“Ice Man” amends for poor showing in June series event at Wisconsin speed plant

 

By Tom Lathen

WORLD Dirt Racing League

 

After failing to qualify for the WORLD Dirt Racing League PolyDome Late Model Series event at Superior Speedway in June, the Menomonie, Wisconsin driver turned in a dominating performance Monday night to win the Portable Bore Repair and Welding 50 in front of packed grandstands here at the Head of the Lakes Fairgrounds facility.

“We had to redeem ourselves for the last time we were here,” said Mars in AMSOIL Victory Lane. “We didn’t have a very good showing and that just shows you how tough of a crowd you have to work with week in and week out, whether its the WDRL guys, the WISSOTA guys or the guys who are just out traveling, picking and choosing.”

“Tonight we hit on it, the crew did a great job and this MasterSbilt was just awesome, ” he added. “To get back to winner’s circle up here is awesome. We kind of gave one away last year when we broke while we were leading, but here we are, so I’m happy.”

After dispatching of the field in his qualifying race and then outrunning defending PolyDome Late Model Series champion Denny Eckrich in the Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash, Mars took advantage of his inside pole starting position to grab the advantage at the drop of the green flag.

A caution flag on lap four slowed the field however, and allowed Eckrich and Darren “The Thriller” Miller to mount their only serious challenge to the eventual winner.

On the ensuing restart, with Mars running the bottom groove on the three-eighths mile race track, Eckrich and Miller challenged the leader on the outside, but Mars powered his Deppe Enterprises/MasterSbilt/Custom Race Engines Chevrolet Monte Carlo out of the corner racing out of turn two to retain the advantage.

With Mars setting a blistering pace at the front of the field, Cumberland, Wisconsin’s Steve Laursen, running the bottom, and eastern Iowa driver Dave Eckrich, powering off the banking, began to charge towards the front. Larsen, who started seventh, wheeled into third on lap eight and the sixth-place starting Eckrich blasted out of turn two to grab fourth a pair of laps later.

As the battle raged on behind him, the front-running Mars raced to a five car length cushion over the now second place running Miller by lap 12, and within the next couple of circuits, the 33-year old full-time driver and race car builder had increased his advantage to a comfortable dozen car lengths.

A final caution flag again regrouped the field on lap 17, but Mars immediately regained control, and by lap 30 “The Ice Man” held an advantage of nearly a full straightaway over Miller and Lausen, who were now locked in a side-by-side duel for second.

From there to the finish, Mars was challenged only by lapped traffic and a treacherously slick race track, with the popular driver taking the checkers a sizeable distance ahead of Laursen, who nosed out Miller for second. 

“This race track can get awful slick,” said the winner. “You just have to be patient and keep the car as straight as possible.”

“I saw Steve Laursen come up on the (leader) board and I thought, ‘He’s probably coming on the bottom’. I’m not sure where he was, but he always runs well up here its was good to see he had a good run after all the trouble he had last weekend (at Cedar Lake Speedway).”

Veteran Elk Mound, Wisconsin driver John Kaanta closed quickly over the final half dozen circuits to finish fourth, followed by Denny Eckrich, Rookie-of-the-Year contender Jason Utter, and eastern Iowa driver Rob Moss.

 

Race Report:

Qualifying: 1. Brian Birkhofer; Muscatine, IA (16.423), 2. Dave Eckrich; Cosgrove, IA (16.511), 3. Darren Miller; Milledgeville, IL (16.746), 4. Justin Fegers; Mound, MN (16.773), 5. Marshall Fegers; Mound, MN (17.014), 6. Chad Simpson; Mount Vernon, IA (17.070), 7. Jimmy Mars; Menomonie, WI (17.081), 8. Denny Eckrich; Tiffin, IA (17.170), 9. Tom Nesbitt; Thunder Bay, ON (17.223), 10. Steve Laursen; Cumberland, WI (17.239), 11. Kyle Berck; Marquette, NE (17.246), 12. Kelly Estey; Kelly Lake, MN (17.257), 13. Brady Smith; Solon Springs, WI (17.329), 14. Darren Meierotto; Ashland, WI (17.377), 15. Jason Utter; Columbus Junction, IA (17.398), 16. Pat Doar; New Richmond, WI (17.425), 17. Joel Cryderman; Thunder Bay, ON (17.430), 18. John Kaanta; Elk Mound, WI (17.465), 19. Brian Harris; Davenport, IA (17.471), 20. Steve Isenberg; Marshfield, WI (17.536), 21. Brady Johanneck; Spicer, MN (17.541), 22. Terry Casey; New London, WI (17.559), 23. John Hampel; Union, NE (17.561), 24. Todd Gehl; Solon Springs, WI (17.566), 25. Terry Anvelink; Navarino, WI (17.620), 26. Rob Moss; Iowa City, IA (17.659), 27. Chris Simpson; Marion, IA (17.665), 28. Trent Follmer; Elk River, MN (17.773), 29. Eric Pember; Pittsville, WI (17.777), 30. Larry Stockwell; Ellsworth, WI (17.849), 31. Greg Hill; Eleveth, MN (18.053), 32. Stewart Hayward; Calgary, AB (18.942).

 

First PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Miller (68.0), 2. Estey (55.5), 3. Utter (52.0), 4. Kaanta (53.0), 5. Gehl (51.75), 6. Nesbitt (41.5), 7. Stockwell (44.75), 8. Chad Simpson (34.5), 9. Chris Simpson (31.0), 10. Johanneck (27.5), 11. Hayward (24.0).

 

Second PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Meierotto (59.0), 2. Denny Eckrich (57.75), 3. Dave Eckrich (56.5), 4. Berck (48.5), 5. Cryderman (47.25), 6. Moss (48.25), 7. Marshall Fegers (38.0), 8. Hampel (34.5), 9. Pember (33.25), 10. Isenberg (27.5), 11. Hill (24.0).

