May 25, 2003; Eagle River, WI. - The action was exciting as 42 cars took to the Riverside Raceway track on Sunday for Opening Night sponsored by Valvoline Oil Depot. The WISSOTA Midwest Mods Presented by Miller Lite were the first to take to the track.
Scott Anderson from Phillips took the win in heat race number one followed by Mickey
Nosser. In the second heat, Eagle River's Guy Carley took The first heat of WISSOTA Street Stocks was a thriller. Dave LaMont and Joe Bablick battled for the entire 8-lap heat. On the final lap, they made contact out of turn number 2, spinning LaMont. Because of the incident, deemed to be caused by Bablick's actions, LaMont was credited with the win and Bablick was put back to fifth. Kevin Maulson checked out early in heat two and took an easy win over 2001 and 2002 track champion in Street Stocks, Ken Valeria. John Johnson took the first heat of the Pure Stocks, followed by Chad Rosinski and his return to Riverside with the 8-ball car. 2002 Pure Stock Champion Marlys Scharf got off to a good start to he title defense by winning her heat. The Bandits and Super Bandits will run separately this year when there are enough cars in each class. The number was not met on this night, so they ran together. A scary incident occurred in the first heat as Tim Stolar got turned by Dustin Miller, sending Stolar skidding through the grass and hard into the infield guardrail entering turn 3. Stolar was unhurt, but his car was done for the night. Brandon Miller would go on to take the win in the first heat race. Phil Malouf, third in Bandit points in 2002, took the win in the second heat over a hard-charging Jordan Kurtti. After intermission, The WISSOTA Midwest Mods Presented by Miller Lite had their feature
race. The race was another battle between the two Phillips drivers, Mickey Nosser and
Scott Anderson. Anderson would mount several challenges in the closing laps, but Mickey
Nosser held off every one in taking the victory. The feature win was Nosser's second in as
many night. He won in Three Lakes the night before, holding of Anderson in that race
as well. Duane Dunbar, Troy Smart and Chuck Gross rounded out the top 5.Kevin Maulson's
bid for a WISSOTA Street Stock sweep was foiled early on in Joe Bablick took the early lead in the race, but he was pressured hard by Ken Valeria, who had worked his way up to second. On lap 13, Valeria tried to get to the inside of Bablick in turn one, the two made contact, and Bablick spun. Bablick's lead was restored and Valeria was sent to the end of the lead lap. On the restart, Dave LaMont engaged Job Bablick in battle, but could never get enough of a run to the inside of Bablick to make a serious challenge. Bablick took the win in WISSOTA Street Stocks. LaMont finished second followed by Bruce Belland. Ken Valeria worked his was back to fourth and Carl Christjohn rounded out the top 5. It looked like there would be an exciting finish in the Pure Stock. Chad Rosinski, Mark Schuenemann, Rob Rodziczak, BJ Slizewski and Marlys Scharf all had good racecars, and all had a chance for the win when rookie Ryan Valeria brought out his second caution with two laps to go. Chad Rosinski, however, showed very little rust on this night, despite only racing twice at Riverside in 2002. Rosinski got out to a great restart and had smooth sailing for the final two laps as he took the victory. Schuenemann and Rodziczak finished second and third, respectively. Marlys Scharf got around BJ Slizewski as the swapped fourth and fifth. Phil Malouf wrapped up the evening in style with a dominating victory in the Bandits. Nick Warwick was second. The closest battle on the track during the race was for third, as Dustin Miller got around Scott Scharf with a handful of laps left to take the spot. 2002 Most Popular Driver at Riverside, Heidi Diers, rounded out the top 5. There is no Tuesday night action this week. Riverside will kick off its Tuesday night
schedule, which runs through the week before Labor Day, on June 3 with B93 NASCAR Night.
Along with a complete race program, Winston Cup Cars Driven by Dale Earnhardt and Rusty
Wallace will be on display. |
