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Smoke and flames in
Victory Lane on opening night of Oktoberfest
Gilster and Helling clinch Sportsman and Thunderstox points titles!
By David Morgan |
October
2, 2003; West Salem, WI - The first night of the
Oktoberfest Race weekend had a little bit of everything. The small -- a three-car feature
in the R.A.Y.S. open competition division to the large -- an 89-car count for the
Budweiser 75 Enduro. The new -- Onalaska’s Ron Helling clinching the Thunderstox
championship to the old -- 2000 Sportsman Champion Dan Gilster holding off 1995 Champ Jeff
Baker by eight points to win the La Crosse Sportsman Championship. And fans won’t
forget the smoke and flames in Victory Lane, as Jason Bolster smoked the field in the
Double O race, and smoked into the winner’s circle, and Jeff Martin, who ended the
Budweiser 75 by pulling into the winner’s circle with burining rubber underneath his
car.
Lap eight of the Ray Hutson Chevrolet Sportsman feature may have decided
much more than the race, but the points title as well. With Chris Skrede and John Korish
battling side-by-side at the front, points leader Dan Gilster and second-place Jeff Baker
were right behind in third and fourth. On the fateful eighth lap, Skrede appeared to lose
power, slpping back through the field, and Gilster moved up, while Baker was stuck behind
the slowing Skrede. Skrede regained power, but by then, he was fifth, with Baker behind in
sixth.
Baker made a late charge, getting up to fourth, and edging Chand Wehling
for third at the finish line, but Gilster stayed behind Korish the rest of the way, taking
second, and clinching his second Sportsman championship.
Ed Gunther claimed the B-Main win, with Gilster setting fast time at
86.605 MPH. Heat winners were Greg Scheck, Jake Arneson, Troy Anderson, Rick Steinhoff and
Jes Tenner
After an early caution, Brad Warthan jumped to the lead of the United Auto
Supply Thunderstox Oktoberfest 15, with late model driver Kevin Eddy quickly moving up,
right on his tail. As Eddy looked for a way around, Jerry Aylesworth closed, making it a
threeway battle to the finish. Eddy pulled along Wartham at the white flag, but slid up
the track in turn one, and Warthan came away the Oktoberfest champion.
Ron Heller finished sixth, but clinched the points championship over Jason
Bolster. Bill Inglett won the B-Main, while heats went to Robert Stanfield, Matt Inglett,
Travis Schendel and Shane Ulvestad.
Steve Scholze and Larry Bolster, Jr. worked their way through traffic over
the first lap on each track in the Double O race, and jumped to the lead, then patiently
made their way through a field of 30 Thunderstox, 4 La Crosse Sportsman, and one
Mid-American Super Truck to take the win.
It was a slow start to the Budweiser 75 Enduro, with three quick red
flags, but when action got going, there was plenty of it, with major melees in turn two,
and Galesville’s Jeff Tomei flipping onto his roof at the start-finish line. In the
end, West Salem’s Jeff Martin took the lead on the final lap, taking the win over
Troy Opsahl and Lee Hager.
For complete results from the RACESTAT
computer click here
LA CROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY
Oktoberfest Race Weekend - Thursday's results
Ray Hutson
Chevrolet Feature
Oktoberfest 20 Feature (25 Cars) - 1, John Korish, La Crosse; 2, Dan Gilster, West Salem;
3, Jeff Baker, Holmen; 4, Chand Wehling, Stoddard; 5, Mike Albrecht, Jr., La Crescent,
Minn.; 6, Chris Skrede, Holmen; 7, Rick Steinhoff, Sparta; 8, Tom Thill, West Salem; 9,
Aaron Hass, La Crosse; 10, Sam Andersen, Melrose; 11, Larry Bolster, Jr., Sparta; 12, Jes
Tenner, Melrose; 13, Conrad Jorgenson, Lakeville, MN; 14, Jake Arneseon, Taylor; 15,
Jonathan Eilen, Hampton, Minn.
B-Feature - 1, Ed Gunther, Melrose; 2, Trent Boettcher, La Crescent, Minn.; 3, Greg
Scheck, West Salem; 4, Robert Challet, Bangor; 5, Jay Cherwenka, Black River Falls.
Qualifying - 1, Dan Gilster, West Salem, 22.672
secs, 86.605 MPH; 2, Tom Thill, West Salem, 22.682 secs, 86.566 MPH; 3, Jeff Baker,
Holmen, 22.702 secs, 86.490 MPH; 4, Chand Wehling, Stoddard, 22.721 secs, 86.418 MPH; 5,
Aaron Hass, La Crosse 22.766 secs, 86.247 MPH.
Non Qualifying Heat 1 - 1, Greg Scheck, West
Salem; 2, Trent Boettcher, La Crescent, Minn.; 3, Maynard Rave, Jr., Black River Falls; 4,
Al Bartels, Tomah; 5, Jerimy Wagner, Melrose.
Qualifying Heat 1 - 1, Jake Arneson, Taylor; 2, John Olson, Sparta; 3, Jimmy Gilster, West
Salem; 4, Nick Schroeder, Cashton; 5, Todd Lockington, Mindoro.
