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Deppe Delivers Victory at
Columbus 151 Speedway!
By Natasha Fabian |
July 23, 2004; Columbus, WI. - The finish of the
Late Model feature at the Columbus 151 Speedway Friday night was much like the week before
as Andy Wendt and Duane Deppe ran side by side for the final lap of the contest, only
Deppe won the near photo finish, while Wendt (the previous winner) settled for second
place. Deppe's race was about defending his position, but Wendt's was a hard fought battle
through the raucous 18-car field.
It took a few caution laps before everyone had the bugs worked out of their cars,
and when the field was getting ready to do some serious racing, a few cars in the front of
the bunch checked up and serious damage was avoided until two cars in the back, Mike Held
and Aaron Wilke tangoed, Held spinning and Wilke taking a cruise into the turn
three wall. Deppe, who had started third on the grid took over the lead from rookie Chuck
Egli on lap six and never looked back. Egli shifted to the outside, quickly losing ground.
Andy Wendt stepped up the pace and Egli handed over the outside groove to the current
point leader, who used it for
all it was worth. Wendt made his way up to seventh from his 16th place starting spot by
lap 12, then up to sixth by lap 14. A disturbance on the back stretch bound the pack
together halfway through when Held's aggressive driving helped Clayton Braaksma and Jerry
Auby spin around. The top five cars were all strong frontrunners - Deppe, Rob Retallick,
Tony Schuchardt, Don Mattrisch, and Dean Schultz held down the lead. As is classic of
Wendt, with more experience and victories than many of the drivers at the Speedway, he put
on a clinic for drivers and one beguiling show for the fans. One more caution strung the
field single file but as the story ends, Deppe and Wendt brought it down to the wire,
Deppe taking the white flag clearly first, and winning by only a matter of inches.
In a post-race interview, Wendt was light-hearted. "He (Deppe) raced pretty clean,
I mean I like Duane - he's a good guy. He wanted to win pretty badly and he worked hard.
It was fun, I had a good time. He was taking up a little room, making the turns wide, but
I banged on his door a little bit just to let him know I was there and he ran clean."
A rookie herself, but a third generation driver from a successful line of well-known
heroes on the racing scene, 17-year-old Bobbi Bishofberger lead the first nine laps of the
Street Stock feature. However, at that point a miss in her motor was getting the best of
her and she was forced to retire, recording a DNF for the night. The race was relatively
smooth, the greatest upset happening early in the race when Dan Schmidt's rear axle broke
on the front straight. At the line it was Bret Schmidt, followed by Kevin Anderson in a
distant second, and a close pack side-by-side behind him.
The Hobby Stock race was a melee at the start of the event but with four laps to go,
all early race commotion was forgotten. Terry Wangsness gave '03 Champion Gary Pashley a
run for his money, the two engaging in an aggressive side-by-side battle for the lead.
Pashley was able to get the most advantage off the lapped traffic, but it didn't last for
long. Pashley took the win, Wangsness crossing alongside Pashley's rear quarter.
Auto Armor sponsored the night's events at the Speedway, and the company sponsored Ford
of Bryan Johnson gave an impressive demonstration of what he could do on the quarter-mile
asphalt oval. Auto Armor made a deal with the fans, building the excitement throughout the
night. If Johnson won the feature the company offered to buy the first 44 people to the
concession stand a Pepsi. The starting grid offered Johnson no mercy. The quick-time
qualifier started in the 20th spot, outside hard charger Dan Birkett. The crowd went wild,
watching Birkett and Johnson haul through the field. Jim Remsik Jr. tried on a new paint
scheme and number for size and the combination was victorious. Starting 12th, the win was
no easy one, but Remsik held on for a big lead at the finish.
Mark Remsik was the winner in the Backup feature over Steve Oetzel and Dave Moore. The
division runs full-sized cars driven in reverse and have point standings, as in the other
divisions.
And about all of those Remsiks. John (#81 Backup) and Tina (#98 Bandit) are husband and
wife, and is joined on the racing surface by brothers Mark (#84 Backup) and Jim Jr. (#25
Bandit). Father Jim Remsik drivers the wrecker at
the track. If that's not enough, Scott Hart (#88 Backup) is Jim Jr.'s brother-in-law. Jim
Jr. also noted that his neighbor attended the races for the first time and had a blast and
will definitely be back. There's no joke that Columbus 151 Speedway is the "Family
Track."
Dave Moore of McFarland recorded a top-three finish in the Backup race, but won the
Trailer race without contest. John Sherman of Madison finished second, and Judy Farr of
Stoughton was third.
For complete results from the RACESTAT computer click here
RESULTS
Late Model
Qualifying: Andy Wendt, Watertown 13.688 secs
Heats: Ty James, Oconomowoc; Chuck Egli, Waterloo; Rob Retallick, Deerfield
Semi: James, Paul Seeber, Watertown
Feature: (1-10) Duane Deppe, Waterloo; Wendt; Retallick; Tony Schuchardt, Oregon; John
Wasserburger, Poynette; Dean Schultz, Juneau; Nick Wendt, Watertown; Brent Knight,
Watertown; Don Mattrisch, Fort Atkinson; Egli
(11-20) James; Clayton Braaksma, Beaver Dam; Jerry Auby, Sun Prairie; Mike Taylor,
Stoughton; Seeber; Mike Held, West Bend; Bill Retallick, Marshall; Aaron Wilke, Waterloo
Street Stock
Qualifying: Bret Schmidt, Watertown 14.203 secs
Heats: Kevin Anderson, Cottage Grove; Bobby Stough, Jr., Waunakee
Feature: Schmidt; Anderson; Joe Roatch, Brooklyn; Randy Padfield, Stoughton; Stough, Jr.
Hobby Stock
Qualifying: Jim Tate, Jr., Watertown 15.316 secs
Heats: Dennis Stilson, Pardeeville; Dennis Schmidt, Johnson Creek; David Schwark, Sun
Prairie
Feature: Gary Pashley, York Center; Terry Wangsness, Delavan; Mike Kearney, Rio; Ken Au,
Jefferson; Larry Moen, Madison
Bandit
Qualifying: Bryan Johnson, Stoughton 16.739
Heats: Mike Storkson, Madison; Tina Remsik, Watertown; Bryan Johnson, Stoughton
Feature: Jim Remsik, Jr., DeForest; Brandon Riedner, Waunakee; Dan Birkett, Lodi; Johnson;
Steve Privett, Fall River
Backup Cars
Feature: Mark Remsik, Deerfield; Steven Oetzel, Marshall; Dave Moore,
McFarland; George Wachuta, Brooklyn; Wayne Hook, Oregon |
