Bill Retallick leads charge in Late Model action at Columbus 151!

Bill Retallick leads charge in Late Model action at Columbus 151!
By Dennis Thompson

September 2, 2000; Columbus, WI. - Bill Retallick of Marshall charged from his seventh row starting position to take over the lead on lap thirty-three and went on to win the the thirty-five lap late model feature at the Columbus 151 Speedway on Friday night. It was the second win of the season for Retallick. John Acker of Spring Green, who had led from the start, finished in second. Butch Mierendorf of Lake Mills was third. Rich Schumann Jr. of Portage followed in fourth ahead of Ed Wolff III of Watertown.

Bill Retallick (#9) charged from the back of the pack to the lead with just two laps to go in the Late Model feature event. The event marked the second victory of the season for the veteran racer.

Gerry Junget of Rio drove past Ron Coppernoll of Madison on lap thirteen and pulled away from the field on his way to his first win of the season in the twenty-five lap street stock feature. Junget is the eleventh different driver to win a feature in the division this season. Dale Ripp of Sun Prairie moved up to finish in second. Ron Coppernoll followed in third. Kevin Anderson of Cottage Grove crossed the line in fourth. Randy Padfield of Stoughton took fifth.

A first time winner! Former Hobby Stock hotshoe Gerry Junget (#39) moved to the Street Stock division this season and on this evening he recorded his first career feature victory in the class. The victory made him the eleventh different driver to win a Street Stock feature at Columbus 151 Speedway this season.

Lincoln Keeser of Milton led from start to finish to capture the twenty-lap hobby stock feature. It was Keeser’s first win of the season. He is the tenth different driver to win a feature in the division this season. Tim Noble of Janesville drove a strong race and finished in second. Dennis Schmidt of Johnson Creek raced to third ahead of John Remsik of Sun Prairie and Justin Schultz of Rio.

Before the cameras of the television show Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Mark Remsik of Deerfield raced to his second win of the season in the back up division. Bruce Havel of Deerfield came on strong at the end to finish in second. Dan Sheldon of Madison was third.

Shayne Poehnelt of Sun Prairie battled to the win in the fifteen lap Junior Motorsports feature. Scott Kleist of Poynette drove to second ahead of Ben Kreyer of Poynette. Bryan Pautsch of Sun Prairie took fourth ahead of Nick Maerz of Arena.

Fast times for the evening were turned in by Bill Retallick in the late models at 14.071, Dennis Schmidt of Juneau in the street stocks at 14.803, Grant Lindner of Poynette in the hobby stocks at 15.704, Shayne Poehnelt in the Junior Motorsports at 16.551 and Dave Moore of McFarland in the back ups at 17.255.

Late model heat race wins were registered by John Acker and Will Godding of Cross Plains. Gerry Junget and Ron Coppernoll were victorious in the street stock heats. Hobby stock heat race wins were recorded by Gilbert Valdez of Madison and Jim Rohrbeck of Portage. Reed Powers of Poynette and Ben Kreyer claimed the Junior Motorsports heats. Paul Schmudlach of Cross Plains won the Junior Motorsports dash.

This Friday night is Season Championship Night at the Columbus 151 Speedway. The tight battle for the late model track title will be decided. Al Weishoff of Otsego holds down the top spot in the standings. Randy Breunig of Columbus has moved into the second position only fourteen points back of Weishoff. Dean Schultz of Juneau is third at only twenty points back from the lead. Terry Sauer of Waterloo still holds down a mathematical chance at the title at one hundred eight points off the pace.

Ron Preskar of Juneau has wrapped up the championship in the street stock division while Dennis Gaserude of Oregon has claimed the hobby stock crown.

The back up division is wide open as Ron Schneidewind of Madison holds a slim three point lead over Dave Moore. Rick Verdon of Fitchburg is only twelve points back from the lead in third.

The Season Championship features will be fifty laps for the late models, thirty-five laps for the street stocks and twenty-five laps for the hobby stocks. Also on the schedule are powder puff and mechanics races. The night will also see the return of the trailer races. This will be Holloween night for the kids with the first two hundred kids receiving Holloween costumes.

The Columbus 151 Speedway management also announced the opening dates for the 2001 racing season. The Moore’s Towing & Service Racing 2001 Car Show will take place on Sunday April 22. The first race of the season will be on Sunday afternoon April 29. The first Friday night of the season will be on May 4.

RESULTS

LATE MODEL:
FEATURE: 1.) Bill Retallick, Marshall; 2.) John Acker, Spring Green; 3.) Butch Mierendorf, Lake Mills; 4.) Rich Schumann Jr., Portage; 5.) Ed Wolf III, Waterown
FIRST HEAT: 1.) John Acker, Spring Green
SECOND HEAT: 1.) Will Godding, Cross Plains
FAST QUALIFIER: #1R Bill Retallick, Marshall,.........14.071 Seconds

STREET STOCKS:
FEATURE: 1.) Gerry Junget, Rio; 2.) Dale Ripp, Sun Prairie; 3.) Ron Coppernoll, Madison; 4.) Kevin Anderson, Cottage Grove; 5.) Randy Padfield, Stoughton
FIRST HEAT: 1.) Gerry Junget, Rio
SECOND HEAT: 1.) Ron Coppernoll, Madison
FAST QUALIFIER: #51 Dennis Schmidt, Juneau,............14.803 Seconds

HOBBY STOCKS:
FEATURE: 1.) Lincoln Keeser, Milton; 2.) Tim Nobel, Janesville; 3.) Dennis Schmidt, Johnson Creek; 4.) John Remsik, Sun Prairie; 5.) Justin Schultz, Rio
FIRST HEAT: 1) Gilbert Valdez, Madison
SECOND HEAT: 1) Jim Rohrbeck, Portage
FAST QUALIFIER: #30 Grant Lindner, Poynette,.........15.704 Seconds

JUNIOR MOTORSPORTS:
FEATURE: 1.) Shayne Poehnelt, Sun Prairie; 2.) Scott Kleist, Poynette; 3.) Ben Kreyer, Poynette; 4.) Bryan Pautsch, Sun Prairie; 5.) Nick Maerz, Arena.
FIRST HEAT: 1) Reed Powers, Poynette
SECOND HEAT: 1) Ben Kreyer, Poynette
DASH: 1.) Paul Schmudlach, Cross Plains
FAST QUALIFIER: Ben Kreyer, Poynette,.........16.551 Seconds

BACK-UPS:
FEATURE: 1.) Mark Remsik, Deerfield; 2.) Bruce Havel, Deerfield; 3.) Dan Sheldon, Madison
FAST QUALIFIER: #11 Dave Moore, McFarland,..........17.255 Seconds