rick Kobs who was also strong late in the race, and Jason Gross completed the top five. Scott Duvall, Terry Hanson, Craig Brightbill, Al Uotinen, and Dave Lear rounded out the top ten. Heat race winners included Rick Kobs, Jason Gross and Dave Cain.
Although a couple of area special events at other tracks kept the car count down a bit in the NASCAR Late Model division, a solid field of seventeen cars rolled trackside for 30 laps of thundering action. Veteran driver and 1983 late model track champion Jim Bruggeman brought the field to the green from his pole starting position. However, it was outside front row starter Rick Hanestad hustling to the early lead. Hanestad steadily pulled away from the field to establish a comfortable lead. Fourth starter Eric Breechoten, debuting a brand new car, advanced to second on lap seven while Don Copp, making his first appearance of the season, raced to third. Thirteen-time track champion Rick Egersdorf was up to fourth by lap eight. Egersdorf moved by Copp a lap later for third. With some intense racing taking place for the third through seventh spots, Brent Larson cracked the top five on lap 10. Larson moved by Copp one lap later and closed in on Egersdorf. With the race continuing under green, Larson battled Egersdorf for several laps before gaining third on lap 16 while Copp, Bruggeman, Mike Nutzmann, Mike Bear and Jesse Redetzke battled for fifth. Hanestad was well in command up front, as he began working some lapped traffic.
The late model feature got real interesting when the lone caution of the race flew with 26 laps in the books. Rick Hanestad had built a comfortable lead over Eric Breeschoten and Brent Larson at the time, but when a couple of cars tangled in turn four with just four laps remaining the complexion of the race changed in a hurry. Suddenly the second place car of Eric Breeschoten stalled while under the yellow and needed to be pushed to the pits. This put the B1 of Brent Larson, with a fresh engine under the hood, right behind race-long leader Rick Hanestad on the restart. Larson battled with Hanestad when the race went back green, but Hanestad was able to narrowly hold him off to lead lap 27. The B1 was strong, and Larson made the winning pass exiting turn two the following lap. Hanestad held off 9th starter Rick Egersdorf to finish second. A solid run for Mike Bear in fourth from his 8th starting spot with Jesse Redetzke from 10th to round out the top five. Completing the top ten finishers were Jim Bruggeman, Don Copp, Mike Nutzmann, Jake Hartung, and Jim Carlson. Rick Egersdorf and Rick Hanestad won the heats.
Racing action returns next weekend with the four NASCAR Whelen All-American divisions in action along with the UMSS 36 sprint cars. The sprint cars will be making their first appearance of the season for the running of the 9th Annual Billy Anderson Memorial. Last year the race was won by Lou Kennedy, Jr. Other previous champions of the Billy Anderson Memorial include Tony Norem, Bill Boles, Jerry Richert Jr, Loren Langerud, Jake Peters, and Chuck Swenson. The race twice fell victim to the weather in 2008. Racing is scheduled to get underway at 6:00 PM. With a full program of five divisions, there should be plenty of excitement and entertainment for all race fans on Saturday April 24. Come on out and enjoy an evening of dirt-track racing at the Legendary Cedar Lake Speedway. For more information, please visit our website at www.cedarlakespeedway.com or call 1-866-4CLS-FUN.
