April 4, 1997; Lake Geneva, WI. - With temperatures in the low 30's at race time, Al Schill of Franklin, WI. the defending super late model champion , won the 30 lap feature race at Lake Geneva Raceway , Saturday night , during the 1998 season opener .
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| A late race caution came out when second running Kent Burkoth (#19) was tapped from behind by Eddie Dunne (#82) on a restart, while John Simon (#4) goes by. The caution gave Al Schill (left photo) the oppertunity he needed to take the lead and win the Super Late Model feature event. | |
Rolf Tillman of Woodstock,lL. another defending champion , won the 15 lap sport truck feature. Bobby Giers of lngleside,lL. won the 15 lap Wisconsin Allison Legacy series feature and Adam Regnier of McHenry ,IL. won the first Herb's super stock , 20 lap feature.
Mark Hartline slipped in front of the super late model feature , with Ronnie Darnell, Denny Hiffman, Billy Baumeister and John Simon , ail over the leader. Simon and Ed Dunne bounced together , trying for the upper hand at 6th. place, with 4 laps in the books. Dunne moved in on Baumeister , with gome very tight excitement all around them.
Kent Burkoth surprised, both Baumeister and Simon scooting past on lap 8. Between laps 12 and 20, only Burkoth and Schill were on the move , until that first caution came at the end of lap 20 , for debris in turn three. With the now famous cone on the track, where drivers must chose their land for the restart, Schill took the outside and Burkoth had the inside.
Burkoth shot up on the leader , Schill was stuck behind cars that weren't going any place. Hartline maintained his lead, throughout this whole ordeal. Entering lap 21, Burkoth, Dunne and Darnell tussled for that runner up spot. On lap 24, Danny Darnell Baumiester made contact , this brought out the first of two long caution periods.
Hartline wasn't fazed by any of these delays and when the next short green was displayed , the leader stayed comfortably in front. Coming out of turn four , second place Burkoth , along with Dunne, Hiffman , Dennis Vito and Landry Potter caused a continuance of that last caution , during their melee.
Lining up, Hartline went high, with Simon low under the cone. on the restart , Simon forged in front during part of that next lap. But Hartline wasn't going to settle for second , coming back in front , during the next two laps. As Simon stayed along side the leader, Schill just waited for any mistake. This never happened with only two laps to go, Schill stuck his nose inside the leader. Coming off turn one, Schill muscled his way into the lead.
With the white flag displayed , Schill was in command of the top spot , but what a show for runner up. The wind burned and ice chilled crowd saw an exciting finish , as Schill pulled off the win , with Hartline , Simon , Ronnie Darnell , Dunne, Chad Barker , Vito and Mike Simon under that warm blanket. The post inspection, dropped Darneli from the finish, due to weigh in weight percentages , not being correct. This moved up, cousin Da.nny Darnell to eighth.
Todd Peterson stepped out front of the 20 car, super stock feature, with Bob Klodahl, Mark Mueller, Shawn Donnelly and Don Radke right at his feet. Within 5 laps, Radke had moved into second, but Regnier was following his every move.
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Adam Regnier (#73) when low to get by leader Todd Peterson (#16) in the Herb's Super Stock feature. Don Radke (#20) followed Regnier for the remaining laps to finish in the runner-up spot in the feature race. |
| The best way to start a new season is with a trip to victory lane as Adam Regnier demonstrated here showing off his sharp looking Super Stock. |  |
Lap nine brought out the first slowdown , as Terry Hilgendorf , Jim Hughs , Doug Peterson and Jason Bader tangled. With the cone out, the lanes were set, as Peterson held the lead. Right behind him, Regnier and Radke battled for second. Within 1 lap Regnier out maneuvered , Peterson and Radke, to slide into the lead. On lap 14, Hilgendorf and Katie Taylor tangled causing another delay.
This gave fast timer John Janssen the break he needed, but then Zac Deeringer popped a radiator hose, dumping water all over the back straightaway. Underway , Regnier could feel the pressure from Janssen and Radke. Janssen spun, but racing continued, as Troy Weber moved into third.
It was a 3 lap dash, as Regnier picked up the first win in this new named division. Radke was second, with Tommy Nevoso nipping Weber for third. Louie Bochette, Donnelly , Peterson and Al Kuphal all right there.
It looked like it was going to be a real battle in the sport truck feature for the win, as Butch Edwards Jr. slipped past Dean Schwechel on lap 3, with Frank Caravetta briefly leading that same lap. But the
n mechanical problems slowed Edwards . That was all Tillman needed , as the reining division champion , flew to an easy win over Ron Ross, Chad Ross, Jim Olson , Dan Ross and Edwards.| Former Lake Geneva Raceway late model hotshoe Bobby Giers (#50) was the class of the field in the Wisconsin Allison Legacy Series cars. Giers set fast time and late came back to take top honors in the feature event. |  |
The Wisconsin Allison Legacy cars saw veteran driver Bay Darnell hold onto the lead for three laps, before tangling with his grandson, Erik, causing the only caution of this 15 lap feature. Quick timer Bobby Giers now had the lead and went on to victory over Jack Kossow , Jeff Goodwin , Joe Beyer, Erik Darnell, a 16 year old former go kart champion, Zion/Benton High School student, and third generation driver, with Randy Coats rounding out the top six.
This Saturday some lucky fan will win a trip for 2 to the Bahama's, if they have the best banner in the first of three banner contest , this season. Besides the super late models and Herb's super stocks, the Performance Unlimited sportsman will be here. Time trials are at 6 pm. racing is a 7:30 sharp. Racing now continues every Saturday through October 10th.
Late Model Division
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Herbs Super Stock Division
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Sport Trucks
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Allison Legacy Cars
15 Lap Feature: 1.) Bobby Giers, Ingleside, IL; 2.) Jack Kossow, Union Grove, WI; 3.) Jeff
Goodwin, Wadsworth, IL; 4.) Joe Beyer, Lake In The Hills, IL; 5.) Erik Darnell, Beach
Park, IL; 6.) Randy Coates, Racine, WI
DASH: 1.)
Kossow; 2.) Beyer; 3.) Giers
FAST QUALIFIER: Bobby Giers, Ingleside, IL,......19.737 Seconds