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Lake Geneva Raceway presents
Round and Around by Fay Hendricks
Upcoming Events at Lake Geneva Raceway:

See you for the 2006 Season opener in April
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 19, 2006  - If you think that it’s exciting to see last-lap passes for the win, races decided by inches, fan favorites get knocked out of contention, and underdogs get their first win, then television is not the place to catch the action. Go to your local short track for a night at the car fights and see it close up and personal. Saturday’s events at Lake Geneva Raceway supplied all this and more during the third and final round of their No Bull Series. By night’s end there were several of us wondering if the full moon was put on hold until this week. Threatening rains had faded into the background by the time the pits filled at Lake Geneva, with qualifying the first order of business. As quickest in the late model field, Sonny Schoffen rolled the die to set the feature’s field inversion at 14 cars.

The sportsman field had two newcomers join the qualifiers, then another pair of new cars showed up in time for the heat races. Some of the drivers also compete in the Mid-American Stock Car Series which will be competing next week at the Milwaukee Mile, and advance tickets could be bought Saturday as an added bonus. There weren’t a lot of competitors, but many of them got their chance in the limelight. Bobby Giers was fastest, Ken Smart won the dash, and John Janssen the heat.

John Fioritta’s first time here resulted in starting on the pole of the 25-lap sportsman feature, then Mike Smart took over a few laps later. Smart moves were made, pun intended, when Ken Smart then made the pass for the feature lead, and finally Erik Pierce got by before the first dozen circuits were completed. One caution for a spun car was the only slowdown As the checkered flags flew in the air, the field crossed the final, all but Mike Smart and Wally Morgan, who sat sideways on the frontstretch. Pierce claimed, “Those first five laps there was six of us (vying for position), a little bobble and we could all have gone.” Asked if he would use the same car at The Mile and here next Saturday, Pierce stated, “A good friend of mine races Mid-Am, and I’ll race his car there. I hope to win both.” It could happen.

The large super stock field resulted in a semi to place a pair of added starters to the feature, but when it was time to start the 30-lap main the semi’s second-place car was replaced by another. This was quite a strange day for young Ryan Gutknecht, arriving too late for qualifying and ending up in the feature. Jack Rubach topped them all in qualifying, and John Maki Jr. won the dash by inches ahead of Adam Regnier. Heat wins were shared by Craig Mertes and Ken Eisbrenner. The feature was led off by Seth Lootans until a lap ten caution flag came out for the spun number 10 car. On lap eleven it was the number 11 mount of Bob Moeller taking the point until the closing laps when Maki had advanced from the sixth row to the lead. It was a very satisfying win, claimed Maki, “From the back, it was fun. I got lucky. I got him (Moeller) on the bottom.”

The late model No Bull 50-lap feature began with 20 cars all wanting the bonus bucks, and some may have been too eager. As the initial green flag began the feature, Mike Meyerhofer’s mount sent sideways and a complete restart was set. The second attempt saw Eddie May’s car suddenly without power, sending Schoffen off with damage and catching Meyerhofer in the middle. The third time was the charm, and veteran Don Collins took off from the front row. Terry Patnode took over from Collins until a red flag came out when Kenny Joosten and Josh Wallace ended up off the course in a tangle. Jamie Wallace had parked his mount in the infield a few laps before this with mechanical woes, and the list or pre-race favorites was being quickly eliminated. The duel between Patnode and Jason Hicks saw first one, then the other ahead at the flag stand. Finally Hicks was able to stay ahead, and fought to stay there through a trio of yellow banners later.

The close-quarter racing was slowed at the halfway point when third-place Meyerhofer was spun, Landry Potter got sent to the back, and Randy Rodgers pitted with body damage. For Meyerhofer, the third incident was the charm, for he retained his position afterwards. Rodgers tried to rejoin the race as the green flag dropped again but was halted for a couple laps, never a welcome sign. Ten circuits later Collins had his engine expire, leaving a telltale trail of vital fluids. At the restart there was a chain reaction when Patnode got a boost from Rick Corso, then the rest of the race went caution-free. Unbelievably, this was the first feature win at Lake Geneva for Hicks. “We bought this car in 1999”, claimed an emotional Hicks from victory lane. “It’s taken way too long to win. A little extra cash in the pocket“, added Hicks, “We could use it.” Regarding his chances of finally snaring a feature before the track’s closing at the end of the season, Hicks declared, “We’ve been thinking of it all year.”

Shortly after 10:00 it was all over. The attitude adjustment hour was going to need extra time, and the stars above accompanied the long ride back home. Next week, all this and the last trailer race of the triple series. Motors, mayhem, and madness. Not to mention close racing before the planned insanity. What a way for us to spend our anniversary. I wonder what “normal” people do for fun.

 
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