|
Erdman Gets First Career Win
in Pepsi 50
By Andrew Schaller |
May 31, 2008; Jefferson WI -- Fort
Atkinson's Trent Erdman claimed his first career Late Model feature win by
besting a strong field of cars in the Pepsi 50 sponsored by 104.5 WSLD.
Starting from the inside of row one, Erdman grabbed the early lead exiting
turn two of the opening lap.
Jerry Eckhart and Andy Brucker battled for second, with Brucker taking
the spot on lap six followed by Luke Padfield. The leaders ran single file
with Erdman opening up a healthy advantage. Meanwhile, point leader John
Ovadal Jr and Jason Erickson were moving through the pack and into the top
five by lap 14. Ovadal and Dylan Schuyler waged a war for fourth with
Erickson watching the battle closely from behind. As they caught Padfield,
Ovadal scooted by Schuyler and Padfield and into second with Erickson in
tow.
Erickson went right to work on Ovadal for the spot until the first of
two cautions waved on lap 37, erasing any advantage Erdman held. On the
restart, Ovadal began peeking to the inside of Erdman, pulling even and
eventually taking the lead away from him on lap 42. Erickson followed into
second and once again launched his bid to get by Ovadal. Erickson got inside
the leader several times through the corners, but couldn't make it work.
Finally, with three laps remaining, Erickson got a good run on the low side,
but the duo made contact in turn two sending both drivers around and
bringing out the second caution period. This handed the top spot back to
Erdman and after the restart, he cruised to the stripe for the win followed
by Schuyler, Casey Johnson, Roger Behlke and Doug Hahn.
Bret Schmidt of Watertown charged through the field on his way to the
victory in the 30 lap Sportsman feature event. Schmidt began making his way
to the front from deep in the starting field while Shaun Scheel took he
initial lead. The only caution of the race flew on lap five, lining up the
field single file with Scheel out front followed by Terry Wangsness in
second and Brady Lilly third. Schmidt entered the top five on lap 14 while
Wangsness looked for a way around the leader. Wangsness dove to the inside
many times looking for the top spot and finally pulling even with Scheel on
lap 23. By this time, Schmidt was up to third and charging hard. A lap
later, Schmidt made it a three way battle for the lead as they exited turn
four. Schmidt and Wangsness emerged side by side, banging fenders through
turns one and two. As they rolled through turn two on the final lap,
Wangsness got loose allowing Schmidt to take sole possession of the lead on
his way to the checkers and the win. Wangsness was second with Lilly, Scheel
and Dan Schmidt rounding out the top five.
Jefferson's Chris Gottschalk survived an action packed 20 lap International
feature to put his car in victory lane. Starting from the pole, Gottschalk
grabbed the lead entering turn three of the first lap with Ashley Smith
sliding into second. Smith went to work on the leader, diving to the inside
several times over the next twelve laps. By lap 13, the top five were
bunched together with Gottschalk still holding the advantage. Kyle Smith
looked to the outside of his sister, Ashley, for second but the two got
loose allowing Gary Stark by for the position. Stark began hunting the
leader, getting alongside of him with only two laps to go. As they took the
while flag, the leaders encountered some lapped traffic forcing Stark to get
loose handing the lead back to Gottschalk and letting Kyle Smith back into
second. Gottschalk and Kyle Smith finished first and second followed by
Stark, Ashley Smith and Mark English.
Alan Dorn of Waterloo lead wire to wire en route to his win in the 25 lap
Hobby Stock feature. Dorn took possession of the lead down the backstretch
on lap one and never looked back. Dorn immediately began to open up a big
lead with Bobby Selsing in second. The two enjoyed the advantage until
caution on lap 15 erased their lead. But as the green returned, Dorn was
never seriously challenged for the top position, pulling away for the win.
Rounding out the top five were Steve Sauer, Selsing, Chester Williams and
Kyle Stark.
