Columbus 151 toasts the best of drivers of 1999 at awards banquet!
By Dennis Thompson

March 11, 2000; McFarland, WI. - The Columbus 151 Speedway held its annual awards banquet at the Park Ponderosa in McFarland on Saturday night March 11th. The gathering took a look back at the 1999 season and a look forward to the 2000 season.

The fans, sponsors, drivers, owners and all others that contributed to the speedway during the 1999 season were thanked for their support throughout the season.

Frank and Dolly Preskar and Penny and Dave Schultz were recognized for their involvement with the Columbus 151 Speedway Fan Club. The Fan Club also provides point fund money raised from their 50/50 raffle drawing.

In the late model division, seventeen drivers were qualified for the point fund. Scott Patrick of Dousman claimed his second consecutive track championship. Others finishing in the top ten in points were Mike Langsdorf of Doylestown, Dean Schultz of Juneau, Andy Tomlinson of Poynette, Terry Sauer of Waterloo, Bruce Havel of Deerfield, Randy Breunig of Columbus, Don Gaserude of Fort Atkinson, Duane Deppe of Waterloo and Al Weishoff of Otsego.

Fifteen drivers also received point fund money from the Pepsi Triple 60's Challenge Series. Scott Patrick was the series champion. Finishing in second through fifth in the series were Terry Sauer, Randy Breunig, Dean Schultz and Al Weishoff.

Twenty drivers were eligible for point fund money in the street stock division. Dan Howard of Baraboo drove to his first track championship. Finishing in second through tenth were Ron Preskar of Juneau, Ron Schmitt of Jackson, Will Gooding of Cross Plains, Jeni Westergaard of Columbus, John Kolb of Juneau, Dennis Schmidt of Beaver Dam, Kevin Anderson of Madison, Jay Spahn of Middleton and Richard Colvin of Poynette.

Ten drivers were eligible for point fund money in the hobby stock division. The track championship was won by Dennis Gaserude of Oregon. It was the third championship for Gaserude. Also in the top ten were Gerry Junget of Rio, Andy Junget of Rio, Ken Scott of Rio, Grant Lindner of Poynette, Dan Schmidt of Watertown, Jim Rohrbeck of Portage, Jason Hibner of Pardeeville, Lincoln Keeser of Jefferson and Jerry Chapman of Juneau.

Eight drivers were eligible in the back up division for point fund money. Bruce Havel captured his fourth track championship. Dave Moore of McFarland, Mark Remsik of Deerfield, Rick Verdon of Fitchburg and Ron Schneidewind of Madison rounded out the top five.

Sue Spiess of Madison was the street stock powder puff champion while Rachel Langsdorf of Doylestown took the honors in the hobby stock division.

Five drivers were honored for their support of the speedway since the Moore Family began operating the speedway about midway through the 1981 season. Rick Coppernoll of Marshall and Terry Sauer of Waterloo have raced regularly in every season. Gary Conner of Ridgeway missed only one season and Duane Deppe and Howard Hosely of Sun Prairie missed two seasons.

The Hard Charger Award was sponsored by Advance Auto Body, NAPA Auto Parts of Columbus & Sun Prairie, Marshall Pub, Valley Welding & Machining and J & L Repair. The late model division hard charger champion was Scott Patrick. Dan Howard was the street stock hard charger champion and Gerry Junget took the honors in the hobby stock division.

The Hobby Stock Fast Time-Feature Winner Program was sponsored by JRC Auto Repair & Machine Shop and NAPA Auto Parts. Gerry Junget was awarded the prize fund due to his fast time and feature wins on June 18th and July 30th in addition to setting fast time the most times in the division with nine.

The Street Stock Fast Time-Feature Winner Program was sponsored by Jeche Garage and Economy Firewood. Ron Preskar was the big winner with his fast qualifier and feature win on August 13th in addition to setting fast time in the division on twelve occasions.

The Columbus 151 Speedway Rookie of the Year honors went to John Ovadahl Jr. in the late model division, Dennis Schmidt in the street stock division, Dave Schwark of Sun Prairie in the hobby stock division and Steve Oetzel in the back up division. Dan Cook of B & K Metal Fab made the presentations.

The Flyway Automotive Rookie Program also honored the same drivers.

Hard Luck Awards went to Al Weishoff in the late model division, Jay Spahn in the street stock division and Jason Hibner in the hobby stock division. Jim Remsik of Madison and Steve Oetzel were both named in the back up division.

Sportsmanship Awards were given to Mike Langsdorf in the late model division, John Schafer of Monona and Ed Jackson of Madison the street stock division, Ken Scott in the hobby stock division and Bruce Havel and Jim Remsik in the back up division.

The Most Improved Drivers for the year were Andy Tomlinson in the late models, Jeni Westergaard in the street stocks and Grant Lindner in the hobby stocks.

The Columbus 151 Speedway will open the 2000 season with Tuning & Testing scheduled to begin on Wednesday April 5th from 4:30 until dark weather permitting. The Moore's Towing & Service Racing 2000 Car Show will be held on Sunday April 16th from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The first race of the season will be on Sunday April 30th. Gates will open at 9:00 a.m. The track will open for hot laps at 9:30 a.m. Time trials are set for noon with racing to begin at 2:00 p.m. The first Friday night program will be on May 5th.