Battle for Late Model points lead stays close
By: Ashley Iwanski
West Salem, WI – June 21, 2014 – Three familiar names were atop the leader board when the checkered flag waved for the Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Model feature. Points leader Mike Koeneke fought his way through three cautions and charged to the front of the field to beat Steve Carlson and Brad Powell across the finish line.
All three drivers started mid-pack and used and early caution to gain ground. Three laps into the race Koeneke was side by side with Mike Carlson for second as Powell and Steve Carlson were in a heated four-car battle for the fifth spot.
Then the second caution flag waved 10 laps in with rookie Randy Humfeld in the lead. Koeneke chose to restart the race on the outside of Humfled. Directly behind him were Powell and Steve Carlson.
On the restart Koeneke jumped into the top spot as Humfeld fell back. Powell was sitting in third until Steve Carlson surged forward to steal the spot and go door handle to door handle with Humfeld.
But Humfeld couldn’t hold off Steve Carlson for long and when Carlson moved in behind Koeneke, Humfeld slipped back through the field. That opened the door for Powell to jump up to third.
From there it was a cat and mouse game with Koeneke and Steve Carlson. Carlson stayed glued to Koeneke looking for an opportunity to get around the leader, but it never came. Koeneke held strong through a third caution for the win, followed closely by Steve Carlson and Powell.
Mike Carlson and Harley Jankowski rounded out the top five.
Koeneke has a five point lead over Steve Carlson (310) in the standings while Powell is sitting in third with 280.
Points leader Steve Bachman overpowered Greg Scheck in a two-lap shootout to win the Coca-Cola Sportsmen feature.
Bachman had a strong lead after taking over the top spot from Jamie Dummer with six laps to go. But four laps later Brian Hesselberg spun out in Turn 1 bringing out the caution.
Bachman restarted the race on the inside of row one with Scheck on his bumper.
On the restart Bachman jumped out into the lead with Scheck in hot pursuit. For the next two laps Scheck was looking for an opening to take the lead, but never found one.
Dummer finished third, Bill Martin fourth and Nick Clements fifth.
Andy Moore won a heated United Auto Supply Thunderstox feature that saw three cautions, multiple spun cars and even a black flag.
John Eron dominated in the United Auto Supply Street Stocks division and Thomas Farra captured a win in the Zimmerman Driving School Figure-8.
LA CROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY
Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Models
Altra Federal Credit Union 25 Feature (18 Cars) — 1, Mike Koeneke, Rockland; 2, Steve Carlson, West Salem; 3, Brad Powell, La Crosse; 4, Mike Carlson, West Salem; 5, Harley Jankowski, Sparta; 6, Jerimy Wagner, Onalaska; 7, Jack Litsheim, La Crosse; 8, Bill Niles, Holmen; 9, Scott Rand, Arlington, Texas; 10, Randy Humfeld, Chaseburg; 11, Curt Eckelberg, West Salem; 12, Steve Owen, Camp Douglas; 13, Jonathan Eckelberg, 14, Matthew Henderson, La Crosse; 15, Shawn Pfaff, Sparta; 16, Cole Howland, La Crosse; 17, Jimmy Summerfield, Rockland; 18, Todd Korish, Holmen.
Qualifying — 1, Steve Carlson, 19.924 seconds, 98.549 MPH; 2, Brad Powell, 19.975 secs, 98.298 MPH; 3, Mike Koeneke, 20.034 secs, 98.008 MPH; 4, Harley Jankowski, 20.041 secs, 97.974 MPH; 5, Cole Howland, 20.099 secs, 97.691 MPH; 6, Mike Carlson; 7, Shawn Pfaff; 8, Jack Litsheim; 9, Jerimy Wagner; 10, Matthew Henderson; 11, Randy Humfeld; 12, Todd Korish; 13, Bill Niles; 14, Scott Rand; 15, Steve Owen; 16, Curt Eckelberg; 17, Jonathan Eckelberg.
Heat 1 — 1, Randy Humfeld; 2, Shawn Pfaff; 3, Jerimy Wagner; 4, Jack Litsheim; 5, Matthew Henderson.
