SCHRAUFNAGEL SURVIVES MANTY MOD FEATURE! By Bill Schlei

August 14, 2002; Manitowoc, WI - Jay Schraufnagel of Beaver Dam overcame a rough track, some hard knocks and some tough competition to win at Manitowoc Expo Speedway Wednesday night.

Chad Rathke led the field at the green flag but hard contact between three different groups of cars caused a caution period and the retirement of David Andrews who was involved in one of the incidents.

Photo Highlights

Jay Schraufnagel (#10) finds himself in a familiar place... victory lane, after winning the IMCA Modified feature event. Tom Baumgart (#53) got a bit sideways during IMCA Modified action, and was tagged by Julie McDermid (#1) Lance Arneson (#75) rolled home with a win in the Street Stock main event. Andy Waack (#5) holds off Eric Wetencamp (#77) on his way to winning the Hobby Stock feature. Tom Leonard (#77) got wrapped up in the guardrail this evening ending his racing for the night. Newcomer Michelle Yaeger (#15) scored a win in the 4 Cylinder class during her first start at the Manitowoc County Expo Raceway. Michelle Yaeger (#15) was able to fend off Tom Schmidt for top honors in the 4 Cylinder feature race.

Rathke led the restart but was overtaken on lap 2 by Eric Scribner whose Dirtworks car seemed to be hooked up all over the track. Not quite as strong as the car of Mike Wedelstadt, though, as Mike passed Scribner low in turn two for the lead and appeared to be running away with the feature until a lap 15 spin ended his run up front.

The restart saw Scribner again go to the front but only for a short time as Schraufnagel passed for the lead in the final laps and went on to the victory. Julie McDermid was third followed by Fred Davister and Mike Plate.

The IMCA Stocks brought their own excitement with Brett Piontek and Troy Jerovetz swapping the lead every other lap for the first five. At that point, Brandon Czarapata came up to challenge the lead duo and took the top spot until lap 8. That's when Jeremy Christians had managed to move up to the third spot and proceed to use the outside line to pass both cars for the lead. Christians would finish on top with Czarapata second and Piontek, Rod Snellenberger and Greg Gretz completing the top five.

After the race, the claim area became alive with activity. It began with Gretz claiming the motor from the winner and the claim being accepted. Then Troy Jerovetz claimed the motor from Piontek with that claim also accepted.

Street Stock was a slam bang affair that began with Frank Paul leading the first two laps and then being passed by Doug "The Captain" Morgan on lap three. A spin on the next lap by Will Parker brought out the caution and allowed Morgan to restart from the point and hold the lead for one more lap before spinning out in turn two and collecting the car of Jolene Mueller in the process. Both cars left the race and did not return.

On the restart Frank Paul again took the lead and tried to hold off the only Ford in the field driven by Paul Kuene. Kuene managed to pass for the top spot two laps later but would be bumped from behind by Paul and spun into the infield grass. Paul would receive the black flag while Kuene went to the back of the pack.

This series of events put Lance Arneson in the lead which he wouldhold on to all the way to the checkered flag. Keith Kickbusch, Von Eitcheson and Jeff Treml were second through fourth.

Next came the unpredictable Hobby Stocks who staged a twelve lap battle that pitted local powerhouse Eric Wetenkamp against the new rising star in the division Andy Waack.

Wetenkamp led from the start and battled with Robert Voight until lap 4 when he retook the lead and started to run away. But Waack bided his time and kept the leader in sight hoping for a caution which came on lap 6 when Travis Rodewald lost a tire causing the yellow to be displayed.

When the green flew again Wetenkamp lead but was passed by Waack who held him off the rest of the way for the win. In fact during a last lap charge, Wetenkamp nearly spun but managed to recover and finish third right behind Voight.

The most hair-raising moment of the night came in the four-cylinder feature though as Steve Pingel was leading the pack on lap 2 when he struck an infield tire and rolled his ride completely on it's top and back onto it's wheels. Pingel also had the presence of mind to realize that the engine was still running and tried to continue but had to go to the pits with a flat tire that ended his night.

This left the door open for Tom Schmitt to take the lead and perhaps his second feature of the year. But rookie Michelle Yaeger had another plan in mind. Yaeger drove her Saab 900 from last to first in just three laps and won the race by a commanding margin leaving Schmitt to settle for second.

Manitowoc Co. Expo Speedway has racing every Wednesday night with gates opening at 4:30 and racing at 7pm. For more information, go to their website at racingonline.com and click on the Manitowoc Expo Speedway box.

MANITOWOC COUNTY EXPO RESULTS - August 14, 2002