Saturday, April 19, 2008 (West Salem, WI) – An enthusiastic crowd of fans flocked to the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway Saturday night, despite the threat of rain, to witness Mike Carlson battle head to head with his dad, Steve Carlson (2nd), in the first Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Model feature of the season. “It was fun doing this,” said Mike Carlson of the opening night race. “It was a blast coming here and getting my first (feature) win.”

Bill Niles (15th) started on the pole, but the position was quickly taken up by Tony Bagstad (9th) causing Niles to lose momentum and fall back in the field. Meanwhile, J. Herbst (3rd) wrestled his way to the front to take the lead from Bagstad. Both Mike and Steve Carlson quickly caught up to Herbst to engage in a 15 lap, three car battle for the lead. Behind them a fight was in full force between Niles, Emily Sue Steck (10th), and Todd Oliver (11th), all of whom were trying to gain the 10th place position. Steck was eventually able to fight off Niles and Oliver to gain the position. The crowds attention was then draw back to Mike Carlson and Herbst who were side by side with five laps to go. Then they got caught up in lap traffic. It was then that Herbst lost the 2nd position to Steve Carlson. Although Steve Carlson tried his best to get to the front, in the end his son was just too fast and Mike Carlson walked away with the win.

The North Country Contractors Sportsmen division kept the excitement up as Jerimy Wagner struggled to keep the lead and win the feature race. Troy Maier (2nd) was on Wagner’s tail the entire race looking for his chance to overtake Wagner. Behind the leaders Rick Schermerhorn (22nd) and Larry Bolster Jr. (17th) were in a tight battle for 4th while Jes Tenner (23rd) and Randy Humfeld (4th) raced side by side for 7th. With two to go Schermerhorn and Bolster Jr. were door handle to door handle exiting turn two when cars started to pile up accordion style sending Schermerhorn, Tenner, Aaron Hass (24th), and Randy Steinhoff (14th) into the wall. Bolster Jr. was also in the crash but was able to drive away with minimal damage. The caution brought Wagner and Maier nose to tail for the restart. Wagner was too strong for Maier though taking the lead and the win.

The United Auto Supply Thunderstox ended a successful opening night at La Crosse Fair grounds Speedway. Jason Stark, who started on the pole and then lost many positions, was able to fight his way back to the front to win the Thunderstox feature race. In the opening laps Tony Wheeler (12th) and Jake Krueger (16th) moved to the front creating a three way battle for the lead. But with all of the pushing and shoving from every direction most cars were not able to hold any position for very long. With only five to go Steve Owen (22nd) and Jason Schaller (23rd) got together exiting turn four side by side causing the yellow flag to be brought out. On the restart Brad Warthan (18th) and Stark were in such a fierce battle Warthan got black flagged. Stark was then able to surge across the finish line in first.

The double spin to win novelty event added extra excitement for the fans opening night. Drivers who competed had to make two complete spins on laps two and seven before crossing the finish line. In heat one, most of the drivers managed to survive the first spin. When it was time to spin the second time some drivers weren’t as successful. Andy Moore spun and ended up stuck in water in the infield. Adam Moore, Andy’s brother, had better luck and went on to win the first heat. Harley Jankowski was enjoying himself so much that not only did he win the second heat, he added a third spin after crossing the finish line.

On Saturday, April 26th a regular night of racing will be accompanied by the first Hornets appearance of the season. Then on Saturday, May 3rd La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway will present a new exciting race for drivers and for fans; Skidders. A race in which the cars will essentially only be using their front two wheels to get around the track. And on Friday, May 9th the first of many Friday Night Street Drags will take place. Admission and entry into the street drags is $5 each. For more information on Friday Night Street Drags visit their new website www.streetdragslax.com. For more information about La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway contact the office at (608) 786-1525 or visit www.lacrossespeedway.com.
 

 

Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Models
S&S Distributing / Budweiser 25 Feature (18 Cars) — 1, Mike Carlson, West Salem; 2, Steve Carlson, West Salem; 3, J. Herbst, West Salem; 4, Shawn Pfaff, Sparta; 5, Kevin Nuttleman, Bangor; 6, Paul Proksch, Stoddard; 7, Todd Korish, Holmen; 8, Brent Kirchner, La Crosse; 9, Tony Bagstad, Cashton; 10, Emily Sue Steck, Holmen; 11, Todd Oliver, Bangor; 12, Jeff Baker, Holmen; 13, Tom Thill, West Salem; 14, Matthew Henderson, Coon Valley; 15, Bill Niles, Holmen; 16, John Towner, Trempealeau; 17, Tony Leis, Middle Ridge; 18, Randy Steinhoff, Cashton.

Qualifying — 1, Steve Carlson, 19.872 secs, 98.807 MPH; 2, Kenvin Nuttleman, 19.976 secs, 98.293 MPH; 3, Mike Carlson, 20.007 secs, 98.141 MPH; 4, Todd Korish, 20.016 secs, 98.097 MPH; 5, Paul Proksch, 20.099 secs, 97.691 MPH.

