October 5, 2003; West Salem, WI - If you had told Tim Schendel when he woke up on Sunday that he would win both the ITEMS Oktoberfest 250 and the Wisconsin Late Models Oktoberfest 50, its doubtful the Sparta driver would have believed you. If you had told him he had the cars to win them, there would have been no question in his mind.
On Sunday afternoon, he proved that he had the cars, and the driving talent, as he backed up the ITEMS win with a dominating win in the Wisconsin Model race as well, holding off Ron Breese, Jr. down the stretch for the victory Schendel started on the pole of the Wisconsin Late Model feature, looking for his second win of the afternoon, and quickly opene dup a ten-car advantage on Kris Kelly, as he tried to find off Eddie Hoffman. Hoffman took over second on lap 6, and started cutting into Schendel's lead, as the field finally stretched out in single file from front to back. The frrst yellow flew on lap ten, as Tommy Pecaro and Eric Hammond bumped on the fronstretch, sending Hammond around at the rear of the field. Jeff Kendall used the restart to get by Kelly, something he struggled with before, and Jeremy LePak followed by on the next lap. Schendel stretched out his lead once more, as the top five cars were each separated by four or five car lenths, back to sixth-place Steve Carlson, who wored o n holding of Charlie Menard. Ron Breese, Jr. began to make a move, gettig by Brewe and Kendall, and catching Hoffman by lap 23. On lap 29, Breese worked under Hoffman, getting him loose, then drove under to take over the second spot, as he tried to track down Schendel. It wasn't to be, however, as Schendel handled the lapped traffic well, and maintained his cushion of six seconds the rest of the way. Charlie Menard finished third, followed by Kendall, Hoffman, Jason Weinkauf, Steve Carlson, Jeremy LePak, Kris Kelly and Matt Cocourek. In the Last Chance race, Trent Snyder came away with the victory. By lap ten, Hagel had faded to eighth, as Bagstad led a pack of six cars trying to catch Hagen. Andy Burgess wasn't content to sit in the pack and catch up, as he clipped off Herbst, and then Brad Powell to move to third, with Steve Holzhausen following. On lap 18, the pack caught Hagen, when he slowed to avoid a lapped car, and a lap later, Hagen slowed as he slid high coming out of turn two, and Bagstad ducked under to take the lead. By the time Hagen got back down in line, Burgess, Holzhausen, Powell and Kevin Nuttleman were all by the former leader. Burgess took little time in making his bid for the lead, going to the outside of Bagstad on lap 20, and taking over the top spot. Holzhausen took the cue, and followed on the outside of Bagstad. The lead pair pulled away from the field as Bagstad tried to hold off Nuttleman and Powell, and on lap 26, Holzhausen ducked inside Burgess coming out of turn four, taking the lead down the fronst straightaway. Holzhausen then checked out, opening up a 12-length lead by lap 40, when Nuttleman chased down Burgess and took second. The lead evaporated on lap 41, when Rick Wateski spun on the backstretch,
bringing out the caution. ITEMS: Former La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway regular Tim Schendel earned his second ITEMS victory by taking the Oktoberfest 250. West Salem's Steve Carlson was third, and Bangor's Steve Holzhausen sixth. Tim Sauter of Necedah finished seventh, as four local drivers took top ten finishes. J. Herbst was 15th, and Tony Bagstad took 17th. Brent Kirchner qualified fifth, but finished just 24th in the main event. For complete results from the RACESTAT computer click here Saturday, Apr. 10 ///NASCAR Late Models,
Sportsman, Thunderstox, 2004 Season Opener Last Chance - 1, Trent Snyder, Ironton, Minn.;
2, Eric Hammond, Grand Marsh; 3, David Prunty, Brownsville, Minn; 4, Don Turner, La
Crosse; 5, Jerry Freeman, Burlington; 6, Clint Sillars, Schofield; 7, Mike White, Monee,
Ill.; 8, Dean Lapointe, Marshfield. |
