Weishoff A Winner at Columbus 151 Speedway

by Andrew Schaller
Al Weishoff of Columbus started on the pole and held off the current point leader, Ron Bishofberger to capture the 35 lap Late Model feature at Columbus 151 Speedway on Friday night. Weishoff led every lap as on his way to his first feature win of the 2011 season.

Weishoff and Bishofberger paced the field to green with Weishoff grabbing the lead on lap one as Bishofberger pulled in line behind him for second. After a quick caution on lap two, Weishoff maintained his lead as he and Bishofberger started to pull away from the pack. The top two continued to stretch their advantage while Jerry Eckhardt tried to hold on to the third spot. With two laps remaining, Bishofberger pulled up to the rear bumper of Weishoff to attempt one more pass for the lead. But Weishoff held tough on the point to see the checkers first with Bishofberger right behind for second. Eckhardt hung on to finish third with Jerry Auby and Michael Clapper rounding out the top five.

In Sportsman action, it was Jason Clapper of Dane using his starting spot to claim the 25 lap feature event. Starting on the pole, Clapper took control of the top spot on lap one with Joe Roach in tow for second. Roach drove into the high lane looking to get by Clapper as Dan Gosda pulls up to join the fight. On lap four, Roach and Gosda touched slightly forcing Gosda to spin to the infield and bring out the caution. Both drivers were forced to the rear of the field on the restart with Clapper still showing the way. Mike Winters took a turn on the outside of the leader with Kevin Anderson running third. Winters began to fade just before the second and final caution of the race waved on lap ten. On the restart, Anderson tried to draw even with Clapper with point leader Phil Denikas to his inside. Lap after lap, Anderson struggled to pull alongside Clapper while Denikas waited for something to happen in front of him. Anderson mounted one final charge on lap 17, but couldn’t make it stick. Clapper crossed the stripe under the checkers first to get the win with Denikas nipping Anderson for second. Randy Breunig was fourth with Winters finishing fifth.

Andy Raley of Fall River captured the checkers to win the 25 lap Hobby Stock feature event. Tony Chase led early from the pole with Duane Deppe up to second. On lap six, Raley began his charge to the front as he fired into the outside lane. Raley pulled alongside Deppe for second with Dustin Ward following in this tracks. By lap nine, Raley was outside the leader and inching forward. Raley cleared for the top spot on lap ten with Ward in tow for third. Steven Sauer followed into third as the top three began to break away from the field. The leaders stayed single file over the course of the final 15 laps as they cruised to the checkers. Kale Peterman came home fourth with Chase in fifth.

Dave Schmidt of Menomonie claimed the 18 lap Bandit feature event. Jeremy Monday grabbed the lead on the first circuit with Bob Kohn in second. An early caution allowed Schmidt to pull to the outside of Kohn on the restart. As racing resumed, Schmidt charged alongside Monday looking to lead. Monday got loose on lap five allowing Schmidt to gain the lead and Kohn to follow into second. The leaders separated themselves from the rest of the field as they raced single file to the checkers. At the stripe, it was Schmidt for the win followed by Kohn, Monday, Nick Schmidt and Derek Dixon.

Matt Wachuta of Milton inherited the lead of the 8 lap Back Up feature and ran off to get the win. George Wachuta led on lap one with Matt riding in second. On lap two, George spun to the infield, handing the lead to Matt with Andy Ward in second. Ward shot past Wachuta on lap three as they raced away from the pack. On lap five, Ward got loose and spun to give the lead back to Matt Wachuta. Wachuta hung to see the checkers first followed by Ryan Oetzel and Dustin Von Allmen.

Joining the program was the FIRA/MiniMods division. Vern Brown led every lap to capture the 10 lap feature event. Starting on the pole, Brown grabbed the lead at the drop of the green with Jason Dull in second. Tim Roach followed into third as the top three broke away from the rest of the pack. Brown maneuvered through lapped traffic at the midpoint of the race with Dull looking to capitalize. But Brown hung on as he charged to the checkers for the win. Dull settled for second with Roach in third.

Next Friday, September 2, is Assembly Products Night with a full program of racing in all divisions. Time trials begin at 6:30 with racing at 8pm. Please visit www.columbus151.com for more information.