Kenseth Crowned State Champion
By Andrew Schaller
JEFFERSON, WI (Saturday, September 19, 2009) – Ross Kenseth of Spring Valley, IL continued his string of success in the Big 8 Series by claiming the overall title for the 29th annual Wisconsin State Championships presented by Miller Brewing Co. Kenseth combined finishes of third and second in the twin 65 lap features to claim his crown.
efferson’s Kyle Jarlsberg led flag to flag to capture the first 65 lap Late Model main event. Jarlsberg grabbed the lead from pole sitter Scott Broughton as they crossed the stripe to complete the first lap. James Swan pulled into second with Doug Hahn riding in fourth. The leaders ran nose to tail until caution slowed the field on lap 18. As the green returned, Jarlsberg slipped away from the pack slightly as Hahn went to work on Swan for third. Hahn took the spot on lap 37 while Jarlsberg increased his advantage. Caution erased that lead on lap 38 as Kenseth made his way into the top five. Jarlsberg moved back out to a healthy lead once again as racing resumed and he charged to the checkers for the win. Broughton claimed second followed by Kenseth, Hahn and Jeremy Miller.
In feature number two for the Late Models, it was 2009 track champion Jason Erickson leading every lap to get the victory. Erickson, starting from the outside of row one, took control of the point on lap one with Steve Dobbratz following into second. Caution waved on lap six when Luke Westenberg spun. As the green returned, Erickson moved out to a commanding lead while Dobbratz remained in second. Meanwhile Kenseth and Jarlsberg were making their way through the field as they battled for the overall lead in the State Championship standings. Another caution on lap 31 slowed the field and bunched up the leaders for the restart. As racing resumed once again, Kenseth began to pick his way through the top five with Jarlsberg trying to keep pace. Kenseth found himself in third on lap 44 as he pulled up to Dobbratz looking to take away second. Kenseth moved under Dobbratz on lap 51 and claimed the runner up position a lap later. But Erickson was too far out front for Kenseth to catch. At the stripe it was Erickson for the win with Kenseth, Dobbratz, Jarlsberg and Miller rounding out the top five. Kenseth and Jarlsberg tied for the overall title, but Kenseth’s faster qualifying time awarded him the championship. Jarlsberg was second overall followed by Miller, Erickson and Dobbratz.
Fort Atkinson’s Mark Deporter captured the Sportsman title by winning the 50 lap feature event in that division. John Handeland lead lap one from the front row with Brady Lilly flanking him to the inside. Lilly powered back to the inside and grabbed the lead for himself with Kody Hubred following into second. Deporter followed them into third and went right to work on Hubred. Deporter got alongside for second and claimed the spot after a brief battle. After the top four began to breakaway, Deporter got a good run and charged under Lilly for the lead. Two cautions slowed Deporter’s efforts, but he finally cleared for the point on lap 30 and began to pull away. Meanwhile Tory Bagley was slicing through the top five and into third as the laps wound down. Bagley made his way to second on lap 33 and set his sights on Deporter. But the laps ran out and Deporter crossed under the checkers first to take the win. Rounding out the top five were Bagley, Scott Riedner, Bret Schmidt and Lilly.
Steven Scheel of Lake Mills laid claim to the 35 lap International feature to take the State Championship title. Adam Eckes took the early lead with Kyle Smith falling in line in second. On lap ten, Eckes experienced problems and was forced to retire, handing the lead to Smith. But a lap later, Scheel used a lapped car as a pick to motor past into the lead. Meanwhile, Mark English was moving forward into the top five by lap 14. English made his way to fourth a lap later while Kyle and Ashley Smith battled for second. Kyle claimed the spot bringing English along for third. English quickly dove under Smith and stole away second, setting his sights on Scheel who had a large lead. English chipped away at Scheel’s advantage lap after lap, finally catching him with five laps remaining. English looked for a path around the leader, but Scheel stayed strong out front to see the checkers first for the win. English settled for second followed by Kyle Smith, Ashley Smith and Gary Stark.
