Belland, Crandall Win TNT Championships in Style By Jeremy Mayo

August 23, 2008; Three Lakes, WI -  Eagle River’s Bruce Belland and Birnamwood’s Forrest Crandall put some crowning glory on their track championship seasons at TNT Speedway by taking feature victory on Budweiser Season Championship night.

Belland took his fourth Midwest Mod victory of the season, but first in over two months, to officially punch a ticket to the WISSOTA 100. Crandall needed a clean sweep to overtake Scott VanProoyen in the standings and claim the ASCI Truck title by two points.

Bill Martin of Eagle River won his heat in the TNT Stingers to clinch his first track championship. Bruce Crossing, Michigan’s Jordan Kurtti and Lac du Flambeau’s John Johnson both had problems in the main event, but had enough of a cushion to claim the WISSOTA Street Stock and TNT Bomber championships, respectively.

Mark Schuenemann of Boulder Junction and Rhinelander’s Denny Tushoski won the features in those classes, each scoring a third feature win for 2008. Merrill’s Jason Isaacson became the winningest driver of the year by claiming his eighth feature in the Stingers.

Belland clinched the Mod title just by starting the feature and was ready to run away with the regular season finale, but early cautions negated his first two passes for the lead. Finally on lap nine, Belland blew past Jeff McDonald and led the final 12 laps to take the win.

Crandall dominated in the trucks, leading 23 of a possible 25 laps. He led all 10 laps of the heat, tying VanProoyen for the point lead entering the feature. In the main event, it was all Crandall, who passed 2007 champ Jeff Becker on lap three and cruised the rest of the way. Van Prooyen worked his way by Becker late, but had no chance of catching Crandall.

Jordan Kurtti needed an eighth place finish in the WISSOTA Street Stocks to clinch a share of the championship. He led early in the race, but dropped back as the handle went away. On lap 14 the right front tire literally went away and Kurtti was out of the race – in eighth position.

The man chasing Kurtti in the points, Rhinelander’s Dave Williams, could get no higher than fifth, finished five points short and was the WISSOTA Street Stock runner-up for the second straight year.

Schuenemann took the lead when Kurtti started to fade. He held of M.J. Witberler in the final 10 laps to take the win.

John Johnson’s championship was secure when his nearest rival, Todd Brass, had mechanical problems at the start of the feature. It was a good thing for Johnson, who was caught up in several incidents.

Johnson was able to fight back and finish fifth. It was Johnson’s third track title and apparently his last as he confirmed earlier in the day that he planned to make this season his last behind the wheel.

The Bombers only made nine laps in a wreck-fest of a feature. Two drivers were able to keep their noses clean. Tushoski gained the lead on lap seven to claim the win and Sugar Camp’s Ben Pitlik, making his Bomber debut, finished second.

Isaacson led ten of the 13 laps in the Stinger feature to score the win.

TNT Speedway takes the Labor Day weekend off and returns for one more night on Saturday, September 6 with the annual Fall Special.

The night will include sanctioned racing in the WISSOTA Midwest Mods and Street Stocks, features for the Bombers, Stingers, and Trucks plus mechanics and powderpuff races. Following the show, everyone is invited to stay for the trophy presentations and corn roast.

The event will be held rain or shine. Hot laps take place at a special 5:30 PM start time with racing at 6:00. In the event of rain, the party will begin at 6:00 PM in the covered concession area.


RESULTS: TNT Speedway – Saturday, August 23, 2008


WISSOTA Midwest Mods

Heat 1: 1st 13R-Will Roffers; 2nd 8-Chad Boettcher; 3rd 52-Terry Stebbeds; 4th 22B-Bruce Belland; 5th 15S-Coday Schmidt; 5th 65-Larry Gasperini

Heat 2: 1st 5-Jerry Grasse; 2nd 7M-Jeff McDonald; 3rd 1-Jasaon Zdroik; 4th 14-Troy Smart; 5th 101-Leif Gunderson; 6th 22-Charlie Jackson

Feature: 1st 22B-Belland; 2nd 5-Grasse; 3rd 8-Boettcher; 4th 7M-McDonald; 5th 14-Smart; 6th 52-Stebbeds; 7th 22-Jackson; 8th 13R-Roffers; 9th 101-Gunderson; 10th 65-Gasperini; 11th 15S-Schmidt; 12th 1-Zdroik

Championship Standings: 1st 22-Belland (667 pts.); 2nd 13R-Roffers (645); 3rd 22-Jackson (582); 4th 14-Smart (578); 5th 101-Gunderson (539)

