(West Salem, WI - Saturday, October 8, 2005) - The NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series Oktoberfest 200 highlighted Saturday night's action at the 36th Annual Oktoberfest Racing Weekend. It was a race dominated by a former La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway regular as Sparta, Wis., driver Tim Schendel grabbed the lead on Lap 7 from Brent Kirchner, then rocketed to the victory.

Photo Highlights Wisconsin Late Model ARTGO Re-Union heat action included one car on its side against the backstretch wall. Greg Oliver Waves the Checkered Flag during a Mid-American Stock Car Series heat race.

It was the second time Schendel won the touring series event at the Fairgrounds Speedway as he captured the 2003 event as well. This time, however, Schendel was simply dominant. He led the final 193 laps, and survived a late-race caution that tightened the field, but nearly enough to allow second-place Eddie Hoffman of Wheaton, Ill., or third-place Justin Diercks of Davenport, Iowa, to catch Schendel in his Mathews Solo-Cam black No. 21.

It was Schendel's fourth victory in the tour in his six seasons in the NASCAR-sactioned circuit. While Schendel earned $5,050 for the win, Diercks was all smiles, too. Diercks, by virtue of his third-place finish, clinched the season points championship for the second straight year. Steve Carlson, who failed to turn a complete qualifying lap because of a problem with the suspension in the rear of his car but managed a fifth-place feature finish, wound up second in the season points standings.

In what is turning out to be a hotly-contested race just to get into, the ARTGO Reunion 100 should be filled with plenty of stars for today's 100 lap event. Heat winners Rich Loch of Muskego, Wis., Jeff VanOuedenhoven of Green Bay, Wis., Jacob Humphrey of Lake Geneva, Wis., Jon Lemke of Greenfield, Minn., Kris Kelly of Norway, Mich., and Charlie Menard of Eau Claire, Wis., each earned spots in the ARTGO Reunion 100. The drivers certainly mixed it up during their heat races, setting the stage for what should be a wild 100 laps today.

Wisconsin racing legend Dick Trickle, a nine-time ARTGO champion who still holds the record in the series with 68 career wins, had a disappointing day as he qualified 35th. Only the top 16 earned a spot in the big race via time, with Josh Vadnais of White Bear Lake, Minn., turning the fastest qualifying lap at 19.099 seconds. Trickle can use a provisional to earn a spot in today's race.

While the AutoZone 200 and the ARTGO heat races provided plenty of thrills for a standing-room only crowd, there was plenty more during the day's program as the Mid-American Cars and Mid-American Trucks decided their season points champion. Charlie Cottam won the Mid-American Truck feature, but it was Mark Storlie who won the season points title. Storlie and Larry Fitzsimmons followed Cottam across the finish line in a feature where there were several crashes that provided some edge-off-your seat action. Before a single lap one was completed Gary Fredrickson and John Froelich got into each other exiting turn one. On lap 17, Bryan Pautsch spun into the grass on the backstrech but didn't cause any serious damage.

In the Mid-American car feature, Peter Hernandez took the checkered flag while Bill Prietzel was second and Bobby Gutnecht took third. Prietzel, however, took the big prize as he earned the season points championship.

Action continues on Sunday with the ARTGO Reunion 100, the La Crosse Late Model Oktoberfest 50, the Modified Oktoberfest 25, and the Big 8 Oktobferst 40.


LA CROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY

NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series Feature

200 Lap Feature (22 Cars) — 1. Tim Schendel, Sparta 2. Eddie Hoffman, Wheaton, IL 3. Justin Diercks, Davenport IA 4. Erik Darnell, Beach Park, IL 5. Steve Carlson, West Salem

Qualifying — 1. Ryan Carlson , Loves Park, IL , 19.477 seconds, 100.811 MPH 2. Tony Bagstad , Cashton , 19.402 secs, 101.201 MPH 3. Brent Kirchner , La Crosse , 19.342 secs, 101.515 MPH 4. Tim Schendel , Sparta , 19.269 secs, 101.899 MPH 5. Justin Diercks , Davenport, IA , 19.186 secs, 102.340 MPH.

