Mierendorf Masters Late Model Action in
Columbus 151 Speedway Opener! May 3, 2002; Columbus, WI. - Butch Mierendorf of Waterloo drove to victory in the thirty-five lap late model feature at the Columbus 151 Speedway on Friday night. Mierendorf took over the lead on lap twenty-seven when he was able to move by Delbert Desjarlais of Columbus on the outside.
A caution on lap thirty-three bunched up the field, but when the track went green for the final two laps, Mierendorf finished strong to record the victory. Andy Tomlinson of Poynette and Russ Goodwin of Beloit, who both started the event in ninth row, powered their way to second and third respectively. Desjarlais crossed the line in fourth ahead of Scottie Hatton of Waterloo. Gerry Junget of Rio, Brent Knight of Watertown, Dean Schultz of Juneau, Ed Wolff III of Clyman and Dale Smith of Lake Mills rounded out the top ten. In a wild street stock feature, early race leader Tom Collins of Lake Mills, who had dropped to third, regained the lead on lap nineteen after the two frontrunners were involved in an incident that sent them both to the back of the field. Collins then held off the challenges of R.C. Coppernoll of Marshall, who drove to second. Dan Schmidt of Watertown followed in third ahead of John Schafer of Monona. Randy Padfield of Edgerton was fifth. Eric Severson of Rio escaped injury in a wild crash on lap seven. Severson and Ron Coppernoll of Madison tangled as they came out of turn four and started down the front straight. Severson's car flipped and came to a rest back on its wheels near the end of the straight. The car received heavy damage. Ken Scott of Rio took over the lead with only two laps remaining and went on to capture the twenty-lap hobby stock feature. Jerry Chapman of Juneau made a late race bid but came up short to finish in second. Grant Lindner of Poynette took third. John Remsik of Madison was fourth. Jim Wingett of Fall River took fifth. Charles Novotny of Mauston moved out in front on lap ten and went on to win the Bandit feature after race leader Scott Buhrow of Reedsburg got caught up in traffic. Buhrow settled for second ahead of Dave Hundley of Rockton, IL and Travis Schneeberg of Marshall. Tina Hoff of Watertown was fifth. Vern Brown of Waunakee claimed the Formula Indy Racing Association Pro division feature while Eric Ritchey of Delavan took the honors in the Pro-Am division. Steve Oetzel of Marshall led from start to finish to take the win in the back up division. Tim Nonn of Belleville drove to second. Rick Verdon of Fitchburg was third. Fast times on the evening were turned in by Russ Goodwin in the late models at 13.915, Dave Oswald of Cottage Grove in the street stocks at 14.923, Ken Scott in the hobby stocks at 15.889, Charles Novotny in the bandits at 17.234 and Vern Brown in the Formula Indy cars at 13.908. Late model heat race wins were registered by Delbert Desjarlais, Terry Sauer of Waterloo and Rob Retallick of Deerfield. Street stock heat wins went to Dale Ripp of Sun Prairie, Randy Padfield and Eric Severson. Hobby stock heat race wins were recorded by Lincoln Keeser of Milton and Ken Scott. The Bandit heat win was recorded by Dave Hundley. Vern Brown won the Formula Indy heat. This Friday night will be the Miller Challenge Series Race #1. The late model division will run a fifty lap feature. Also on the schedule are blindfold races. There will be a toy toss for the kids at intermission |
