by Andrew Schaller
COLUMBUS, WI (Friday, September 11, 2009) Dean Schultz of Juneau captured the 50 lap season championship feature for the Late Model division, but it wasn't quite enough to catch Randy Breunig for the title. Making his return to full time racing, Breunig of Columbus came back in style by winning the Late Model crown. Roger Behlke and Scott Patrick paced the field of 18 competitors to the drop of the green. Patrick took the initial lead as Luke Hoffman charged under Behlke for second. Schultz moved up to third as he looked to cut into Breunig's point lead. The leaders continued to run single file as Hoffman shadowed Patrick for the lead. Hoffman and Patrick made contact as Hoffman slipped by for the lead. They touched again as they entered the next corner sending Hoffman spinning and bringing out the caution on lap 15. Schultz inherited the point for the restart with Jerry Auby and Breunig right behind. Auby moved into second with Breunig riding in third as the green returned. Caution waved once again on lap 24 when Hoffman and Al Weishoff got together in turn three. Schultz began to slip away from the other leaders on the restart as Breunig stayed in Auby's tracks for second. The leaders remained nose to tail as the laps ticked away with Schultz at the top of the leader board. The caution waved for a third time on lap 42 setting up a shootout to the finish. As the green returned, Schultz stayed strong out front as he motored to the checkers for the win. Rounding out the top five were Auby, Patrick, Breunig and Andy Tomlinson. Randy Breunig parlayed his top five finish into the 2009 Late Model track championship by seven points over Schultz.

Watertown's Bret Schmidt charged to the front of the pack to take the win in the 40 lap Sportsman main event. Tiffany Desjarles and Alex Lee made up row one at the start with Desjarles leading after lap one. Andy Raley moved up inside Lee as they battled for second. Raley claimed the position on lap four bringing Gary Winters along for third. Raley motored to the outside of Desjarles looking to lead on lap six. Raley cleared for the point a lap later as Winters tried to follow around Desjarles. Raley began to stretch his advantage while Desjarles and Winters battle for second. Winters cleared on lap nine with Lee in tow for third. Winters began to cut into Raley's lead as Schmidt moved up to fourth. Winters caught the leader on lap 15 as he drove to the outside looking to pass. As the leaders approached the halfway point, the top five began to close in tightly with Raley maintaining the point. On lap 25, Lee got loose allowing Kevin Anderson and Schmidt to fly past into third and fourth respectively. Winters continued to try to high line to get around Raley for the lead. On lap 29, Winters got very loose through turns one and two, spinning and bringing out the caution. Raley remained the leader with Anderson and Schmidt battling for second on the restart. Schmidt cleared for second on lap 30 and immediately went to work on the leader. James Helmer moved up to third as he watched the battle for the lead. Raley and Schmidt made contact several times until Schmidt grabbed the lead with Raley falling back to second. Schmidt motored to the checkers for the win with Raley, Helmer, Lee and Anderson. Poynette's Jake Wasserburger captured the 2009 Sportsman championship.

Waterloo's Dustin Ward capped off his 2009 track championship by capturing the 30 lap Hobby Stock feature. Kyle Stark and Jim Tate paced the field at the start as they battled side by side until Stark claimed the lead. On lap four, Stark spun exiting turn two bringing out the caution and handing the lead to Ward with Tate in second. After the restart, Ward remained out front as he cruised to the checkers for the win. Tate was second with Stark coming home third.

Tony Chase of Fall River laid claim to the 30 lap feature event in his division. Scottie Hatton claimed the initial lead with Billy Robinson to his inside. Robinson slipped by for the point on lap two as Peterman moved up to second. On lap for, Robinson made contact with another competitor as he slowed bringing out the caution. Peterman inherited the lead with Tony Chase right behind in second. As the green returned, Peterman maintained his advantage with Chase filling up his rear view mirror. Chase continued to chase Peterman as the laps wound down, finally catching him in turn two of the final circuit. Chase motored under the leader down the backstretch and carried his lead across the stripe for the win. Peterman was second followed by Hatton, Wales and Warthan. Kale Peterman was crowned as the Thunder Stock champion for the 2009 season.

Jameson Kohn of DeForest took top honors in the season championship Bandit main event. Kohn and Phil Wuesthoff led the field to green in the 25 lap feature. Kohn grabbed the early lead as they entered turn one with Kameron Lee moving up to second. Kohn began to stretch his lead while 2009 Bandit champion Ed Klug entered the top five. The top five began to close on the leader as they entered lapped traffic on lap 11. Dave Schmidt charged up to second as he chipped away at Kohn's advantage. With five laps remaining, Schmidt pulled up to Kohn's rear bumper. Schmidt tried the high side and then crossed back to the bottom as he shot by Kohn into the lead. But Kohn came back strong to the inside of the new leader as they flew under the white flag. Kohn got a good run out of turn four on the final lap to see the checkers first followed by Schmidt, Brandon Condroski, Chester Ace and Lee.

Matt Wachuta captured the 2009 Back Up championship in style by winning the 8 lap feature event as well. Andy Ward fired into the lead with Dustin Von Allmen moving into second. Wachuta made a late race charge into second as the white flag flew. Wachuta charged under Ward and stole the lead as he cruised off to the checkers for the win. Von Allmen finished second with Ward third.

This ends the 2009 season at Columbus 151 Speedway. The Moore family and the staff would like to thank all our supporters this season and we look forward to seeing you again in 2010.