Nottestad Notches O’Reilly Auto Parts 50

CAMBRIDGE, WI (Saturday, July 14, 2018)            Cambridge pilot, Dale Nottestad, charged to the front of the field and claimed the O’Reilly Auto Parts 50 lap Late Model feature on Saturday night. The win marks Nottestad’s second feature win in as many weeks as well as his third on the season, giving him more wins than any other Late Model driver in 2018.

Josh Madell and Don Gaserude paced the field to green with Gaserude grabbing control of the point on lap one. Kyle Smith followed up to second with Dylan Schuyler in tow for third. Things got interesting on lap five when Michael Grueneberg drove to the high side of Jerry Eckhardt and Madell to make it a three wide battle for fifth. Grueneberg emerged with the position with Nottestad following right in his tracks. In the flurry of action, Josh Madell made contact and spun in turn four to force the first of three caution periods. After another quick yellow on the restart, racing resumed with Schuyler slipping past Smith for second while Grueneberg and Nottestad sliced their way through the top five. On lap eight, Schuyler dove under Gaserude, stealing the lead away a couple later. The final yellow flag flew on lap ten for a multi car melee on the back stretch. Once racing got back underway, Grueneberg motored under Smith to take over third on lap 12. Nottestad followed into fourth and quickly made his move on Grueneberg. On lap 14, Nottestad got a good run under the point leader, grabbing the third position a lap later. Nottestad continued to move forward, picking off Gaserude for second on lap 21 and bringing Grueneberg along for third. Nottestad charged up behind Schuyler as he began to work the low side of the leader. At the halfway point of the race, Nottestad drew even with Schuyler as they exited turn two. After a brief battle, Nottestad took over the point while Grueneberg took a turn under Schuyler. Grueneberg cleared for second on lap 31, but Nottestad had already begun to check out from the pack. Nottestad cruised to the checkers from there with Grueneberg coming home second. Riley Stenjem, Luke Westenberg and John Ovadal Jr rounded out the top five at the finish.

Round one of the Sportsman Challenged presented by Serenity Concepts commenced with twin 25 lap feature events for the division. Chris Chenoweth parlayed his front row starting spot into the win in the first 25 lapper. Chenoweth grabbed the lead on lap one while Mark Deporter pulled up to battle Jake Biever for second. Deporter moved past Biever on lap two and quickly drew even with Chenoweth on the point. Deporter cleared for the lead on lap five while Chenoweth fell back to second in front of Jason Thoma. On lap eight, Deporter appeared to slow slightly, allowing Chenoweth to reclaim the top spot. Thoma also got around Deporter for second. Deporter slowed considerably on lap ten, choosing to peel off the racing surface and ending his feature run. Chenoweth remained in control throughout the remainder of the race with Thoma filling his rear view mirror the entire time. At the checkers, it was Chenoweth for the win followed by Thoma, Randy Breunig, Biever and Chris Jones.

Kenny Storkson and Tyler Deporter led the second Sportsman feature field to green with Deporter taking the early lead on lap one. Terry Wangsness slid up to second with Tim Coley right behind in third. On lap three, Wangsness got under Deporter, taking away the top spot on lap five and bringing Coley along for second. Coley spent a couple lap sizing up Wangsness before making his move on lap 12. Coley drew even with Wangsness on the inside and the battle for control was on. Lap after lap, Coley and Wangsness waged war for the lead of the race. This allowed Jason Thoma to gain the third position and reel the duo in as the laps ticked away. Thoma caught the leaders with five laps to go while they continued their seesaw battle at the front. The flew under the white flag, still with nothing settled for the lead. As they crossed the stripe to finish the event, it was Coley holding a very slight advantage to pick up his first feature win of the season. Wangsness settled for second followed by Thoma, Randy Breunig and Chris Jones.

Fort Atkinson’s Mike Lambert scored the win in the 20 lap International feature event. Joe Cross led lap one from the front row with Ashley Gottschalk up to second on lap two. Josh Marx got around Gottschalk for the runner up position on lap four as he slid up next to Cross looking to lead. Marx cleared for first a lap later, bringing Mark English along for second. English wasted no time, charging up alongside Marx on lap seven. English moved into control of the top spot a lap later while Marx tried to use a crossover move to get back next to English. This allowed Lambert to go to the highside of Marx and take second for himself. Lambert began to pressure English for the lead, drawing even with four laps to go. The pair of drivers battled side by side until Lambert gained the advantage on the final circuit. Lambert rode out the last lap at the front to capture the win with English settling for second. Scott Hoeft was third with Marx and Gottschalk rounding out the top five.

Bill Sweeney of Lake Mills claimed the 15 lap Road Warrior feature event. Rodger Stephenson led lap one from the pole with Bill Reynolds quickly up to second. Reynolds got by Stephenson for the lead on lap two with Sweeney following into second. Sweeney went right to work on the new leader, working the low side of Reynolds. With five laps remaining, Sweeney got alongside Reynolds as they battled for control. Sweeney made the pass on lap 13, staying out front till the checkers to get the win. Reynolds was second followed by Chris Gottschalk, Bryan Gottschalk and Mark Dewey.

Whitewater’s Chad Olds used a late restart to gain the lead and win the 15 lap Bandit feature event. CJ Hemiller took the initial lead on lap one with Lyle Phillips up to second. Phillips got under Hemiller on lap two, taking over the top spot entering turn a lap later. Olds followed up to second with Tyler Deschaine in third. Deschaine slipped by Olds for second on lap six and moved up to challenge Phillips for the lead. But contact between the drivers on lap eight forced Phillips to come to a stop and bring out the yellow. Both drivers were forced to the rear for the restart. Olds inherited the lead and hung on for the remainder of the race to score the win. Nick Schmidt came home second followed by Jeremy Bredeson, Deschaine and DJ Hill.

Braiden Heskett of Shakopee, MN, claimed the win in the 25 lap Legends feature. Noah Eisenhouer led early with Darrell Stewart quickly up to challenge. Stewart moved into the lead on lap two while Matt Allen moved up to challenge Eisenhouer for second. Allen got by Eisenhouer on lap three with Dilon Schwanbeck in tow. Schwanbeck made his move on Allen, getting to second on lap five and continuing forward next to Stewart. Schwanbeck cleared for the top spot on lap six with Haskett now in his tracks for the second spot. Heskett got under Schwanbeck as they touched slightly on lap seven. As the cars checked up behind the leaders, contact was made back in the field resulting in a multi car incident to force a caution. On the restart, Schwanbeck rocketed back into the lead with Heskett trying to mount a challenge. Heskett charged under Schwanbeck, stealing the top spot away on lap six. Heskett immediately began to pull away from the pack while Tim Brockhouse made his way up to second. Heskett cruised to the checkers to secure the win with Brockhouse, Darrell J Stewart, Schwanbeck and Austin Jahr completing the top five.

Next Saturday, July 21, marks the return of the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series as well the Hobby Stocks, Road Warriors and Bandoleros. Time trials begin at 5pm with racing at 7pm. Jefferson Speedway is located halfway between Jefferson and Cambridge on Hwy 18. Please visit jeffersonspeedway.com for more information.

JEFFERSON SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY

LATE MODEL-

Qualifying

Heat Races

Last Chance

Feature

SPORTSMAN

Qualifying

Heat Races

Last Chance

Feature #1

Feature #2

INTERNATIONAL

Qualifying

Heat Races

Feature

ROAD WARRIOR

Qualifying

Heat Races

Feature

BANDIT

Qualifying

Heat Race

Feature

LEGENDS

Qualifying

Heat Races

Last Chance

Feature