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Bill Retallick Claims
Season Championship Feature!
By Andrew Schaller |
September 9, 2005; Columbus, WI. - Veteran racer Bill
Retallick clawed his way forward from his inside fourth row starting spot to win the 50
lap season championship feature for the late models on Friday night at the Columbus 151
Speedway. Mike Taylor and Tim Woollen led the 20 car field to the start of the event and
Taylor grabbed the lead. The inside groove proved to be the quicker of the two early on
and by lap ten the inside of the first five rows ran nose to tail out front.
On lap 17, Retallick drove around the third place car of quick qualifier Tyler
James on the outside. The first of two cautions flew on lap 23 for a spinning car on the
front stretch. On the restart, it Taylor out front followed by Bishofberger in second and
Retallick in third. Immediately, Retallick went to work on the outside of Bishofberger for
the second spot. The two would race side by side until lap 31 when Retallick edged ahead
and alongside of Taylor for the top position. Within two laps, Retallick cleared Taylor
and set sail for the end. The second caution came out for another spinning car on lap 38
and tightened the field back up. But on the restart, Retallick reclaimed his large lead
and drove away to the finish. At the line it was Retallick scoring the win followed by
Taylor, Don Gaserude, Bishofberger, and James. Transfers from the semi feature included
Chad Reimer and Brady Liddle. Heat winners were Terry Sauer, Justin Schultz and Dean
Schultz. Coming into the evening, defending track champion Andy Wendt had already clinched
his second straight championship in the late model division.
Pulling double duty, hobby stock champion Larry Moen also took home the trophy in the
30 lap street stock feature event. Starting on the outside of row one, Moen would claim
the lead when fellow front row starter Dustin Ward experienced mechanical difficulties and
was forced to retire. Dan Schmidt would follow Moen into second and the pair would open up
a healthy lead over the rest of the pack. The only caution of the race would fly on lap 18
and their big lead would evaporate. But the restart would bring no challenges and the duo
would reclaim their large advantage. At the checkered, the top five were Moen, Schmidt,
Dennis Schwark, Jim Rohrbeck, and Rikki Bishofberger. Quick time was held by Troy Yohn
with a lap of 14.031. Heat winners included Moen and Grant Lindner. Entering the night,
Kevin Anderson had already wrapped up his championship in the street stock division.
Alan Dorn flexed his muscle on the way to another feature victory in the hobby stock
class. Coming from the inside of row three, Dorn grabbed the lead on lap three and never
looked back. The caution free event would see the top five pull away from the rest of the
pack by lap five and do battle amongst themselves for those positions. Meanwhile, Dorn
would check out from the group and open up a large lead. At the stripe, it was Dorn out
front followed by Tylor Schultz, Jim Robinson Jr, Lincoln Keeser and street stock champion
Larry Moen. Keeser owned fast time and heat winners were Nick Newton and Andy Raley.
Bud Riedner used a last lap pass to claim the crown in a wild and exciting 20 lap
bandit feature event. The brother's Strese, Casey and Cody, brought the 21 car field to
green as Casey grabbed the early advantage. He would pull out to a slight lead over the
pack as lots of tight racing took place further back in the field. Rodney Mundt would
clear the pack into second by lap five and close on the leader within three laps.
Meanwhile, Riedner would make his way forward from the sixth row, sometimes going three
wide, and move into fourth on lap 14. The leaders would encounter lapped traffic, which
allowed Riedner to catch them and challenge for second on lap 15. Lap 16 would see a three
wide battle for the top spot between Strese, Mundt and Riedner. Mundt would grab the
advantage with Riedner directly behind and looking for a way around. Coming out of the
final turn, Riedner would slam his car inside Mundt and take away the lead coming to the
checkered flag. Mundt would hang on for second with Casey Strese third. Tom Bleecker set
fast time for the night with a 16.059 second tour of the oval. Taking honors in the semi
feature was Tyler Kelly and the consolation was won by Dustin Oostberg. Heat winners
included Oostberg, Kyle Watters, Riedner and Greg Ovadahl. Rookie Ryan Destefano would be
crowned champion in the bandit division.
George Wachuta would do his best to overtake David Moore in the back up standings by
winning the ten lap feature, but it wasn't quite enough as Moore would come home in fourth
and clinch the title by three points over Wachuta. Finishing second in the feature was
Rick Verdon with Ryan Oetzel in third.
The night would conclude with the Powder Puff races and also the Mechanics races. In
bandit Powder Puff action Sarah Hermanson took the win and in the hobby stock class, it
was Tabitha Schultz taking the top spot. Mechanics race winners were John Remsik in the
bandits, Jerry Chapman in the hobby stocks, Tim Syvrud in a street stock and Al Syvrud in
a late model.
This was the final event in the 2005 season for Columbus 151 Speedway. Thanks to all
for a great season and congratulations to our champions.
For complete results from the RACESTAT computer click here
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