LaCrosse 100 Lap Main to Wateski! By Philip Jahnke

August 31, 2002;  West Salem, WI -  Five Star Telecom Night at the Races was a pinnacle moment for the hard racing rookie Dan Steele, who was the first car to make the 100th circuit at the speedway, but due to a post race inspection, Steele's efforts were in vain.  Steele and second place finisher Blake Horstman were both declared illegal for not meeting the compression ratios required for their division.  

Despite the post race inspection, the 100 lap feature event was filled with hard racing and chaos all through out the race.  Steele took the green flag and led the race for the first 37 laps until Steve Holzhausen worked his way around Steele to take the lead .  However,  on lap 58, the battle for the lead caused Holzhausen and Kevin Nuttleman to tangle in turn four.  The spin forced Nuttleman and Holzhausen to go to the back of the pack.  After the restart Steele regained the lead position and held out  for the rest of the race,  despite being challenged by runner-up Horstman. A rocky start during th!

The 100 lap feature set up two crashes that involved a total of 21 cars, 10 in the first and 11 in the second. Fortunately when the race got started again 20 out of the 28 who started the race were back at fighting for positions.  Steele set his pace to save his car and make his car work for him and let the chips fall where they may to grab the unofficial victory. 

Fellow rookie Horstman crossed the line second, over (eventual race winner) Rick Wateski who crossed the line third.   Brent Kirchner was fourth,   while Holzhausen  preformed an amazing come-back effort to unofficially finish fifth.

Points leader Corey Jankowski won a nail biter of a race in the Ray Hutson Chevrolet Grand National Sportsman feature.  Jankowski worked his way up through traffic to eventually take the lead on the last lap and narrowly take the checkered flag over Sam Anderson.

Sam Anderson, the youngster from Melrose, started on the pole and was swapping positions with Chand Wheling until lap 11 when unexpectedly Wheling's car fell back and out of contention for the win.   Larry Bolster who was in contention the entire race ended up with a third place finish over Jeff Baker and Trent Boettcher respectively.  The action didn't stop at the finish line as Rick Shisler was pushed into the wall in turn one ending up on his side, and Jankowski after driving into victory lane jumping up and down on his roof and then later doing donuts on the front stretch.  

Tim Steinhoff ended up winning the Five Star Telecom Thunderstox 15 with a solid victory over the rest of the pack but after post race insp!
ection Eugene Vian ended up the victor after 11 disqualifications due to the racers having racing shocks instead of stock shock absorbers.  Mary Schill, Jason Schaller, Dean Ashbacher,  and Bill Inglett would fill out the top five after the disqualifications.  

Just as a reminder racing action will start at 6:45 next week due to fan appreciation night and the Features Sports Bar & Grill Hornets will be in action.

RESULTS FROM AUGUST 31 , 2002

KWIK TRIP ///NASCAR LATE MODEL DIVISION
Five Star Telecom 100: 1.  Rick Wateski, LaCrosse; 2. Brent Kirchner, LaCrosse; 3. Steve Holzhausen, Bangor; 4. Kevin Nuttleman, Bangor; 5. Tim Hagen, LaCrescent, MN; 6. Mark Lamoreaux, Bloomington, MN; 7. Troy Goodenough, Mindoro; 8. Ken Christenson Jr.
Semi-feature: 1.  Gib Scharpf, ; 2. Todd Korish, LaCrosse; 3. Greg Scheck, West Salem; 4. Kevin Eddy, Sparta; 5. Dave Tradup, Viola, MN
Semi-feature/ B: 1. Kraig Burrows, West Salem; 2. Bill Niles, Holmen; 3. Jim Christianson, Holmen; 4. Jim Hagel, Holmen; 5. Jeff Krueger, laCrescent, MN
Qualifying: 1. Andy Burgess, FallCreek, 20.009 sec; 2. Blake Horstman, Bangor; 20.290 sec; 3. Steve Holzhausen, Bangor; 20.292 sec; 4. Brad Powell, LaCrosse; 20.302 sec; 5. Charlie Menard, Eau Claire; 20.306 sec; 6. Kevin Nuttleman, Bangor; 20.323 sec; 7. Rick Wateski, LaCrosse; 20.344 sec; 8. Mike Belling, laCrosse; 20.383 sec; 9. Tim Nelson, LaCrescent, MN; Tony Bagstad, Cashton; 20.480 sec

