In a world where 99 percent of the contestants are males, Darci Czarapata is giving the ladies in the world of short track racing someone to cheer on. The Pulaski driver etched her name in the Luxemburg Speedway record book last Friday night, becoming the first woman in track history to score a feature win. It was a 15 lap contest in the street stock division, which drew a standing ovation from the cheering throngs in attendance. The victory came as a bit of a surprise to Czarapata. "I thought the feature was 20 laps, not 15. I was quite excited when I saw the white flag fly." Czarapata competes in her '77 Chevrolet Monte Carlo on Sunday nights at Seymour Tri-Oval Raceway.

She's also taking part in a special five race series for street stocks at Luxemburg Speedway. The event she won was the third of the summer. "The car we're running in is brand new this year," said Czarapata. "The car I ran last year was destroyed by my brother Brandon (IMCA stock car driver) at the Eve of Destruction at WIR in Kaukauna last fall. So we built this one over the winter. Prior to that our family got almost 15 years of racing out of that street stock." Darci comes from quite a racing family. Her dad Mike owns her car, and races himself on Saturday nights down at Dodge County Fairgrounds in Beaver Dam. Her uncle Norb is a tech inspector at Seymour, while brother Brandon is the current state IMCA stock car points leader with seven feature wins on the season. Cousin Jason also races in the locally tough IMCA stock car class. "My car is almost an afterthought lately," Darci joked. "Now that Brandon's leading in the state points we've been focusing on that a bit more. I drive down to Beaver Dam and help him in the pits on Saturday nights. And I'll get a hand from them when I need it on Sunday nights at Seymour."

Czarapata is 28 years old and has been racing in the street stock division for six seasons. She currently has no plans to move up in any divisions. "I just look at some of the money being spent in some of those other classes and it can be costly," said Czarapata. "I'll ride out the street stock class until the very end. If they eventually get rid of the division at Seymour like they did at Luxemburg on a weekly basis then I'll probably quit racing." Her machine receives sponsorship from Bomski Construction, Bob's Service and Kelsey Coatings.

MORE WOMEN RACERS - I cannot recall ever seeing a feature finish in this area where two women placed first and second in a main event. It happened last Saturday night at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek in the super stock division. Kaukauna's Jessie Gracyalny and Mishicot's Crystal Koenig finished first and second, respectively in the main event. The finish capped off a wild night in which the mid-am sportsman feature was cancelled when a transformer blew, knocking out power at the quarter-mile, paved oval and cancelling the races for the evening.

HOLIDAY MODIFIED SPECIALS - The biggest paying IMCA modified event in track history will take place tomorrow night, July 4 at Luxemburg Speedway. The Prestige Custom Cabinet Holiday Blowout will dole out $2,000 to the winner of the IMCA modified feature. The IMCA stock car feature winner will receive $1,500-to-win. The race is expected to lure a number of out-of-area drivers, including the return of Beaver Dam's Jay Schraufnagel, who in 2002 won a whopping 23 features at tracks all across Wisconsin in his modified.

In the IMCA stock car ranks former champion Benji LaCrosse, the top running rookie in the IMCA modified division on Friday nights, will return to the fendered class he had so much success in for several seasons. He'll wheel a Jon Wolf-owned stock car. A huge fireworks display is on tap following the program, which gets underway with an earlier start time of 6:30 p.m. The modifieds and stock cars will compete for national, but not track points. A draw/redraw format will be used. The IMCA hobby stocks will be in action and will be racing for both national and track points.

SEYMOUR STUFF - Seymour Tri-Oval Raceway will host three races in six days tonight, Sunday July 6 and Tuesday July 8. Tonight the IMCA mods will battle for a $1,500 top prize, while the IMCA stock cars will race for $1,000-to-win. Street stocks and 4 bangers will also be on the card. All five regular divisions will compete during the Sunday night program, while racing action will open up the Outagamie County Fair on Tuesday night. Street stocks and 4 bangers will be the headline divisions. Mods and stock cars will also be on hand. There will be no racing at Seymour on Sunday night, July 13 because of the fair. Instead a WISSOTA late model special will be run that evening at Luxemburg Speedway beginning at 6:30 p.m. IMCA modifieds, stock cars and hobby stocks will also be in action.