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For Hoppe It's Worst to
First in the Alltel 250 at LaCrosse!
Bresse Jr. and Menard Take Feature Checkereds!
By Dean Strom and Philip Jahnke |
October
6, 2002; West Salem, WI - RE/MAX Challenge series
featured a 250 lap feature Sunday on a cold blustery day at LaCrosse.
Brian Hoppe won the RE/MAX Challenge Series, NASCAR Touring Oktoberfest
250 presented by ALLTEL, Sunday afternoon at the LaCrosse (Wis) Fairgrounds Speedway.
Hoppe was one of four lead-lap cars that pitted for tires on lap 189.
After the stop, Hoppe rejoined the chase from the 14th position. Over the final 59
laps Hoppe charged through the field, taking the lead from Steve Carlson on lap 212.
Hoppe survived two late race cautions, taking the checkers ahead of Jon
Lemke and Justin Diercks. Steve Holzhausen and Tim Schendel rounded out the top
five.
After loosing the lead, Carlson, the RE/MAX Challenge Series point leader,
ran out of gas, the victim of a faulty fuel vent tube. Carlson was credited with a
17th place finish, narrowing his championship point gap to 34 markers over Hoppe heading
into the final event of the 2002 campaign.
Hoppe and his team were hit with a practice violation penalty by NASCAR
officials, forcing him to start his Gildan Activewear Chevrolet last on the field.
"What we really needed the first pit stop was track position, and my crew gave it to
me," said Hoppe. "We picked up seven or eight positions on that stop and
that really helped get me through the field."
At the drop of the green, the battle at the front of the field focused on
pole sitter Ron Breese, Jr and front row mate Nathan Haseleu. While
Haseleu, behind the wheel of Gary Schultz's #98, edged ahead at lap one,
Breese quickly took command. Breese led the next 44 circuits and opened up a healthy
advantage over the rest of the field. Battles raged behind Breese as Carlson, Johnny
Sauter and Eddie Hoffman worked their machines to the front.A brief caution on lap 17 for
debris on the racing surface bunched the field. On the restart, Carlson got a great
run on Haseleu and took over the second position. Breese and Carlson then waged a
torrid early race battle before Carlson was able to take command on lap 46. Behind
the lead duo, the tussle for positions continued as Haseleu, Hoffman and Sauter swapped
spots several times.
Mike Belling, making his first career RE/MAX Challenge Series start in
Dave Bean's Five Star Telecom entry, brought out the second caution of the day on lap 63.
Belling got together with 2002 series Rookie of the Year Josh Vadnais.
Belling was done for the day while Vadnais returned to the track after lengthy
front end repairs.
The caution sent nearly all the lead lap cars to pit lane for service.
John Nutley, who did not pit, was shown as the leader when the field was
sent back underway on lap 72. Once back under green, Carlson quickly got around
Nutley. Breese, however, had difficulty working past Nutley. He tagged the
tail end of Nutley's Chevrolet, hard, entering turn three,
damaging the front nose piece and pushing the hood of his EWT, Inc. ride up.
A few circuits later, Nutley was involved in a front straight incident
with
Ryan Hanson and ended his day against the wall. Hanson's machine was fine, although
the young driver lost a lap to the leaders as he tried to refire
his Ford.
The caution allowed Breese a chance to head down pit lane to repair the
damages to the front of his machine. Breese recovered to finish ninth, but
the track position lost in the extra trip to the pits effectively cost him a
shot at the win.
Over the next 125 laps, Carlson, Hoffman and Sauter thrilled the capacity,
chilled, Oktoberfest crowd, swapping the lead half a dozen times. Jeremy
Lepak, in just his sixth series race, and first Oktoberfest 250, made a
charge to the front. Just past the half way mark Lepak was in fourth and
appeared to have the fastest machine on the speedway, only to fade in the
final 50 circuits.
Meanwhile, Hoppe was struggling and fading fast. "We just had the car
too tight and I blistered the right front tire," said Hoppe. As Hoppe was free
falling through the field, Mark Kraus came upon him on
lap 186. Kraus went high in turn one to go around Hoppe, but found that
path blocked as Hoppe's ill handling mount slid high. Kraus was then forced to look
low on the back stretch. He had to check up when Hoppe slammed the door on the
opening Kraus saw and that caused chain reaction braking behind the pair. When the
dust settled, Kraus found himself spun in turn three, but did a masterful job of keeping
his Chevrolet off the wall and the other competitors. The spin, however did bring
out a caution that Hoppe desperately needed.
On lap 189, the leader, Hoffman, looked as though he was going to pit.
Carlson and Sauter were right behind and were poised to follow him down pit lane. At
the last second, Hoffman turned the wheel of his Lisa Thomas Salon machine to the right
and stayed on the track. Carlson and Sauter reacted quickly and also stayed on
course. Hoppe, Lemke, Diercks and Haseleu were not taken in by Hoffman's trickery as
they were committed to pit no matter what the leaders did."Those rights on the last
stop made all the difference in the world," said Diercks.
