May 5, 2001; Sturgeon Bay, WI. - The New Door County Speedway( formerly Thunder Hill) took off from the starting blocks in quick fashion Saturday night despite heavy rains that caused the fresh clay surface to push and get rough. The drivers responded with two of the four features running non stop and only a couple cautions in the others as the entire program was completed well ahead of their curfew. The Modifieds took the track first with Dan Ratajczak taking charge at the start followed by Scott Boyea, Todd Dart, Dave Zeitler, Brad Anderegg and Buck Schmelzer. Ratajczak was not able to pull away from the field and a couple cautions in the race kept the cars packed behind the leader. Zeitler and Dart moved into second and third and put on a show running side by side most of the time. Following a final restart on lap 11, Ratajczak led 1 more lap before dropping off the pace, giving the lead to Zeitler. Dart was right there yet, and the battle continued with Dart finally able to work inside for the lead on lap 17. Dart took off over the final couple laps and the defending co-champ picked up his first feature win of the season. Boyea stayed in contention the entire race and on the final lap, made a final turn pass stick and took the runner up finish, the best of his career. Randie Back, the other defending co-champ also snuck by Zeitler for the third place finish. Darrell Massart and Tim McCormick rounded out the top six finishers. The IMCA Stock Cars ran off their feature event non-stop with Bernie Reinhardt taking the early lead and setting the pace until lap 5 when Craig Paque pulled into the top spot. Paque took off from the pack leaving the battle for the runner up spot. Reinhardt, Larry Ingebretson, Eric VanIten, Pat Davister, and, defending champ- Benji LaCrosse ran under a blanket for most of the race. Reinhardt chased Paque to his first feature win of the season. VanIten took third. Davister, Greg Gretz and Shawn Kilgore rounded out the top 6 finishers. Charlie Kroll took command of the Street Stock division main at the start and was never challenged after the first couple laps. Marty Beilke, Doug Morgan, Chris Hendricks, Keith Kickbush and Paul Kuehn dropped in line behind. Bielke held the runner up spot despite heavy pressure, until lap 9 when he dropped off the pace. Morgan inherited the runner up spot and had Jay Naze pull up to challenge over the final 5 laps. Kroll swept to the first feature flag of the year with Morgan holding off Naze for the second place finish, his best of his rookie season so far. Tom Daubner slipped by Hendricks for the fourth place finish with Kickbush rounding out the top six. Tracy Koontz drew number one for starting spot in the Bomber main and stayed there the entire distance to claim his first feature of the season. Jeremy Wiitila hounded the leader for most of the race but dropped off the pace over the final 1½ laps with a flat tire. Ford Malvitz took advantage of the misfortune to take the runner up finish with Ryan LeMieux also able to sneak by for third. Wiitila limped by in fourth with Scott Reinhardt and Vince Belletini rounding out the top six. Weekly Saturday night racing with four divisions competing will continue throughout the summer at the Door County Speedway, located at the Door County fairgrounds in Sturgeon Bay, WI. Racing starts at 6 PM every week. SUMMARY IMCA MODIFIED IMCA STOCK CARS STREET STOCK BOMBERS |
