Angell Park Race Report from 07.10.11

Kurt Mayhew takes a tumble during qualifying at Angell Park Speeway, Sun Prairie, WI. Mayhew escaped injury and had the car back in action for the feature. (Photo by Jeff Wilcenski)by Steve Liegel and Bill Blumer
It was a battle of former Badger Midget champions as Brad Kuhn out-dueled Scott Hatton and Mike Hess to a hard earned victory Sunday night at Angell Park Speedway.

Sun Prairie's Brandon Waelti jump to the early lead in the thirty lap feature, driving a second Huston Solutions car, as his Jones Motorsports ride was under repairs. The lead was short lived as Mike Hess took over two laps later. Kuhn, who started in the fifth position, took to the point on the sixth circuit. By lap eight, Hatton had possession of second place after splitting the cars of Mike Hess and Davey Ray, who were running a distant second and third. Kuhn was enjoying a good straightaway advantage when Hatton started to creep up on the cushion, one groove higher than Kuhn. By lap sixteen, Hatton caught Kuhn and tried to sneak past him using the high line, coming out of turn four. Hatton saw an opening but got a little too high and tagged the wall, first with one end of the car, then the other. The contact put him within inches of doing a famed end over end flip, down the front straight. But somehow he collected his car and continued his pursuit of Kuhn, albeit out of striking range. The next lap saw Daniel Robinson's machine come to a halt between turns one and two, bringing out the caution, seemingly helping Hatton in the process. On the restart, Kuhn got a big jump on Hatton, who was quickly overtaken by Hess. On lap twenty, Davey Ray and Bubba Altig both snuck by Hatton to run third and fourth. Kuhn was able to secure a comfortable lead and went on to take his second APS victory in a row.

Hess finished second, Altig third, Ray was fourth and Waelti fifth.

After the race, Hatton commented that maybe he should have been a little more patient, "I knew I was close (to the wall) but I was going for the win." He went on to say that once Kuhn discovered the route Hatton was on, Kuhn would have taken that line away. Hatton’s Crew Chief, Kurt Gunderson indicated the poor performance upon the restart was due to a broken Jacob’s Ladder that occurred when it hit the wall, making it handle poorly. While Kuhn could not see Hatton, he indicated he heard Hatton closing in.

The first heat of the night saw Robbie Ray pass Jim Fuerst on lap two and cruise to the victory. Waelti placed a distant second. Fifteen-year-old Taylor Ferns held off Hatton to place third. Ferns is from Michigan and it was her first race at Angell Park.

Heat-two was a battle between Courtney Erfurth and Cody Weisensel early. Unfortunately for them, Davey Ray had other thoughts and was able to overtake Weisensel on lap two and Erfurth on lap three. Once in the lead, Ray would not be caught and took the checkered. Weisensel, of Sun Prairie, finished second, Bubba Altig was third and Erfurth finished fourth. After the heat, Ray stated, "Angell Park is still the best race track in the country. That is why we are here."

All ten laps of heat-three were seemingly wheel to wheel. The first lap saw Dalton Armstrong battle Daniel Robinson for the lead. Armstrong looked very seasoned, even though it was his first trip to Angell Park. He led the first six laps, going toe to toe with Mike Hess most of the way. Somehow, the Angell Park veteran Hess was able to overtake Armstrong on lap seven. Brad Kuhn was charging from his sixth starting position and was able to get by Armstrong on lap eight. Hess had a large enough lead to hold off Kuhn for the victory. Armstrong finished a respectable third. After the race, Hess gave kudos to Armstrong for running a clean race, even though they were running tight to each other for several laps.

The Badger 600 cc Micro Sprint card was swept by three time IRA Sprint Car champion Billy Balog. Balog, driving the Jerry Hardy entry, jumped to an early lead in the feature and was never really challenged for the victory. Balog was timed running laps of 16 seconds. Sun Prairie's Preston Benisch ran a fine race and finished a strong second to Balog. George Knutson and Dick Heath finished out the field. After the race, Balog was singing praises for Angell Park. "It's a great place to race. I can say I won a feature at Angell Park." Balog said that he never lifted off the accelerator during the race, but took it easy at the end to avoid a chance at breaking the chain that drives these race cars.

Benisch, at twelve years old shows steady improvement in a class that is intended to introduce drivers to open wheel racing. With lap times in the 16- second range, he’s improved by nearly two seconds some of his best previous laps. In the heat, after missing a shift at the start and seeing the field go by him, he recouped to catch Knutson. It looked like Benisch would get the elder statesman of the group in the second turn, but the backstretch wall came quickly and Benisch tagged it. "I felt a ‘thud,’ but kept going," noted Benisch. It was enough to kill his momentum and put Knutson back in second. Benisch battled back but Knutson nipped him at the line.

Next Sunday, July 17th, the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association will be celebrating their 75th anniversary. The top drivers in Badger are expected along with Kuhn, Jerry Coons, Jr., and Brad Loyet, among others. The event will be co-sanctioned with the POWRi Midget series and the USAC D-1 series. The Micros and Wisconsin Legends Dirt Racing Series will also be on the card.

In the last four races Badger and POWRi have teamed up for, they have fielded no less than 40 cars.

NEWS AND NOTES:

At 59 years old, Kurt Mayhew is one of the oldest active drivers in Midget racing. He took a tumble during qualifying but had the car back in action by feature time. He indicated he was alright, but the car had to have many of its rear components replaced. "Steve Wineke, he helps me out, he’s a thrasher. He went to work and I just kind of stood back," noted Mayhew.

Hatton was upbeat after the races. He indicate his team is still trying to figure out the new rev limiter situation with Badger. After blowing an engine his first week out, he felt the team made a lot of progress at Sunday’s event.

It was Jim Furest’s inaugural race of the season and he was energized by pacing the field in his heat and his effort in the feature. His absence from Angell Park thus far, was all due to his inability to agree with Mother Nature. Running a part-time schedule this year, every event he planned to run had been rained out until now.

With 20 cars in the pits for the Midgets, a driver could sandbag in their heat and still get a decent starting spot for the feature. Yet, the drivers continue to thrill their fans with wheel to wheel racing even in the relatively meaningless preliminary events. This is a credit to the determination of all competitors to put on a great show for the fans.

Australia’s Matt Jackson raced at APS for the first time. He bought a car in the U.S. and is towing around the country for two weeks, racing where he can. The twenty-year-old was alone and picked up a displaced crewman from the Jason Dull team to help out a bit.

The initiated can see the efforts several owners are making to keep Badger viable. Balog was in the pits simply to run the Micro. He hadn’t even brought the necessary safety gear to run a Midget.. When owner Bill Ecker heard Balog was wandering the pits, he put him in his second Printing Place car. Nobody could blame Ecker for leaving the second mount at home, since it was nearly destroyed by a guest driver earlier in the year. "I want to keep this place alive," said Ecker. Both driver and owner were pleased with the eighth place finish. As for the equipment, Balog borrowed Benisch’s neck device to comply with the rules.

If all of the Micros that have turned laps in 2011 were at the track, the division would be up to 6 cars. While it’s not quite the number hoped for, it is encouraging for a class that was started from scratch.