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Lake
Geneva Raceway presents
Round and Around by Fay Hendricks |
| Upcoming Events at Lake Geneva
Raceway: Next Saturday, August 27: The final No Bull Super Late Model special,
plus a full program of Super Stocks, Millennium Late Models, and Sport Trucks. |
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| Round
and Around: By Fay Hendricks |
| The following is a column
written by Fay Hendricks for The Checkered Flag Racing News. This race publication began
in 1968 and ceased operations as of July 13, 2005. The wife of 7-time sportsman and mini
stock champion Jim Hendricks, Fay has been writing since 1981. As a way to allow readers
to continue following the travels of Fay Hendricks around several venues, Lake Geneva
Raceway owner-promoter Kevin Dawson has decided to offer the columns here. We hope you
enjoy the reading. |
August 24, 2005 -
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When the moon is full and mayhem is likely, there’s nothing better than scheduling a
wild contest that actually encourages participants to wreak havoc. Saturday night at Lake
Geneva Raceway, this was just the case, packing the audience with fans who stayed until
the last machine was running. The third trailer race of the season proved to be as popular
as the other two. Wacky drivers put castoff items onto a trailer, sprayed paint on both,
and attacked the debris-strewn course with zeal. Points were awarded for number of hits,
in case there was a chance this would become boring. The field began with a couple dozen
entries plus a few showy ones the audience chose to begin up front. One steadfast rule is
that trailers must remain attached, and a couple were eliminated when their trailers came
off. Driving over and through the jettisoned debris, some drove onto another’s
trailer, at one point providing a three-vehicle train. If crashing is your thing,
there’s still one more chance in
For race fans, there was also much to see preceding the carnage. The Rascal Outlaws were
the third race field this week, providing a field of tiny winged sprint machines. This was
the fourth Saturday contest at Lake Geneva for them, and the fourth clean sweep for Kip
Novotny. Showing a wry sense of humor in victory lane, Novotny pointed out, “I am the
tech inspector, too, by the way”. After the roll of the die set the feature inversion
at 15 cars, Novotny and the other quick-timers had their work cut out for them. Still, his
dominance found him leading before the halfway point in the 20-lap feature. Asked why his
mount runs so good, Novotny’s reply was, “Cheating”, before going on to
thank everyone. He’s used to hearing this from those who can’t figure out how to
run that well, an easier excuse than not finding the right setup.
The super stock field had just enough entries for all to run the feature without a semi.
Twenty were to begin the 25-lap race, but Dustin Holland’s mount balked so bad that
he never took the green flag. Once the race began, it was nonstop to the end, and Jamie
Starks got his first win here. “I’m exhausted”, declared Starks, adding,
“This is a dream. My Dad ran here in the 80’s (in super stocks). It’s been
a dream every since I was a kid ”. Winning in his rookie season only made it more
perfect for Starks.
The super late models capped off Saturday’s regular race program with a 40-lap
contest interrupted by four slowdowns. Jamie Wallace had just been passed in points by
Kent Burkoth prior to posting fast time Saturday. This meant beginning far back in the
field, while Burkoth started a few rows further up. Both had their work cut out for them,
aided slightly by lane choice after each caution. Chuck Duncan and Michael Kruschke raced
through the semi to start in the final row of the 20-car field. The opening laps saw
Vincent Merry and Billy Baumeister swap the lead several times before Burkoth made it to
the front in the final ten circuits. Baumeister wasn’t willing to let go, however,
taking back the point until the final laps. The final mishap of the race forced a
three-lap chase to the checkered flag, with Eddie May zipping past Baumeister at the
restart. Regarding his point lead, Burkoth stated, “There’s a lot of racing left
this year”.
Anything can happen before the point season finishes at the end of September.
Sunday was two days after the moon was full, yet there was plenty of strength left in the
golden orb to put a whammy on Slinger Speedway. It began as a fun evening with kids racing
big wheels and a drawing for a bicycle. It ended with free beverages, owner Wayne
Erickson’s way of thanking his fans. In between the pits were filled with so many
damaged or dead race cars that sympathy cards would have been a top seller. With only
three more point shows left in the season, this was more unwelcome than ever.
The late model field saw the debut of Mike Lange, Kris Kelly, and Collin Bamke, and Shawn
Roethle drove the Chris Ratajczyk car. Bamke is still working out the bugs on the new
machine, having much more success in his sportsman. He was one of sixteen who missed the
big show and money. As it turned out, he also missed huge repair bills. The double 50-lap
races began with high hopes. Things went well with only one caution and two early
dropouts. Mike Strupp and Dennis Prunty would be done for the night. Rich Loch led the
whole way to notch his first feature win of the season at the speedy quarter-mile.
“It’s been what we waited for all year long”, declared the happy winner.
The second 50 began with 16 of the 18 starters in reverse order from their first finish,
and the two lapped cars behind them. The first ten laps went by before the first caution,
then three more yellow banners came in quick order when one car quit running and others
piled up. In one incident Randy Schuler was sent to the ambulance for a checkup, later
declared to be okay after ending up in the middle of the second fracas. The mounts of
Lowell Bennett, David Prunty, and Nick Schumacher left the race suddenly, the last caution
leaving five survivors to the checkered flag. Greg Haese earned his very first win on
Slinger’s high banks, and the Triple Crown was taken by Dave Feiler.
The modified field had a much calmer night, the dozen entries all finishing the nonstop
feature. Steven Schultz led the entire event and made up some more ground on point leader
Dale Prunty. This is going to a tight chase to the championship, with Ron Schmitt right
behind them in the tally.
The sportsman feature had two different leaders and two slowdowns. By the end of the
30-lap main event, the top in points ended up at the top of the finishing order. Brad
Keith came from the third row to win his second trophy of the night, having also won the
trophy dash earlier. James Swan showed much patience by backing off when there was a
three-wide situation during the contest, beginning tenth and able to pad his point lead
with the runner-up finish.
The Thunder Stock field saw a rare caution when a wheel came off Andy Okrasinski’s
mount while he was running in second place. Joe DeStefano Jr. headed the division all the
way to the finish line, with Rick Schaefer, Joe DeStefano Sr., and Aaron Cain making up a
lot of ground by the end of the 12-lap contest.
The Slinger Bees split 30 mounts into two events, becoming scary at one point when Greg
Thomas ended up on his roof. But he quickly exited to view his mount, obviously unhurt.
Even though these amateurs get out of shape, somehow they seem to right themselves and get
back on track without the help of a yellow flag. By the time some of the younger ones are
able to get their driver’s licenses, they will be way ahead of their classmates.
Entry level in this class can be as young as 14 years old.
The figure 8 contest had a rare caution when a wheel escaped from Shane Becker’s
mount, and this was the end of the mishaps for Sunday night. When Scott Goetzke received
the checkered flag, it was just after 10:00. Fans swarmed to get their free beverage as we
headed to the pits, the tales of woe everywhere. We commiserated with the teams, adding
our own story of my husband’s week-long stay in the hospital. With our anniversary
coming up during the big race weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, we’ll just take one day
at a time. |
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