Jankowski, Koeneke win twin 20s
By Ashley Iwanski
(West Salem, WI – May 31, 2014) – It was double the action, double the excitement and double the winners in the Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Model division Saturday at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway. Harley Jankowski and Mike Koeneke won the two 20-lap feature races.
The first 20-lap race set the stage for an action-packed night of feature racing. It was a bitter battle to the end for Jankowski, who managed to hold on to the lead through five laps of side by side racing with Ty Majeski.
Jankowski grabbed an early lead, but he ran into lap traffic at the halfway point which brought the front five cars of Jankowski, Majeski, Brad Powell, Steve Carlson and Koeneke together.
Once Majeski was on the back bumper of the number 8 car he decided to go to the high side of the leader. Jankowski and Majeski were door handle to door handle as Powell, Carlson and Koeneke waited for the perfect opportunity to make a move.
That moment didn’t come until the last lap. Jankowski surged ahead, putting Majeski in his rear view mirror. At that point Powell took advantage of an opening to the inside of Majeski and broke in to steal the second spot with only a half a lap left. Majeski finished third.
Carlson held on for the fourth spot followed by Koeneke.
After finishing fifth in the first feature, Koeneke came back with a vengeance in feature number two.
Cole Howland took an early lead, but Koeneke wasn’t going to let the lead out of his sights and was on the bumper of Howland in no time.
Koeneke was searching high and low for a chance to grab the lead. That chance came with seven laps to go when Koeneke took the lead on the inside. Howland was unable to hold on to the second spot, falling back to fifth.
Majeski was quickly in the second spot and gunning for the lead, followed closely by Carlson and Powell.
Even through lap traffic Koeneke was able to shake off the other three cars that were dominating the feature races.
Majeski finished second as Carlson, Powell and Howland rounded out the top five.
Jason Schaller battled his way through multiple cautions and spinning cars to win the United Auto Supply Thunderstox feature. Jordan Myers and Jason Bolster were both able to avoid any damage to finish second and third, respectively.
A little bit of rain didn’t stop Kevin Turner from taking the checkered flag in the ANTS Complete Pest Control Hornets division feature. But it did put an end to the night for the Coca-Cola Sportsmen, who will run two 15-lap features next week.
June 7 is Tractor Central Kid’s Night at the Speedway. Kids 11 and under get in free, including a Kids’ 10,000 penny gold rush to start the night. The Late Models, Sportsmen Thunderstox, Outlawz and Street Stocks will be here for a night full of family fun. For more information please call the Speedwayoffice 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
Klements 20 Feature 1 (19 Cars) — 1, Harley Jankowski, Sparta; 2, Brad Powell, La Crosse; 3, Ty Majeski, Seymour; 4, Steve Carlson, West Salem; 5, Mike Koeneke, Rockland; 6, Mike Carlson, West Salem; 7, Cole Howland, La Crosse; 8, Matthew Henderson, La Crosse; 9, Jerimy Wagner, Onalaska; 10, Jack Litsheim, La Crosse; 11, Branden Berg, Melrose; 14, Travis Christenson, La Crosse; 15, Jonathan Eckelberg, West Salem; 16, Carter Christenson, West Salem; 17, Jimmy Summerfield, Rockland; 18, Bill Niles, Holmen; 19, Steve Owen, Camp Douglas.
Klements 20 Feature 2 (19 Cars) — 1, Mike Koeneke, Rockland; 2, Ty Majeski, Seymour; 3, Steve Carlson, West Salem; 4, Brad Powell, La Crosse; 5, Cole Howland, La Crosse; 6, Mike Carlson, West Salem; 7, Jerimy Wagner, Onalaska; 8, Matthew Henderson, La Crosse; 9, Harley Jankowski, Sparta; 10, Jack Litsheim, La Crosse; 11, Randy Humfeld, Chaseburg; 12, Branden Berg, Melrose; 13, Bill Niles, Holmen; 14, Travis Christenson, La Crosse; 15, Curt Eckelberg, West Salem; 16, Carter Christenson, West Salem; 17, Jonathan Eckelberg; 18, Steve Owen, Camp Douglas; 19, Jimmy Summerfield, Rockland.
Qualifying — 1, Ty Majeski, 19.828 seconds, 99.027 MPH; 2, Brad Powell, 19.892 secs, 98.708 MPH; 3, Steve Carlson, 19.929 secs, 98.525 MPH; 4, Cole Howland, 20.042 secs, 97.969 MPH; 5, Mike Koeneke, 20.069 secs, 97.837 MPH; 6, Mike Carlson; 7, Harley Jankowski; 8, Matthew Henderson; 9, Jerimy Wagner; 10, Randy Humfeld; 11, Jack Litsheim; 12, Branden Berg; 13, Bill Niles; 14, Curt Eckelberg; 15, Steve Owen; 16, Carter Christenson; 17, Jimmy Summerfield; 18, Jonathan Eckelberg; 19, Travis Christenson.
