Feature winner Carlson, Koeneke battle for points lead
By Ashley Iwanski
(West Salem, WI – June 7, 2014) – Early rain may have stopped Steve Carlson and the rest of the drivers at La Crosse Speedway from qualifying Saturday night, but no one was able to keep hard-charging Carlson from winning the Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Model feature.
Carlson started toward the back of the field along with Mike Koeneke, Brad Powell and Cole Howland; the top four in the points standing entering the night. Jerimy Wagner started on the pole and jumped out to an early lead that he was able to hold on to for 10 laps.
Meanwhile Carlson, Koeneke and Howland were weaving through the field, overpowering one car at a time until Carlson and Koeneke broke into the top five.
Then the yellow flag flew. Jonathan Eckelberg spun out in turn 3 bringing out the caution. It was Wagner’s downfall and Carlson’s big break.
Under caution Wagner had to pull off the track after something broke in the front end of his number 18. But Carlson was able to move into second for the restart with Koeneke directly behind him.
Once the green flag waved again Carlson was able to take over the top spot. A lap later Koeneke was able to claim second by passing Jack Litsheim on the inside on the backstretch.
It was too late for Koeneke though. Carlson had put a gap between himself and the rest of the field. Koeneke was able to capture the second place finish and hold on to a two point lead (257) over Carlson (255) in the standings.
Howland, Litsheim and Matthew Henderson rounded out the top five.
Powell, who entered the night second in points, ended his night third in the standings despite dropping out of the feature early.
The Coca-Cola Sportsmen kicked off the night with a feature race that was rained out last weekend. And what a start is was as Jamie Dummer held off hard-charging Steve Bachman and Greg Scheck to win the first feature.
Dummer had an early lead, but it wasn’t easy to stay there. Scheck was all over his bumper, looking both high and low for an opening to steal the lead. Dummer got some help though as Bachman pulled up to the bumper of Scheck.
Dummer was able to escape with the feature as Bachman overpowered Scheck for second.
Nick Clements also grabbed a checkered flag in the Sportsmen division, but the second feature didn’t go as well for Dummer and Scheck. Both were involved in a lap-two wreck that involved half the field.
Justin Berg and Brian Hesselberg were leading the race when they got loose and made contact in turns 3 and 4. Everyone behind them scrambled to get out of the way. But it was a race-ending wreck for Scheck and Berg, along with Tom Luethe. Dummer was able to come back out for the last few laps.
Other feature winners of the night included Jordan Myers in the United Auto Supply Thunderstox division and John Eron and Cole Scholze in the United Auto Supply Street Stock and Coca-Cola Outlawz, respectively.
Friday, June 13 is another installment of Friday Night Street Drags. During the first Premier Powdercoating Street Drags of the 2014 season participants were welcomed by new brackets, including forced air injection and non-diesel trucks, along with their old favorites. The June event should be just as exciting as last month’s. Then prepare for all the thrills and spills of the Wisconsin Lottery’s Smash-O-Rama on Saturday, June 14. The event will feature the Mechanical Mischief Monster Truck, ANTS Complete Pest Control Hornets, plus the Zimmerman Driving School Figure-8 boat race and much more. For more information please call the Speedway office at (608) 786-1525 or visit www.lacrossespeedway.com.
LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway is a proud NASCAR Hometrack, part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series –www.hometracks.nascar.com.
LA CROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY
Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Models
Tractor Central 25 Feature (17 Cars) — 1, Steve Carlson, West Salem; 2, Mike Koeneke, Rockland; 3, Cole Howland, La Crosse; 4, Jack Litsheim, La Crosse; 5, Matthew Henderson, La Crosse; 6, Adam Degenhardt, Coon Valley; 7, Mike Carlson, West Salem; 8, Randy Humfeld, Chaseburg; 9, Bill Niles, Holmen; 10, Branden Berg, Melrose; 11, Curt Eckelberg, West Salem; 12, Jonathan Eckelberg, West Salem; 13, Steve Owen, Camp Douglas; 14, Harley Jankowski, Sparta; 15, Jerimy Wagner, Onalaska; 16, Brad Powell, La Crosse; 17, Jimmy Summerfield, Rockland.
