Mierendorf Masters Another Columbus 151
Speedway Late Model Main!
By Jim Remsik Jr.
May 31, 2002; Columbus, WI. - Butch Mierendorf held off the
charges of Don Gaserude of Fort Atkinson and
Andy Tomlinson to capture his second Late Model Feature victory of the season.
Would-be challengers had difficulty sticking in the outside groove including
outside pole-sitter Ed Wolff III who got loose early and slipped back initially. Dean
Schultz of Juneau would suffer the same fate on lap seven.
Only two caution flags, both for drivers spinning on their own, slowed the event. At
the line Mierendorf was followed by Gaserude, Tomlinson, Wolff, Jason Dunn of Sun Prairie,
Dean Schultz, and Jeff Falbe of Beaver Dam.
Kevin Anderson and Ron Coppernoll of Madison lead the street stocks to the line for
twenty-five laps of feature racing. As the green flag fell they proceeded to pull away
from the pack racing door to door each lap. By lap six they had pulled up on the slower
moving car of Tony Chase. As they raced into the corner Anderson and Coppernoll both tried
to use the second groove. The resulting contact sent them bouncing and sliding up the
track. Both would recover but not before losing positions, Ron Coppernoll would make
contact a few laps later with brother R.C. of Marshall and both would watch the remainder
of the race from the infield.
Dennis Catencamp inherited the lead followed by Kevin Anderson. Bob Jacobs of De Forest
took the second position away from Anderson at the halfway point. Bret Schmidt of
Watertown made his way to the front and drove around the outside of Catencamp on lap
sixteen. Dan Schmidt of Watertown made his way to the outside of Catencamp but couldn't
make it past him. As the checkered flag flew it was Bret Schmidt, Dennis Catencamp, Dan
Schmidt, Bob Jacobs, and Kevin Anderson.
Gary Pashley of Marshall and Gilbert Valdez brought the Hobby Stock Feature up to speed.
Valdez was loose early and fell back. Pashley, a rookie this season, drove a strong race
and lost the lead to lapped traffic in the waning moments of the event. Grant Lindner of
Poynette grabbed the lead on lap eighteen with Ken Scott coming on strong. Lindner would
maintain the lead as the race ended followed by Ken Scott, Jeremy Hartwig of Cottage
Grove, Gary Pashley, and John Remsik of Madison.
Renee Collins had a perfect debut for a rookie in the bandit division. She drove her Geo
Storm to nearly a clean sweep of the division missing out only on Fast Time. Rikki
Bishofberger of Fort Atkinson held on to the second position for much of the event.
Charles Novotny of Mauston powered his Honda to take the second spot from Bishofberger. At
the line it was Collins, Novotny, Bishofberger, Richard Boyce of Marshall, and Carl Rucks
of Rockdale.
Mark Remsik of Madison pulled off his second back-up victory of the season. Matt Wachuta
of Brooklyn held the early lead but spun when encountering traffic. As they crossed the
finish line it was Mark Remsik, Rick Verdon of Fitchburg, Tim Nonn, and Dave Moore.
Aaron Falbe of Beaver Dam, Gerry Junget of Rio, and Chris Kenney all posted Late Model
heat race victories with John Acker earning the Late Model Semi Feature honors. In the
street stocks Dale Ripp of Sun Prairie and Joe Roatch picked up heat race victories. James
Wingett of Fall River and Terry Wagsness of Whitewater captured hobby stock heat races, as
did Scott Buhrow who runs a long wheelbase four-cylinder car. He is running with the Hobby
stocks and being scored as a bandit.
Coming up this Friday at Columbus 151 Speedway is Auto Armor Night including a full race
program, the four-cylinder Bandit division, trailer races and the first night of the
Summer Rumble Series. The Summer Rumble Series is run two nights between Two Tracks with
one winner! Friday night racing is at Columbus 151 Speedway with the conclusion coming on
Saturday night at Jefferson Speedway.
For complete results from the RACESTAT computer click here |
