Manitowoc County Expo speedway
July 6, 2012
_____________________________________

Thompson, Pribnow, Engleking, Thiel & Parker take Trophies home on Mid-Season Championship Night

J. Tienor
Friday July 7, Manitowoc, WI. – With the Pat Rand Memorial and Mid-Season Championships & the INEX Legends on hand, things started to turn a little strange early in the evening. The feature events provided some seriously good racing with trophies sponsored by R&H Enterprises.

WDLMA LATE MODELS
With the time curfew looming, the WDLMA Late Models took to the track, led by the front row of Jim Letizia (Milwaukee) and Eric Michaels (Cleveland), and the 2nd row of Mark Rose (Elcho) and Ron Stroika (Mukwonago). On the green Rose got around the 2 cars in front of him and led the first lap, with Michaels and Stroika battling behind him, and on Lap 2 Stroika moved into 2nd. Russ and Rick Scheffler (Waukesha), Pete Parker (Kaukauna), Justin Hirt (Tigerton), Tim Buhler (Glenbuelah), and Craig Schueffner (Sheboygan Falls) were putting on a clinic mid-pack, fighting their way to the front after getting caught up in the 12 car inversion. Yellow flew on Lap 8 as something broke in the rear of Rick Schefflers ride, sending him to the pits and bunching the field back together. Rose, Stroika, Hirt, Parker, and Justin Schmidt (Cleveland) led the wide bodies back to green, with Hirt immediately jumping to the top side to get around Rose and take over the lead. Schueffner rejoined the battle at the front after sliding back at the start, breaking into the top 5 just before the caution flew at Lap 14 for Buhler, suffering a flat left rear on the frontstretch. Hirt led the restart, followed by Parker, Stroika, Ju. Schmidt, and Schueffner, with cars cramming 3 wide through Turns 1&2. Schueffner quickly got by both Schmidt & Stroika, taking over third with Russ in his tire tracks coming to 4th. With 5 to go it was still Hirt, Parker, Schueffner, Russ, and Stroika, with Tom Naeyaert in 6th after starting 14th. On the final lap the leaders would encounter lapped traffic both high and low, with Parker making the best move to get through and out-racing Hirt to the line for the win. They were followed across by Russ Scheffler, Schueffner, Stroika, Naeyaert, Ju. Schmidt, Ji. Schmidt, Buhler and Rose. Hard Charger honors to Russ Scheffler, Jim Schmidt, and Naeyaert all picking up 8 spots.

HEAT 1 - 1, Rick Scheffler. 2, Turk Letizia. 3, Tim Buhler. 4, Justin Schmidt. 5, Ron Stroika. 6, Eric Michaels. 7, Wayne Block. 8, Michael Stangl. 9, Scott Haugstad.
HEAT 2 - 1, Pete Parker. 2, Justin Hirt. 3, Russ Scheffler. 4, Craig Schueffner. 5, Mark Rose. 6, Jim Letizia. 7, Tom Naeyaert. 8, Jim Schmidt.
FEATURE - 1, Pete Parker. 2, Justin Hirt. 3, Russ Scheffler. 4, Craig Schueffner. 5, Ron Stroika. 6, Tom Naeyaert. 7, Justin Schmidt. 8, Jim Schmidt. 9, Tim Buhler. 10, Mark Rose. 11, Jim Letizia. 12, Wayne Block. 13, Turk Letizia. 14, Eric Michaels. 15, Scott Haugstad. 16, Michael Stangl. 17, Rick Scheffler.

GRAND NATIONALS
With an invert of only 2 positions spun by the fan, Steven Ruh (Elkhart Lake) and Tim Thompson (Campbellsport) made up the front row of the Grand National Main Event. Matt Jackson (Sheboygan) and Ryan Minster (Sheboygan) made up the second row, pushing the leaders hard immediately when the green dropped. Ruh jumped out in front of Thompson, with Jackson and Minster battling for 3rd. Thompson got around Ruh for the lead on Lap 4, while Kevin Naidl (Reedsville) raced into the top 5 getting around Mark Fieber (Cascade). Ruh retook the lead from Thompson on the 8th Lap, with Jackson, Minster, and Naidl still holding in the top 5. Four laps later Ruh's race went south as he slowed to a stop in Turn 4 with engine issues, handing the lead back to Thompson for the 3 lap dash to the finish. Thompson was followed in the top 5 by Jackson, Minster, Naidl, and Dan Schumacher (Milwaukee). Jackson pushed Thompson hard, and held the lead with one to go, but was reeled in by Thompson at the line for the win. Behind the top 2 finishers it was Naidl, Dan Schumacher, Fieber, Mark Kuhfuss (Sheboygan), Don Schumacher (Oconomowoc), Brad Juckem (Chilton), Travis Groelle (Two Rivers), and Tyler Kulow (New Holstein). Three drivers shared Hard Charger honors, passing 5 cars each, Naidl, Dan Schumacher, and Groelle.

