BY CHARLIE SPRY
Columbus, WI. (Friday, June 13, 2014). Friday the thirteenth proved to be full of good luck for "The President" Lincoln Keeser at the Columbus 151 Speedway, as the Johnson Creek driver showed the way during the late model feature.
Keeser and rookie Ken Jacoby led the start of the event, with nothing being settled until the second lap, when Keeser took control from his outside starting spot. Jerry Eckhardt and Ron Bishofberger soon came on the scene, gluing themselves to Keeser's rear bumper, looking for a way past. Two cautions during the first ten laps slowed the event, but Keeser calmly stayed in control, with Don Gaserude now joining the party of cars bunched together. Bishofberger finally gained the second spot on lap eighteen, with Jake Vanoskey using some good moves to work inside Eckhardt for third. Dan Jung made progress towards the front, but suddenly slowed, with Rob Retallick quickly moving to the front, gaining many positions. Brady Liddle worked inside Retallick for fourth position, with Retallick spinning as the field came for the white flag. None of his concerned Keeser, who stayed in control to the end, winning his first feature of the year over Bishofberger, Vanoskey, Liddle and Eckhardt. Gaserude was the fastest qualifier, with heat wins going to Dave Schmidt, Bill Retallick, and Bishofberger.
Dan Schmidt and Steven Sauer fought for control of the street stock feature from the start, with Schmidt taking control on the first lap. Sauer dropped back to battle with Tim Belz, while Schmidt pulled away. Sauer was able to work past Belz on lap 6, setting his sights on catching the leader, which he was able to do. Catching and passing are two different things, and while Sauer could catch Schmidt, he was not able to get past him, as Schmidt took his first feature win here since June 11, 2010. Sauer finished second followed by Belz. Sauer set fast time during qualifying, while Schmidt also won the heat race.
Eric Bennett led at the start of the hobby stock feature event, with Cody Buchs up to challenge early in the event, taking the lead by lap 2. Jeffrey Lefave Jr. also made the pass on Bennett to take over second, with Chester Williams quickly moving up to third, and Justin Kumbier up to fourth. Kumbier pulled out of the event on lap 10, while Williams used lapped traffic to work past Lefave into second. Buchs had pulled out to a large lead by this time and was never seriously challenged, taking the win over Williams, Lefave, Bennett, and Mr. Lightning. Williams was the fastest qualifier, with Buchs winning the heat race.
The Father/Daughter duo of McKayla and Tory Adams brought the field to the green in the Bandit feature, with the pair having a great side-by-side race with one another during the opening laps. The caution flag appeared on lap 5 for a two car tangle, and on the restart, the Adams party was broken up by Jim Steinbach, with Jeremy Bredeson and Kyle Stark splitting McKayla Adams, and Keith Erickson now up to fifth. After another caution for debris on the track, Tory Adams again showed the way, but now had heavy pressure from Stark, who passed Steinbach for second, then looked to get by Adams up front. A fierce battle raged throughout the front, with Erickson now into second, then into the lead by lap 9. Erickson was able to pull away from Tory Adams, with Nick Schmidt now into third on lap 14, then displacing Adams from the second spot a lap later. Jamie Kohn began asserting himself, and found himself into third late in the game, but there was no catching the fleet Erickson, as he drove off to his second feature win in a row over Schmidt, Kohn, Tory Adams, and Jeremy Bredeson. Erickson was also the fastest qualifier of the evening, with heat wins going to McKayla Adams, Schmidt, and Bredeson.
Matt Wachuta took the lead at the green during the backup feature, but spun on the backstretch, collecting Andy Ward. With this pair unable to continue, J.R. Hur took over the lead over Zachary Smith and Steve Privett. Privett passed Smith for second, just as the leader pulled off the track, giving Privett the lead. George Wachuta found his way past Privett for the lead, with Rick Verdon and Wayne Hook also moving past Privett. George Wachuta was able to keep the field at bay the rest of the way, winning over Verdon, Hook, Privett, and Smith. Join us next Friday night for WJJO night at the races, with lots of activities for the kids planned as well!
