WEDELSTADT WINS AGAIN AT MANITOWOC! By Bill Schlei

June 12, 2002; Manitowoc, WI - Mike Wedelstadt won his second feature of the year Wednesday, First Chrysler night at Manitowoc Expo Speedway capping off a night of thrills for the fans in attendance.

Michelle Ploeckelmann and Jay Schrafnagel led the field to the opening flag and ran side by side until lap three when the car driven by Brad Rohloff of Pulaski suddenly lost power and stopped on the front stretch bringing out the caution flag.

On the restart, Schrafnagel had the lead but was overtaken within one lap by Wedelstadt who was slowed only by another yellow on lap twelve when Bill Lemieux's car inexplicably stalled in turn three.

Wedelstock ran away on the restart and won by a convincing margin over Schrafnagel.

The IMCA Stock car division feature began with Mike Wietor on the pole and holding the lead until lap 9 of 20 when Travis VanStraten had a tire go down causing Van Stratten to lose control and spin his car out in the middle of the front stretch.

During the caution, Wietor had to pit for repairs and Kewaunee's Greg Gretz assumed the lead. Gretz was pursued to the finish by Manitowoc's Brett Wenzel. But each time Wenzel attempted to pass Gretz was able to find just enough to hold on to the lead and the victory.

Street Stock had it's share of fireworks as the race began with Mishicot's Jolene Mueller on the pole only to be overtaken in the first turn of the race by a charging Tom Leonard. Leonard stayed in the low groove, which proved to be the fastest way around on this evening.

Von Eicheson gave chase and seemed poised to take over the lead when a flat tire on lap 14 ended his hopes for a victory. As a result, Jeff Treml moved to the second spot and drove a very strong race but came up a car length short at the finish as Leonard took the checkered flag in his First Chrysler sponsored entry.

Capping off the evening, the Hobby stock division had the fans on their feet with four lead changes and a rollover in just twelve laps.

The race began with Phillip Reichwaldt on the pole and leading the race until lap three when the number twenty car of Jason Arenz of Kiel lost power in turn three and the caution was displayed. The race was only two laps into the restart when another yellow flag was thrown, this time for debris in turn four.

On the restart, "Untoppable" Eric Wetenkamp of Manitowoc took over the lead from Reichwaldt and was on his way to his third checkered flag in four nights of racing.

His victory was delayed however. On lap seven the third place car driven by Arenz caught a deep rut in the track surface in between three and four and flipped onto it's top bringing out the red flag, track safety crew and ambulance.

Luckily, other than a few bruises Arenz was uninjured and walked away from the crash.

The race ended with Wetenkamp in first followed by Reichwaldt in second and Andy Waack in third.

Manitowoc Co. Expo Speedway has racing every Wednesday night with gates opening at 5:30 pm and racing at 7. The track is located at the intersection of I43 and US 151 on the Manitowoc Expo Grounds.

For more information, go to their website at racingonline.com and click on their icon.

MANITOWOC COUNTY EXPO RESULTS - June 12, 2002