Excellent
night of action at Luxemburg Tri-Star fair opener! August 2, 2000; Luxemburg, WI. - A change of nights to Wednesday for the Fair preview night at the Luxemburg Tri Star Speedway fooled Mother Nature as a beautiful night was on hand for the first time in weeks. With no other racing in the area, the car count was high for an exciting night of racing.
The IMCA Stock Cars started the features runs with rookie contender, Ben Kroll taking the lead at the start followed by Bryan Techmeier, Craig Paque, Bob Vanden Avond, Shawn Wagner and Larry Ingebretson. Paque moved into the runner up spot and right up on the leader. The pair ran side by side for a few laps before Paque was finally able to take over the top spot on lap 8. Wagner moved into third at the same time and the lead trio started to pull away from the pack. It took Wagner a couple laps to pull up on Kroll, and when he closed the gap, he immediately pulled outside. On lap 16, the lone caution of the race appeared and bunched the field on the leaders. Under green again, Paque continued to set the pace with Kroll and Wagner right behind. Wagner again took the outside line and pulled alongside Kroll. He stayed outside and moved alongside of the leader. Wagner could not get the bite he needed over the final 2 laps and Kroll was able to slip back inside on the final laps to finish second behind Paque. Wagner took third with Vanden Avond holding fourth to the finish. Rod Snellenberger ran to his best finish in awhile in fifth with Techmeier rounding out the top six. The point leaders were stuck in the middle of the field and unable to break through, which closed the point standings with three races remaining on the 200 schedule. The win by Paque was his first here since winning in his rookie season on June 14, 1996.
The IMCA Modifieds ran the first 15 laps of their feature non stop which allowed for the field to stretch out a bit. Jereme Hednck grabbed the lead and pulled into a lead with Joe White, Jeremy Jacobs, Dan Ratajczak, Todd Dart and Dan Deau behind. Ratajczak and Dart moved into the top four and by lap 10, point leader, Brian Mullen was into fifth. During the lone caution pedod, Mullens' car failed to refire for the restart, forcing him out of the race. Hedrick restarted and led the way with Ratajczak moving into the runner up spot. White, Dart, Jerry Muenster and Jared Siefert were right behind. Ratajczak moved to the inside of the leader on lap 19 and took 3 laps to finally overtake the lead on lap 22. Ratajczak was able to pull away over the final couple of laps to win his first division feature of the season. Hedrick, finally getting used to his new modified, held off Dart to finish second. White settled for 4th with Muenster and Siefert rounding out the top six. Bobby Rezek led the opening lap of the Street Stock main with Keith Kickbush taking over on lap 2. Jesse Colwell moved to the front and on lap 5 became the leader of the pack. Laurel Ettien worked on Kickbush for several laps before taking over the runner up spot on lap 8. Colwell had already built a several length lead at the mid point of the race. Charlie Kroll, after starting in mid pack, hooked up on the outside and moved into third on lap 12. One lap later, the back end broke lose in turn two, resulting in a several car crunch that brought out the first caution of the race. Kroll was done for the evening and the field was now bunched together for the final 7 laps.
Jesse again set the pace but Ettien stayed with him this time as Jamie Colwell moved into third place. A couple more cautions slowed the pace until there was a three lap dash to the finish that stayed green. Jamie Colwell moved into the runner up spot with 2 laps left, but Jesse held on to win his second feature of the season. Jamie took second with Kevin Jandrin taking the third place finish. Jeff Treml completed the Greenleaf connection at the front by taking the fourth place finish. Eddie Anschutz finished fifth and Darci Czarapata rounded out the top six. The late race cautions shuffled several point leaders back in the field, which helped bunch the point standings with only three races left. The win was Jesse Colwell's second of the season. The Sport Trucks ran the only non stop feature of the night with Shawn Dorn leading the opening 5 laps before point leader, Kevin Strebel moved into the top spot. Dave Davister moved into the runner up spot and Jerry Scray moved into the third spot. The trio pulled away and staged one of the closest battles for the lead ever in the division. Strebel was able to match move for move and he was able to win his fifth feature of the season. Daviser and Scray finished next with Ed Danoff taking fourth. Dan Davister took fifth and Crian Ciha rounded out the top six. Weekly racing will resume on Friday night, August 11th, and will kick off the final three weeks of the 2000 season at Tri-Star. RACING SUMMARY IMCA Modifieds: IMCA Stock Cars: Street Stocks: Sport Trucks: |