Watertown’s Jim Tate made his move to the front of the 40 lap Hobby Stock feature and held on to take the win. Steve Lichtfield and Brad Luck paced the field to green. Kyle Chwala charged the bottom of the race track to create a three wide battle for the lead on lap one. Chwala and Luck emerged in a side by side fight with Chwala eventually winning the lead on lap six. Tate drove up to challenge Chwala for the point on lap ten. Tate grabbed the lead down the backstretch on lap 11. Jimmy Robinson made his way to third on lap 15 as the caution appeared slowing the pack. On the restart, Robinson motored under Chwala to take away the second spot. Robinson set his sights on Tate, who had opened up a healthy advantage. Caution erased that lead on lap 31, and after the restart Tate and Robinson pulled away from the field as they battled for the lead. With three laps remaining, Robinson got a good run to the inside of Tate as they pulled even for the point. They stayed side by side as they flew past the white flag for the final circuit. Tate maintained a slight advantage through turns three and four and crossed the stripe just inched ahead of Robinson. Chwala finished third followed by Dustin Ward and Luck.
Rounding out the night’s events was the 35 lap Bandit feature event. 2009 track champion Kyle Watters of Stoughton flew to the front of the pack to take the win. Steven Scheel was the early leader from the front row with Dave Schmidt lining up behind in second. Watters, coming from deep in the field, used the high outside groove to make his way to the top five by lap nine. Watters continued to use the outside as he moved through the top five and into second by lap 22. Watters closed on Scheel as the only caution of the race waved on lap 26. On the restart, Watters began to shadow the leader looking for a way past. Scheel opened the door on lap 29 as he drifted high exiting turn two. Watters drove through into the lead and motored to the checkers for the win. Scheel was second followed by Schmidt, Jeff LeFave and Tim Bristol.
The 2009 Wisconsin State Championships presented by Miller Brewing Co. complete the regular racing schedule for the season at Jefferson Speedway. Please visit www.jeffersonspeedway.com for more information regarding events at the track.
Jefferson Speedway Wisconsin State Championships Day Two Summary
Late Model-
Twin 65 lap Feature #1 Results- 1) 87 Kyle Jarlsberg, Jefferson 2) 97 Scott Broughton, Stoughton 3) 25 Ross Kenseth, Spring Valley (IL) 4) 99 Doug Hahn, Whitewater 5) 5 Jeremy Miller, Rockton (IL) 6) 97 Jason Schuler, Cambridge 7) 97 James Swan, Lake Geneva 8) 52 Steve Dobbratz, Rio 9) I Bob Kahler, Belvidere (IL) 10) 94 Jason Erickson, Fort Atkinson 11) 28 Bobby Wilberg, Beloit 12) 31 Corey Jankowski, Tomah 13) 61 Jerry Eckhardt, Johnson Creek 14) 36 Kyle Shear, Roscoe (IL) 15) 11 Tim Sargent, S. Beloit (IL) 16) 18 Brady Liddle, Oregon 17) 2 Michael Bilderback, S.Beloit (IL) 18) 78 Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor 19) 16 Luke Westenberg, Jefferson 20) 25 Andrew Kulka, Deerfield 21) 44 Roger Behlke, Jefferson 22) 29 Scott Lindsay, Dousman 23) 24 Mark Miller, Columbus 24) X Jon Reynolds Jr, Machesney Park (IL)