 

Third PolyDome Qualifier: 1. Mars (63.5), 2. Laursen (55.5), 3. Smith (52.0), 4. Doar (53.0), 5. Casey (51.75), 6. Birkhofer (41.5), 7. Justin Fegers (38.0), 8. Anvelink (36.75), 9. Harris (31.0), 10. Follmer (27.5).

 

KSE Racing Products Consolation: 1. Anvelink, 2. Nesbitt, 3. Justin Fegers, 4. Hampel, 5. Chad Simpson, 6. Marshall Fegers, 7. Pember, 8. Harris, 9. Isenberg, 10. Follmer, 11. Johanneck, 12. Hayward, 13. Hill, 14. Chris Simpson.

 

Iowa-Illinois Taylor Insulation Pole Dash: 1. Mars, 2. Denny Eckrich, 3. Meierotto, 4. Miller, 5. Kaanta, 6. Dave Eckrich, 7. Laursen, 8. Estey.

 

Portable Bore Repair & Welding 50: 1. Mars, 2. Laursen, 3. Miller, 4. Kaanta, 5. Denny Eckrich, 6. Utter, 7. Cryderman, 8. Dave Eckrich, 9. Smith, 10. Moss, 11. Justin Fegers, 12. Anvelink, 13. Doar, 14. Harris, 15. Nesbitt, 16. Gehl, 17. Hampel, 18. Berck, 19. Stockwell, 20. Birkhofer, 21. Chris Simpson, 22. Casey, 23. Hill, 24. Estey, 25. Meierotto.

Borgeson Blasts To Zembo Super Stock Classic Title
TourvilleTops Street Stocks In WDRL Finale

             The second visit by the WDRL Late Models was accompanied by the 6^th annual JW Zembo Super Stock Classic, which is the highest paying Super Stock event of the season at the speedway. Tim Borgeson raced to his first ever Superior Speedway feature win tonight, while Keith Tourville jumped to the high side and raced to an $800 Street Stock feature win.
            Dash winner Tim Borgeson outjumped front row sitter Dean Yrjanainen and took the lead at the start of the 30-lap Super Stock feature. Darin Meierotto quickly jumped into second and tried to reel in Borgeson, but Tim was strong out front, leaving the best battle on the speedway for second. After a couple mid-race caution flags, Meierott moved back in on Borgeson for the lead, while 17^th starting Mike Bellefeuille was charging through traffic on his way to the front. Bellefeuille was up to fifth on lap 17, while Sam Skalsky moved in on Meierotto for second after the mid-point of the event. The final caution of the event flew with 9 laps to go, setting up a great battle between Bellefeuille and Skalsky for second, while Borgeson drove off to his first ever feature win in Superior. Bellefeuille capped of a great run by edging Skalsky for second. Meierotto and Randy Spacek rounded out the top five finishers in the annual event.

             Street Stock dominating force Butch Madsen took off into the lead at the start of the DTRA Street Stock feature event after redrawing the pole, while Keith Tourville and Dan Kingsley were engaged in a spirited battle for second. Tourville jumped to the outside of Kingsley and stole second on lap 4, while Madsen tried to drive off into the night for the $800 payday. Tourville, however was not to be denied tonight as he jumped to the extreme high groove around the lightning fast 3/8 red clay oval and pulled even with Madsen for the lead on lap 8. Tourville stole the top spot and looked to drive off, just as the red flag was displayed for Scott Paulson, who somehow shot his #33 up and over the turn three wall. Paulson was uninjured, but the action was haulted for a while. On the restart, Tourville took right back off into the lead and held off Madsen and a charging Scott Herrick for the big money payday.

            The Superior Speedway kicks back into action on Friday, August 11^th with our annual Hall of Fame Race, featuring DTRA Late Models, Modifieds, Super Stocks, Street Stocks and Pure Stocks. For more information regarding the remaining events at the Superior Speedway, please check out www.superiorspeedway.com or call (715) 497-8916.

           

Event Summary:

 

DTRA Super Stocks

Feature: Tim Borgeson, Mike Bellefeuille, Sam Skalsky, Darin Meierotto, Randy Spacek, Ryan Rivord, Jeff Tardy, Rob Erickson, Randy Silverness Jr., Curt Myers

Heat 1: Meierotto, Myers, Spacek, Erickson, Silverness Jr.

Heat 2: Ryan Aho, Borgeson, Mike Loomis, Bellefeuille, Eric Nelson

Heat 3: Rivord, Dean Yrjanainen, Tardy, Chris Gorka, Ronnie Malecki

Heat 4: Keith Kern, Cory Davis, Scott Lawrence, Jim Campbell, Dale Gangl

Heat 5: Dave Flynn, Skalsky, Trevor Wilson, Robbie Cooper, Rick Simpson

Dash: Borgeson, Yrjanainen, Skalsky, Meierotto, Myers

B-feature 1: Silverness Jr., Mike Rich, Larry Haderly, Malecki, Joe Olson

B-feature 2: Nelson, Gangl, Donnie Lofdahl, Destin Lorimor, Tom Treviranus

 

DTRA Street Stocks

Feature: Keith Tourville, Butch Madsen, Scott Herrick, Marshall Andrews, Shane Kisling, Dan Kingsley, Justin Paulsen, Scott Andrews, Mark Froelich, Chanda Fjorden-Nord

Heat 1: Mike Kalkbrenner, M. Andrews, Fjorden-Nord, Tourville, Herrick

Heat 2: Madsen, Scott Paulson, Jason VandeKamp, Kingsley, Kisling