Once back under way, Hoppe, Diercks, Lemke and Haseleu shot through the
field. Hoppe took the lead from Carlson on lap 212 and never looked back.As Carlson
crossed the stripe to complete lap 216, his machine lost power and scattered the field
behind him. Without power, Carlson was unable to make it back to pit lane, once
again putting the field under caution. After the wrecker got Carlson's mount back to
pit lane, and his crew fueled the car, scoring showed him three laps behind the leaders.
After the race it was found that the fuel vent tube on Carlson's machine was
knocked loose.
As a result, when the crew pitted the car on lap 65, fuel wasn't able to go into the cell
as fast as normal and the crew didn't get in as much gas as they thought.
Haseleu's bid for victory ended when the hood of his Ford came loose,
causing a caution and sending him down pit lane for repairs. That caution, with less
than 10 laps to go, set up a shot out for the win. "On that last restart, I thought I
had something for Brian, but I screwed up going into one," said Diercks.
"I planned on going to the grass to get under him, but I couldn't get the car
to go where I needed to and that messed me up and opened the door for Jon."
With Diercks's bobble, Lemke was able to get past him for the second spot.
"I love racing with Justin," said Lemke. "We raced door handle to
door handle for probably 75 of those 250 laps and never touched." After leading 74
laps and picking up the Gatorade Front Runner award, Hoffman faded to a sixth place
finish. Paul Menard, Jeff Kendall, Breese and Sauter rounded out the top ten.
The Oktoberfest 250 presented by ALLTEL will be shown taped delayed,
Monday, November 18, at 7:00 p.m. (CT) on the SPEED Channel.The RE/MAX Challenge Series
will conclude its season, Saturday afternoon, October 19 at the Rockford (Ill) Speedway
with the rescheduled running of the Insight Digital 250.
Sunday also featured NASCAR Northern Series last chance races and an
exciting 50 lap feature. Charlie Menard of Eau Claire ended up being the victor after Brad
Powell was black flagged after a restart due to a crash that involved the number one and
two cars of Steve Carlson and Jon Lemke.
Charlie Menard would end up leading the last 35 laps and out race Steve
Holzhausen who ended second, Andy Burgess who took third, Johnny Spaw, the fourth place
finisher, and Brad Powell to round out the top five. The Feature fielded 26 cars from al
over the central mid west and many who race regularly on Saturday nights at the LaCrosse
Fairgrounds Speedway.
The Wisconsin Late Models Oktoberfest 50 was ended on lap 47 under caution
due to mother nature dropping a considerable amount of rain on the track. The racing
wasn't put under caution due to the rain out by Mike DeKeuster who got loose coming out of
four and slamming into the inside wall on the front stretch which brought up a caution.
Ron Breese, Jr. ended being the victor after leading the last 29 laps, and
holding off pack the rest of the pack who were nipping at his heals. Ed Hoffman, Paul
Menard, Steve Holzhausen, and Johnny Sauter would round out the top five. the Sportsman
drivers at LaCrosse unfortunately didn't get to race on Sunday due to the rain and the
race was called off.
The Sportsman drivers were supposed to race on Sunday due to their events
on Thursday being called off because of unsatisfactory track conditions caused by rain.
So, the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway ended their season with one heck of
a weekend that featured 558 cars raced on the 5/8 mile track in the lovely West Salem
Wisconsin, just minutes off of 1-90 just five miles from LaCrosse. Racing will once again
resume at LaCrosse tentatively on the second Saturday of April. So make sure to come out
and support the local racing series here at the LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway.