WISSOTA Street Stocks

Heat 1: 1st 21-Jeff Klopstein; 2nd 17-Dave Williams; 3rd 2M-M.J. Witberler; 4th 11-John Johnson, Jr.; 5th A8-Bill Forehlich; 6th 5T-Keith Troutman

Heat 2: 1st 26-Jordan Kurtti; 2nd 96-Mark Schueneman; 3rd 2X-Dennis Lacrosse; 4th 71-Kelly Knutson; DNS: 3-Jake Mullins, 8X-Ron Van Dusen

Feature: 1st 96-Schuenemann; 2nd 2M-Witberler; 3rd 21-Klopstein; 4th A8-Froehlich; 5th 17-Williams; 6th 2X-Lacrosse; 7th 11-Johnson, Jr.; 8th 26-Kurtti; 9th 71-Knutson; 10th 5T-Troutman; DNS: 3-Jake Mullins, 8X-Ron Van Dusen

Championship Standings: 1st 26-Kurtti (643); 2nd 17-Williams (638); 3rd 11-Johnson, Jr. (621); 4th A8-Froehlich (507); 5th 8X-Van Dusen (487)


TNT Bombers

Heat 1: 1st 21-Denny Tushoski; 2nd 001-Jake Ison; 3rd 28-Lee Bradley; 4th 88-Michael Votis; 5th 190-Ben Pitlik; 6th 23-Devin Wilson

Heat 2: 1st 11-John Johnson; 2nd 2T-Todd Brass; 3rd 1-Ben Hendrickson; 4th 01Z-Ron Reese; 5th 4-Jesse Votis

Feature: 1st 21-Tushoski; 2nd 190-Pitlik; 3rd 001-Ison; 4th 88-M. Votis; 5th 11-J.Johnson; 6th 23-Wilson; 7th 1-Hendrickson; 8th 28-Bradley; 9th 4-J. Votis; 10th 2T-Brass; 11th 01Z-Reese

Championship Standings: 1st 11-J. Johnson (670); 2nd 2T-Brass (657); 3rd 001-Ison (655); 4th 28-Bradley (607); 5th 88-M. Votis (502)


TNT Stingers

Heat 1: 1st 27-Bill Martin; 2nd 58-Jason Gaylord; 3rd 44-Fred Feger; 4th 13X-Shawn Depies; 5th 0-John Bourdeau; 6th 113X-Chad Wield; 7th 74-Rory Radtke

Heat 2: 1st 18-Bobby Sheldon; 2nd 5-Nathan Winling; 3rd 13-John Barlowski; 4th 127-Matt Scarzynski; 5th 711-Tom Bourdeau; 6th 97-Leo Nippa; 7th 88-Will Lundberg

Heat 3: 1st 87-Jason Isaacson; 2nd 97J-Shane Johnson; 3rd 2-Brandon Ross; 4th 13T-Joe LaFreniere; 5th 51-Tyler Winling

Consi: 1st 97J-S. Johnson; 2nd 711-T. Bourdeau; 3rd 113X-Wield; 4th 51-T. Winling; 5th 74-Radtke; 6th 88-Lundberg; 7th 0-J. Bourdeau

Feature: 1st 87-Isaacson; 2nd 97-Nippa; 3rd 13X-Depies; 4th 27-Martin; 5th 18-Sheldon; 6th 58-Gaylord; 7th 5-N. Winling; 8th 127-Scarzynski; 9th 113X-Wield; 10th 13T-LaFreniere; 11th 13-Barlowski; 12th 2-Ross; 13th 97J-S. Johnson; 14th 44-Feger; 15th 711-J. Bourdeau

Championship Standing: 1st 27-Martin (681); 2nd 87-Isaacson (649); 3rd 18-Sheldon (613); 4th 97-Nippa (598); 5th 88-Lundberg (564)

ASCI Trucks

Heat: 1st 15-Forrest Crandall; 2nd 88-Jeff Becker; 3rd 43-Scott VanProoyen; 4th 99-Robin Procknow; 5th 44-Harold Harvey

Feature: 1st 15-Crandall; 2nd 43-VanProoyen; 3rd 88-Becker; 4th 44-Harvey; 5th 99-Procknow

Championship Standings: 1st 15-Crandall (209); 2nd 43-VanProoyen (207); 3rd 99-Procknow (199); 4th 44-Harvey (191); 5th 88-Becker (167)