Twin 65 lap Feature #2 Results- 1) 94 Jason Erickson, Fort Atkinson 2) 25 Ross Kenseth, Spring Valley (IL) 3) 52 Steve Dobbratz, Rio 4) 87 Kyle Jarlsberg, Jefferson 5) 5 Jeremy Miller, Rockton (IL) 6) I Bob Kahler, Belvidere (IL) 7) 97 Jason Schuler, Cambridge 8) 99 Doug Hahn, Whitewater 9) 97 James Swan, Lake Geneva 10) 97 Scott Broughton, Stoughton 11) 28 Bobby Wilberg, Beloit 12) 61 Jerry Eckhardt, Johnson Creek 13) 36 Kyle Shear, Roscoe (IL) 14) 31 Corey Jankowski, Tomah 15) 2 Michael Bilderback, S.Beloit (IL) 16) 18 Brady Liddle, Oregon 17) 25 Andrew Kulka, Deerfield 18) 16 Luke Westenberg, Jefferson 19) 29 Scott Lindsay, Dousman 20) 78 Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor 21) 24 Mark Miller, Columbus 22) 11 Tim Sargent, S.Beloit (IL) 23) 44 Roger Behlke, Jefferson
Overall Final Standings- 1) 25 Ross Kenseth, Spring Valley (IL) 2) 87 Kyle Jarlsberg, Jefferson 3) 5 Jeremy Miller, Rockton (IL) 4) 94 Jason Erickson, Fort Atkinson 5) 52 Steve Dobbratz, Rio 6) 97 Scott Broughton, Stoughton 7) 99 Doug Hahn, Whitewater 8) 97 Jason Schuler, Cambridge 9) I Bob Kahler, Belvidere (IL) 10) 97 James Swan, Lake Geneva 11) 28 Bobby Wilberg, Beloit 12) 61 Jerry Eckhardt, Johnson Creek 13) 31 Corey Jankowski, Tomah 14) 36 Kyle Shear, Roscoe (IL) 15) 2 Michael Bilderback, S.Beloit (IL) 16) 18 Brady Liddle, Oregon 17) 11 Tim Sargent, S.Beloit (IL) 18) 25 Andrew Kulka, Deerfield 19) 16 Luke Westenberg, Jefferson 20) 78 Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor 21) 29 Scott Lindsay, Dousman 22) 44 Roger Behlke, Jefferson 23) 24 Mark Miller, Columbus 4) X Jon Reynolds Jr, Machesney Park (IL)
Last Chance #1- 36 Kyle Shear, 61 Jerry Eckhardt
Last Chance #2- 2 Michael Bilderback, 25 Andrew Kulka
Sportsman-
50 lap Feature Results- 1) 4 Mark Deporter, Fort Atkinson 2) 52 Tory Bagley, McFarland 3) 26 Scott Riedner, Waunakee 4) 20 Bret Schmidt, Watertown 5) 22 Brady Lilly, Milton 6) 20 Kody Hubred, Utica
Last Chance- 7 Phil Denikas, 82 Mike Acheson, 36 Bob Coppernoll
International-
35 lap Feature Results- 1) 4 Steven Scheel, Lake Mills 2) 57 Mark English, Edgerton 3) 90 Kyle Smith, Lake Mills 4) 05 Ashley Smith, Lake Mills 5) 35 Gary Stark, Madison 6) 23 Casey Strese, Jefferson
Last Chance- 21 Matt McKinney, 77 Sean Watters, 25 Darren Brown
Hobby Stock-
40 lap Feature Results- 1) 27 Jim Tate, Watertown 2) 33 Jimmy Robinson, Orfordville 3) 22 Kyle Chwala, Lake Mills 4) 9 Dustin Ward, Waterloo 5) 67 Brad Luck 6) 92 Kyle Stark, Waterloo
Last Chance- 88 Roger Stephenson, 14 Andy Raley
Bandit-
35 lap Feature Results- 1) 17 Kyle Watters, Stoughton 2) 4 Steven Scheel, Lake Mills 3) 10 Dave Schmidt, Cudahy 4) 81 Jeff LeFave, Fort Atkinson 5) 71 Tim Bristol, Jefferson 6) 57 Tommy Pfeifer, Fort Atkinson
Last Chance- 5 Kameron Lee, 2 Keaton Hubred
All photos courtesy of Ben Hallock.
Late Model fast qualifier Ross Kenseth
Kyle Jarlsberg (87) gets early lead from pole sitter Scott Broughton (97)in first Late Model feature.
Winner of second Late Model feature Jason Erickson.
2009 Overall WI State Champion Ross Kenseth.
Sportsman fast qualifier Scott Riedner.
Mark Deporter (4) grabs lead from Brady Lilly (22) in Sportsman feature.
International fast qualifier Mark English.
Mark English (57) follows International winner Steven Scheel through traffic.
Hobby Stock fast qualifier Steven Sauer.
Jim Tate (27) beats Jimmy Robinson (33) to line to win Hobby Stock feature.
Bandit fast qualifier Kyle Watters.
Bandit feature winner Kyle Watters (17) moves up to challenge early leader Steven Scheel (4).