HEAT 1 - 1, Steven Ruh. 2, Mark Fieber. 3, Matt Jackson. 4, Kevin Naidl. 5, Brad Juckem. 6, Don Schumacher. 7, Will Schumacher. 8, Michael Gilson.
HEAT 2 - 1, Tim Thompson. 2, Ryan Minster. 3, Tyler Kulow. 4, Mark Kuhfuss. 5, Daniel Schulmacher. 6, Chris Gilson. 7, Travis Groelle.
FEATURE - 1, Tim Thompson. 2, Matt Jackson. 3, Kevin Naidl. 4, Daniel Schumacher. 5, Mark Fieber. 6, Mark Kuhfuss. 7, Don Schumacher. 8, Brad Juckem. 9, Travis Groelle. 10, Tyler Kulow. 11, Ryan Minster. 12, Steven Ruh. 13, Chris Gilson. 14, Michael Gilson. 15, Will Schumacher (DNS).

INEX LEGENDS
With tonights action being counted as a National Qualifier for the INEX Legends series, some drivers came from a great distance to take a run at racking up national points. Shane Williams (Minot, N.D.), Brandon Elmer (Minneapolis, MN.) and Tim Brockhouse (Webster, MN.) came down to join the local Legends drivers for a night of action. Mark Ritger (Elkhart Lake) and Ethan Ross (Reeseville) led the group to the green flag. Ross would lead the first lap, Ritger close behind in 2nd, and robbie Pribnow (Mayville) up to 3rd after  1 lap from his 6th starting spot. Kevin Schultz (Madison) and Jim Bucher (Richfield) retired to the pits after 1 lap, on Lap 3 Pribnow was up to 2nd. At the mid-point of the race it was still Ross, Pribnow, Brockhouse, Elmer, and Brandon Schmitt (Beaver Dam). Pribnow took the lead on Lap 10 shuffling Ross back to 2nd, a lap later Brockhouse got around Ross sliding him back to third. Pribnow came across the line for the win, followed by Brockhouse, Ross, Williams, Schmitt, Elmer, Chris Flick (Beaver Dam), Mike Mueller (Waupan), Kim Clover (Waupan), Scott Wiegele (Milwaukee). Hard Charger honors to Shane Williams (Minot, ND.) for picking up 8 spots.

HEAT 1 - 1, Robbie Pribnow. 2, Mark Ritger. 3, Jim Bucher. 4, Scott Wiegele. 5, Austin Wiese. 6, Chris Flick. 7, Francesca Hoch. 8, Shane Williams.
HEAT 2 - 1, Tim Brockhouse. 2, Ethan Ross. 3, Brandon Schmitt. 4, Mike Mueller. 5, Brandon Elmer. 6, Kim Clover. 7, Kevin Schultz.
FEATURE - 1, Robbie Pribnow. 2, Tim Brockhouse. 3, Ethan Ross. 4, Shane Williams. 5, Brandon Schmitt. 6, Brandon Elmer. 7, Chris Flick. 8, Mike Mueller. 9, Kim Clover. 10, Scott Wiegele. 11, Mark Ritger. 12, Austin Wiese. 13, Francesca Hoch. 14, Jim Bucher. 15, Kevin Schultz.

STREET STOCKS
After the heat which was shortened due to the heavy damage to not only the car of Josh McDonald, driven by Jeff Leonhard for the evening, but also the guardrail and supports, and the lengthy delay trying to shore up the remaining fence. There were 6 drivers left to contest the feature. Jeff Bender (Plymouth) and Dave Gauger (Two Rivers) led the field down to green. Doug Engleking (Menominee Falls) grabbed the lead on the first lap, leaving the rest of the field to chase him down. Bender and Gauger had a short-lived battle for second, before Gauger secured the spot and settled in. Points leader Bradley Ruh retired to the infield with engine issues. At the checkers it was Engleking, Gauger, Ray Fuller (Manitowoc), Bender, Mike Zitzer (Sheboygan) and Ruh.