RE/MAX Challenge Series:
Oktoberfest 250 presented by ALLTEL - LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway, West Salem,
Wis., .545-mile oval
finish with starting position, driver, hometown, car make, laps completed, average speed,
status, money won
1. (28) Brian Hoppe, Madison, Wis., Chevrolet, 250, 75.242
mph, running, $6,550
2. (6) Jon Lemke, Greenfield, Min., Chevrolet, 250, $3,725
3. (10) Justin Diercks, Davenport, Iowa, Chevrolet, 250, $2,875
4. (8) Steve Holzhausen, Bangor, Wis., Ford, 250, $2,000
5. (20) Tim Schendel, Sparta, Wis., Chevrolet, 250, $2,375
6. (7) Eddie Hoffman, Wheaton, Ill., Chevrolet, 250, $2,650
7. (12) Paul Menard, Eau Claire, Wis., Chevrolet, 250, $1,950
8. (17) Jeff Kendall, Montello, Wis., Chevrolet, 250, $1,650
9. (1) Ron Breese, Jr, DeKalb, Ill., Chevrolet, 250, $1,700
10. (9) Johnny Sauter, Salisbury, NC, Ford, 250, $1,525
11. (13) Jeremy Lepak, Wausau, Wis., Chevrolet, 250, $1,500
12. (11) Tim Rothe, Appleton, Wis., Chevrolet, 250, $1,475
13. (2) Nathan Haseleu, Arlington, Wis., Ford, 250, $1,300
14. (3) Mark Kraus, Stratford, Wis., Chevrolet, 249, $1,225
15. (4) Tony Bagstad, Cashton, Wis., Chevrolet, 248, $1,200
16. (16) Ryan Hanson, Beloit, Wis., Ford, 248, $1,400
17. (5) Steve Carlson, West Salem, Wis., Chevrolet, 247, $1,990
18. (24) Dave Finney, Sycamore, Ill., Chevrolet, 247, $1,380
19. (18) Les Ferris, Northfield, Min., Chevrolet, 246, $1,370
20. (16) Eric Fransen, West Bend, Wis., Chevrolet, 245, $1,160
21. (25) Jeff Way #, Burlington, Wis., Chevrolet, 239, $1,300
22. (23) Bryan Roach #, Becker, Min., Chevrolet, 193, $1,350
23. (14) Josh Vadnais #, White Bear Lake, Min., Chevrolet, 164, $1,350
24. (21) Pete Moore, McFarland, Wis., Chevrolet, 143, Rocker Arm, $1,300
25. (27) George Prentice, Jr, Milwaukee, Wis., Ford, 118, Suspension, $1,250
26. (19) John Nutley, Midlothian, Ill., Chevrolet, 77, Accident, $1,050
27. (22) Dave Bean, Westby, Wis., Chevrolet, 62, Accident, $1,050
28. (26) Ronnie White, Springhill, Kan., Chevrolet, 62, Oil Leak, $1,050
# rookie of the year competitor
MARGIN OF VICTORY: .438 seconds
TIME OF RACE: 1 hour 48 minutes 39 seconds
AVERAGE SPEED: 75.242 mph
LAP LEADERS: Ron Breese, Jr (grid), Nathan Haseleu lap 1, Breese 2-45, Steve Carlson
46-66, John Nutley 67-72, Carlson 73-104, Johnny Sauter 105-114, Eddie Hoffman 115-134,
Sauter 135-148, Hoffman 149-202, Carlson 203-211, Brian Hoppe 212-250
CAUTIONS: 7 for 51 laps
BUD POLE WINNER: Justin Diercks, Adrian Carriers/T.C. Fabrication Chevrolet, 19.571
seconds (100.250 mph)
GATORADE FRONT RUNNER AWARD: Eddie Hoffman, Lisa Thomas Salon/Redken Chevrolet
ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Jeff Way, Wauwatosa Savings Chevrolet
25-LAP LAST CHANCE RACE: 1) Eric Fransen; 2) Jeff Kendall; 3) Les
Ferris; 4) John Nutley
FAILED TO QUALIFY: (5)Dudley Fleck, Russ Blakeley, Todd Hansen, Larry Hunter, Dave
Tomczak
NEXT EVENT: October 19, Insight Digital 250, Rockford Speedway, Rockford, Illinois
NASCAR Northen Series:
Oktoberfest 50: 1. Charlie Menard, Eau Claire; 2. Stev Holzhausen,
Bangor; 3. Mark Lamoreaux, Bloomington,MN; 4. Kevin Nuttleman, Bangor; 5. Johnny Spaw,
Cedar Rapids, IA; 6. kevin Nuttleman, Bangor; 7. Mark Lameroux, Bloomington,MN
Last Chance 1: 1. Tim Hagen, LaCrescent,MN; 2. Bill Niles, Holmen; 3.
Troy Wangerin, Jordan, MN; 4. Tom McClintock, Onalaska; 5. David Bean, Westby
Last Chance 2: 1. Brent Kirchner, LaCrosse; 2. Steve Anderson, Lakevill,
MN; 3. Dean Cornelius, Chaska, MN; 4. John Towner, Trampeleau; 5. Jeff Krueger,
LaCrescent, MN
Wisconsin Late Models:
Oktoberfest 50: 1. Ron Breese, Jr, 2. Ed Hoffman, Carol Stream, IL; 3.
Paul Menard, EauClaire; 4. Steve Holzhausen, Bangor; 5. Johnny Sauter, Slaisbury, NC; 6.
Jason Schuler, Cambridge; 7. Tim Schendel, Sparta; 8. Eric Fransen, West Bend; 9. Don
Turner, LaCrosse; 10. Charlie Menard, Eau Claire
Last Chance 1: Greg Haese, Two Rivers; 2. Bobby Wilberg, Orfordville; 3.
James Carlson, LaCrosse; 4. Eric Hammond, Grand Marsh; 5. Trent Snyder, Ironton, MN
Last Chance 2: Troy Nelson, Antigo; 2. Jason Weinkauf, Port Edwards;
3.Bryan Roach, Bucker, MN; 4. Jerry Freeman, Burlington; 5. Trent Snyder, Ironton,MN
Ray Hutson Grand National Sportsman:
****RAINED OUT**** |
