June 30, 2001; Sturgeon Bay, WI. - A beautiful night for a quick paced night of racing at the Door County Speedway Saturday night. Bill LeMieux grabbed the lead in the modified main for the first 2 circuits before Buck Schmelzer slipped inside and took the lead on lap 3. LeMieux, Chris Derenne, Shawn Olson, Dan Ratajczak and Dave Zeitler were right behind.
LeMieux continued to work in the outside groove and Schmelzer stayed inside. Schmelzer was able to hold the lead until :LeMieux made a run on lap 15 and was scored as the leader. However, through turn 4 four the next time around, LeMieux’; car broke lose and spun in traffic, being hit by Zeitlers machine. Both drivers were OK but out of the event. Schmelzer set up for a battle with a 5 lap dash to the finish. Derenne, Todd dart, Ratajczak, point leader, George Henkel and Olson were bunched behind . Schmelzer held off all challenges to claim his first feature checker of the season. Dart slipped into the runner up spot and took over the point lead for the week. Ratajczak was third with Henkel in fourth. Derenne and Olson rounded out the top six. Troy Rass set the pace for the first 5 laps of the Stock Car main with Brett Wenzel running the outside line in second. John Heinz snuck low to the inside to challenge in third with Larry Ingebretson, Bernie Reinhardt, and Joe LeBotte behind. Heinz was scored as the leader for the first time on lap 6 and held on despite the constant pressure of Wenzel alongside. Reinhardt was right behind the pair and Jay Matthias joined the trio just past the half way mark. By lap 14, Wenzel was making a hard charge on the leader and on lap 17, was in the top spot. Heinz stayed right there to the finish line with Wenzel claiming his first career division feature victory. Heinz was in second with Reinhardt making a strong run in third. Ingebretson was fourth with Matthias fifth and Shawn Kilgore rounding out the top six. Cautions abounded in the Street Stock event forcing a time limit event for the first time this year. B.J. Soquet led the opening lap with James Tebon taking control on lap 2. Kevin Sternard was hooked on the outside and moved up to take over the top spot on lap 6. Sternard held off all challengers and several cautions to win his second feature of the season when the race was completed after 10 laps. Tebon held off Gary Reinhardt for the runner up finish with point leader, Gregg Siebold, taking fourth. Jay Naze and Rick Johnson rounded out the top six spots. The Bombers ran their feature non-stop with Lucas Long leading the way from the start. Tom Frea was challenging for the lead throughout the race with point leader, Jeremy Wiitila moving through traffic into contention on lap 10. The final 5 laps saw a good battle for the top spot. Long was running low with Frea and Wiitila both running wide. Scott Reinhardt was running low and joined the lead battle with a couple laps left. Frea took over the top spot on lap 11, and Wiitila moved to challenge for the final 4 laps. Wiitila pressure from the outside and on lap final lap, was able to pull ahead enough to hold on to the lead and earn his fourth division feature flag of the year. Frea was second with Reinhardt right there in third. Lucas Long finished in fourth, Tracy Koontz fifth and Ryan LeMieux rounded out the top six. Valerie Delair walked off with the special powder puff race trophy after a convincing win. SUMMARY IMCA MODIFIED IMCA STOCK CAR STREET STOCK BOMBER POWDER PUFF |