RAY HUTSON CHEVROLET SPORTSMAN DIVISION
Five Star Telecom 15: 1. Corey Jankowski, Tomah; 2. Sam Anderson, Melrose; 3. Larry Bolster, Sparta; 4. Jeff Baker, Holmen; 5. Trent Boettcher, LaCrescent, MN; 6. Tony Ciano, LaCrosse; 7. Adam Degenhartdt, Coon Valley; 8. Rick Shisler, LaCrosse; 9. Tom Thill, West Salem; 10. Dan Gilster, West Salem
B Semi-feature: 1. John Olson, Sparta; 2. Mike Albrecht, Jr, LaCrescent, MN; 3. Mike Campbell, Bangor; 4. Les Pfaff, Mindoro; 5. Dan Linnehan, Sparta
C Semi-Feature: 1. Jeff Winterfield, Westby; 2. Chris Skrede, Holmen; 3. Paul Mahlum; 4. Al Dobbs, Onalaska; 5. Ken Lewis, Black River Falls
Heat 1: 1. Jes Tenner, Melrose; 2. Shawn Lockington, LaCrosse; 3. Jeff Winterfield, Westby; 4. Paul Mahlum; 5. Morris Proctor, Genoa
Heat 2: 1. Chris Skrede, Holmen; 2. Rob Christen , West Salem; 3. Mark Challet, Bangor; 4. Al Dobbs, Onalaska; 5. Ken Lewis, Black River Falls
Heat 3: 1. Todd Lockington, Mindoro; 2. Bill Miller, Sparta; 3. Mike Albrecht, Jr., LaCrescent, MN; 4. Les Pfaff, Mindoro; 5. Dan Linnehan, Sparta
Heat 4: 1. Jason Backus, Tomah; 2. Marv Degarmo, Chaseburg; 3. Brandon Berg, North Bend; 4. Mike Campbell, Bangor; 5. John Olson, Sparta
Odd Heat: 1. Sam Anderson, Melrose; 2. Aaron Hass, LaCrosse; 3. Randy Steinhoff, Cashton; 4. Jeff Baker, Holmen; 5. Tom Thill, West Salem
Even heat: 1. Adam Degenhardt, Coon Valley;   2. Larry Bolster Jr. , Sparta; 3. Chand Wehling, Stoddard; 4. Corey Jankowski, Tomah; 5. Jamie Millis, Black River Falls
Qualifying: 1. Trent Boettcher, LaCrescent, MN; 22.785 sec; 2. Jimmy Gilster, West Salem; 22.951 sec; 3. Jeff Baker, Holmen; 22.980 sec; 4. Rick Shisler, LaCrosse; 23.018 sec; 5. Dan Gilster, West Salem; 23.039 sec; 6. Corey Jankowski, Tomah; 23.056 sec; 7. Tom Thill, West Salem; 23.063 sec; 8. Adam Degenhardt, Coon Valley; 23.080 sec; 9. Tony Ciano, LaCrosse; 23.095 sec; 10. Dan Linnehan, Sparta; 23.106 sec

UNITED AUTO SUPPLY THUNDERSTOX
Five Star Telecom 15: 1.  Eugene Vian, 2. Mary Schill, Minneapolis, MN; 3. Jason Schaller; 4. Dean Ashbacher, Rockland; 5. Bill Inglett, LaCrosse; 6. Nicholas Schroeder, Cashton; 7. Matt Inglett, LaCrosse; 8. Jason Bolster, Sparta; 9. Joe Rinartz, LaCrescent, MN; 10. Troy Anderson 
Semi-feature: 1. Scott Voss, LaCrescent, MN; 2. Chad Rosendahl, Hokah, MN; 3. Andy Moore, Sparta; 4. Jake Arneson, Taylor; 5. Matt Inglett, LaCrosse
Bud Dash: 1. Tony Leis, Middle Ridge; 2. Dean Ashbacher, Rockland; 3. Adam Moore; 4. Tim Steinhoff, Winona, MN; 5. Eugene Vian
Heat 1: 1. Tim Steinhoff, Winona, MN; 2. tony Leis, Middle Ridge; 3. Jeff Meil, Holmen; 4. Ron Heller, Onalaska; 5. Jes Tenner, Melrose
Heat 2: 1. John Hendrickson,  LaCrosse; 2. Dean Ashbacher, Rockland; 3. Mary Schill, Minneaplois, MN; 4. Joe Rinartz, LaCrescent, MN; 5. Jerimy Wagner, Melrose
Heat 3: 1. Eugene Vian; 2. Adam Moore; 3. Dan Erdman, Holmen; 4. Troy Anderson; 5. Jason Bolster, Sparta 
Heat 4: 1. Joey Johnson, Mindoro; 2. Kevin Burr, LaCrescent, MN; 3. Nicholas Schroeder, Cashton; 4. Jason Schaller, LaCrosse; 5. Bill Inglett, LaCrosse;   6.  Mitch Langreck, West Salem