by Jeremy Mayo
It was clean sweeps all around at TNT Speedway on a steamy Saturday night. That was good news for Eagle River’s Bruce Belland and Hurley, WI’s John Kallas, who padded points leads in the WISSOTA AMSOIL Dirt Track Series Midwest Modifieds and Street Stocks respectively.
But it was not easy for them or Rhinelander’s Chris Nylund in the TNT Bombers or Wausau’s Bo Bennish as all four feature races were hotly contested.
Belland was slated to start third in the WADTS Midwest Mod feature but moved up to the pole when Terry Stebbeds could not answer the bell. Belland took the lead on the drop of the green, but Jerry Grasse, who had won the two previous features at TNT, was right behind him.
The two would dual the much of the race, which was slowed by five cautions. Belland slowly inched away on the final restart with seven laps remaining to take the win. Grasse, Jeff McDonald, Stan Rychlock and Joe Kin rounded out the top five as Belland’s lead over Grasse stretched to five at the halfway point of the season.
John Kallas rocketed from sixth starting spot to the lead in just three laps in the WADTS Street Stock feature while Kurtti, who started last after a spin in the heat race, worked his way to second by lap nine. A yellow for a spin involving Jeff Mullins and Troy LaRock slowed the field two laps later, setting up a nine lap dash.
Not conceding defeat to the top two in points, Nick Visser decided to make it a three-car fight on the restart. He got a great start, passed Kurtti for second and battled Kallas side-by-side for the lead. Visser took the lead on lap 14, Kallas passed him back on lap 15, but Visser and Kurtti stayed right on his heels. Kallas could not afford to make a mistake and he did not, taking his third win of the season, and second in a row at TNT. Visser, Kurtti and Leif Gunderson were right behind him at the line. Ben Pitlik rounded out the top five.
Despite 14 cars, the TNT Bombers kept on straight and narrow on Saturday. A spin on the first lap involving pole sitter C.J. England brought out the first yellow. The second yellow wouldn’t fly until the final lap.
After dicing for position the first five laps, John Johnson took the lead on lap six with Nylund passing him one lap later. From there things settled out until the last lap when Logan Lannet spun and broke an axle. Nylund held off Johnson to the white flag to take the win. Denny Tushoski beat Todd Brass for third and Dan Schultz was credited for fifth after Tyler Lundberg was disqualified for an unapproved transmission.
Bo Bennish and John Barlowski staged a battle in the TNT Stingers. Bennish took the lead on lap four, only to have Barlowski root his was past couple laps later. Barlowski’s lead grew during the middle laps of the race to as many as five car lengths, but Bennish saved his car for one more run and erased a three-car length lead in the final three laps. On the final lap, Bennish demonstrated the “eight wheels are better than four” theory, leaning on Barlowski, pushing out of the groove in turns one and two, passing him for the win. Eric LaFreniere, Ryan Schuppler and Zach Degner rounded out the top five.
Next Saturday at TNT Speedway is the WISSOTA AMSOIL Race of Champions Qualifier at TNT Speedway. The winner of next Saturday night’s features in the WADTS Midwest Mods and Street Stocks will punch their ticket to the AMSOIL Race of Champions at the WISSOTA 100 this September in Huron, South Dakota.
As always, Hot Laps will start at 7:00 PM, with racing at 7:45. For more information, log on to www.TNTSpeedway.com.
---
RESULTS: TNT Speedway – Saturday, July 16, 2011
WISSOTA AMSOIL Dirt Track Series Midwest Modifies: Heat – 1. 22B Bruce Belland; 2. 5 Jerry Grasse; 3. 7M Jeff McDonald; 4. 7 Joe Kin; 5. 52 Terry Stebbeds; 6. 41 Alex Van Natta; 7. 19R Stan Rychlock; 8. 81 Dan Melton; 9. 18 Mike Bukovic… Feature: 1. 22B Belland; 2. 5 Grasse; 3. 7M McDonald; 4. 19R Rychlock; 5. 7 Kin; 6. 41 Van Natta; 7. 18 Bukovic; 8. 81 Melton; DNS – 52 Stebbeds.
WISSOTA AMSOIL Dirt Track Series Street Stocks: Heat 1 – 1. 30V Nick Visser; 2. 101 Leif Gunderson; 3. 190 Ben Pitlik; 4. 70 Troy LaRock; 5. 2 Neal Slizewski; 6. 111 Larry Roper… Heat 2 – 1. 99 John Kallas; 2. 3 Jeff Mullins; 3. 89 Heidi Karshbaum; 4. 23M Kevin Maulson, Jr.; 5. 26 Jordan Kurtti… Feature – 1. 99 Kallas; 2. 30V Visser; 3. 26 Kurtti; 4. 101 Gunderson; 5. 190 Pitlik; 6. 2 Slizewski; 7. 89 Karshbaum; 8. 70 LaRock; 9. 3 Mullins; 10. 111 Roper; 11. 23M Maulson, Jr.
TNT Bombers: Heat 1 – 1. 71 Chris Nylund; 2. 2T Todd Brass; 3. 88 Dan Schultz; 4. 21 Denny Tushoski; 5. 01Z Ron Reese; 6. 57 John Danielson; 7. 3N Sean Richard… Heat 2 – 1. 11 John Johnson, Sr.; 2. 98 Tyler Lundberg; 3. 01E C.J. England; 4. 9 Logan Lannett; 5. 33 Mike Terry; 6. 799 Rick England; 7. 31 Richard Barlowski… Feature – 1. 71 Nylund; 2. 11 Johnson, Sr.; 3. 21 Tushoski; 4. 2T Brass; 5. 88 Schultz; 6. 33 Terry; 7. 01Z Reese; 8. 9 Lannet; 9. 3N Richard; 10. 57 Danielson; 11. 799 R. England; 12. 31 R. Barlowski; 13. 01E C.J. England; DQ – 98 Lundberg.
TNT Stingers: Heat 1 – 1. 0 Bo Bennish; 2. 13T Eric LaFreniere; 3. 57 Ryan Schuppler; 4. Louis Mullegue; 5. 77 Zach Degner; 6. 13 John Barlowski… Feature: 1. 0 Bennish; 2. 13 J. Barlowski; 3. 13T LaFreniere; 4. 57 Schuppler; 5. 77 Degner; 6. 53 Mullegue.
This article was posted to the website on July 16th, 2011 • Click to view all related content in the following categories
