May 26, 2006; Columbus, WI. -Jim Syvrud of Portage inherited the lead on lap five of the 35 lap main event and took it unchallenged to the checkered flag. Syvrud and Jerry Eckhardt led the 18 car field to the green and ran side by side until Eckhardt gained the advantage on lap two. Syvrud would fall back to second followed by Kevin Anderson.

Photo Highlights

Jim Syvrud (#65) captured top honors this evening in the Late Model division at the Columbus 151 Speedway. James Helmer (#7) earned a victory in a hard fought Street Stock main event. James Helmer (#7) races to the finish line ahead of a hard charging Don Trush (#4) to win the Street Stock main event. At intermission kids were invited onto the raceway for some Stock Car rides. The color guard salutes America's veterans during the Memorial Weekend celebration which opened the program tonight at Columbus 151 Speedway. Bud Reidner (#4D) scored a convincing win in the Bandit main event. Ryan Oetzel (#87) collected another checkered in the Back-up division.

On lap five, Eckhardt experienced some mechanical difficulties and was forced to retire from the event. This handed the lead over to Syvrud who proceeded to lead the remaining 30 laps of caution free racing. At the line, it was Syvrud by six car lengths followed by Anderson, Ron Bishofberger, Dean Schultz and Aaron Wilke. Wilke owned fast time for the late models with a lap of 13.534. Heat winners were Duane Deppe, Tim Woollen and Mike Taylor. Deppe also claimed the last chance event.

A very exciting street stock feature saw James Helmer of Oconomowoc come out with the victory. Helmer and Mike Amador started on the front row with Helmer gaining the early lead out of turn two on the first lap. The cars ran side by side behind the leader until lap five for the first caution of the race. On the restart, cars were allowed to line up double file behind the leader to challenge for positions. After the second caution on lap seven, Kevin Anderson had used this new policy to his advantage and moved from sixth to second. Helmer and Anderson began doing battle for the top spot and started to pull away from the field. Meanwhile, Don Trush cleared Amador for third and began to run down the leaders. By lap 24, Trush had caught the two leaders and the battle was on. For the next six laps, Trush and Anderson would trade paint doing battle for the second spot. Helmer stayed a very short distance in front of them to bring home the win. Trush nipped Anderson at the line for second with Tim Syvrud fourth and Amador fifth. Anderson held down quick time with a lap of 14.110. Trush and Grant Lindner were heat winners.

Lincoln Keeser of Whitewater came from the inside of row five to take the checkers in the 20 lap hobby stock main event. Gary Haarklau and Dustin Ward led the field to green. The two remained side by side on lap one with Haarklau owning a very slight advantage. Lap three saw Haarklau clear Ward for the lead, but a lap later, Ward found himself right back outside Haarklau challenging for the top spot. While the two battled side by side for the next ten laps, cars began bunching up behind the leaders. Keeser had managed to move up directly behind Haarklau, looking for a lane to get around. On lap 16, Ward got extremely loose in turn four and fell back considerably, giving the lead to Haarklau. Four laps later, Haarklau crossed the line in first, but following post race inspection, Keeser was awarded the victory. Rounding out the top five were Andrew Junget, Larry Moen, Jim Tate and Brian Piller. Keeser also turned in quick time with a 15.480 second tour of the quarter mile. Heat winners included Ward and Alan Dorn.

Bud Riedner of Waunakee took his front row starting spot all the way to the bandit feature victory. Riedner grabbed the lead out of turn two on the first lap and the inside lane followed him forward with Tim Bristol moving into second and Jake Wasserburger third. By lap five, Riedner had already opened up a comfortable lead. He would continue to pull away during the remaining 13 laps of caution free racing. At the stripe, Riedner owned a straightaway advantage for the victory. Wasserburger took second from Bristol who wound up third. Kyle Smith was fourth and Kyle Watters fifth. Greg Ovadahl took honors in qualifying with a lap of 16.156 seconds. Charlie Spry won the consolation race and Ryan Oetzel brought home the semi feature. Heat winners were Ben Reuter, Chris Hart, Riedner, and Ryan Hart.

The eight lap back up feature rounded out the nights regular program with Ryan Oetzel coming home victorious. Oetzel used a last lap pass on Dave Moore to win the event. Rick Verdon was second with Moore third.

Next Friday at the Columbus 151 Speedway is round two of the Pepsi Triple 60's series highlighted by a 60 lap late model feature. Also, the first 100 kids through the gates will receive a free Pepsi/Columbus 151 race t-shirt. Time trials begin at 6:30 with racing at 8pm.

For complete results from the RACESTAT computer click here