Mid American Truck Feature

Sponsor 30 Feature (17 Cars) — 1. Charlie Cottam 2. Mark Schmitz 3. Larry Fitzsimmons 4. Andy Jirik 5. Vinnie Wilkinso

Qualifying — 1. Mark Storlie , 20.760 secs, 94.581 MPH 2. Andy Jirik , 20.813 secs, 94.340 MPH 3. Charlie Cottam ,21.046 secs, 93.296 MPH 4. Larry Fitzsimmons , 21.154 secs, 92.819 MPH 5. Bill Prietzel , 21.292 secs, 92.218 MPH.

Heat 1 — 1.Gary Fredrickson 2. Kyle Bauknecht 3. Gary Cherry 4. John Froelich 5. Fred Oswald

Heat 2 — 1. Dan Chesmore 2. Charlie Cottam 3. Larry Fitzsimmons 4. Bill Prietzel 5. Todd Schmitz

Mid American Stock Car Feature

30 Lap Feature (25 cars) — 1. Peter Hernandez 2. Bill Prietzel 3. Bobby Gutnecht 4. 5. Shawn Utphall

Qualifying — 1. Jonathan Elien , 20.549 secs, 95.552 MPH 2. James Swan, 20.623 secs, 95.209 MPH 3. Jeremy Spoonmore, 20.651 secs, 95.080 MPH 4. Doug Brown , 20.814 secs, 94.336 MPH 5. Scott Asher , 20.821 secs, 94.304 MPH.

Heat 1 — 1. Ken Smart 2. Scott Null 3. Billy Tuckwell 4. Curt Van Der Wal 5. Michael Annett

Heat 2 — 1. Jason Taghikhani 2. Justin Nelsias 3. Bobby Gutnecht 4. Rick Tackman Jr. 5. Brad Keith

Heat 3 — 1.Jeremy Miller 2. Doug Brown 3. Bill Prientzel 4. James Swan 5. Brent Pointek


ARTGO Wisconsin Late Models

Qualifying — 1. Josh Vadnais , White Bear Lake, MN , 19.099 seconds, 102.806 MPH 2. Eddie Hoffman , Wheaton, IL, 19.146 secs, 102.554 MPH 3. Chris Weinkauf , Merrill , 19.214 secs, 102.191 MPH 4. Steve Carlson , West Salem, 19.230 secs, 102.106 MPH 5. Trent Snyder , Ironton, MN , 19.234 secs, 102.085 MPH.

Heat 1 — 1.Rich Loch, Muskego 2. Erik Darnell, Beach Park, IL 3. Chris Skrede, Sparta 4. James Carlson, La Crosse 5. Robb Vanderloop, Kaukana

Heat 2 — 1. Jeff VanOudenhoven, Green Bay 2. David Prunty, Brownsville 3. Brian Johnson Jr., Roscoe, IL 4. Rod Brewe, Menomonie 5. Len Nowosel, Greys Lake, IL

Heat 3 — 1.Jacob Humphrey, Lake Geneva 2. Tim Schendel, Sparta 3. Jeff Way, Burlington 4. Adam Degenhardt, Coon Valley 5. Travis Dasson, West Bend

Heat 4 — 1.Jon Lemke, Greenfield, MN 2. Jacob goede, New Geremany, MN 3. Neil Knoblock, Green Bay 4. Ben Pettis, Elk Mound 5. Andrew Morrissey, DeForest

Heat 5 — 1. Kris Kelly, Norway, MI 2. Ken Willis, Singer, IL 3. Landon Cassill, Fairfax, IA 4. Josh Weir, Cottage Grove 5. Blake Bjorklund, Isanti, MN

Odd Heat — 1. Ryan Matthews, Lake Geneva 2. Brian Hoppe 3. Jacob Ryan, Farmington, MN 4. Steve Holzhausen, Bangor 5. Josh Vadnais, White Bear Lake, MN

Even Heat — 1. Charlie Menard, Eau Clarie 2. Dick Trickle, Iron Station, NC 3. Steve Carlson, West Salem 4. Jeremy Lepak, Franklin 5. Blake Horstman, Bangor