Heat 2 — 1, Bill Niles; 2, Scott Rand; 3, Curt Eckelberg; 4, Steve Owen; 5, Jonathan Eckelberg.
Fast Dash — 1, Cole Howland; 2, Mike Carlson; 3, Mike Koeneke; 4, Steve Carlson; 5, Brad Powell.
Coca-Cola Plus Sportsmen
Altra Federal Credit Union 15 Feature (14 Cars) — 1, Steve Bachman, West Salem; 2, Greg Scheck, La Crosse; 3, Jamie Dummer, Tomah; 4, Bill Martin, Madison; 5, Nick Clements, West Salem; 6, Brad Warthan, Sparta; 7, Tom Luethe, West Salem; 8, Jeff Thompson, La Crosse; 9, Jimmy Gilster, West Salem; 10, Justin Mullikin, Holmen; 11, Brian Hesselberg, West Salem; 12, Mandi Eckelberg, West Salem; 13, Andy Buhrow, Sparta; 14, Jake Bemis, Trempealeau.
Qualifying — 1, Steve Bachman, 22.226 seconds, 88.342 MPH; 2, Greg Scheck, 22.338 secs, 87.900 MPH; 3, Brian Hesselberg, 22.384 secs, 87.719 MPH; 4, Jimmy Gilster, 22.457 secs, 87.434 MPH; 5, Bill Martin, 22.469 secs, 87.387 MPH; 6, Justin Mullikin; 7, Jamie Dummer; 8, Brad Warthan; 9, Jeff Thompson; 10, Tom Luethe; 11, Mandi Eckelberg; 12, Jake Bemis; 13, Andy Buhrow.
Heat 1 — 1, Nick Clements; 2, Jamie Dummer; 3, Brad Warthan; 4, Jeff Thompson; 5, Tom Luethe.
Dash — 1, Jimmy Gilster; 2, Greg Scheck; 3, Justin Mullikin; 4, Steve Bachman; 5, Brian Hesselberg.
United Auto Supply Thunderstox
Altra Federal Credit Union 15 Feature (13 cars) — 1, Andy Moore, Sparta; 2, Charles Vian Jr., Sparta; 3, Jordan Myers, Sparta; 4, Jacinda Pfaff, Sparta; 5, JR Tourtellott, Galesville; 6, Thomas Farra, Cashton; 7, Ronald White, Camp Douglas; 8, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 9, Kayla Lockington, Mindoro; 10, Melissa Rusch, La Crosse; 11, Steven Rusch, Sparta; 12, Jason Schaller, La Crosse; 13, Kayla Steinhoff, Rockland.
Dash — 1, Jason Bolster; 2, Andy Moore; 3, Jason Schaller; 4, Jordan Myers; 5, Jacinda Pfaff.
Heat 1 — 1, Andy Moore; 2, Jordan Myers; 3, Jason Bolster; 4, Kayla Steinhoff; 5, Ronald White.
Heat 2 — 1, Jason Schaller; 2, Jacinda Pfaff; 3, JR Tourtellott; 4, Kayla Lockington; 5, Melissa Rusch.
United Auto Supply Street Stocks
Altra Federal Credit Union 15 Feature (8 cars) — 1, John Eron, St. Germain; 2, Jay Raines, La Crosse; 3, Taylor Dobbs, Galesville; 4, Jonathan Burbach, Winona, Minn.; 5, Kyle Rozek, Tomah; 6, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 7, John Nerud; 8, Tyler Mickschl.
Qualifying — 1, John Eron; 2, Jay Raines; 3, Kyle Rozek; 4, Jason Bolster; 5, Taylor Dobbs; 6, Jonathan Burbach; 7, Tyler Mickschl; 8, John Nerud.
Heat 1 — 1, John Eron; 2, Jonathan Burbach; 3, Kyle Rozek; 4, Taylor Dobbs; 5, Jay Raines.
Zimmerman Driving School Figure-8
Altra Federal Credit Union 15 Feature (10 cars) — 1, Thomas Farra; 2, Jason Bolster; 3, John Nerud; 4, Jacinda Pfaff; 5, Tyler Mickschl; 6, Jay Raines; 7, John Eron; 8, Jordan Myers; 9, Scott Buhrow; 10, Steven Brasda, Osseo.
