July 19, 1997, Plymouth, WI.
Gary Laack of Glenbeulah collected his third 30-lap Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car Winged Super Modified feature victory of the 1997 season Saturday Night at Sheboygan County Fair Park.
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| The pass for the lead! Gary Laack (#62) uses the outside line around the third mile clay oval to pass LeRoy Ostrowski (#29). Laack took the win and Ostrowski claimed runner-up honors. | Gary Laack poses for feature win number three in the Winged Super Modified division. Laack who took a year off is no doubt enjoying his return to racing. |
Polesitter Tim McMullen of Plymouth charged into the lead on the drop of the green flag of the 20 car main event. On lap two, McMullen turned sideways in turn two and collected Plymouth's Chuck Melis on West Bend's Paul Pokorski.
Melis flipped hard during the mishap, but emerged from his heavily damaged mount uninjured. Following a complete restart, fifth place starter LeRoy Ostrowski of Milwaukee took the lead in turn one and quickly began to pull away from the sixth starting Laack.
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The end result of
a wild flip! Chuck Melis got involved in a tangle with
Tim McMullen, when McMullen spun while leading the
feature event. Melis did a wild flip, and the car came to
rest on it's side. Melis was not hurt in the accident but his car was heavily damaged and done for the night. |
The second red flag of the race appeared on lap four, when two-time EWSC Winged Super Modified champ and current point leader Pete Ostrowski of Milwaukee lost power and stalled along the frontstretch.
After the restart, Laack moved in to pressure LeRoy Ostrowski using the high groove on lap five. Two laps later, the rim riding Laack powered into the lead exiting turn two.
The nine-time Limited Late Model champion started to extend his advantage before Kewaskum's Bill Wenninger flipped in turn three to bring out the third and final red flag of the event on lap 13.
During the final 17 green flag laps of the race, Laack displayed the strength of his car an pulled out to a full-straightaway cushion over second place LeRoy Ostrowski. The third year Winged Super Modified competitor sliced his way through lapped traffic in the closing stages of the event on his way to his fifth career feature win.
LeRoy Ostrowski was second, Chuck Tuschl of Cato came from the ninth starting spot to place third, 11th starter Billy Kreutz of Kiel finished fourth and Jim DePagter of Sheboygan Falls moved up from his 13th starting spot to take fifth.
Plymouth's Dick Hed picked up his third feature victory of the season in the 25 lap Limited Late Model main event.
| For the third time this season Dick Hed has claimed the Limited Late Model feature event. Hed managed to avoid a couple wild crashes early in the event and cruised home for the win. |  |
Polesitter Rodney Michaels of Cleveland outdueled outside front row starter Jeff Gierke of Kiel to take the lead on the initial lap of the race. The first of three red flags flew on lap three, for a four car incident in turn three involving Darell Wright of Plymouth, Cedar Grove's Brian Schmidt, Keith Borth of Sheboygan and 1993 Limited Late Model champ Randy Markwardt.
Following the restart, Michaels maintained the top spot until his machine spun out exiting turn four on lap four. The second and third place cars of defending Limited Late Model champion Steve Hoffmann of Plymouth and Paul Dingel of Sheboygan were also involved in the incident.
With the sudden departure of the top three cars in the running order, outside fifth row starting Hed inherited the lead when the race resumed on lap five.
Hed bolted out to a quarter-straightaway cushion over eighth starting Jeff Fechter of West Bend, during the next 15 laps of green flag racing before the third and final red flag was displayed on lap 20 for the stalled car of Campbellsport's Rick Thompson in turn four.
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Lucky sevens?? You bet! The number to have on your car for fast time this week was "seven". Want proof? Pete Ostrowski (#7) claimed quick time in the Winged Super Mods, while Randy Harshbarger (#7) topped the Limited Late Models, Brian Gilles (#7) rounded out the quick timers in Super Stocks! |
When the race resumed, fast qualifier Randy Harshbarger of Campbellsport moved up from his inside ninth row starting slot to challenge Hed for the top spot beginning on lap 23. Hed held off Harshbarger's relentless pressure over the final two laps to post the victory by a slim three car length margin.
Harshbarger had to settle for second, Fechter finished third, Dave Jessen of Fredonia finished fourth after starting 16th and Markwardt recovered from his early race accident to place fifth.
| Tim Thompson found victory lane for the second time this season in the Super Stock division. With strong performances all season long Thompson is the current point leader for the division |  |
Former track champion and current point leader Tim Thompson of Campbellsport pulled off a last lap pass to record his second 20 lap Super Stock victory of the year.
Two-time Super Stock champion Steve Schad of Cleveland led the opening six laps of the race from the pole position. On lap seven, Chad Schlenvogt of Port Washington made heavy contact with the frontstretch retaining wall.
| The car, the wall and
the fence were all a little worse off when Chad
Schlenvogt made contact with the frontstretch wall on lap
seven, VERY heavily. The incident knocked down some
fencing which needed to be repaired before action could
continue. Schlenvogt was not hurt in the incident, the same can not be said for his car. |
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Schlenvogt's accident produced a lengthy red flag period to repair the catch fence portion of the frontstretch concrete barrier.
When the race returned to green flag action, Schad held the lead despite persistent challenges from third starting Thompson. Schad continued to pace the field until the final circuit when Thompson slipped underneath the leader in turn two.
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| Heading for the final turn Steve Schad (#85), had paced every lap of the feature race. However in turn two on the final lap Tim Thompson (#77) found a way by and took the win, Schad settled for a very close second. |
The sixth year Super Stock driver went on to record his third career EWSC feature triumph by a slim two car length margin over second place Schad.
Steve Tenpas of Sheboygan Falls came up from the fifth row to place third, John Dirks of Elkhart Lake was fourth and Mark Brass of Sheboygan took fifth.
| Unofficially Dave
Enders has now won races in three different divisions at
the Sheboygan County Fair Park. Enders a top drivers for
years in the Limited Late Models won many races there
before moving to Winged Super Modifieds this season. The
Super Mod rookie won his first race, the first heat on
this evening. Now the third class was row boats! Though not sanctioned by EWSC, the track was so flooded a few weeks back that Enders won an impromptu 'boat race'! |
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Jim DePagter of Sheboygan Falls won the 15 lap Winged Super Modified B Semi-Feature. Plymouth's Scott Haugstad captured the 15-lap Limited Late Model semi-feature and Brad Ruh of Elkhart Lake was victorious in the 15 lap Super Stock semi-feature.
Next week is WKTT "Kat Country" Radio Night at the races. Eastern Wisconsin Stock Car competes every Saturday Night at the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds located in Plymouth, WI. Gates open at 5:00 P.M. with Time Trials at 6:00 P.M.
The first race of the evening starts at 7:00 PM. Action takes place in the Winged Super Modified, Limited Late Model and Super Stock divisions. Over 110 cars compete nightly!!
Winged Super Modifieds
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FAST QUALIFIER: #7 Pete Ostrowski, Milwaukee,....13.315 seconds.
Limited Late Models
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FAST QUALIFIER: # 7 Randy Harshbarger, Campbellsort,.... 15.151 Seconds
Super Stocks
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FAST QUALIFIER: # 7 Brian Gilles, Elkhart Lake,...17.212 Seconds