July 20, 2007; Columbus, WI. - Johnson Creek's Jerry Eckhardt sped to victory in the 35 lap late model feature at Columbus 151 Speedway on Friday night.  Al Weishoff and Andy Tomlinson made up the front row at the drop of the green flag to start the event.  The two raced side by side on the first lap until a caution flew  and slowed the field.  Weishoff was credited with leading the first lap and paced the restart.  Tomlinson shadowed the leader until lap four when he snuck to the inside and took away the top spot. 

Photo Highlights

At 64 years young veteran racer Jerry Eckhardt can still pull it into victory lane, winning the Late Model Feature event. #61 Jerry Eckhardt takes the lead and holds off a charging #46 Al Weishoff to pick up the Late Model Feature win. Dale Weatherwax is joined by his crew member to celebrate his Street Stock Feature win of the year. #33 Dale Weatherwax takes off at the drop of the green flag and never looked back.  Leading the pack to a Street Stock Feature win. Dustin Ward picks up his first Hobby Stock Feature win of the 2007 season at Columbus 151 Speedway. #9 Dustin Ward outruns #27 Jim Tate for first place in the Hobby Stock feature. Kyle Watters takes home another Bandit Feature win. #7 Kyle Watters overtakes #16 James Bohlig on his way to a Bandit Feature win. Andy Ward makes his first appearance in victory lane, winning the Back-Up feature.

Eckhardt followed underneath Weishoff for second while Ron Bishofberger moved to third.  On lap nine, as the pack charged into turn one, Tomlinson lost control and spun bringing out the second and final caution of the race.  This handed the lead to Eckhardt.  Using the cone on the restart, Dean Schultz tried his luck on the outside, moving alongside Eckhardt for the lead.  But Schultz was unable to make it stick and began to slide back, finally settling into fifth. Weishoff reclaimed his spot behind Eckhardt as he looked to get by the leader.  But Eckhardt proved too strong as he flew to the checkers followed by Weishoff, Bishofberger, Steve Dobratz and Schultz. Schultz also took top honors in qualifying with a lap of 13.519 seconds.  Taking home wins in heat race action were John Acker and Steve Schlosser.

Using his front row starting spot, Cambria's Dale Weatherwax cruised to the win in the 30 lap street stock feature.  Starting alongside Zeke Bishofberger, Weatherwax took control of the point on lap one and never relinquished his lead.  Weatherwax began to open up a healthy advantage while Jim Rohrbeck and Brandon Reidner battled for second. The only caution of the event flew on lap 17, erasing the large lead Weatherwax was enjoying.  After the restart, Reidner began to slip back on the outside as Rohrbeck reclaimed second.  But Weatherwax returned to driving away from the pack as he pulled away to the win. Rounding out the top five were Rohrbeck, Don Trush, Tim Syvrud and Riedner.  Syvrud also set quick time with a lap of 14.079 while Reidner and Tylor Schultz claimed heat race wins.

Dustin Ward of Beaver Dam dominated the 15 lap hobby stock feature to take home the trophy.  Ward and Andy Raley paced the field to green with Ward taking control on the first lap.  Jim Tate followed into second as Raley fell to fifth on the outside.  The leaders ran nose to tail for the entire event with Ward showing the way to the checkers followed by Tate, Kyle Stark, Gary Pashley and Raley.  Stark owned fast time with a lap of 15.126 while Ward also took the heat race win.

In bandit action, Kyle Watters won his fourth feature of the season in the 18 lap event.  Ben Reuter and Jay Bergin started on the front row at the start.  As they raced down the backstretch on lap one,  Chris Higgins moved to the inside making it a three wide battle for the lead.  Higgins took over the lead with James Bohlig sliding into second.  On lap three, Bohlig moved past Higgins to the lead while Stephen Scheel and Watters moved into the top five.  Riding in second, Chester Ace began looking for an opening to get by the leader.  The two competitors touched and slowed slightly allowing Scheel to join the fray.  Ace fell back a couple positions while Bohlig and Scheel battled for the lead.  Scheel finally claimed the lead on lap 11 as the leaders approached lapped traffic.  A lap later, Scheel tangled with a lapped car just as point leader Gary Stark experienced mechanical failure.  The caution flew over the speedway for the accident.  Scheel was forced to restart at the rear of the field, handing the lead over to Bohlig with Watters directly behind.  With three laps remaining, Watters managed to squeeze by Bohlig for the top position as he breezed to the win.  Following Watters across the line were Kevin Kulka, Josh Bisbee, Ace, and Tim Bristol.  Stark was quick qualifier with a 15.899 second tour of the quarter mile.  Picking up heat wins were Tiffany Desjarles, Scheel and Jess Watters.

Andy Ward of Madison benefited from a mid race caution to take the lead and the win in the 8 lap back up feature event.  Ryan Oetzel grabbed the lead on the first lap with Ward right behind for second. On lap three, Oetzel slowed slightly as he exited turn two and tangled with Jim Remsik bringing out the caution.  Ward took over the top spot and charged to the win followed by George Wachuta and Remsik.

Next Friday, July 27 is a full program of racing in all five divisions.  Time trials begin at 6:30 with racing at 8 pm.  Check out www.racingonline.com/columbus151 for more information.

For complete results from the RACESTAT computer click here