September 9, 2003; Eagle River, WI. - Fans got to see
there favorite Riverside Raceway drivers one final time for The car count for the Midwest Mods and the Street Stocks were noticeably low for two reasons: First, the night's racing was not WISSOTA sanctioned and second, many of the drivers in these two classes were preparing to run Wednesday in the WISSOTA 100. The lack of cars, however, did not translate into poor racing. In the Street Stock heat race, Fritz Scharf took the early lead and the held on as Ken Valeria picked his way through the field, launching a late challenge. The start of the feature looked to be a continuation of the heat, with Scharf in the lead, and Valeria chasing. The first six laps of the race proved to be very exciting as Valeria looked for a way to get around Scharf, but on lap 7, Scharf car slowed dramatically, allowing Valeria to get on by and dominate the remainder of the race. Valeria won the race by over ten seconds over Shawn Bialas. Valeria finished the 2003 season with 5 feature victories in the last seven races. It will be interesting to see if he can carry that momentum into 2004. In the Midwest Mods, it was all Pat Zdroik. Zdroik walked away with the both the heat and the feature. The Pure Stocks had another splendid turnout, 12 cars in total, and provided some of the most exciting racing of the evening. In the first heat race, Wayne Nylund took the win, while Marlys Scharf and Pete Luedke did battle behind him. Heat number two and the $125 Perfect Attendance Dash race both went to the 2003 Pure Stock Champion, B.J. Slizewski. Slizewski won both races in the same fashion; starting on the front row, taking the early lead and dominating the rest of the way. B.J.'s bid for the "super sweep", winning three races in one evening, turned sour in the feature. Slizewski was running second early on, but spun out on lap six, forfeiting his position in line. B.J. started to pick his way back up through the pack, but got caught up in another incident on lap 10, sending him back to his trailer. Meanwhile, the battle for the lead was stunning. Pete Luedke inherited second place when Slizewski spun on lap six, and started to put the pressure on the leader, Wayne Nylund. Luedke was not alone in his pursuit of the leader. Marlys Scharf, Mark Schuenemann and Rob Rodziczak were in the fight as well, making it five cars within five car-lenghts of the lead. Luedke tried several times to pass Nylund on the inside for the lead. Behind them, the battle was heating up for third. Coming to the white flag, Mark Schuenemann dove to the inside of Marlys Scharf. Scharf came down to throw the block, hooking the two cars together momentarily. Rodziczak saw his opportunity, and went three wide on the high side and made the pass for third only to see his car shoot straight into the outside guard rail in turn one. It appeared to many that Scharf hit Rodziczak, punting him into the guard rail, but the
replay of the incident proved inconclusive and track officials put all the drivers
involved in the tangle: Rodziczak, Scharf and Schuenemann to the back of the pack.
Furthermore, since the entire field had not taken the white flag, scoring showed 13 laps
complete, setting up a On the final restart, Luedke tried to dive inside of Nylund once again, but just did not have enough forward bite off of turns two or four to complete the pass. Nylund held off Luedke, while Rodziczak clawed his way back to fifth. B.J. Slizewski did not complete the "super sweep," but there were two drivers in the Bandits that also had the opportunity. The Regular Bandit heat race was dominated by Eli Gustafson. In the same manner, Jordan Kurtti dominated the Super Bandit heat race. These two would come back and lead every lap of there dash races, but with the Bandits and Super Bandits combined for the feature, only one of them could walk away with the super sweep. Kurtti's chances ended early on when his right rear tire worked its way loose. The tire finally left the race car in turn one on lap five, near sending Kurtti airborne. Eli Gustafson chances looked better, but were not spectacular. Gustafson clawed his way to second position, but if he was going to win, he would have to pass Super Bandit champion, Phil Malouf. Gustafson caught a break when Malouf's right front tire went flat. The caution came out as Malouf came to a rest in turn three. Malouf's crew had time to work on the car under the caution, was unable to complete their work and get him back on the track until after the field took the green flag, putting Malouf one lap down. Gustafson went on to hold off Dustin Miller and became the second driver in as many weeks to complete the super sweep. Bruce Belland accomplished the feat on August 31. The night finished with novelty races involving the officials, the mechanics and the women who normally do not get to drive. A fun time was had by all, including myself, despite spinning out on lap three of the Officials' race. The 2003 season at Riverside Raceway is now complete. It has been an excellent season with great racing, great action, and above all great entertainment. A big thank you goes out to all of the sponsors who support Riverside Raceway and/or its drivers, the track employees, the drivers, and of course the fans. Without your support, we wouldn't be able to put on the quality show that we do week in and week out. Thanks to all of you again, and we look forward to seeing you in 2004. |