Qualifying Heat 2 - 1, Troy Anderson, Galesville; 2, Bill Miller, Sparta; 3, Ken Lewis,
Black River Falls; 4, Jordan Hess, West Salem; 5, Rob Curran, Rockland.
Odd Heat - 1, Rick Steinhoff, Sparta; 2, Mike Albrecht, Jr., La Crescent, Minn; 3, Jeff
Baker, Holmen; 4, Dan Gilster, West Salem; 5, Larry Bolster, Jr., Sparta.
Even Heat - 1, Jes Tenner, Melrose; 2, Sam Andersen, Melrose; 3, John Korish, La Crosse;
4, Tom Thill, West Salem; 5, Lucas Korish, La Crosse.
Final Points Standings
1, Dan Gilster, West Salem 898
2, Jeff Baker, Holmen 890
3, Rick Steinhoff, Sparta 869
4, Chand Wehling, Stoddard 854
5, Larry Bolster, Jr., Sparta 803
United Auto Supply Thunderstox
Oktoberfest 15 Feature (25 Cars) - 1. Brad Warthan, Sparta; 2, Kevin Eddy, Sparta; 3,
Jerry Aylesworth, Holmen; 4, Travis Schendel, Cashton; 5, Al Bartels, Tomah; 6, Ron
Heller, Onalaska; 7, Matt Inglett, La Crosse; 8, Scott Voss, La Crescent, Minn.; 9, Ed
Senn, La Crosse; 10, Corey Butler, Jr., Rosemount, Minn.; 11, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 12,
Shane Ulvestad, Holmen; 13, Lonnie Klonecki, Arcadia; 14, Jason Schaller, La Crosse; 15,
Trent Tenner, Melrose.
B-Main - 1. Bill Inglett, La Crosse; 2, Tony
Leis, Middle Ridge; 3, Emily Sue Steck, Holmen; 4, jason Schaller, La Crosse; 5, Jamie
Dummer, Holmen.
Heat 1 - 1. Robert Stansfield, La Crosse; 2, Brad Warthan, Sparta; 3, Danielle Neary, La
Crosse; 4, Ron Heller, Onalaska; 5, Al Bartels, Tomah.
Heat 2 - 1. Matt Inglett, La Crosse; 2, Kevin Eddy, Sparta; 3, Corey Butler, Jr.,
Rosemount, Minn.; 4, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 5, John Hendrickson, La Crosse.
Heat 3 - 1. Travis Schendel, Cashton; 2, Ed Senn, La Crosse; 3, Trent Tenner, Melrose; 4,
Ryan Pfaff, Melrose; 5, Charles Vian, Norwalk.
Heat 4 - 1. Shane Ulvestad, Holmen; 2, Scott Voss, La Crescent, Minn.; 3, Adam Moore,
Sparta; 4, Jerry Aylesworth, Holmen; 5, Lonnie Klonecki, Arcadia.
Final Points Standings
1, Ron Heller, Onalaska 1289
2, Jason Bolster, Sparta 1241
3, Matt Inglett, La Crosse 1221
4, Tony Leis, Middle Ridge 1114
5, Bill Inglett, La Crosse 1105
R.A.Y.S. Open Competition
Oktoberfest 15 Feature (3 cars)- 1, Steve Scholze, Sparta; 2, Matthew Moore, Tomah; 3,
Tony Leis, Middle Ridge.
Qualifying- 1, Tony Leis, Middle Ridge, 15.844 secs, 56.804 MPH; 2 Larry Bolster, Jr.,
Sparta, 16.096 secs, 55.915 MPH; 3 Steve Scholze, Sparta, 16.619 secs, 54.155 MPH; 4
Matthew Moore, Tomah; 16.805 secs, 53.555 MPH; 5, Jerry Roth, Wisconsin Rapids, 21.284
secs, 42.285 MPH.
Heat 1- 1, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 2, Tony Leis, Middle Ridge; 3, Steve Scholze, Sparta; 4,
Matthew Moore, Tomah; 5, Jerry Roth, Wisconsin Rapids.
Double O Race
Oktoberfest Feature - 1, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 2, Steve Scholze, Sparta; 3,Tim Steinhoff,
Cashton; 4, Denise Miller, Sparta; 5, Mark Challet, Bangor; 6, Brad Warthan, Sparta; 7,
Matt Inglett, La Crosse; 8, Adam Moore, Sparta; 9, Jake Arneson, Taylor; 10, Charles Vian,
Sparta.
Budweiser 75 Enduro
Oktoberfest Feature - 1. Jeff Martin, West Salem; 2, Troy Opsahl, Caledonia, Minn.; 3, Lee
Hager, Kellogg, Minn.; 4, Jerry schomers, La Crescent, Minn.; 5, Steve Dwyer, La Crosse;
6, Eugene Hagen, Eyota, Minn.; 7, John Ratz, Fountain City; 8, David Treu, Sparta; 9, Tony
Fluette, North Freedom; 10, Ron Preskar, Juneau |
