June 8, 2007; Columbus, WI. -   The first half of the 2007 Suburban Wheels Summer Rumble got underway with a record field of 144 cars clogging the pit area and the debut of Ross Kenseth, son of NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth.  The second half rolls onto Jefferson Speedway the following evening to complete the two day event.  Fort Atkinson's Don Gaserude took the early lead in the Rumble by winning the 35 lap late model feature event from the
front row. 

Photo Highlights

Don Gaserude (#81) captured the first half of the Summer Rumble Late Model feature contest at the Columbus 151 Speedway. #81 Don Gaserude leads the Late Model Feature with #76 Ron Bishofberger & #34 Dean Schultz in hot pursuit. Ken Scott won Round 1of the Summer Rumble Street Stock Feature by inches. It came down to mere inches for the Street Stock Feature win as #20 Bret Schmidt and #39 Ken Scott raced to the finish line. Mike Winters lead every lap of the International feature to take top honors. Gary Pashley wins another Hobby Stock Feature. Bandit Driver Gary Stark won round one of the Summer Rumble at Columbus 151 Speedwat. The Bandit action goes four wide during their feature race! Bruce Havel won the Back-Up Feature and was joined by some of his family members in victory lane.

Starting alongside Ron Bishofberger, Gaserude grabbed the lead on lap two while Bishofberger pulled into second with Dylan Schuyler following in third.  Gaserude began to check out from the rest of the field while they lined up single file behind him.  The pack ran nose to tail as Gaserude drove away until lap 26 when the first caution flew and his lead evaporated.  On the restart Dean Schultz, who just entered the top five prior to the caution, used the competition cone to pull even with Gaserude for the top spot.  But Schultz was unable to hold his position as he slid back behind Bishofberger into third.  Gaserude survived one final caution period to cross under the checkers in first followed by Bishofberger, Schultz, Al Weishoff and Jerry Eckhardt.    Pacing the field of 36 late models in qualifying was Steve Dobratz with a lap of 13.471. Mike Taylor won the consolation race while Rob Retallick took the semi feature win.  Heat winners included Taylor, Jeff Falbe, Jason Dunn and Roger Behlke.

     Ken Scott of Rio used his front row starting spot to secure the victory in the 25 lap street stock feature event.  Starting inside Scott Lawver, Scott took control out of turn two on the opening lap and never relinquished his lead.  Lawver slapped the frontstrech wall on lap two and dropped out of contention while Dennis Schwark and Kevin Anderson moved into second and third respectively.  By lap ten, the top five was lined up single file until Tim Syvrud joined the fray.  Taking the outside groove, Syvrud starting picking off the leaders one by one. By lap 19, Syvrud was challenging for second and looking for more.  Two laps later, Syvrud became loose and slid backwards to fifth.  This opened the door for Bret Schmidt to move into second.  As the leaders received the while flag, Schmidt charged to the high side of Scott.  They battled door to door for the final lap and as they crossed the line, it was Scott by inches over Schmidt for the win.  Rounding out the top five were Schwark, Anderson and Syvrud.  Schmidt also set fast time with a 13.878 second tour of the quarter mile.  Chris Ehrhart took the win in the semi feature while heat winners included Tony Showers, Dale Weatherwax and Luke Padfield.

     With the International class a regular participant at Jefferson Speedway, they were added the Columbus 151 program as part of this year's Summer Rumble.

Sun Prairie's Mike Winters led every lap of the 20 lap International feature event on his way to the victory.  Winters took control on lap one as Joe Cross followed into second.  Cross spent the next 18 laps looking for a way to make the winning pass, but Winters proved too strong, surviving three caution periods and crossing the line in first.  He was followed by Cross in second with Ken Au, Kyle Smith and Bud Riedner rounding out the top five.

     Gary Pashley of Marshall made it three in a row as he claimed victory in the 20 lap hobby stock feature.  Starting from the pole, Pashley took control out of turn two on the first lap, while the inside lane followed through with Larry Moen in second and Andy Raley in third.  The event's only caution flew on lap four and the restart saw Jim Robinson charge to the outside and make his bid for the lead. But Robinson couldn't hang on as he started to fall back into the pack.  Pashley continued to pull away from the field as the laps wound down and he drove away to the win.  Following Pashley under the
checkers were Moen, Craig Olver, Dustin Ward and Jim Tate.  Tate also scored quick time with a lap of 15.186.  Heat winners were Pete Elgas and Mike Manley.

     Waunakee's Gary Stark took control of point lead in the bandit division with his win in the 18 lap feature event.  Kevin Kulka and Mike Clapper led the field to the drop of the green flag.  Nate Lacey joined the front row to make a three wide battle for the top spot on the opening lap.  Lacey eventually gained control of the lead on lap three as Josh Bisbee moved into second behind him.  Meanwhile, Stark drove from the inside of row six at the start into the top five on lap six. Stark motored into third three laps later as Bisbee began to close in on Lacey for the lead.  Stark chose the high line and drove by Bisbee for second and alongside Lacey for the lead.  A lap later, Stark made the winning pass and drove to the checkers.  Rounding out the top five were Lacey, Bisbee, Stephen Scheel and Sean Watters. Jake Wasserburger set fast time for the bandits with a lap of 15.817.

Matt McKinney won the consolation race while Tiffany Desjarles took the semi feature.  Heat winners included Phil Denikas, Ken Christenson, Jody Schmidt, Steve Privett and Jake Wasserburger.

     Rounding out the evenings festivities was the 8 lap back up feature event.  Dave Moore took the initial lead until lap two when Ryan Oetzel claimed the spot. A lap later, Oetzel spun to the infield handing the lead back to Moore.  Meanwhile, Bruce Havel was charging through the pack, eventually catching Moore and making the pass for the lead on lap five.  Havel drove to the win followed by Moore in second and Andy Ward in third.

     Next Friday, June 15 is a full program in all divisions highlighted by the return of the Formula Indy Racing Association.
Time trials begin at 6:30 with racing at 8 pm.

For complete results from the RACESTAT computer click here