GROELLE DOMINATES 141 MIDAM HEADLINER

(Francis Creek, WI – September 6, 2008) – Travis Groelle raced away to his third Mid-American Sportsman feature win of the season Saturday night at the 141 Speedway in Francis Creek.

Also taking top honors on the second to last point night of the season were Allen “Gator” Trudell in the Super Stocks, Jason Willadsen in the Mini-Stocks, Bruce Sand in the Sport 4 class, and Mike Wilde in the Hobby Stocks.

Groelle proved to be untouchable in the Mid-American main event.  He took the lead at the drop of the green, and had but a single challenge the rest of the way.  That came on the 7th lap, as Mark VanRite and Daryl Gerke got together bringing out a caution.

Dennis Rabas challenged briefly on the restart, but Groelle eventually took control and pulled away to a commanding lead.  Rabas, Jimbo Schleis, Monte Strouf, Greg Haese, Kevin Damrow and Tim Conard raced nose to tail for the duration, with Rabas holding the line to finish in the runner-up spot.

Conard was guest driving for points leader Brett Piontek.  Piontek’s closest rival for the title, Gerke, was forced to borrow Randy Rahn’s car for the night after engine problems in practice put his own car on the shelf.

Trudell found himself the leader in the Super Stock main thanks to an incident that took out the top three cars.  Racing for the lead, Randy Nething and Jo Gauger made contact, sending both sliding to the infield.  For the second straight week, Lee Kielpikowski found himself caught up in the melee.

Nething and Gauger were relegated to the back of the field for the restart, while Kielpikowski was done for the night.

Trudell was able to hold off repeated challenges from Eric Turner, Greg Thompson and Tim Conard through the waning laps of the event, including a last ditch four lap sprint to the checker after a late caution.

It was the Wisconsin International Raceway regular’s first 141 feature win of the season.  Thompson would win the battle for second followed by Conard.  Turner would drop from contention on the final lap with a flat tire.  That moved Pete Kumbalek and Denny Crass up into top five finishes.

It took three tries to get the Mini-Stock feature on track, but once rolling, the field reeled off 30 straight green flag laps.  That played out perfectly for Willadsen, as he pulled away from the pack en route to his first feature win of the season unchallenged.

Kevin Naidl held off a late charge from Todd Hebel for second.  Hebel closed the gap again on points leader Kevin Naidl, who finished a spot behind him in fourth.

In the Sport 4 feature, Mike Blashka had just edged ahead of Dalton Cherney when caution flew on the 13th lap.  The restart allowed Blashka to establish the bottom groove and take command from Cherney.

However, a second post-caution restart proved to be his undoing with 10 laps to go.  Sand had worked his way from deep in the field to second at that point.  As the green flag waved, Sand shot from the outside to the lead.  He paced the pack over the course of the final laps, winning for the fourth time on the season, and second in a row.

25 straight green flag laps allowed Wilde to put plenty of space between he and title contenders Tom Polzin and Aaron Gretz.  The duo eventually worked their way to second and third, but without any stops, had no time to catch the eventual winner. 

The win was the first of the season for Wilde.

This Saturday night, Budweiser will host the final point night of the 2008 season, culminating with the crowning of five champions.  Qualifying for all divisions starts at 5:30 p.m., with the first race at 7:00 p.m.  For more information and directions to the track, visit the Speedway’s website at www.141speedway.com.

Race Summary

Mid-American 35 Lap Feature – Travis Groelle, Two Rivers; Dennis Rabas, Maribel; Jimbo Schleis, Manitowoc; Monte Strouf, Menchalville; Greg Haese, Manitowoc; Kevin Damrow, Manitowoc

Heat 1 – Mark VanRite, DePere; Rabas

Heat 2 – Daryl Gerke, Whitelaw; Groelle

Fast Qualifier – Haese (12.269)

Super Stock 30 Lap Feature – Allen Trudell, Kaukauna; Greg Thompson, Denmark; Tim Conard, Manitowoc, Pete Kumbalek, Green Bay; Denny Crass, Maribel; Jason Kostichka, Green Bay

Heat 1 – Lee Kielpikowski, Green Bay; Eric Turner, Mishicot

Heat 2 – Randy Nething, Marathon; Dave Meyerhofer, Appleton

Fast Qualifier – Conard (12.475)

Mini-Stock 30 Lap Feature – Jason Willadsen, Waldo; Kevin Naidl, Cato; Todd Hebel, Green Bay; Kurt Naidl, Denmark; Allen Dillon, Two Rivers; Eric Turner, Mishicot

Heat 1 – Jason Novak, Cato; Kurt Naidl

Heat 2 – Matt Cherney, Mishicot; Turner

Fast Qualifier – Hebel (13.130)

Sport 4 25 Lap Feature – Bruce Sand, Two Rivers; Mike Blashka, Reedsville; Parker May, DePere; Ian Fogeltanz, Manitowoc; Dalton Cherney, Mishicot, Aaron Dalton, Gillett

Heat 1 – Sand; Blashka

Heat 2 – Jeremy Hebel, Two Rivers; Nick Wacek, Green Bay

Heat 3 – Fogeltanz; Dalton

Fast Qualifier – Jake Fuller, Cato (14.375)

Hobby Stock 25 Lap Feature – Mike Wilde, Manitowoc; Tom Polzin, Two Rivers; Aaron Gretz, Two Rivers; Kris Conard, Manitowoc; Ray Fuller, Manitowoc; Mark Anderson, Denmark

Heat – Polzin; Fuller

Fast Qualifier – Jay Sand, Mishicot (14.578)