2005 Champions Crowned at Jefferson Speedway
September 10, 2005; Jefferson WI – Going into the final point night, the standings were very close in some divisions, and fans were treated to some of the best racing of the year. At the end of the night Jason Erickson of Cambridge won the Late Model Championship by 128 points. Jason Thoma of won the Sportsman division, by 5 points. Mark English of Janesville won the International class, by 46 points. Eaan Carson of Fort Atkinson won the Hobby Stock division, by 78 points. Shaun Scheel of Johnson Creek won the Bandit division, by 86 points
In Late Model action Tim Noble of Janesville claimed top honors in the “Havill-Spoerl Season Championship” 60 lap feature. Starting outside row 7 Noble headed toward the point as Matt Frey grabbed the early lead. Frey’s turn at the point ended, abruptly, with a spin coming off turn 4 on lap 3. Bret Schmidt led the restart, with Noble up to the 8th spot.
As Schmidt led the way, Noble worked his way through traffic, making his way to the 3rd spot by lap 15, closing in on Schmidt. Moving to the inside, Noble makes the winning pass on lap 19. Jason Erickson claimed the 2nd spot on lap 30, looking far ahead to Noble. Noble’s strong advantage ended, with a caution, on lap 38, for a spin in turn 2. On the restart Erickson launched his bid for the lead.
Erickson moved to the inside, challenging Noble, but was never able to find his way to the front. At the stripe it was Noble, by a half car length, over Erickson. Rounding out the top five were Dylan Schuyler, Roger Behlke and Steve Dobbratz.
In International action Chris Gottschalk notched his first feature win, in the 25 lap main event. Starting outside row 3, Gottschalk headed toward the front, as Charlie Braun drove to the early lead. Gottschalk took over at the point, on lap 3, guiding the way for 3 laps before surrendering the point to Mark English.
English tangled with a lapped car, on lap 18, bringing out the caution, and going to the rear for the restart. Gottschalk led the restart, guiding the way from there to the checkers. At the finish it was Gottschalk for the win followed by Chris Nelson, Mark Joyner, Chris Chenoweth and English.
In Sportsman division action Mike Heelein of Oregon claimed his first feature win, in the 40 lap main. Starting outside row one, Heelein claimed the early lead, showing the way to the checkers. Jay Kalbus claimed the 2nd spot, on lap 34, closing with Heelein.
The pair battled all the win to the finish, with Kalbus working the inside in what many called the “race of the season.” Coming to the checkered flag, off turn 4, they make contact, sending Heelein spinning across the finish. When the dust settled, it was Heelein on his way to victory lane, with Kalbus finishing 2nd. Rounding out the top five were Curt Thompson, Kyle Taylor and Dave Oswald.
In Hobby Stock action Bryon Grassl of Janesville notched his first feature win, in the 30 lap championship main event. Starting outside row 3, Grassl started his run, as Roger Stephenson claimed the early lead. Stephenson surrendered the point, to Russ Nicholson, on lap 3, with Grassl close behind for the 2nd spot. Grassl pulled under Nicholson on lap 6, looking for the lead.
The pair battled, side-by-side for the next 8 laps, with the lead changing, by inches, many times. Grassl finally pulled ahead on lap 14. As Grassl pulled ahead, Nicholson battled, for 2nd, with Dennis Schmidt. As they roared past the checkered flag, it was Grassl for the win followed by Schmidt, Lincoln Keeser, Nicholson and Ken Au.
In Bandit action Kyle Stark of Waterloo logged the win, in the 25 lap feature. Starting outside row 5, Stark began his journey to the front, as Ron Nelson grabbed the early lead. Nelson led the group for 3 laps before surrendering the point to Tyler White.
Stark made his way past White on lap 12. Competition Caution came, on lap 13, to reverse the direction of the race. On the restart, Shaun Scheel went to work on White, looking for the 2nd spot, and Zak Czeszynski battled forward from 8th. At the stripe it was Stark for the win, followed by Scheel, White, Brandon Riedner and Czeszynski.
With the 2005 point battle now in the history books, the season ends next week with the 25th Annual “Pepsi – Wisconsin State Championships.” This is the 2-day Grand Finale of the 2005 racing season at “Wisconsin’s Action Track.” The action begins on Friday night with qualifying, qualifying races, Preview Features and One-on-One Street Drags.
Saturday night the action concludes with a full night of racing, capped by twin 50 lap Late Model features. All of the details can be found at “www.jeffersonspeedway.com.”