October 4, 1997; Lake Geneva, WI. - It was the best way to end a season plagued by poor weather. The season finale brought out the second largest crowd of the season, as everyone enjoyed temperatures in the low 80's. A 3 division field of nearly 80 race cars came out for the 16th annual "run what ya brung" show, as Skip Martin of McHenry, Il, scored a win in the 30 lap main event feature for the open race cars. Russ Scheffler of Waukesha, an area dirt track champion, became the first drive to turn a qualifying lap below 15 seconds, the one lap time was 14.953 seconds. "Smokin" Joe Francisco of Genoa City took his third clean sweep of open competition street stocks, winning the 25 lap feature, the dash, his 10 lap heat, and breaking his own track record with a time of 17.317 seconds. Darnell Mepham of Fort Atkinson won the 4 cylinder feature, giving the international cars a 3-0 record for these shows.
Veteran dirt track driver George Scheffler grabbed the lead in what would be the first non-stop feature of the season. Billy Baumeister was second with Matt Schultz, Mike Arnold and Brad "JJ" Mueller next. Laps being turned were in the low fifteens, as Schultz moved into second on lap two. Drivers used some three and even four deep racing to advance, with R.Scheffler gaining third by lap four. Martin who crashed hard in his heat, just making the call for the feature, after his crew nearly rebuilt the rear of the car, snuck into fourth on lap five.
Fans went wild as this intense pace continued, dirt track drivers were starting to get the hang of this form of racing, but that three and four deep racing was still baffling to many. Behind fifth place Mueller, Terry Patnode worked on Baumeister and Arnold breaking into the top six on lap fifteen. Up front G Scheffler had Schultz all over him, but Martin began to make his move. First picking off R. Scheffler, then Schultz and moving into the lead on lap eighteen.
Once in front, Martin who raced here in the early 90's, after winning this feature last year, there was no stopping this driver. By lap twenty-five, Martin started lapping the field, everyone tried to maintain their positions, as the laps started to wind down. Martin easily scored the victory, with a tight field far behind him. Schultz held onto second, with George and Russ Scheffler next, followed by Mueller, Patnode and the highest finishing regular, Arnold and John Simon in his best feature finish to date.
The 20 car street stock main event started off with a rocky start, as everyone couldn't get through that first lap. On the restart, rookie Tim White inched in front, with Scott Peterson, Tommy Nevoso, Jerry Cowan, and Bert Getchell right behind him. Peterson moved alongside the leader on lap two and wrestled the top spot from him on lap four. There was lots of movement throughout this tight pack, with visiting Mark Rhode working on Peterson. By lap six, it was another side by side battle for the lead. On lap eight, Rhode inched in front, but Peterson came right back. Rhode touched the line first and for the next two laps, there was another leader. On lap 10, Fancisco who started in the eighth row outside was on the move.
On lap eleven, Francisco was the new leader. The show wasn't over as Jason Maciosek who started inside Francisco steadily worked his way through the field. It was nip and tuck for any changes, on lap twenty-three, second week driver Myron Van Crey got together with some other cars, causing his car to flip, coming to rest on it's wheels. There were no injuries, but there was damage to quite a few cars. Starter Dave Rex Jr. called the race due to the lengthy clean up to ensue. Francisco won another open show feature, with Maciosek was second, followed by Rhode, Tom Krumrie, Zac Deeringer, Steve Winkowski, Frank Wurtz, and Getschell.
The four cylinder feature was another exciting event, as the visiting Jefferson International cars, played out their three and four deep racing, to the delight of the full house. Jim Phillips got turned around, causing a complete restart. Then it was quite the melee for the first lap, as cars and trucks flew everywhere. But mid-pack starter Butch Edwards Jr. grabbed the lead and built up a good spread from second place Don Moore. Joel Filtz was third, as Mepham worked on Ron Moore for fourth.
By lap eight, Matt Frey and Mepham were side by side for second, as Rolf Tillman the quick qualifier was fourth. Mepham nabbed Edwards on lap eleven, with Frey along Edwards the next go round. With one lap to go Frey lost his momentum for a serious challenge for the lead, as a lapped truck got in the way. Mepham picked uip his first win here, with Frey, Edwards, Tillman, D. Moore, and Ron Ross under a blanket for that runner up spot.
Mark English who usually has a great time in these end of the year shows, probably wishes to forget these two weeks. English was leading last week's feature when he retired with engine problems. This Saturday the hauler broke down, causing this driver to miss time trials. Managing to win the heat he placed in, the engine broke a rocker arm just as they lined up for the feature, dashing any hopes of winning the feature, like last year.
This marks the end of the 1997 season. Rules meetings are next. On October 25th the street stocks meeting will be at 11 am. The sport trucks at 1 pm. On Sunday October 26th, the super late model meeting will be at 1 pm. All meetings are at the raceway.