Dobbratz Doubles in Late Model feature action!
By Dennis Thompson

June 16, 2000; Columbus, WI. -  It was a busy evening for Wisconsin Fans for Auto Racing Fan Appreciation Night at the Columbus 151 Speedway on Friday night. In addition to the regular program, make up features from Sherman’s Garage & Body Shop Night were run in the late model, street stock and back up divisions.

61600a.jpg (20338 bytes) Into the groove!  They say scoring your first feature win is the hardest and after that it gets easier to earn those checkered flags.  Steve Dobbratz (#52) seemed to prove just that as he recorded his first career Late Model feature win in a "make-up" event.  He then came back and scored his second career feature win, the same evening, in the regular feature race.

Steve Dobbratz of Rio had never won a late model feature at the speedway, but that all changed early in the evening as Dobbratz wrestled the lead away from Brent Knight of Watertown on lap two of the first thirty-five lap feature and drove away from the rest of the field enroute to the victory. With that first win, Dobbratz became the sixth different driver to win a feature in the division this season in as many events.

Brent Knight had his best finish of the season in the caution free event as he held on for second. John Ovadahl Jr. of Johnson Creek also had his best race of the year with a third place finish. Current point leader Dean Schultz of Juneau moved up from the sixth row to take fourth. Butch Mierendorf of Lake Mills drove to fifth.

After getting a taste of victory lane in the first feature, Dobbratz had his car hooked up as he charged from his fourth row starting position to chase down leader John Acker of Spring Green. Working the outside groove, Dobbratz made the pass on lap twenty-eight to take over the top spot. Acker fought back and had the edge as the pair crossed the line on the twenty-ninth lap only to have the caution come out before the entire field had completed the lap.

Going back to the last fully completed lap, Dobbratz took the point for the restart and never looked back to score an impressive second feature win of the evening. Acker crossed the line in second but was later disqualified for weighing in too light in the post race inspection. That moved Terry Sauer of Waterloo up into the second position. Bill Retallick of Marshall, behind the wheel for the first time this season, drove to third. Will Godding of Cross Plains drove a strong race to record his best finish of the season with a fourth place finish. Brent Knight followed in fifth.

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Ron Coppernoll recorded his first career Street Stock feature win and also earned some hardware from Wis. Fans for Auto Racing!

In street stock feature action, Ron Coppernoll of Madison scored his first feature win of the season in the first twenty-five lap feature. Coppernoll became the fifth different feature winner in the division this season. Dan Schmidt of Watertown drove to second. Richard Titus moved up from the fifth row to claim third. Noel Ramge of Helenville followed in fourth ahead of Curt Thompson of Palmyra.

In feature number two for the street stocks, Ron Coppernoll charged from his seventh row starting spot to take over the lead on lap sixteen and went on to also be a double winner as he took the checkered flag at the end of lap twenty-five. Ron Preskar of Juneau raced from the ninth row to pressure Coppernoll over the closing laps, but settled for second. Rick Coppernoll of Marshall followed in third ahead of Ron Schmitt of Jackson and Gerry Junget of Rio.

Dennis Gaserude of Oregon raced to his third feature win of the season in the twenty lap hobby stock feature. Andy Junget of Rio moved up well to finish in second. Jerry Chapman of Juneau came across the line in third. Justin Schultz of Rio was fourth. Jim Rohrbeck of Portage took fifth.

Jim Remsik of DeForest led from start to finish to capture his first win of the season in the first back up division race. Mark Remsik of Deerfield was second ahead of Rick Verdon of Fitchburg.

Steve Broome of Deansville led the field to the checkered flag in the second back up race of the evening. Mark Remsik again drove to second. Ron Schneidewind of Madison was third.

Fast times for the evening were turned in by Dean Schultz in the late models at 13.837, Ron Preskar in the street stocks at 14.688 and Andy Junget in the hobby stocks at 15.653.

Late model heat race wins were registered by Ed Wolff III of Watertown, Steve Dobbratz and Brent Knight. Dobbratz was awarded the win in heat two after Don Gaserude of Oregon did not make weight in the post race inspection. Fred Strobel of Allenton, Kevin Anderson of Madison and Mike Cusick of Edgerton were victorious in the street stock heats. Hobby stock heat wins went to Dennis Gaserude and Jim Rohrbeck.

Racing action continues this Friday night at the Columbus 151 Speedway with the Dick Moore Memorial Night. Extended feature events will be 50 laps for the late models, 30 laps for the street stocks and 25 laps for the hobby stocks. There will also be a toy toss for the kids. For more information on the Columbus 151 Speedway, visit www.racingonline.com/columbus151.

RESULTS

LATE MODEL:
MAKE-UP FEATURE:
1.) Steve Dobbratz, Rio; 2.) Brent Knight, Watertown; 3.) John Ovadahl Jr., Hellenville; 4.) Dean Schultz, Juneau; 5.) Butch Mierendorf, Lake Mills
FEATURE: 1.) Steve Dobbratz, Rio; 2.) Terry Sauer, Waterloo; 3.) Bill Retallick, Marshall; 4.) Will Godding, Cross Plains; 5.) Brent Knight, Watertown
FIRST HEAT: 1.) Ed Wolff III, Watertown
SECOND HEAT: 1.) Steve Dobbratz, Rio
THIRD HEAT: 1.) Brent Knight, Watertown
FAST QUALIFIER: #34 Dean Schultz, Juneau,.............13.837 Seconds

STREET STOCKS:
MAKE-UP FEATURE:
1.) Ron Coppernoll, Madison; 2.) Dan Schmidt, Watertown; 3.) Richard Titus, Jefferson; 4.) Noel Ramge, Hellenville; 5.) Curt Thompson, Palmyra
FEATURE: 1.) Ron Coppernoll, Madison; 2.) Ron Preskar, Juneau; 3.) Rick Coppernoll, Marshall; 4.) Ron Schmidt, Jackson; 5.) Gerry Junget, Rio
FIRST HEAT: 1.) Fred Strobel, Allenton
SECOND HEAT: 1.) Kevin Anderson, Madison
THIRD HEAT: 1.) Mike Cusick, Edgerton
FAST QUALIFIER: #71 Ron Peskar, Juneau,............14.688 Seconds

HOBBY STOCKS:
FEATURE:
1.) Dennis Gaserude, Oregon; 2.) Andy Junget, Rio; 3.) Jerry Chapman, Juneau; 4.) Justin Schultz, Rio; 5.) Jim Rohrbeck, Portage
FIRST HEAT: 1) Dennis Gaserude, Oregon
SECOND HEAT: 1)
Jim Rohrbeck, Portage
FAST QUALIFIER: #70 Andy Junget, Rio,...........15.837 Seconds

BACK-UPS:
MAKE-UP FEATURE:
1.) Jim Remsik, DeForest; 2.) Mark Remsik, Deerfield; 3.) Rick Verdon, Fitchberg
FEATURE: 1.) Steve Broome, Deansville; 2.) Mark Remisk, Deerfield; 3.) Ron Schneidewind, Madison