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Lake
Geneva Raceway presents
Round and Around by Fay Hendricks |
Upcoming Events at Lake Geneva
Raceway:
Next Saturday, Sept. 17: Regular program of Super
Late Model, Super Stock, Sportsman, Bandoleros, and Vintage Mods.
Coming up Saturday, Sept. 24: Season Championships with Super Late Model, Super Stock, and
Millennium Late Model |
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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. |
September 10, 2005 -
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Saturday was championship night for two of the dozen divisions racing at Lake Geneva
Raceway. The Bandoleros crown began with a tie for first place, followed by the runner-up
in national points. The Legends field opened with the top four separated by less than 100
points, ending with each only five markers behind the other.
Kyle Palma and Branden Allen began Saturday with identical points in the Bandoleros, while
third-place Michael Cooter ranked second in the nation for this series. Palma posted quick
time, Allen won the dash, then Cooter took the heat win. The 20-lap feature began with a
9-car inversion and went nonstop to the end. Cooter padded his national points with the
win, followed by Palma, who earned the title of champion this night. A mechanical problem
late in the race, Palma declared, “I would have run it no matter”. Allen did the
best he could, his top five finish just a tad short at the end. With drivers as young as
12 in this field, much character-building was done this season.
The Legends hopefuls entered Saturday with Eric Lokemoen, Ernie Schaal, Curt Gnatzig, and
Michael Bilderback all vying for the crown at Lake Geneva. Gnatzig opened with fast time,
Bilderback took the dash, and Tom Palma won the heat. The feature saw one mount spin at
the opening lap, but it was all green-flag racing from there. The lead changed a handful
of times, the four hopefuls glued tightly in a bundle for much of the 20 circuits, then
Lokemoen’s machine began making strange noises and fell back. Bilderback had just
secured the point when the checkered flag fell. Bilderback, now age 14, has been racing
since he was 6 years old, giving credit to his grandfather for the winning setup and
support. The nephew of Rockford Speedway’s repeat champion Ricky Bilderback, one can
see it’s in the genes. “It was fun”, declared the young Bilderback, adding,
“Good job, whoever won the championship”. An emotional Lokemoen took home the
track title, stating, “I knew I lost a plug or plug wire
The super stock feature was all green-flag racing, with Adam Regnier taking his eighth win
of the season at Lake Geneva. “We got the handling down real good”, claimed
Regnier, adding, “Towards the end the brakes started going away”. One can see
that practice pays off, as this field puts on a good show.
The sportsman field was down, yet the feature had several lead changes. The battle between
Erik Pierce and John Janssen kept powerhouse Kenny Joosten at bay to the end. From victory
lane Pierce admitted, “This is the third or fourth win (this year). I’ve been
finishing second to Kenny all year”.
The late models capped off Lake Geneva’s program with a 40-lap contest. The field was
inverted, according to the roll of the die, at 13, which may or may not have bode good
fortune for quick-timer Jamie Wallace. His hopes of regaining the point lead from Kent
Burkoth became a tighter contest after five lead changes, two cautions, and lane choice on
restarts. Just as it seemed Eddie May would take the lead from Burkoth, a determined Terry
Patnode charged ahead instead. Patnode was so elated that he took a reverse victory lap
before declaring, “That was a heck of a battle. It was a lot of fun”. With
Burkoth and Wallace posting top five finishes Saturday, the chase for the crown continues.
There are still two more weeks before the titles are finalized at Lake Geneva Raceway,
followed by the annual Fall Classic that brings the busy oval into October. The Friday
night divisions settled their title hopes earlier, and the Sunday events end next week.
This track will have a full season through 2006, and probably 2007 as well, according to
owner Kevin Dawson. All those wagging tongues out there have had this friendly oval
closing for quite some time, but this is fact. Just after 10:00 fans and racers relived
the races next door at the bar, where stories are more vivid as the night wears on.
Sunday closed the championship season at Slinger Speedway with few surprises. Brad Mueller
began the night with quick time and ended just short of the feature win, becoming a rarity
in this sport. Mueller joins Willie Goeden in the late models and sportsman’s Jimmy
Hendricks in snaring a championship without winning a feature. Mueller’s father,
Jerry, had just returned after his cardiac bypass surgery to watch Brad take his third
consecutive title, joining his son in victory circle. “My kids got to see this,
too”, claimed the title holder. “I started here in ’94 and was rookie of
the year”, recalled Mueller, “I bought Robbie Reiser’s car”. Finishing
second to the other number 89 car, Mike Egan, “That was so much fun”, stated
Mueller after both made reverse victory laps followed by spinning donuts.
Mike Egan began racing at the dirt track of Hales Corners in 1981, but didn’t win a
feature until here a couple weeks ago. Sunday’s second victory was nearly as
emotional. “I’m really starting to like this”, stated Egan, telling
Mueller, “You’re the other 89, but you’re the man”. Previous to this,
Nick Schumacher was having a good night. Winning the dash by a inches over Dave Teske,
then taking the feature lead away from Egan, Schumacher was gliding along until a lapped
car spun and caught his mount. The subsequent flat tire could have been replaced during
the cleanup, except that Schumacher’s mount was towed to the infield instead of the
pits. Teske had earlier been parked inside the oval after being caught in a multi-car
incident that also included title contender David Prunty. They joined several racers who
had no fun Sunday.
The mod field also opened with the champion snaring fast time, as Dale Prunty also linked
three consecutive titles at Slinger. Whether he deliberately slowed or had problems at the
end of the feature, Prunty ended the season one position ahead of top contender Steven
Schultz. The final night began with the two only separated by 29 points, but Prunty was on
top of his game. Whether Prunty returns to defend his crown or moves into a late model
next year is unsure. It will be a matter of selling and buying.
The sportsman title was already assured for James Swan, the smooth driver just surviving
the night to save the car. Brad Keith may have finished second in the point chase, but
capped off his season with quick time and a feature win. As Keith took his moment in the
spotlight, Swan spun donuts to celebrate his Slinger title.
The Thunder Stock chase to the championship came down to the final race Sunday, but Chris
Beine lost out when losing laps in the pits. As Eric Schuetz won another contest, Aaron
Cain’s fifth-place finish gave him the extra ten points to win the division title.
The Slinger Bees also finished their season’s title hopes by a mere ten markers, as
Jamie Vetter came out on top of the field.
The limited late models made their final visit to Slinger, with veteran Chris Ratajczyk
assured of the Slinger title upon taking the green flag. Ratajczyk made his night more
meaningful by wresting the lead away from Michigan‘s Kris Kelly a dozen laps from the
end. With his late model taken over by another, Ratajczyk told your scribe of plans to run
with the touring ASA late model series next season instead of the weekly grind for a
change.
Following the two spectator divisions the Figure 8 finale crowned Donald Van Camp Jr. the
Slinger champion, doubling his success after earlier winning the title at another track.
It was just after 10:00 when we had to say farewell to our Sunday night family. It’s
time to hit the road, beginning with a 4-day adventure with the WISSOTA 100 at Cedar Lake
Speedway. More to follow. |
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