Odd Bud Dash — 1, Brent Kirchner; 2, Mike Carlson; 3, J. Herbst; 4, Steve Carlson; 5, Bill Niles.

Even Bud Dash — 1, Matthew Henderson; 2, Todd Korish; 3, Kevin Nuttleman; 4, Jeff Baker; 5, Todd Oliver.

North Country Contractors Sportsmen
S&S Distributing / Budweiser 15 Feature (24 Cars) — 1, Jerimy Wagner, Melrose; 2, Troy Maier, La Crosse; 3, Jimmy Gilster, West Salem; 4, Randy Humfeld, Chaseburg; 5, Nick Clements, Onalaska; 6, John Olson; 7, Jake Arneson, Melrose; 8, Branden Berg, North Bend; 9, Matt Inglett, La Crosse; 10, Greg Scheck, West Salem; 11, Rob Mason, Caledonia, Minn.; 12, Todd Lockington, Mindoro; 13, Mark Challet, Bangor; 14, Randy Steinhoff, Cashton; 15, Rob Curran, Rockland; 16, Joe Rinartz, LaCrosse; 17, Larry Bolster Jr., Sparta; 18, Ken Lewis, Black River Falls; 19, Keaton Hilby, Bangor; 20, Jeff Winterfield, Westby; 21, Randy Hass, La Crosse; 22, Rick Schermerhorn, Coon Valley; 23, Jes Tenner, Melrose; 24, Aaron Hass, La Crosse.

B-Feature — 1, Keaton Hilby; 2, Greg Scheck; 3, Ken Lewis; 4, Randy Hass, La Crosse; 5, Justin Berg, Bangor.

Qualifying — 1, John Olson, 21.964 secs, 89.396 MPH; 2, Randy Humfeld, 21.981 secs, 89.327 MPH; 3, Jes Tenner, 22.101 secs, 88.842 MPH; 4, Branden Berg, 22.148 secs, 88.654 MPH; 5, Aaron Hass, 22.152 secs, 88.638 MPH.

Qualifying Heat 1 — 1, Jimmy Gilster; 2, Jake Arneson; 3, Rick Johnson Jr., West Salem; 4, Ken Lewis, Black River Falls; 5, Keaton Hilby, Bangor.

Qualifying Heat 2 — 1, Mark Challet; 2, Matt Inglett; 3, Greg Scheck, West Salem; 4, Jerrod Loging, West Salem; 5, Randy Hass, La Crosse.

Odd Bud Dash — 1, Joe Rinartz; 2, Troy Maier; 3, Aaron Hass; 4, Jerimy Wagner; 5, Larry Bolster Jr.

Even Bud Dash — 1, Randy Humfeld; 2, Todd Lockington; 3, Rob Curran; 4, Randy Steinhoff; 5, Rob Mason.

United Auto Supply Thunderstox
S&S Distributing / Budweiser 15 Feature (24 cars) — 1, Jason Stark; 2, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 3, Andy Moore, Sparta; 4, Matt Cleveland, Sparta; 5, Adam Moore, Sparta; 6, Bill Inglett, La Crosse; 7, Kris Buldhaupt, La Crescent, Minn.; 8, Jamie Dummer, Holmen; 9, Charles Vain Jr.; 10, Ray Hardy, Sparta; 11, Harley Jankowski, Sparta; 12, Tony Wheeler, La Crosse; 13, Mike Olson; 14, Ed Senn; 15, Scott Geier; 16, Jake Krueger, Onalaska; 17, Joey Johnson, Mindoro; 18, Brad Warthan, Sparta; 19, Keith Larson, La Crosse; 20, Danielle Neary, La Crosse; 21, Ben Allen, La Crosse; 22, Steve Owen, La Crosse; 23, Jason Schaller, Holmen; 24, Ray Burkum, Westby.

B-Feature — 1, Ray Hardy; 2, Jason Schaller; 3, Steve Owen; 4, Joey Johnson; 5, Wayne Smith, Barre Mills.

Bud Dash — 1, Brad Warthan; 2, Harley Jankowski; 3, Jason Stark; 4, Andy Moore; 5, Matt Cleveland.

Heat 1 — 1, Andy Moore; 2, Ben Allen; 3, Jason Bolster; 4, Kris Buldhaupt; 5, Danielle Neary.

Heat 2 — 1, Adam Moore; 2, Jake Krueger; 3, Charles Vian Jr.; 4, Jamie Dummer; 5, Bill Inglett.

Heat 3 — 1, Matt Cleveland; 2, Harley Jankowski; 3, Ray Burkum; 4, Ed Senn; 5, Mike Olson.

Heat 4 — 1, Jason Stark; 2, Brad Warthan; 3, Keith Larson; 4, Tony Wheeler; 5, Scott Geier.