July 18, 2003; West Salem, WI - When the drivers for the Big Cheese 200 Enduro came in for the mid-race break at lap 107, they should have known that they were going to need some help if they were to catch Wade Elliott. He was the only car remaining on the lead lap, and the top five cars were each a lap apart. To top things off, Elliott followed the jam truck around, parked his car in the lineup for the second half of the race, and jumped out to compete in the Driver-Fan Egg Toss. Although he rear-ended a lapped car on lap 116, causing his hood to buckle, and giving the other drivers a glimmer of hope, it was short-lived, as he cruised to his second-straight Big Cheese Enduro win by three laps over Shawn Potter of Winona, Minn. The only consolation for the drivers was the fact that he and his partner did bow out early in the egg toss, because after allowing Troy Opsahl to get back on the lead lap on lap 116, he put him a lap down again by lap 130, and took a dominating win in the 86-car event. Twenty seven of those cars were running at the finish. On lap 35, Carl Bezenek spun coming out of turn four, he simply put his car into reverse, and drove backwards, looking for a spot to right his car. He drove for a lap and a half before getting the opening, whipped the car around, and continued racing, forward this time. Elliott led on lap 3, then again from lap 37 to the finish, taking the event for the second straight year. Gary Towner led for 18 laps, while Craig Kohlmeier was at the point for seven, Jerry Lemke for four, and Jeff Heaney led three circuits. Saturday, July 26 ///NASCAR Late
Models, Sportsman, Thunderstox, Hornets Big Cheese Enduro (86 cars) |
