August 5, 2003; Eagle River, WI. -The 4-Cylinder Shootout had the spotlight on OK Auto Parts and Auto Value Night at Riverside Raceway, but Riverside's other three class gave the fans plenty to talk about. The WISSOTA Midwest Mods Presented by Miller Lite were at the center of the action. Scott Anderson all but sealed the track championship, as point runner-up Duane Dunbar was a no show. Anderson celebrated by taking the win in the heat race for the Mods. The races took a less than peaceful turn midway through the WISSOTA Midwest Mod feature. Stan Rychlock got into Bob Kleinschmidt coming out of turn four, leaving Kleinschmidt's car virtually disabled. After the caution flag flew, Kleinschmidt paid Rychlock back, spinning him in turn four. The result was a fight on the front straightaway involving Kleinschmidt, Rychlock, and others. The two drivers forfeited all points and money for the night. As of Wednesday night, no long-term penalties have been handed out to the parties involved. A decision on penalties should be made by the end of the week. Fines and/or suspensions are strong possibilities and whatever decisions are made will be posted on the Riverside Raceway website. After the mangled machines were cleared, the race resumed, but without Scott Anderson,
who pulled off the track just before the restart. Chuck Gross was leader and it seemed
like he would walk away with the feature, but Troy Smart, who laid back during the first
half of the race, made a strong second half charge. Smart slipped by Gross on lap 11 when
Gross pushed high In the WISSOTA Street Stocks, Chad Lederer won the first heat race. Ken Valeria inherited the lead when Kevin Maulson spun out. Valeria took the win in heat two. In the feature, it was all Ken Valeria. Valeria dominated the race for the first 15
laps. Then cautions came out for incidents involving Kevin Maulson and Lee Chirstjohn
respectively, setting up a three-lap dash. Chad Lederer hung with Valeria, but was unable
to get by as Ken Valeria scored his second consecutive feature win, and with Fritz Scharf
finishing back in fifth, Adam LaFriske won the first heat for the Pure Stocks as Marlys Scharf struggled to only a sixth place finish. BJ Slizewski, who trailed Scharf by 13 points for the lead in the Pure Stocks, took full advantage of her poor run by winning the second heat, trimming the lead to eight. The feature proved to be another minor upset. Wayne Nylund, in only his third run this
season at Riverside worked past Troy Payne early on in the feature and dominated to take
the win. Mark Schuenemann was on the charge and beat out Payne by inches for the second
position. Marlys Scharf finished fifth with BJ Slizewski right behind her in sixth. With
four races WRJO sponsors next week's racing action at Riverside. Rohacek Wins 4-Cylinder Shootout 2003 August 5, 2003; Eagle River, WI. - Twenty-four cars answered the call for the second annual 4-Cylinder Shootout. In the end it was TNT Speedway fastest 4-Cylinder, Ryan Rohacek, taking it to his competitors and claiming the $150 top prize. Rohacek drew a high number, so he started toward the back of the pack for the first heat race. By the time he got through the pack, Dustin Miller had checked out and was on his way to the win in heat number one. Rohacek finished second, but that would end up helping him for the feature. Nick Warwick, coming off of last week's feature win, continued the positive momentum win a win in heat number two. Justin Lannet ended up second. Shane Brown and Jeremy Mortl, two drivers who normally run at Norway Speedway in Norway, Michigan, earned the final two transfer spots. Jordan Kurtti held on to his point lead over Dustin Miller and Phil Malouf by winning the third heat. Malouf finished second and Heidi Diers, with a brand new car, was third. The heat races put twelve cars through to the feature, leaving twelve cars to fight for six positions in the semi-feature. The top six separated themselves from the rest early on in the race. The only question was where they would finish. James Williams held the lead for the majority of the race, but on the last lap, Michael Truscott worked his way on by and took the win. Williams, Elliott Marquardt, Rick Wolf, Tim Bialas, and Troy Elliott were the others to transfer to the feature. As the winner of heat number one, Dustin Miller had the duty of determining how many cars out of the top twelve would be inverted for the feature. Miller cut the deck of playing cards, leaving a five at the top of the deck. The first five cars were inverted for the feature, an inversion that would leave Ryan Rohacek sitting on the outside pole. That was all Rohacek needed. Rohacek jumped to the lead from the outside pole and set sail from there. The only thing that slowed Rohacek down were cautions, and there were plenty of them. On the first lap, Michael Truscott took a hard hit as he got squeezed into the inside guardrail in a three-wide battle toward the back of the pack. A couple more cautions slowed the pace. Then on lap 14, the race and more importantly the chase for the Super Bandit track championship took a major turn. Dustin Miller broke and stalled in turn three, bringing out the caution. During the caution, Jordan Kurtti pulled off the racetrack, ending his night. With Kurtti and Miller in the infield, Phil Malouf fond himself in prime position to retake command of the points race. The caution period was extended when fire burst from underneath Dave Scott's machine from an apparent fuel leak. Track officials burnt off the excess fuel and got the track ready for a six-lap shootout. Ryan Rohacek made sure the battle would be for second as he pulled away on final time and claimed running number two of the 4-Cylinder Shootout. The battle indeed was for second as Nick Warwick was able to keep Phil Malouf at bay. Malouf's third place finish combined with the poor luck for Kurtti and Miller gave Malouf a ten-point lead in the Super Bandit standing with four nights remaining. Justin Lannet was the highest finishing Bandit in fourth. Michael Truscott recovered from his lap one incident to finish fifth. Scott Scharf finished eighth with Heidi Diers right behind him. Scharf's lead in the Bandits remains two points over Diers. With the success of this year's Shootout, Riverside Raceway is already
looking forward to 4-Cylinder Shootout 2004. WISSOTA Midwest Mods Presented by Miller Lite |
