Tomlinson tops Columbus 151 Speedway Friday Night Opener!
By Dennis Thompson

April 30, 1999; Columbus, WI. -  Andy Tomlinson of Poynette scored his second career late model feature win as he drove to victory in the thirty-five lap main event on WIBA-FM Night at the Columbus 151 Speedway on Friday night. Tomlinson, who started the event on the outside of row six, used the high groove to slip past Howard Hosely of Sun Prairie on lap twenty-three and cruised to the checkered flag in the opening points race of the season. Hosely went on to finish second ahead of Bruce Havel of Deerfield. Duane Deppe of Waterloo followed in fourth. Dean Schultz of Juneau came from his seventh row starting spot to finish fifth.

Andy Tomlinson found his way to victory lane after the Late Model feature event at Columbus 151 Speedway.  The program marked the opening of the Friday Night racing season at the track. Tomlinson came from deep in the field to win the event.

The race was red flagged on lap twenty for a multi-car crash on the front straight. Then leader Steve Schlosser of Fond du lac slowed momentarily as he exited turn four. Don Gaserude of Fort Atkinson made contact with Schlosser and then collected Al Weishoff of Otsego setting off a chain reaction that saw heavy contact involving the cars of Scott Patrick of Dousman, Mike Langsdorf of Doylestown, Terry Sauer of Waterloo and Mike Kolb of Wauwatosa. Sauer's car ended up on top another car when the melee came to a stop. All drivers were uninjured with the exception of Terry Sauer who complained of soreness in his neck. He was transported to Columbus hospital for observation.

They stacked them up!! The Late Model feature race during this evenings program saw a multi-car tangle on the front stretch. The accident begins when a pair of cars tangle and the rest of the field, racing closely together begins to pile into one another. The #13 car of Terry Sauer is shown in the center photo flying into the air.  When action finally stopped track workers were able to begin to unstack the cars (bottom photo).  All the drivers avoided serious injury, though Sauer complained of a sore neck.

Ed Jackson of Madison, the 1998 Rookie of the Year in the street stock division, showed that he will be a force to be reckoned with this season as he drove to his first feature win in the twenty-five lap street stock feature. Jeni Westergaard of Columbus drove another strong race to finish in second. Dan Howard of Baraboo moved up from the eighth row to finish in third. Ron Schmitt of Jackson drove to fourth. John Kolb of Juneau charged from the ninth row to finish in fifth.

Ed Jackson who won last year's Rookie of the Year honors in the Street Stock division got his 1999 racing season off to a great start by winning the feature event.  Jackson bested Jeni Westergaard and Dan Howard to score the win.

Jerry Chapman of Juneau took over the lead on lap twelve and went on to score the win in the twenty lap hobby stock feature. Dennis Gaserude of Oregon followed Chapman across the line in second. Damon Stier of Sun Prairie led a good portion of the race and placed third. John Hibner of Pardeeville moved up well to take fourth ahead of Mike Goeman Jr. of Hartford.

Jerry Chapman was the winner of the Hobby Stock feature race.  Chapman also earlier celebrated in victory lane after winning his heat race.

Bruce Havel captured his second win in as many events in the back up race. Dave Moore of McFarland finished second. Dan Sheldon of Madison was third.

Chris Blawat of Wales overpowered the field in the Formula Indy Racing Association feature taking the pro division feature win over Jim Chapley of Northbrook, IL. Dean Milliken of Wales won the pro-am division feature.

Through the first two events, Bruce Havel (#15) the defending back-up champion, has remained undefeated.  It would appear anyone attempting to win the backup car title this season will have to find a way to beat this driver.

Fast times for the evening were turned in by Scott Patrick in the late models at 13.579, Ron Preskar of Juneau in the street stocks at 14.136, Gerry Junget of Rio in the hobby stocks at 15.499 and Chris Blawat in the Formula Indy cars at 13.568.

Late model heat race wins were registered by Howard Hosely and Patrick Dwyer of Monona. Dave Beck of Butler, Richard Colvin of Poynette and Ron Preskar were victorious in the street stock heats. In hobby stock heat race action, Jerry Chapman and Dan Schmidt of Watertown drove to wins. Formula Indy car heat race wins were recorded by Don Brown of Geneva, Il. and Jim Chapley.

Clayton Broesch Jr. of Rio claimed the street stock semi-feature win over John Kolb and Dennis Catencamp of Marshall.

In Ad World spectator race action, Dale Chitek of DeForest registered the win in the four cylinder class. Rick Krajewski of Marshall took second. Bob Rabe of Madison was third. Wayne Ninnemann of Fort Atkinson ruled the six cylinder class. Jeff Stange of Juneau placed second ahead of Tom Pfeifer of Jefferson. The eight cylinder class was won by Chris Rowley of Cottage Grove. Jim Hunt of Madison took second. Steve Rutherford of Stoughton was third.

Traci Kohlmetz of Fort Atkinson escaped injury, in a hard crash into the fourth turn wall during the six cylinder competition. Her 1997 Pontiac Grand Prix was demolished in the crash.

Racing action continues this Friday night at the Columbus 151 Speedway with Wisconsin Fans For Auto Racing Night. Also on the schedule for the evening will be the first B. J. ts Roadside Rollover Contest of the season. Time Trials are set to begin at 6:15 p.m. with the first race scheduled for 7:45 p.m.

RESULTS

LATE MODEL:
FEATURE: 1.) #31 Andy Tomlinson, Poynette; 2.) #03 Howard Hosley, Sun Prairie; 3.) Bruce Havel, Deerfield; 4.) #17 Daune Deppe, Waterloo; 5.) #34 Dean Schultz, Juneau
FIRST HEAT: 1.) #03 Howard Hosely, Sun Prairie
SECOND HEAT: 1.) #94 Patrick Dwyer, Monona
FAST QUALIFIER: #40 Scott Patrick, Dousman...... 13.579 Seconds

STREET STOCKS:
FEATURE: 1.) #87 Ed Jackson, Madison; 2.) #91 Jeni Westergaard, Columbus; 3.) #25 Dan Howard, Baraboo; 4.) Ron Schmitt, Jackson; 5.) John Kolb, Juneau
SEMI-FEATURE: 1) #28 Clayton Broesch Jr., Rio; 2.) #95 John Kolb, Juneau; 3.) Dennis Catencamp, Marshall
FIRST HEAT: 1.) #46 Dave Beck, Butler
SECOND HEAT: 1.) #47 Richard Colvin, Poynette
THIRD HEAT: 1) #71 Ron Preskar, Juneau
FAST QUALIFIER: #71 Ron Preskar, Juneau....... 13.136 Seconds

HOBBY STOCKS:
FEATURE: 1.) # 7 Jerry Champman, Juneau; 2.) #18 Dennis Gaserude, Oregon; 3.) # 5 Damon Stier, Sun Prairie; 4.) #68 John Hibner, Pardeeville; 5.) #80 Mike Goeman Jr., Hartford
FIRST HEAT: 1) # 7 Jerry Chapman, Juneau
SECOND HEAT: 1) #19 Dan Schmidt, Watertown
FAST QUALIFIER: #71 Gerry Junget, Rio...... 15.499 Seconds

BACK-UPS:
FEATURE: 1.) #15 Bruce Havel, Deerfield; 2.) #11 Dave Moore, McFarland; 3.) #21 Dan Sheldon, Madison