In Bandit action, John Beale claimed his first career win in the 20 lap
feature event. Mark Dewey looked to dominate the event early on as he drove
out to a big lead. But his lead was erased by caution on lap four,
tightening the field back up for the restart. Jody
Schmidt began shadowing the leader as the green returned, pulling alongside
on lap eight and taking the lead a lap later. But Beale slipped by Dewey as
well, and when Schmidt drifted high exiting turn four, Beale stuck his nose
underneath the leader getting by for the top spot. Chad Olds followed Beale
through to second and started looking for his own way to the front of the
pack. But Beale proved strong enough to hold him off and see the checkers
first for the win. Olds followed in second with Schmidt, Dewey and Mike
Lambert finishing in the top five.
Next Saturday is a full program in all five divisions highlighted by the
Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza 50 lap Late Model feature. Time trials
begin at 5:00 with racing at 7 pm. Jefferson Speedway is located half way
between Jefferson and Cambridge on Hwy 18. For more information, please
visit www.jeffersonspeedway.com.
Jefferson Speedway Race Summary
Late Model--
Pepsi 50 Feature Results- 1) 11 Trent Erdman 2) 33 Dylan Schuyler 3) 5 Casey
Johnson 4) 44 Roger Behlke 5) 99 Doug Hahn 6) 29 Scott Lindsay 7) 52 Steve
Dobbratz 8) 61 Jerry Eckhart 9) 16 Luke Westenberg 10) 4 Chris Quam 11) 22
Jasper Gronert 12) 71 John Ovadal 13) 94 Jason Erickson 14) 13 Andy Brocker
15) 151 Mike Taylor 16) 4 Luke Padfield 17) 3 Chuck Duncan 18) 7 Ed Kubicz
Fast Qualifier- 94 Jason Erickson 14.303 seconds
Last Chance- 3 Chuck Duncan, 29 Scott Lindsay, 151 Mike Taylor, 7 Ed Kubicz
Heat Winners- 1) 27 Russ Blakely 2) 29 Scott Lindsay 3) 71 John Ovadal
Sportsman--
Feature Results- 1) 20 Bret Schmidt 2) 55 Terry Wangsness 3) 22 Brady Lilly
4) 8 Shaun Scheel 5) 19 Dan Schmidt 6) 31 Dave Oswald 7) 39 Ken Scott 8) 52
Tory Bagley
Fast Qualifier- 31 Dave Oswald 15.165 seconds
Last Chance- 45 Nick Balis, 2 Craig Olver, 36 RC VanRamsell, 19 John
Handeland
Heat Winners- 1) 45 Nick Balis 2) 36 RC VanRamsell 3) 22 Brady Lilly
International--
Feature Results- 1) 61 Chris Gottschalk 2) 90 Kyle Smith 3) 35 Gary Stark 4)
05 Ashley Smith 5) 57 Mark English 6) 31 Kenny Au 7) 00 Scott Hoeft 8) 67
Joe Cross
Fast Qualifier- 57 Mark English 16.536 seconds
Heat Winners- 1) 21 Rodney Mundt 2) 05 Ashley Smith
Hobby Stock--
Feature Results- 1) 96 Alan Dorn 2) 11 Steve Sauer 3) 42 Bobby Selsing Jr 4)
22 Chester Williams 5) 92 Kyle Stark 6) 19 Zac Schmidt 7) 33 Jimmy Robinson
8) 27 Jim Tate
Fast Qualifier- 88 Roger Stephenson 16.670 seconds
Last Chance- 89 Lincoln Keeser, 41 Nick Newton, 52 Jamie Peck, 49 Buck
Stultz
Heat Winners- 1) 89 Lincoln Keeser 2) 85 Joe Edwards 3) 92 Kyle Stark
Bandit-
Feature Results- 1) 04 John Beale 2) 89 Chad Olds 3) 8 Jody Schmidt 4) 82
Mark Dewey 5) 26 Mike Lambert 6) 57 Tommy Pfeifer 7) 4 Tom Bleecker 8) 86
Tony Ciano
Fast Qualifier- 57 Tommy Pfeifer 14.449 seconds
Last Chance- 4 Justin Sellnow, 18 Scott Pauls, 90 Titus Helgestad, 29 Waylin
Willman
Heat Winners- 1) 90 Titus Helgestad 2) 66 Terry Ciano 3) Jody Schmidt
|
