By: Ashley Iwanski and Kevin Ramsell
(West Salem, WI – October 9, 2009) Chris Weinkauf has tried for years to get a big win at the Oktoberfest Race Weekend. Tonight he finally breaks through to win the third annual Dick Trickle “99” on the second day of the 40th annual event.
Weinkauf, who was also the fast qualifier, would win the third segment and have the tie-breaker over Eddie Hoffman to win the event. “I started racing in 1990 but before that my dad would take me to all of those ARTGO races, that is how my dad got us started in racing,” an excited Weinkauf said in victory lane. “This is truly an honor that we put on for Dick (Trickle), he was an awesome short track racer in Wisconsin, you can’t even put it into words. This is an honor to be here and to have a car this good.”
It was more special for Chris to have his brother, who finished second overall in last year’s event behind him at the checkered flag, “This is fantastic and it’s even better that he got to finish second behind me in the final segment,” Chris Weinkauf said. “I know he was probably hungry and he actually could have gotten me a little bit if he wanted too. But, I think he knew we were going for the overall title so he was letting me go.” Weinkauf finished second in the first segment, 14th in the second and first in the final to take the overall title with 17 points. This race is decided by an overall point system with the winner getting the lowest amount of points. Boris Jurkovic was third with 21points with Jason Weinkauf in fourth with 25 points. Skylar Holzhausen rounded out the top-five with 28 points.
Fast qualifier Chris Weinkauf and Tim Sauter led the field to the green flag for segment one with Weinkauf taking the lead at the drop of the green flag. Frank Kreyer moved past Sauter for second on lap two. Kreyer would chase down Weinkauf on lap 11 and take over the top spot as he went to the inside of Weinkauf coming off of turn four. Steve Holzhausen and Steve Carlson were making their moves to the front as they both got past Eddie Hoffman for fourth and fifth on lap 20. Kreyer would win the first segment with Weinkauf in second and Sauter in third. Holzhausen was fourth with Carlson rounding out the top-five. A 22-car invert would set the field for the second segment.
Mark Lamoreaux and Dennis Prunty led the field to the start of the second 33-lap segment. The two raced side-by-side on the first lap with Prunty taking over the top spot on lap two. Fredrickson didn’t waste any time moving to the front as he got past Lamoreaux for second on lap three. Fredrickson would then get by Prunty heading into turn three on lap seven. Behind the leaders, Eddie Hoffman started 17th and worked his way up to seventh while Boris Jurkovic moved from his 18th starting spot up to sixth. Fredrickson would get some pressure from Joel Theisen in the final laps but would hold on to win the second segment. Fredrickson would spin a “6” to create a 14-car invert for the final segment.
Weinkauf would start on the pole for the final segment with Tim Schendel on the outside. Weinkauf would get the jump out to the lead. Schendel was battling with Steve Holzhausen for second when the two made contact going into turn one. Holzhausen would then get loose in turns one and two spinning in front of the field. Holzhausen’s car would roll into the infield where it would collect Frank Kreyer who had nowhere to go. Both were all right but done for the night. Weinkauf would continue to lead on the restart with his brother in second. Hoffman would work his way up to fourth and he needed to move up to third in order to be the overall winner. But, Dean Cornelius would get by him then past Schendel for third in the late going and Hoffman would follow him past Schendel for fourth. At the checkers it was Chris Weinkauf holding off his brother Jason to win the third segment and take the overall title in a tie-breaker as he finished ahead of Hoffman in the third segment.
Nick Murgic started on the pole for the 30-lap “Stubby” Race and jumped to the lead over Robb Vanderloop. Murgic pulled out to a 15-car length lead with 10 laps to go with Vanderloop in second and Jeremy Lepak in third while being challenged by Tim Rothe. Murgic would go on to win the “Stubby” with Vanderloop in second and Lepak in third. Rothe would hold off Eric Fransen to finish fourth. Don “Thunder” Turner beats Dean La Pointe by a bumper to win the Dick Trickle “99” C-Main race. Turner has competed in all 40 Oktoberfest Race Weekends.
The Area Sportsmen division provided the fans with 25 lap of exciting racing. Nick Clements started on the pole and quickly opened a four car lengths gap ahead of the rest of the field. Larry Bolster Jr., Jes Tenner and Tony Leis were working hard to lessen the gap. Bolster Jr. caught up to Clements on the outside of turn one on lap ten. The two raced door handle to door handle for multiple laps. Clements was glued to the inside line as Bolster Jr. passed him for the lead on the outside on lap fifteen. Clements then struggled to hang onto second as Tenner moved to his bumper. Tenner passed Clements and set his sights on Bolster Jr. Cars were strung out around the track and the leaders had to race around lap traffic. Bolster Jr. managed to hang onto the lead for the win. To make Bolster Jr.’s win even sweeter Richard Elander Racing gave an additional $1000 to the winner of the event. Tenner finished 2nd, Leis 3rd, Clements 4th, and Dan Gilster 5th.
The fans witnessed one of the best races of the night in the Super Sportsmen feature. Within the first lap Randy Humfeld worked his way into the lead while the rest of the field started to check up due to a car off the pace. A lap later a car spun in turns one and two bring out the first caution. Humfeld held onto the lead while Jason Dummer and Matt Pyburn were racing side by side for second. Just when Pyburn took over the position John Olson moved up to take it away. Behind them Scott Luck and Colin Reffner were battling for fourth as Eugene Gregorich came out of nowhere to take the lead from Humfeld. On lap fourteen Luck spun in turn two bringing out the second caution. On the restart Olson and Reffner were fighting for second. Reffner took second and started to work on the leader. Reffner and Gregorich were racing nose to tail coming around to the checkered when Gregorich spun out. A caution came out and both Reffner and Gregorich were sent to the back of the field giving Brian Back the race lead. On the restart Scott Hamel’s tire came off sending him straight for the wall. The lap was finished and Back took the checkered flag. Leis finished 2nd and Olson 3rd.
The Oktoberfest Race Weekend continues Saturday and Sunday with exciting racing from the ASA North Series and Midwest Tour along with the Big 8 Late Models, Mid-American Series, Vintage Cars, R.A.Y.S., and Modifies. For more information about La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway please visit www.lacrossespeedway.com or contact the office at (608) 786-1525 or lacrossespeedway@yahoo.com.
This article was posted to the website on October 9th, 2009
