2002 Season Champions Crowned at Columbus
151 Speedway! September 7, 2002; Columbus, WI. - The Columbus 151 Speedway closed out the 2002 racing season on Friday night with Season Championship Night. Champions were crowned in all divisions with the point battles going down to the final lap in three of the five divisions in action.
In the 50-lap late model feature, Don Gaserude of Fort Atkinson found room inside of Jeff Falbe of Beaver Dam as they worked through slower traffic and moved into the lead on lap thirty-seven. From there, Gaserude cruised to his first win of the season. Gaserude is the eleventh different driver to win a feature in the division this season. Gerry Junget of Rio moved into the second spot and ran right with Gaserude the rest of the way. Russ Goodwin of Beloit followed in third ahead of Jeff Falbe. Aaron Wilke of Waterloo drove to fifth. Finishing in sixth through tenth were Al Weishoff of Columbus, Butch Mierendorf of Lake Mills, Terry Sauer of Waterloo, Steve Dobbratz of Rio and Scott Patrick of Dousman. Four drivers were in the hunt for the season championship going into the evening. Butch Mierendorf led Andy Tomlinson of Poynette by twenty-six points, Gerry Junget by thirty-six points and Dean Schultz of Juneau by forty points. Tomlinson and Schultz crashed ending their bids for the title. With Mierendorf finishing in seventh and Junget finishing in second, it was Junget who claimed the track championship by a mere eight points over Mierendorf. Tomlinson finished third at forty-eight points back and Schultz was fourth at sixty-six points back. It is the second consecutive late model track championship for Junget who won it as a rookie last season. Kevin Anderson of Cottage Grove led from start to finish in the 25-lap street stock feature. It was the second win of the season for Anderson. Bobby Stough Jr. of Waunakee pressured Anderson much of the way and finished in second. Randy Padfield of Edgerton drove to third. Bret Schmidt of Watertown moved up from the fifth row to finish in fourth. Jim Rohrbeck of Portage came all the way from the eighth row to take fifth. Finishing in sixth through tenth were Bob Jacobs of DeForest, Justin Schultz of Otsego, Ed Jackson of Madison, Ian Marks of Columbus and Noel Ramge of Helenville. In the hotly contested point battle, Justin Schultz held a slim five point advantage over Dan Schmidt of Watertown going into the evening. Bret Schmidt was only eight points off the pace and Bob Jacobs was twenty-three points back. When the checkered flag waved for the feature, it was the fourth place finish by Bret Schmidt that put him on top to claim his first track championship. Justin Schultz finished an impressive rookie season finishing second in the standings at only five points back. Bob Jacobs finished third at twenty-five points back. Dan Schmidt was only twenty-eight points back in fourth. Dennis Gaserude of Belleville took over the lead from Jim Schmidt of Watertown on lap fourteen and drove to the win in the 25-lap hobby stock feature. It was the first win of the season for Gaserude, who has raced on a limited basis this season. Gaserude is the eighth different driver to win a feature in the division this season. Schmidt continued on to finish in second. Bill Bush of Jefferson came across the line in third ahead of Grant Lindner of Poynette. Gary Pashley of Marshall followed in fifth. Ken Scott of Rio finished in sixth. Scott had already clinched the track championship before the season finale. It is the first track championship for Scott. Travis Schneeberg of Marshall captured his first win of the season in the 20-lap bandits feature. Charles Novotny of Mauston moved up from the fifth row to take second. Renee Collins of Lake Mills drove a strong race with a third place finish. Allen Petrie Jr. of Sun Prairie was fourth. Brandon Riedner of Waunakee followed in fifth. Charles Novotny claimed the track championship in the bandits division by a comfortable margin. Rick Verdon of Fitchburg became the track champion in the back up division in convincing style as he raced to his sixth win of the season in the back up finale. Mark Remsik of Deerfield crossed the line in second ahead of Bob Jacobs and Matthew Wachuta of Brooklyn. Dave Moore of McFarland, who was in the hunt for the championship, drove to fifth and finished second in the point standings. Andy Tomlinson led the late models in qualifying at 13.858. Bobby Stough Jr. paced the street stocks at 14.802. Ken Scott lowered his track record in the hobby stock division to 15.183. Charles Novotny was quick in the bandits at 16.750. Late model heat race wins were registered by Jim Dunn of Sun Prairie, Patrick Dwyer of Monona and Brent Knight of Watertown. Shane Radtke of Watertown and John Schafer of Monona were victorious in the street stock heats. Hobby stock heat race action saw Terry Wangsness of Whitewater and Larry Moen of Madison race to wins. Bandits heats were grabbed by Bill Reynolds of Watertown and Charles Novotny. Bill Retallick of Marshall won the late model semi-feature. The awards banquet for the 2002 season will be held at the East Side Business Men's Association in Monona on March 15, 2003. Tuning & Testing is scheduled to begin on April 9. A flea market will be held at the speedway on April 12 & 13 with the Moore's Towing & Service Car Show to be held on April 13. The first race of the season will be held on Sunday April 27. Action for the regular race programs then switches to Friday nights on May 2. The Wisconsin Challenge Series will return to the speedway for a special event on Sunday May 4. |
