Champions Crowned at Thunderhill
By Greg Aregoni

Saturday Night August 27th,- The name of the game Saturday Night was championship on T Simon Jewelers Night, at the Forest County Potawatomi Thunderhill Raceway. The most exciting race of the night was the Street Stock feature. Von Eytcheson led Mike Pierrard by 1 point going into the night. Pierrard and Eytcheson duked it out right to the end, with Pierrard winning by an inch or two at the finish line. Pierrard and Eytcheson are Co-Champs in the Street Stocks.

Todd Dart claimed his track record fifth divisional feature in the Budweiser IMCA Modifieds. Shawn Kilgore capped off an impressive weekend by capturing both the Sturgeon Bay Wulf Brother’s IMCA Stockcar championship, and the Luxemburg Championship on Friday night. Eddie Anschutz claimed his second Mays Sport Center IMCA Hobby Stock Championship. Tyler Smith won his first Door County Motorsports 4-cylinder Championship at Thunderhill.

The Wulf Brother’s IMCA Stockcar feature took to the track first. Jamie Suchoski led the opening two laps of the feature, until B.J. Soquet grabbed control on lap 3. Soquet shot off like a jet, and was never touched the rest of the way. Troy Muench made his way to second, but never was able to challenge Soquet. The race went green to checker, with Soquet winning his second feature of the season over Muench, Tony Bouche, Charlie Kroll, and Eugene Gregorich. "This was pretty cool winning two championships in the same weekend. I have never done that before." Shawn Kilgore after claiming his second Championship in two nights. The rookie of the year went to Cory Cochart.

Billy Lemieux used the outside line to get the early lead in the Budweiser IMCA Modified feature. Jay Matthias quickly made it to second, and started to catch Lemieux. The race for the championship had Jeremy Jacobs a couple of spots ahead of Todd Dart, but a broken drive shaft ended Jacob’s night mid-way through the race. A series of cautions kept the field close. Coming up on the white flag, Matthias was able get to the inside of Lemieux. At the same time, Benji Lacrosse and Todd Dart caught the top two, and made their moves. Coming out of turn four, the group went four-wide for the win with Lemiuex edging out Matthias, Lacrosse and Dart at the line. Jared Siefert rounded out the top five. This was Lemieux’s first win of the season. It was also Todd Dart’s record setting fifth IMCA Modified Championship at Thunderhill. "I alway run well at Thunderhill. As for my plans next year, I might be doing a little bit of traveling with the car, I’m not really sure yet. I would like to dedicate this championship to my mother." Todd Dart after his record-setting fifth championship. The rookie of the year was Dave Werbelow.

Dwayne Mertens led the opening lap of the Mays Sport Center IMCA Hobby Stock feature, until Dave DeGrave made his way to the top spot. Brumlic made his move on lap nine, with a pass down low on DeGrave. Brumlic took off, and never looked back. Meanwhile, point leader Eddie Anschutz main objective was to finish in the top 4, to claim his second championship in a row. Anschutz waited until halfway through the race to make his move. He passed a group of cars on the high-line. Anschutz last pass was DeGrave, on the high-line, to take the second spot. With Anshutz settling for second, Tom Brumlic cruised to his fourth feature win of the season. "This is pretty cool to win my second championship. I feel this last month has been very good; it is nice to have good momentum going into the Super Nationals in Boone, IA in a week. I want to dedicate this championship to my Grandpa and Grandma Arndt, and Nathan Bouche." The rookie of the year was Terry Therrien.

The Door County Motorsports 4-cylinder division came out next, with Tim Jorgenson leading every lap to pick up his first win in only two visits. Jorgenson won by almost a full straightaway over Jeremy Dubois and Tony Everard. All Tyler Smith had to do was start the feature race to claim his championship. Smith finished mid-pack, and picked up his first Thunderhill championship. "I am a little sore after the hard hit last week, but it’s awesome to win the championship. I feel like Jay Matthias winning like this." Tyler Smith after claiming his second career 4-cylinder Championship in Northeastern Wisconsin. The rookie of the year was Jeremy Dubois

The final Dairy Queen Street Stock feature took to the track. Aaron Thornton made his presence known right away, by making his move on Todd Polster on lap 3. Thornton set sail, and was never touched. Second place, and the championship title, was on the line between Mike Pierrard and Von Eytcheson. With Pierrard on the inside, and Eytcheson on the outside, Thornton was able to pull away. Pierrard kept the second spot over the middle part of the race. With two laps to go, Eytcheson edged ahead, but Pierrard fought back. The white flag flew with them neck and neck. At the checker flag Pierrard nipped out Eytcheson by a mere inches. Both where declared co-champions. Thornton won the feature followed by Pierrard, Eytcheson, and Scott Reinhardt. This is what Mike Pierrard thought of his championship, "This is only my second full season racing in the Street Stocks, so it’s awesome to win." "Mike ran me well all season, and it’s cool to share the title with him. This is my second championship in two years between Luxemburg and Thunderhill which is pretty neat." Von Eytcheson after being named co-champion. The rookie of the year was Jordan Whipple.

Joe Krauel swept the Bomber action with his feature win over Jason Jandrin and Dan Merkle.

Next Saturday Night is the Street Stock Slam. Street Stocks will be going for $800.00 to win, plus $20.00 a lap for each person that leads the race. Racing gets underway at 6 p.m.

Budweiser IMCA Modified Feature- 1. Billy Lemieux Jr, Sturgeon Bay 2. Jay Matthias, DePere 3. Benji Lacrosse, Luxemburg 4. Todd Dart, Algoma 5. Jared Siefert, Green Bay

Consi- 1. Randy Lemieux Jr, Sturgeon Bay

Heats- #1 1. Dave Zeitler, Luxemburg 2. Dan Rataczjak, Frog Station
#2 1. Scott Derenne, Luxemburg 2. Dart
#3 1. Matthias 2. Darrell Massart, Brussels

Wulf Brother’s IMCA Stockcar Feature- 1. B.J. Soquet, Luxemburg 2. Troy Muench, Brussels 3. Tony Bouche, Algoma 4. Charlie Kroll, Forestville 5. Eugene Gregorich

Heats- #1 1. Matt Junio, Casco 2. Bouche
#2 1. Shawn Kilgore, Kewaunee 2. Cory Cochart, Kewaunee
#3 1. Soquet 2. Kroll

Mays Sport Center IMCA Hobby Stocks Feature- 1. Tom Brumlic, Denmark 2. Eddie Anschutz, Algoma 3. Dave DeGrave, Luxemburg 4. Keith Kickbusch, Kewaunee 5. Dave Lane, Green Bay

Heats- # 1. Derek Moede, Casco 2. Roger Laviolette, Sturgeon Bay #2 1. Anschutz 2. DeGrave

Dairy Queen Street Stock Feature- 1. Aaron Thornton, Forestville 2. Mike Pierrard, Green Bay 3. Von Eytcheson, Forestville 4. Scott Reinhardt, Bailey’s Harbor

Heats- #1 1. Todd Polster, Bailey’s Harbor 2. Pierrard #2 1. Eytcheson 2. Polster

Door County Motorsports 4 cylinder Feature- 1. Tim Jorgenson, DePere 2. Jeremy Dubois, Algoma 3. Tony Everard, Green Bay

Heat- 1. Scott Zuegler, Sturgeon Bay 2. Jorgenson