Auby Dominates Dick Moore Memorial

by Andrew Schaller
Sun Prairie’s Jerry Auby led flag to flag on his way to claiming the 50 lap Dick Moore Memorial Late Model feature at Columbus 151 Speedway on Friday night. Auby survived several restarts after caution periods, holding off the competition to get the win.

Starting on the pole alongside Jerry Eckhardt, Auby took control of the event on lap one with Al Weishoff in tow for second and Eckhardt falling into third. The first of five cautions appeared on lap two allowing Nick Wendt to join the party at the front of the field. After another yellow flag waved on lap ten, Auby began to open up a healthy advantage while point leader Scott Ollerman started to battle with Weishoff for second. On lap 15, contact between Weishoff and Ollerman forced Weishoff to spin and bring out the third caution. Both drivers were forced to the rear for the restart, handing second to Scott Patrick. The leaders remained single file through the next two cautions. Both yellow flags erased big leads for Auby, but each time the green waved again, Auby would return to a large advantage. Auby cruised to the stripe to take the victory followed by Patrick, Andy Tomlinson, Wendt and Eckhardt.

Dan Gosda of DeForest also led every lap of the 30 lap Sportsman feature event on his way to the getting the win. Starting from the pole, Gosda took the lead at the stripe to complete lap one with Gary Winters falling in line in second. The leaders lined up single file behind Gosda until Winters experienced mechanical difficulties on lap 12 and was forced to retire for the evening. Ben Hewitt charged up to second with point leader Phil Denikas riding in third. The top three started to break away from the pack slightly as the laps ticked away. Denikas remained on Hewitt’s rear bumper, waiting for an opening which never appeared. At the checkers, it was Gosda with the convincing win followed by Hewitt, Denikas, Jake Wasserburger and Kevin Anderson.

Billy Robinson of Orfordville charged to the front of the field early in the 30 lap Hobby Stock main event and led the rest of the way to get the victory. Kurt Peterman and Tony Chase paced the field to green with Peterman grabbing the initial lead on lap one. Robinson slid up to second and began to work on Peterman for the top spot. On lap two, Robinson got into the rear of Peterman in turn three, but allowed him to correct his mount and stay in front. Robinson motored to the high side and pulled even with Peterman on lap three, taking control of the lead a lap later as Steven Sauer moved into the third spot. Sauer moved into the second spot on lap six as Robinson was already enjoying a large lead. Sauer spent the remainder of the event trying to run Robinson down. His wishes were granted on lap 21 when the yellow waved erasing Robinson’s lead. But Robinson stayed strong over the final nine circuits to get the win. Rounding out the top five were Sauer, Dustin Ward, Kale Peterman and Andy Raley.

In Bandit action, it was Jason Clapper of Dane holding off a hard charging Will Rece to take the victory of the 25 lap feature event. Clapper took the lead on the opening lap from the front row with Keith Erickson moving to second. Kyle Watters motored to the outside of Erickson and into second on lap five as he began to pressure Clapper for the top spot. Will Rece took over the third spot just before caution waved on lap seven. As racing resumed, Watters tried to make the outside work, pulling even with Clapper for the top spot while Rece watched from third. Watters started to lose grip on the high side as he slipped back in the battle with Rece for second. Rece claimed second on lap 14 as Watters went backwards. On lap 16, Rece moved to the outside as he made his bid for the lead. A final caution waved on lap 22, ending the side by side battle between Clapper and Rece and handing sole possession of the top spot back to Clapper. Rece tried the high groove one more time as the green flag waved once again. Rece pulled up to Clapper’s door as the crossed under the white flag. At the stripe, Clapper held the edge with Rece having to settle for second. Jeff LeFave was third followed by Watters and Erickson.

In wild and crazy Back Up action, it was Matt Wachuta of Milton getting the win in the 8 lap feature. John Von Allmen led early on with Wachuta charging up to second on lap two. Wachuta continued to move forward as he ran down Von Allmen on lap four. Wachuta wasted little time, firing past Von Allmen into the lead and driving off to the checkers for the win. Von Allmen was second with George Wachuta in third.

Next Friday, September 3, is a Fan Appreciation Night at the Speedway 50% off general admission tickets and a full program in all divisions. Time trials begin at 6:30 with racing at 8pm. Please visit www.columbus151.com for more information.