ATTENTION SPORTS/MOTORSPORTS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(KAUKAUNA, WI) July 11 – “Mighty Maxwell” Schultz of Reedsville took the lead near the race’s halfway point and cruised to a three second victory to capture the “White Race” Thursday night at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna.
Freedom native Kyle Calmes outdueled fellow front row starter Brent Strelka into the lead at the drop of the green in the 60 lap contest. The front row pair pulled away a few car lengths as Strelka stuck his nose inside of Calmes’ driver’s door on more than one occasion.
The first amber of the contest flew on lap eight when Strelka spun in turn one, sending several cars scattering. The cars of Taylor Haufschildt and Andy Monday both went off on the hook while Ty Majeski’s racer suffered damage as well forcing him to pit. Monday returned to do battle as did Majeski later in the event. Both drivers had damage to their racers.
After an extended track cleanup racing resumed Calmes kept the lead but was pressured by defending Red, White and Blue champion Bobby Kendall, Grant Griesbach and current Thursday night point leader Schultz.
Schultz moved to third on lap eleven and went toe-to-toe to wrestle the second spot away from Kendall on lap 15. Schultz began chiseling away at Calmes’ lead. The Reedsville driver caught Calmes on lap 22 and began applying the pressure. Schultz ducked underneath Calmes to take the lead on lap 27. Schultz poured the coals to his number 34 racer and kept Calmes at a three to four car length span for the next several laps. With 23 laps remaining Schultz began sifting through lapped cars while stretching his lead over the balance of the field.
With ten laps remaining defending track champion Casey Johnson took second from Calmes and tried closing the gap on Schultz. However on this night Schultz proved too strong and emerged with the “W.” “We made some big adjustments after the dash tonight and the car was just a rocket,” Schultz said in victory lane. “It’s sort of redemption a bit from last week. I’ve won the Red White and Blue championship but never won one of the feature races so we were able to check that off of our list tonight.”
Johnson collected second place, followed by Calmes, Van Oudenhoven and Jesse Oudenhoven.
The late model feature was red flagged with three laps remaining when Nathan Van Wychen blasted the soft walls in turn four, prompting a red flag. With a three lap shootout to the finish, Braison Bennett held the lead and kept all challengers at bay to claim victory. “We had a few cautions along the way and I didn’t think the race would end for a bit,” Bennett said in victory lane. “Bryan Monday raced me really clean the whole way and we had a lot of fun battling with him.”
Menasha’s Peter Wilz motored around Jeff Treml with six laps remaining to capture his second super stock feature of the season. Treml held on for second place money. Brillion veteran Randy Rahn made his return to WIR to place third followed by Larry Raygo and Rachel Meyerhofer.
Appleton’s Kyle Quella scored his second clean sweep of the season in the sport truck class. Quella dodged several yellows and lapped traffic near the tail of the race to score the win. Cody Vander Loop scored second, followed by Sam Haven, Bobby Wautier and Mike Byrge.
The sport truck race was red flagged just four laps in when Jason Vanhandel collided with another truck and rolled his mount down the middle of the backstretch, coming to rest in turn three. Vanhandel refired his car and rejoined the field, where he finished seventh.
Larry Belonger and Jordan Biese each captured the Sizzlin 4 features.
“Rockstar Russ” Lorbiecki of Sussex collected the 13 lap Figure 8 feature.
Next Thursday night July 18 WIR will host Kurz Industrial Solutions Vets Night. The WIR ¼ Mile late models will make their fourth appearance of the season. Racing gets underway at 6:30 p.m. You can check frrc.us for more information or follow the club’s Facebook page.
SUPER LATE MODEL FEATURE – Maxwell Schultz, Reedsville; Casey Johnson, Edgerton; Kyle Calmes, Freedom; Jeff Van Oudenhoven, Appleton; Jesse Oudenhoven, Kaukauna; Bobby Kendall, Montello; Brent Strelka, Freedom; Alex Stumpf, Woodville; Grant Griesbach, Pewaukee; Taylor Vandermoss, Appleton; Andy Monday, Appleton; Alex Seidl, Appleton; Pete Vandermolen Jr., Oshkosh; Cory Kemkes, Appleton; Mickey Schallie, Darboy; Sawyer Effertz, Darboy; Ty Majeski, Seymour; Lowell Bennett, Neenah; Michael Anthony, Appleton; Robby Iverson, Escanaba, MI; Randy Schuler, Mequon; Taylor Haufschildt, De Pere
SEMI-FEATURE- Schuler; Kemkes; Haufschildt; Pete Vandermolen Jr.; Tim Springstroh, Freedom; Corey Manders, Hilbert; Michael Hardtke, Kewaunee; Trevor Vandermolen, Oshkosh; Curt Tillman, Rockford, Il.; Robby Younger, De Pere
HEATS 1) Pete Vandermolen Jr; Springstroh 2) Stumpf; Bennett 3) Oudenhoven; Strelka
DASH – Effertz
FAST TIME: Majeski, 19.058
LATE MODEL FEATURE- Braison Bennett, Neenah; Bryan Monday, Appleton; Eddie Muenster, Green Bay; Mike King Jr., Appleton; Chase Randerson, Oshkosh; Reagan May, De Pere; Matthew Wittman, Appleton; Justin Woller, Appleton; Randy Yaeger, Appleton; Will Timmers, Kaukauna; Brett Wenzel, Two Rivers; Pete McVey, Appleton; Tarra Springstroh, Waupun; Nathan Van Wychen, Kaukauna
HEAT – Wenzel; May
DASH- Bryan Monday
FAST TIME- Bennett, 20.327
SUPER STOCK FEATURE – Peter Wilz, Menasha; Jeff Treml, Greenleaf; Randy Rahn, Brillion; Larry Raygo, Omro; Rachel Meyerhofer, Brillion; Ed Howard, Kaukauna
HEAT – Raygo; Wilz
FAST TIME – Trevor Howard, Kaukauna 15.782
SIZZLIN’ 4 FEATURES 1ST) Jordan Beise, Appleton; Tom Schweitzer, Menasha; Emery Beattie, Little Chute; Emery Beattie, Little Chute; Scott Wolf, Appleton 2ND) Larry Belonger, Appleton; Tyler Lind, Kaukauna; Jerry Konrad, Menasha; Mike Klein, Appleton; Mitch Meyerhofer, Chilton
FAST TIME – Klein, 17.865
SPORT TRUCKS FEATURE – Kyle Quella, Appleton; Cody Vander Loop, Freedom; Sam Haven, Boulder, Colorado; Bobby Wautier, Denmark; Mike Byrge, Fond Du Lac
HEATS 1) Taylor Rahn, De Pere; Tanner Fickel, Neenah 2) Quella; Kylee Vandermoss, Appleton
FAST TIME – Quella, 16.318
FIGURE 8 – Russ Lorbiecki, Sussex