* * * QUALIFYING RESULTS * * *
PlceCar #DriverHome TownModelFast
181GDON GASERUDEFORT ATKINSONCHEVY13.554
25BJOHN BEALEVERONACHEVY13.573
318LBRADY LIDDLEOREGONCHEVY13.696
476BRON BISHOFBERGERFORT ATKINSONCHEVY13.709
568JDAN JUNGIRON RIDGECHEVY13.771
661EJERRY ECKHARDTJOHNSON CREEKCHEVY13.882
79RBILL RETTALICKMARSHALLCHEVY13.980
884VJACOB VANOSKEYHARTFORDCHEVY14.001
999KLINCOLN KEESERJOHNSON CREEKCHEVY14.120
1088JKEN JACOBY *MARSHALLDODGE14.214
1112MBUTCH MIERENDORFWATERLOOCHEV14.233
1299DTIFFANY DESJARLAISCOLUMBUSCHEVY14.236
137DHUNTER DREFAHLEVANSVILLEPONTIAC14.326
1410SDAVE SCHMIDT- - -CUDAHY14.418
1511KBRAD KNAPPBELOITCHEVY14.723
Average time of all qualifiers : 14.029
* * * HEATS RESULTS * * *
PlaceStartCar #DriverEventHome TownModel
1210SDAVE SCHMIDTHEAT1- - -CUDAHY
2688JKEN JACOBY *HEAT1MARSHALLDODGE
3799KLINCOLN KEESERHEAT1JOHNSON CREEKCHEVY
4884VJACOB VANOSKEYHEAT1HARTFORDCHEVY
5412MBUTCH MIERENDORFHEAT1WATERLOOCHEV
119RBILL RETTALICKHEAT2MARSHALLCHEVY
2368JDAN JUNGHEAT2IRON RIDGECHEVY
3261EJERRY ECKHARDTHEAT2JOHNSON CREEKCHEVY
4518LBRADY LIDDLEHEAT2OREGONCHEVY
1476BRON BISHOFBERGERHEAT3FORT ATKINSONCHEVY
2781GDON GASERUDEHEAT3FORT ATKINSONCHEVY
3399DTIFFANY DESJARLAISHEAT3COLUMBUSCHEVY
457DHUNTER DREFAHLHEAT3EVANSVILLEPONTIAC
565BJOHN BEALEHEAT3VERONACHEVY
6111KBRAD KNAPPHEAT3BELOITCHEVY
Number of Drivers in HEATS Races: 15
* * * FEATURE RESULTS * * *
PlaceStartCar #DriverEventHome TownModel
1299KLINCOLN KEESERFEATRJOHNSON CREEKCHEVY
2776BRON BISHOFBERGERFEATRFORT ATKINSONCHEVY
3384VJACOB VANOSKEYFEATRHARTFORDCHEVY
41018LBRADY LIDDLEFEATROREGONCHEVY
5561EJERRY ECKHARDTFEATRJOHNSON CREEKCHEVY
6981GDON GASERUDEFEATRFORT ATKINSONCHEVY
7668JDAN JUNGFEATRIRON RIDGECHEVY
81199DTIFFANY DESJARLAISFEATRCOLUMBUSCHEVY
9188JKEN JACOBY *FEATRMARSHALLDODGE
1009RRROB RETTALICKFEATRDEERFIELDCHEVY
11157DHUNTER DREFAHLFEATREVANSVILLEPONTIAC
121412MBUTCH MIERENDORFFEATRWATERLOOCHEV
131311KBRAD KNAPPFEATRBELOITCHEVY
141210SDAVE SCHMIDTFEATR- - - CUDAHY
1585BJOHN BEALEFEATRVERONACHEVY