Heat 1 — 1, Bill Niles; 2, Branden Berg; 3, Jerimy Wagner; 4, Matthew Henderson; 5, Harley Jankowski.
Heat 2 — 1, Curt Eckelberg; 2, Jonathan Eckelberg; 3, Travis Christenson; 4, Carter Christenson; 5, Jimmy Summerfield.
Fast Dash — 1, Mike Koeneke; 2, Steve Carlson; 3, Brad Powell; 4, Mike Carlson; 5, Ty Majeski.
Coca-Cola Sportsmen
Qualifying — 1, Steve Bachman, West Salem, 22.366 seconds, 87.790 MPH; 2, Greg Scheck, La Crosse, 22.373 secs, 87.762 MPH; 3, Jimmy Gilster, West Salem, 22.403 secs, 87.645 MPH; 4, Nick Clements, West Salem, 22.480 secs, 87.344 MPH; 5, Brian Hesselberg, West Salem, 22.487 secs, 87.317 MPH; 6, Jamie Dummer, Tomah; 7, Bill Martin, Madison; 8, Tom Luethe, West Salem; 9, Jeff Thompson, La Crosse; 10, Justin Mullikin, Holmen; 11, Brad Warthan, Sparta; 12, Tony Leis, Onalaska; 13, Mandi Eckelberg, West Salem; 14, Andy Buhrow, Sparta.
Heat 1 — 1, Tony Leis; 2, Bill Martin; 3, Justin Mullikin; 4, Jeff Thompson; 5, Brad Warthan.
Dash — 1, Jamie Dummer; 2, Nick Clements; 3, Steve Bachman; 4, Jimmy Gilster; 5, Greg Scheck.
United Auto Supply Thunderstox
Klements 15 Feature (12 cars) — 1, Jason Schaller, La Crosse; 2, Jordan Myers, Sparta; 3, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 4, Thomas Farra, Cashton; 5, JR Tourtellott, La Crosse; 6, Jacinda Pfaff, Sparta; 7, Kayla Steinhoff, Rockland; 8, Melissa Rusch, La Crosse; 9, Ron White, Camp Douglas; 10, Kayla Lockington, Mindoro; 11, Steven Rusch, Sparta; 12, Andy Moore, Sparta.
Dash — 1, Andy Moore; 2, Jason Bolster; 3, JR Tourtellott; 4, Jason Schaller; 5, Jordan Myers.
Heat 1 — 1, Jason Schaller; 2, JR Tourtellott; 3, Andy Moore; 4, Ron White; 5, Kayla Lockington.
Heat 2 — 1, Jordan Myers; 2, Jason Bolster; 3, Thomas Farra; 4, Melissa Rusch; 5, Steven Rusch.
ANTS Complete Pest Control Hornets
Klements 15 Feature (22 cars) — 1, Kevin Turner, La Crosse; 2, Mark Bornitz, Holmen; 3, Brandon LeMoine; 4, Jeff Stumlin, Holmen; 5, Patrick Thicke, West Salem; 6, Josh Viner, La Crosse; 7, Nate Towner, Trempealeau; 8, Garrett Thicke, West Salem; 9, Daniel Wilber, Trempealeau; 10, Hunter Miller, West Salem; 11, Kris Berg, Ettrick; 12, Hunter Nelson, Rushford, Minn.; 13, Sammy Linnehan, Sparta; 14, Tim Dechant, Sparta; 15, Jeff Thompson, La Crosse; 16, Dan Rozek, Tomah; 17, Cam Deselske, La Crosse; 18, John Eron, St Germain; 19, Taylor Dobbs, Galesville; 20, Kyle Ritter, La Crosse; 21, Jarad Cary, La Crosse; 22, John Piotrowski.
Semi-feature — 1, Kris Berg; 2, Cam Dezelske; 3, John Piotrowski; 4, Taylor Dobbs; 5, Matthew Carpenter.
Heat 1 — 1, Jeff Stumlin; 2, Jeff Thompson; 3, Josh Viner; 4, Garrett Thicke; 5, Brandon Lemoine.
Heat 2 — 1, Sammy Linnehan; 2, Kevin Turner; 3, Nate Towner; 4, John Eron; 5, Jarad Cary.
Heat 3 — 1, Mark Bornitz; 2, Patrick Thicke; 3, Dan Rozek; 4, Hunter Nelson; 5, Tim Dechant.