HEAT 1 - 1, Bradley Ruh. 2, Mike Zitzer. 3, Ray Fuller. 4, Douglas Engleking. 5, David Gauger. 6, Josh McDonald. 7, Jeff Bender.
FEATURE - 1, Douglas Engleking. 2, David Gauger. 3, Ray Fuller. 4, Jeff Bender. 5, Mike Zitzer. 6, Bradley Ruh. 7, Josh McDonald. (DNS).

MSA 360 SPRINTS
With the ride of Cole Possi (Rock, MI) already trailered due to a blown engine, that left 22 sprinters to vie for the checkered flag. Dennis Born (Plymouth) and Scotty Thiel (Sheboygan) in the first row, Randy Brunette (Chilton) and Jeremy Schultz (Beaver Dam) backing them up, led the field to the green. Thiel used his outside starting position to jump to the Lap 1 lead but was immediately slowed by yellow as Born spun in Turn 2. Thiel, Schultz, John Krebsbach (Cascade), Brunette, and Ben Schmidt (Howards Grove) brought the winged machines back down to the green, with Thiel again going to the top side and setting sail, slowed  2 laps later by the spinning car of Mike Fuerst (Richfield). The restart order showed Thiel, Schultz, Krebsbach, Schmidt, and Brunette. Thiel took the green and took to the high side once again, joined on the high side shortly by Schmidt and Scotty Neitzel (Beaver Dam), as they quickly ran into lapped traffic and began to work their way through. Krebsbach and Schultz began a high-low battle behind the leader, while the rest of the fast cars caught in the 12 car inversion began fighting to the front. Kevin Karnitz (West Bend), Paul Pokorski (West Bend), and Scott Mohs (Sheboygan Falls) all retired from the race in successive laps with mechanical problems. Lap 12 brought the 3rd caution as Schultz & Krebsbach tangled while running 2nd & 3rd. Thiel led Neitzel, Schmidt, Danny Schlafer (Sussex), and Kyle Marten (Sheboygan Falls) back to green once again, only to be slowed again 2 laps later for an incident involving Justin Miller (Plymouth) and Jeff Wilke (Genoa) and Mark Krueger (Green Bay) spinning deeper in the pack. Wilke and Miller were finished while Krueger would continue on. On the restart attempt Don Kiel (Whitelaw) spun, bringing another attempt at a restart. Thiel led the pack down to the green again with Schmidt, Schlafer, Neitzel and Marten in his tire tracks. Schlafer got around Schmidt for 2nd and tried to reel in Thiel, but could not do it as the yellow flew again on Lap 23, forcing the checkered to fly also as the time limit on the race had expired and the race was official. Thiel took the win, with D. Schlafer, Schmidt, Neitzel, Marten, Shane Wenninger (Kewaskum), Tim Haddy (Waupan), Schultz, Brunette, and Krebsbach rounded out the top 10. Hard Charger honors to Schlafer picking up 9 spots and Wenninger with 8.

HEAT 1 - 1, Kyle Marten. 2, John Krebsbach. 3, Mark Krueger. 4, Dennis Born. 5, Tim Haddy. 6, Scott Mohs. 7, Paul Pokorski. 8, Cole Possi.
HEAT 2 - 1, Al Schlafer. 2, Kevin Karnitz. 3, Randy Brunette. 4, Danny Schlafer. 5, Shane Wenninger. 6, Jeff Wilke. 7, Mike Fuerst. 8, Justin Miller. (DNS).
HEAT 3 - 1, Scotty Neitzel. 2, Ben Schmidt. 3, Jeremy Schultz. 4, Scotty Thiel. 5, Tony Wondra. 6, Don Kiel. 7, Garrett Timothy.
FEATURE - 1, Scotty Thiel. 2, Danny Schlafer. 3, Ben Schmidt. 4, Scotty Neitzel. 5, Kyle Marten. 6, Shane Wenninger. 7, Tim Haddy. 8, Jeremy Schultz. 9, Randy Brunette. 10, John Krebsbach. 11, Al Schlafer. 12, Mark Krueger. 13, Tony Wondra. 14, Dennis Born. 15, Don Kiel. 16, Garrett Timothy. 17, Justin Miller. 18, Jeff Wilke. 19, Scott Mohs. 20, Paul Pokorski. 21, Kevin Karnitz. 22, Mike Fuerst