June 18, 2002; Eagle River, WI. - A threat of rain did not deter the race fans nor the season-high 45 drivers who came to Riverside Raceway last Tuesday for WRJO Celebrity Race Night.
The cars in the first heat of the Miller Lite A-Mods were exactly where they started after the eight-lap race. Pole-sitter Mark Albertus won followed by Kenny Smith and Stan Rychlock who was in his first race of the season here at Riverside. Passing was also a rare occurrence in heat number two as Bob Kleinschmidt went on to victory followed by Mickey Nosser and Mike Boyd who swapped positions on lap 2. The first Street Stock heat was a bizarre one for the pole-sitter Shawn Bialas. Bialas had his steering wheel come loose while leading on lap 2, dropping him out of the race. Ryan Glembin passed John Johnson for the lead on lap 3 and never looked back. Glembin had only slight pressure from Ken Valeria, who finished second, and Johnson, who finished third. The second heat of the Street Stocks went to John Eckert, who took the lead on lap 6 when he made contact with Fritz Scharf in turn 4, causing Scharf to lose his right rear tire. Kevin Maulson, though he had problems in turn 4, had the only other car that made it to the finish and came in second. The first heat of the Pure Stocks was the closest and most exciting finish the season at Riverside. Chad Rosinski, who was in Keith Durand's car for the heat race started from the pole, but was beat in to turn 1 by John Dorion. Rosinski would retake the lead, though, after mechanical problems sent Dorion to the infield. For the remainder of the race, Rosinski was challenged by Marlys Scharf. Scharf saved her best run for last as she dove to the inside out of turn 4 on the final lap only to finish second by inches. Rob Rodziczak, who had a great view of the action, finished third. Neal Slizewski led from flag to flag in the second Pure Stock heat. Jim Melton in his season debut at Riverside finished second, and B.J. Slizewski finished third. Sixteen Bandit cars showed up last Tuesday prompting three heat races. The first of these races saw Dan Zelten come from outside row 2 to the lead in a lap and a half. Zelten would control the remainder of the race winning in front of Dustin Miller, second, and Rob LaPointe, third. Tim Miller sat on the pole for Bandit heat number two and lead the race from green to checkered. Jim Nieckula trailed him in second, and Mark Schuenemann, in third. Heat number three was a battle of attrition as three of the five car failed to complete
a single lap. The two cars that did were able to complete the eight-lap distance. They
were Phil Malouf and Richard Rosemark, who finished first and second. The Miller Lite A-Mod feature was the first of these. Kenny Smith took the early lead from the outside pole and held on to it until lap 11, when Bob Kleinschmidt took the lead. Four caution flags flew during the race, prompting it to be called six laps short of the scheduled distance. Bob Kleinschmidt held on to complete the sweep. Mark Albertus, Kenny Smith, Stan Rychlock, and points leader Mickey Nosser rounded out the top five. Pole-sitter Shawn Bialas made sure his steering wheel was on tight before dominating the Street Stock feature. Nobody contested Bialas's lead because they were too busy fighting amongst one another. The most heated of the battles was staged for second between John Eckert and Fritz Scharf, who had gotten together in their heat race. Scharf passed Eckert on lap 10 only to be passed back on the final lap by Eckert, who finished second. New points leader Ryan Glembin finished fourth followed by Ken Valeria. It took several attempts to get the Pure Stock feature started. This was good news for Marlys Scharf, who was slated to start seventh. One car failed to start the race and a few cars were sent to the back for causing lap 1 cautions. This allowed Scharf to start third, but she had a hard time trying to pass Rob Rodziczak for second and in the end the cautions that worked to her advantage at the start of the race ended up costing her a chance at the win. Time had expired when the caution flag flew again on lap 9, giving the victory to B.J. Slizewski, who started on the pole. Marlys Scharf lengthened her points lead with a second place finish. John Dorion charged hard to finish third followed by Rodziczak and Riverside newcomer Joe Germain from Chilton, Wisconsin. A scary moment occurred in the Bandit feature on lap 8 when John Arrowood Jr. rolled on to his side, bringing out the red flag. Rescue workers rushed to the scene to free Arrowood from the racecar. The report from track officials states that Arrowood sustained a broken finger in the accident, but was otherwise unhurt. The Bandits only ran one more lap following the red flag and it was Mark Schuenemann taking the victory from the fourth starting spot. He was followed by Richard Rosemark, Jim Nieckula, Robert Whittaker, and Phil Malouf. Richard Rosemark maintained the points lead for the car he shares with Joel Miller. All of this built up to the nightcap, the celebrity race. The race itself was anti-climatic, though. Z104's Black Bart cruised to victory over his Z104 teammate Ken Schrader. Tom Mork threw a block on NBC-12 weatherman Steve Brown to take the third position. Brown finished fourth followed by defending race champion Moe Michael from WRJO, and Betsy Bleicher from the Vilas County News-Review. |
