9/9/06
Cedar Lake Speedway
Jerry Richert Memorial
IRA/Knoxville/NOSA Challenge
36 cars
Kerry Madsen (28th car out to time) set quick time at 10.941 seconds, less than .2 of a second from Terry McCarl’s track record. Dusty Zomer (35th car out) was second quick, followed by Dave Uttech (5th), Kaley Gharst (20th), Steve Meyer (3rd), John Haeni (7th), John Sernett (16th), Travis Whitney (10th), Billy Alley (30th) and Wade Nygaard (12th). Joe Symoens failed to get a time in and scratched for the night.
Heat one (started): 1. Jason Johnson 44 (1) 2. Billy Warren 95 (2) 3. Meyer 85m (5) 4. Madsen 55x (6) / 5. Alley 17G (4) 6. Tim Sernett 91T (3) 7. Bill Wirth 53w (8) 8. Duane Olson 16 (7) DNS – Leigh Thomas 29
Johnson led all 10 laps on a fast track not lending to much passing. Madsen managed to get by Alley early to snag the final transfer.
Heat two (started): 1. Ryan Irwin 49 (1) 2. Billy Balog 1H (2) 3. Nygaard 9N (4) 4. Zomer 1z (6) / 5. Jake Peters 57x (3) 6. Ty Bartz 75 (7) 7. Alex Bliesner 45x (8) 8. Haeni 21J (5) DNS – Scott Biertzer 4B
Irwin led flag to flag. The best race was for the final transfer between South Dakotans Zomer and Peters. Zomer grabbed the spot late after shooting under Peters.
Heat three (started): 1. Mike Reinke 02 (2) 2. Todd King 93 (3) 3. Jerry Richert Jr. 55 (4) 4. Kim Mock 1m (1) / 5. J. Sernett 91 (5) 6. Scott Uttech 7 (7) 7. D. Uttech 68 (6) 8. Tony Hargrave 18H (8) 9. Tony Kaus 3K (9)
Reinke dominated the non-stop heat. The only real race was a side by side battle for fifth between J. Sernett and S. Uttech.
Heat four (started): 1. Donny Goeden 78 (2) 2. Wayne Modjeski 77 (1) 3. Mark Dobmeier 13 (4) 4. Gharst 7w (6) / 5. Scott Neitzel 2w (3) 6. Whitney 9 (5) 7. Howie Gleason 21G (8) 8. Greg Nikitenko 6 (7) DNS – Joe Symoens 96
Modjeski grabbed the early advantage, but succumbed to Goeden after a good battle on lap three. On lap five, Nikitenko brought the first caution of the night when he smacked the turn three wall and needed a tow back to the trailer. The restart saw Goeden leading Modjeski, Dobmeier and a transfer battling Neitzel and Gharst. Gharst and Neitzel continued the battle, with Gharst grabbing the final transfer spot with two laps to go in his maiden voyage in the Williams 7w.
B main (started): 1. Haeni (2) 2. D. Uttech (1) 3. Peters (7) 4. Whitney (4) 5. Alley (5) 6. Neitzel (8) / 7. J. Sernett (3) 8. Bartz (9) 9. Gleason (14) 10. S. Uttech (10) 11. Thomas (18) 12. Biertzer (17) 13. Bliesner (16) 14. Wirth (12) 15. Hargrave (11) 16. Olson (13) 17. T. Sernett (6) 18. Kaus (15) DNS – Nikitenko, Symoens
D. Uttech grabbed the early lead in the 15 lapper, but yielded to a pressuring Haeni on lap two. On lap four, T. Sernett had his nose wing flip up on him, bringing caution. Haeni led D. Uttech, J. Sernett, Whitney and Alley back to green flag racing. D. Uttech grabbed the lead back on the next circuit, but Haeni grabbed it again for good on lap five. Two laps later, Biertzer stopped to bring another slowdown. Now Haeni led D. Uttech, Whitney, a surging Peters, J. Sernett and Alley back to green. Haeni pulled away for the next five laps, while Peters took third from Whitney. On the 12th go-around, Olson flipped on the backstretch infield barrier. He was unhurt. Haeni led the field back to green, ahead of D. Uttech, Peters, Whitney, J. Sernett, Alley and Neitzel, who was one spot out of a transfer. In the last three laps, Alley and Neitzel were able to get by J. Sernett for the final two transfer spots to the main event.
A main (started): 1. Reinke (2) 2. Dobmeier (15) 3. Goeden (1) 4. Gharst (6) 5. Whitney (13) 6. Nygaard (4) 7. Alley (14) 8. Neitzel (18) 9. King (17) 10. D. Uttech (11) 11. Haeni (12) 12. Balog (20) 13. Irwin (9) 14. Johnson (10) 15. Warren (19) 16. Mock (21) 17. Meyer (5) 18. Peters (16) 19. Richert (3) 20. Modjeski (22) 21. Madsen (8) 22. Zomer (7)
Zomer had something break in turn two at the outset, and was turned directly into the wall. The damage was too much to continue. Reinke grabbed the lead at the outset of the 30 lapper. As he approached lapped traffic on lap six, Madsen got upside down hard in turn three after moving up to fourth. He was uninjured, but done. Reinke led Goeden, Richert, Nygaard and Gharst back to green. Richert was running well in third when he contacted the backstretch wall on lap 12 and flipped. He was unhurt. Haeni suffered a flat right rear on lap 14. Each time there was a restart, Reinke pulled away in dominating fashion. Seven more laps were in the books when Peters, who had moved from 16th to 8th stopped with mechanical ills, ending his night on lap 21. Reinke led Goeden, a charging Dobmeier, Gharst and Whitney back to green. Reinke made contact with the wall, rendering his Jacob’s Ladder useless, and dislodging his nose wing. He continued to pull away from the rest. A final stoppage came when Meyer flipped hard down the frontstretch in a battle for sixth with Nygaard with two to go. He was unhurt. Reinke held out for the win, while Dobmeier was able to complete a hard-charging run from row eight for the runner-up spot. Many cash and contingency prizes were handed out throughout the evening including tires, front axles, Impact wrenches, Power Inverters, and other racing products. Reinke’s take at the end of the night totaled more than $3500, and the feature paid $475 to start on a great tribute to Jerry Richert.