10/14/06
Wilmot Speedway
Wilmot, WI
WoO
44 cars
Becca Anderson (11th car out to time) set a new track record and paced time trials at 12.703 seconds on the 3/8 mile semi-banked oval. Donny Schatz (1st car out) was second quick, followed by Daryn Pittman (4th), Wayne Johnson (6th), Chad Blonde (2nd), Mark Dobmeier (13th), Craig Dollansky (15th), Jeremy Campbell (10th), Justin Henderson (36th) and Dave Moulis (22nd). Bill Wirth and Dan Owings failed to get times in. A nice crowd braved cold temperatures to see the best WoO feature finish of the year.
Heat one (started): 1. Tommy Sexton Jr. 83D (1) 2. Joey Saldana 9 (3) 3. Henderson D1 (4) 4. Campbell 10c (5) 5. Anderson 19 (6) / 6. Scott Lenz 99s (7) 7. Kurt Davis 6K (9) 8. Jereme Schroeder 43 (8) 9. Mike Reinke 02 (2) 10. Kirk Fehrman 33 (10) DNS - Mike Dubs 79
Sexton led the 8 lapper flag to flag. Reinke challenged him early, but dropped out with mechanical ills on lap six. That was the break Anderson needed to grab the final transfer.
Heat two (started): 1. Terry McCarl 24 (3) 2. Dollansky 7 (5) 3. Jason Martin 36 (2) 4. Schatz 15 (6) 5. Bill Rose 6 (1) / 6. Moulis 14AJ (4) 7. Tim Vandervere 7v (8) 8. Dion Hindi 11D (7) 9. Scott Uttech 3 (9) 10. Jim Lukey 7L (10) 11. Rich Vant 15R (11)
Martin grabbed an early lead. At the halfway point, Lukey spun, collecting Vant. McCarl grabbed the lead on the restart and Dollansky followed him by Martin. Moulis and Vandervere knocked on the door of Rose for the final transfer the last four laps, but couldn't make anything stick.
Heat three (started): 1. Randy Hannagan 1x (4) 2. Pittman 21 (6) 3. Kaley Gharst 7w (3) 4. Dobmeier 8 (5) 5. Mike Kertscher 48H (7) / 6. Darrell Dodd 11 (9) 7. Chad Kemenah 15K (2) 8. Brian Kristan 5K (1) 9. Kris Spitz 4K (8) 10. Tony Wondra 97w (10) 11. Dan Owings 19K (11)
Hannagan circled the front row for the early lead. On lap three, Kristan, who was running second, contacted the third place car sending both sideways. They were both able to keep it running without a caution, but were effectively out of a shot at a transfer. Dodd used his experience to grab the fifth and final transfer, but a charge on the high side by Kertscher on the final go-around, stole it back. Hannagan pulled away in impressive fashion. Gharst appeared to blow up after the checkers, leaving fluid all over the racetrack. Dobmeier was filling in for Brooke Tatnell, who is still in Australia.
Heat four (started): 1. Johnson 5 (6) 2. Jac Haudenschild 35 (4) 3. Dave Uttech 77 (8) 4. Rick Kelsey 01 (1) 5. Ryan Irwin 49 (7) / 6. Tom Busch 4B (2) 7. Brian Carlson 18 (3) 8. Blonde 5B (5) 9. Larry Vandervere 14v (9) 10. Keith Fellner 18F (10) DNS - Bill Wirth 53w
Two three car incidents marred this event. Before a lap could be completed, Blonde and Carlson got together. The contact sent Carlson upside down and Blonde to the pits. Fellner was also collected in the mess and done for the night. The next try was no better, as the front row of Kelsey and Busch tangled, collecting L. Vandervere. Only Kelsey would be able to continue in a five car race. With all of the starters transferring, Johnson led Haud throughout. Despite the fact the win meant nothing, Haud drove like his hair was on fire, much to the delight of the gathered throng. A late high-side charge came a tire width from reaching his goal.
