Schuenemann Holds of Strong Comeback in Streets at TNT By Jeremy Mayo

July 12, 2008; Three Lakes, WI -  Jordan Kurtti left the door open in the WISSOTA Street Stock Feature on Saturday night at TNT Speedway and someone finally made the most of the opportunity.

Boulder Junction’s Mark Schuenemann gave Kurtti a run for his money a week earlier and finished the job this time, scoring his first win of the season at TNT, while denying Kurtti of win number seven.

Kurtti’s miscue came on lap five when he spun in turn four while battling for the lead. On the restart he nearly spun again and fell a half-lap behind.

John Johnson, Jr., Kevin Maulson, Jr. and Schuenemann were staging a good battle for the lead. Schuenemann had just passed Maulson for second when the caution came out for a spin in the back of the pack by Jake Mullins.

Kurtti, though still running ninth at the time of the yellow, quickly picked up spots on the restart. He moved all the way to fourth by lap 11, when Ron Van Dusen, running third, spun and retired from the race.

That put Johnson, Jr, Schuenemann and Kurtti into a dogfight for the lead. Johnson led until lap 15 when Schuenemann went low and Kurtti went high in turn one. Schuenemann won the three-wide battle and Kurtti, after a little more battling with Johnson, moved to second.

The caution flew one more time, setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Schuenemann got the break on Kurtti and held on to take the win.

That was just part of a weird night of racing sponsored by Lake of the Torches Casino, Tushoski’s Collision and Watercraft Sales.

The most “sane” feature of the evening was run by the WISSOTA Midwest Mods. Eagle River’s Jason Zdroik led 19 of 20 laps to claim victory. He felt plenty of heat from Clearwater Lakes’ Terry Stebbeds.

The two cars were apparently setup differently. During the middle of the race, Stebbeds would close to within a car length through turns one and two and Zdroik would expand the gap through turns three and four.

That continued for about 10 laps, but eventually the handle started to go away on Stebbeds’ car. Zdroik cruised to his second win of the season while Stebbeds and Bruce Belland battled for second. Belland passed Stebbeds coming to the white flag. Stebbeds passed him back on the final lap in turn three. Belland tried to cross over in turn for, but Stebbeds barely won the drag race back to the line.

The TNT Bombers were truly back on their crash and bash form. Seven cautions flew in a race that complete just nine laps due to the time limit. Lee Bradley lead the first three laps but went to the pits and eventually retired with mechanical problems.

John Johnson inherited the lead and went on to claim his second win in a row and third of the season in the class. His lead in the division increased to 10 points as Todd Brass finished seventh, retiring from the race three laps early due to damage suffered in a crash.

The TNT Stingers ran one of the most bizarre races in the 14-year history of the track. 13 cars started, nine suffered some sort of right front tire problem during the course of the race.

It was not a good night to be the leader. Cory Dickman led the first two laps before a tire went flat. Then Fred Feger took the point. He held it until lap seven, when his right front went flat.

From there it was Jason Isaacson’s race to lose. Isaacson led from lap six to lap 13. Then, with a lap and a half remaining, his right front wheel came loose and left the car on the backstretch.

Through all of this, Bill Martin, who admitted to slowing his pace on the rough track once he saw all the tire problems, took over the lead. Three others followed his strategy, Joe LaFreniere, Brit Bromann and Leo Nippa. Martin pulled away in the final two laps while those three put on a frantic fight for second.

They came across the line three wide with LaFreniere, who fell to last early in the race after nearly getting spun out, taking second. Bromann, making his first start of the year, finished third and Nippa, who ironically has had more tire problems than anyone at TNT this year, came home fourth.

Martin took over the lead in the Stinger points with the win. Nick Visser, whose tire problems came on lap two, returned to the track but finished eighth, seven laps down.

Racing continues this coming Saturday at TNT as the ASCI Trucks make their third appearance of the season, joining WISSOTA/Amsoil Dirt Track Series Midwest Modifieds and Streets Stocks and the TNT Bombers and Stingers. Hot Laps will start at 7:00 PM, with racing at 7:45.




RESULTS: TNT Speedway – Saturday, July 12, 2008


WISSOTA Midwest Mods

Heat 1: 1st 52-Terry Stebbeds; 2nd 5-Jerry Grasse; 3rd 14-Troy Smart; 4th 7M-Jeff McDonald; 5th 101-Leif Gunderson; 6th 7D-Charlie Derickson

Heat 2: 1st 22B-Bruce Belland; 2nd 1-Jason Zdroik; 3rd 13R-Will Roffers; 4th 22-Charlie Jackson; 5th 65-Larry Gasperini

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



WISSOTA Street Stocks

Heat 1: 1st 26-Jordan Kurtti; 2nd 17-Dave Williams; 3rd 96-Mark Schuenemann; 4th 23M-Kevin Maulson, Jr; 5th 2-Denny Tushoski

Heat 2: 1st 11-John Johnson, Jr.; 2nd 8x-Ron Van Dusen; 3rd 21-Jeff Klopstein; 4th 3-Jake Mullins; 5th A8-Bill Froehlich

Feature: 1st 96-Schuenemann; 2nd 26-Kurtti; 3rd 11-Johnson, Jr.; 4th A8-Froehlich; 5th 2-Tushoski; 6th 21-Klopstein; 7th 3-Mullins; 8th 17-Williams; 9th 23M-Maulson, Jr.; 10th 8x-Van Dusen


TNT Bombers

Heat 1: 1st 21-Tushoski; 2nd 2T-Todd Brass; 3rd 11-John Johnson; 4th 4-Jesse Votis; 5th 001-Jake Ison; DNS: 88-Michael Votis

Heat 2: 1st 28-Lee Bradley; 2nd 25-Jay Wilberding; 3rd 1-Ben Hendricksen; 4th 7-Jason Melton; 5th 57-Wayne Nylund; 6th 23-Devin Wilson

Feature: 1st 11-Johnson; 2nd 001-Ison; 3rd 25-Wilberding; 4th 21-Tushoski; 5th 1-Hendricksen; 6th 23-Wilson; 7th 2T-Brass; 8th 4-J. Votis; 9th 57-Nylund; 10th 28-Bradley; 11th 88-M. Votis; 12th 7-Melton



TNT Stingers

Heat 1: 1st 87-Jason Isaacson; 2nd 27-Bill Martin; 3rd 75-Cory Dickman; 4th 44-Fred Feger; 5th 18-Bobby Sheldon; 6th 2-Brandon Ross; 7th 97L-Logan Lannet

Heat 2: 1st 30V-Nick Visser; 2nd 88-Will Lundberg; 3rd 26B-Brit Bromann; 4th 13-John Barlowski; 5th 13T-Joe LaFreniere; 6th 97-Leo Nippa

Feature: 1st 27-Martin; 2nd 13T-LaFreniere; 3rd 26B-Bromann; 4th 97-Nippa; 5th 87-Isaacson; 6th 13-Barlowski; 7th 2-Ross; 8th 30V-Visser; 9th 44-Feger; 10th 97L-Lannet; 11th 88-Lundberg; 12th 18-Sheldon; 13th 75-Dickman