Heat 1 — 1, Bill Niles; 2, Harley Jankowski; 3, Adam Degenhardt; 4, Jack Litsheim; 5, Randy Humfeld.
Heat 2 — 1, Jerimy Wagner; 2, Curt Eckelberg; 3, Steve Owen; 4, Jonathan Eckelberg; 5, Jimmy Summerfield.
Fast Dash — 1, Mike Carlson; 2, Cole Howland; 3, Steve Carlson; 4, Brad Powell; 5, Mike Koeneke.
Coca-Cola Plus Sportsmen
Tractor Central 15 Feature 1 (15 Cars) — 1, Jamie Dummer, Tomah; 2, Steve Bachman, West Salem; 3, Greg Scheck, La Crosse; 4, Brad Warthan, Sparta; 5, Bill Martin, Madison; 6, Justin Mullikin, Holmen; 7, Nick Clements, West Salem; 8, Jeff Thompson, La Crosse; 9, Brian Hesselberg, West Salem; 10, Justin Berg, Bangor; 11, Tom Luethe, West Salem; 12, Jimmy Gilster, West Salem; 13, Mandi Eckelberg, West Salem; 14, Andy Buhrow, Sparta; 15, Jason Dummer, Holmen.
Tractor Central 15 Feature 2 (15 Cars) — 1, Nick Clements; 2, Brian Hesselberg; 3, Jimmy Gilster; 4, Steve Bachman; 5, Brad Warthan; 6, Justin Mullikin; 7, Jeff Thompson; 8, Jamie Dummer; 9, Jason Dummer; 10, Mandi Eckelberg; 11, Andy Buhrow; 12, Justin Berg; 13, Bill Martin; 14, Greg Scheck; 15, Tom Luethe.
Heat 1 — 1, Jamie Dummer; 2, Tom Luethe; 3, Justin Mullikin; 4, Brad Warthan; 5, Jeff Thompson.
Dash — 1, Greg Scheck; 2, Bill Martin; 3, Nick Clements; 4, Steve Bachman; 5, Brian Hesselberg.
United Auto Supply Thunderstox
Tractor Central 15 Feature (13 cars) — 1, Jordan Myers, Sparta; 2, Andy Moore, Sparta; 3, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 4, Jason Schaller, La Crosse; 5, Jacinda Pfaff, Sparta; 6, Kayla Steinhoff, Rockland; 7, JR Tourtellott, La Crosse; 8, Thomas Farra, Cashton; 9, Melissa Rusch, La Crosse; 10, Ron White, Camp Douglas; 11, Charles Vian Jr., Sparta; 12, Steven Rusch, Sparta; 13, Kayla Lockington, Mindoro.
Dash — 1, Andy Moore; 2, Kayla Steinhoff; 3, Jordan Myers; 4, Jason Bolster; 5, Jason Schaller.
Heat 1 — 1, Jordan Myers; 2, Kayla Steinhoff; 3, Andy Moore; 4, Jacinda Pfaff; 5, Melissa Rusch.
Heat 2 — 1, Jason Schaller; 2, JR Tourtellott; 3, Jason Bolster; 4, Charles Vian Jr.; 5, Ron White.
United Auto Supply Street Stock
Tractor Central 15 Feature (6 cars) — 1, John Eron, St. Germain; 2, Jonathan Burbach, Winona, Minn.; 3, Taylor Dobbs, Galesville; 4, Kyle Rozek, Tomah; 5, Kayla Parin; 6, Tyler Mickschl.
Heat 1 — 1, John Eron; 2, Kyle Rozek; 3, Jonathan Burbach; 4, Taylor Dobbs; 5, Tyler Mickschl.
Coca-Cola Outlawz
Tractor Central 15 Feature (5 cars) — 1, Cole Scholze, Sparta; 2, Wayne Smith, West Salem; 3, Josh Brown, Cashton; 4, Jim Hendricks, Tomah; 5, Jerry Aylsworth, La Crosse.
Heat 1 — 1, Wayne Smith; 2, Cole Scholze; 3, Jim Hendricks; 4, Josh Brown; 5, Jerry Aylsworth.