Dash (started): 1. Campbell (2) 2. Dobmeier (4) 3. Henderson (1) 4. Pittman (6) 5. Dollansky (3) 6. Johnson (5) 7. Schatz (7) 8. Anderson (8) 9. Haudenschild (10) 10. Hannagan (9)
Campbell led throughout. Henderson and Dobmeier battled for second for the duration. Dobmeier grabbed the front row starting spot on the final lap with a turn two slider. Hannagan spun out of eighth coming for the checkers. Pittman won a race-long battle for fourth with Dollansky.
B main (started): 1. Kemenah (3) 2. Kristan (5) 3. Moulis (2) 4. Hindi (7) / 5. Busch (6) 6. Davis (11) 7. T. Vandervere (9) 8. Reinke (4) 9. Dodd (13) 10. Spitz (12) 11. Fehrman (16) 12. Schroeder (10) 13. Lenz (8) 14. Wondra (18) 15. S. Uttech (14) 16. Lukey (15) 17. Vant (17) 18. Carlson (1) DNS - Blonde, Fellner, Dubs, L. Vandervere, Owings, Wirth
T. Vandervere spun before a lap could be completed and started at the rear, while Carlson shelled his rear end, ending a tough night. Moulis grabbed the early lead in the entertaining 12 lapper. Kemenah was on him quickly and took the point on lap two. Reinke moved by Moulis into second shortly thereafter, and on lap five got a bit sideways in turn two. Moulis was unable to avoid him, tapping him into a spin. Reinke restarted at the rear. At the time, Kemenah led Moulis, Hindi, Kristan, Davis and Dodd. Kristan got around Hindi for third and soon Hindi was getting pressure from Davis and Dodd for the final transfer. S. Uttech struck an infield tire on lap ten, setting up a two lap shootout. Kristan was able to use the cushion to slingshot around Moulis for second, while Hindi held off the charges behind him.
A main (started): 1. Dobmeier (2) 2. Campbell (1) 3. Pittman (4) 4. Dollansky (5) 5. Henderson (3) 6. Schatz (7) 7. Hannagan (10) 8. Haudenschild (9) 9. Kertscher (22) 10. Saldana (14) 11. Gharst (12) 12. Anderson (8) 13. McCarl (13) 14. Kristan (18) 15. Hindi (21) 16. Rose (19) 17. Sexton (20) 18. Kelsey (17) 19. Martin (15) 20. Moulis (11) 21. Johnson (6) 22. D. Uttech (24) 23. Kemenah (16) 24. Irwin (23)
Probably the most exciting sprint finish this year anywhere. Campbell led the 35 lapper early before Gharst stopped in turn four after one lap was complete. He restarted at the rear. Campbell led Henderson, Dobmeier, Pittman and Dollansky back to green flag racing. Five laps later, another caution slowed the event when a cone got onto the track. Now Campbell led Henderson, Pittman, Dobmeier and Dollansky. Pittman quickly disposed of Henderson and worked under the leader on lap 11. Dobmeier was able to get by Henderson and then worked by Campbell in traffic for second. The leaders diced through traffic until a lap 24 yellow for Johnson, who stopped on the track. He was done for the night, following Irwin, Kemenah and D. Uttech. Just one more lap was in the books before the lapped machine of Sexton jumped the turn four berm. The lap 25 restart saw Pittman leading Dobmeier, Campbell, Dollansky, Henderson and Schatz. Dobmeier performed a successful slidejob on Pittman when the race went green, but Pittman would counter him a lap later. On lap 27, the 9th and 10th place cars of McCarl and Anderson contacted. The incident collected Martin and Moulis, who flipped. He was uninjured. Now Pittman led Dobmeier, Campbell, Dollansky and Henderson. The lead trio would provide the entertainment the last eight laps. They quickly entered traffic with Campbell and Dobmeier battling for second. Taking the white flag, the third place machine of Campbell saw an opportunity and shot on the outside of Dobmeier for second on the frontstretch, and slid in front of Pittman coming out of turn two. Dobmeier followed him and went high in turns three and four in dense lapped traffic. The three drivers came out of four with a chance at the checkers. Dobmeier used his momentum on the high side to edge it out for his first WoO win and $10K. Dobmeier, who has won everything there is to win in the Dakotas will get noticed now. Contact between the three coming for the checkers sent Pittman into a 360 spin, but he managed to cross in the show position. Kertscher was the hard-charger, going from 22nd to 9th.