:: MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY - 2011 Season -- May 27 ::

05.27.11

ACTION THUNDERS ON AT MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY!

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By Guy Hamernik
FOUNTAIN CITY, WI (May 27, 2011) – While rain forced cancellations at nearly all regional tracks Friday night, the Mississippi Thunder Speedway in Fountain City was spared the showers. 85 cars checked into the pits to provide the action. First up was the WISSOTA Street Stock feature, with Richard Weir and Tyler Wahlstrom pacing the 15 car field to the starting line. As the green flag flew, Weir jumped to the early lead in turn 1 with Wahlstrom falling back to second. The rest of the pack followed two and three cars wide. Ryan Henderson, Donny Ganz, and Wahlstrom battled three-wide on lap 2 with Ganz making the pass. Ganz then challenged Weir for the lead as the 3D and 35 raced side by side for a lap. Henderson pushed in turn one, causing several cars to check up and spin out, including Fred Prudoehl in the 2 car and reigning track and WISSOTA Champion Danny Hanson in the number 5. This caution sent Prudoehl to the pit work area for some new rubber.

On the restart, Weir and Ganz resumed their side-by-side battle until Ganz passed on the low side entering turn 3. Wahlstrom drifted high, which allowed Shaun Mann to challenge for the position on the inside. Weir drifted back to 6th as the running order consisted of Ganz, Wahlstrom, Mann, Hanson, and Danny Richards in the 3R. With 5 laps down, Mann and Wahlstrom made contact in turn 1, locked together and slowed out of the groove, allowing Hanson and Richards to pass. The 01 and 83 unhooked themselves and filed back into the groove without a caution being called. Ganz had a 3 car lead, with Hanson stalking him in 2nd and Richards in 3rd.

A caution was called when Wahlstrom spun in turn 4 with 6 laps to go, tightening the field for the remaining laps. On the restart, Hanson tried the low side, then high side, then low side on Ganz trying everything to make the pass. Nick Schwebach moved up to 6th in the 38S, and Prudoehl battled up to 7th after overcoming his flat from the first caution. Hanson made the pass right in front of the flag stand for the lead with 4 laps remaining. As the field moved through turns 1 and 2, several cars got loose and came together causing an accordion-style wreck which had resulted in the 67W of Matt Wolfe and Wahlstrom coming together down the back stretch. Wahlstrom got sideways coming out of turn 2, slid into the infield, and made a hard right to get back on the track, hooked a tire and rolled his car over. Fortunately he was uninjured. When the remains of the 83 machine were towed off the track, the cars were lined up with Hanson's number 5 on the point.

On the restart, Hanson opened up his lead while the rest of the field settled into single-file formation. Prudoehl made the pass on Weir 35 for 5th. When the checkered flew it was Hanson picking up the win, followed by Ganz, Mann, Richards, and Prudoehl.

Next up on the speedway was the growing 600 Modified class, a division with smaller, lighter cars powered by 600cc motorcycle engines. 13 cars were on hand Friday, with Bruce Schmitt and Nicholas Wagner pacing the field to the green flag. At the start, Schmitt (the former motocross racer) jumped to the lead, with Bill Bauers moving up to second, John Griffin settled into third while Greg Wohletz, Jeff Matejka, and Don Werner battled three wide fourth through sixth. On lap, 3 the field tightened with Bauers and Griffin up to challenge for the lead. They raced three-wide for the lead with Griffin taking it in the K-9, while Bauers moved up to second. Matejka, Justin Zmyewski, and Don Werner battled three-wide for position. Matejka moved up to third, while further in the pack, Joe Provinzino was making his presence felt as he moved up to 7th on the high side. Griffin, a former Dwarf car competitor, made the pass near the halfway point of the race, with Bauers and Matejka in tow. Griffin picked up the win in only his second night of racing at Mississippi Thunder Speedway.

Troy Langowski took the USRA B-MOD feature from green to checkered to pick up the win Friday, but there was plenty of action behind him. A lap 1 incident involving six cars bent sheet metal and sent Erik Kanz to the pits for a new tire. When the action resumed, it was Langowski and Ben Anderson running 1st and 2nd. Tucker Breitung in his first race of the season got loose in turn one of the 2nd lap and spun in front of the remaining eight cars in the field collecting Erik Kanz. Breitung could continue, however the front-end damage on Kanz's car was too much and he had to retire for the evening. On the restart it was Langowski, Anderson, Shaun Walski, one, two, three. Walski then got up along beside Anderson, and they raced side by side, meanwhile Brandon Reutzel worked his 44 machine into the top 5. The pack started to string out in the middle of the race, with the 56H of Brandon Hare moving into the top 5 under Reutzel. Walski continued to reel in Langowski and got within two car lengths until a lapped car got in between them. Alex Williamson and Tyler Creely also were moving up through the pack after getting involved in the early cautions.

A Jack Baehman spin in turn 1 brought out the caution, setting up a three lap dash to the finish. On the restart, Hare moved under Anderson to take over third and Greg Mattick moved into the top 5. When the checkered flag flew, it was Langowski picking up the win, followed by Walski, Hare, Anderson, Mattick, and Creely.

Eleven of the region's best WISSOTA Super Stocks took to the 1/3 mile next. Michael Hofer and Jon Duffy took the green. Hofer Led lap 1, with Gary Weirsgalla in third behind Duffy, with Lucas Plank and Bob Fort racing side by side. Fort took the place, and Weirsgalla moved up to challenge Duffy for 2nd. A Plank spin in turn 2 brought out the caution, and tightened the field back up. Kevin Hager moved up to the 6th spot, until the 22JR of Ben Hillman moved up to challenge. This set up a three-wide race between Hillman, Hager, and Duffy, with Hillman moving up. Jeff Brauer then started to find his groove, and moved up to challenge Weirsgalla for 2nd. Weirsgalla dropped back, only to be challenged by Bob Fort and Hillman. Hillman and Fort both advanced in the waning laps, but nobody could catch Hofer as he cruised to his first feature win of the season. Brauer settled for second, followed by Hillman, Fort and Weirsgalla.

In the USRA A-MOD feature, Ryan York battled Josh Angst side by side, but an incident involving John Doelle and Mick Glenn put the field under caution. On the restart, Angst jumped to the lead, followed by York, Leroy Sharkey, Bob Timm, and Ben Mattick. Jay Ihrke, Todd Sharkey, and Lance Hofer raced side by side for 6th. Clayton Wagamon moved the 14W up to 4th, while Angst increased his lead to a full straightaway. Jake Timm slowed up on the back stretch, bringing out the caution with 5 laps down. On the restart, Wagamon moved up to 2nd, while Mattick moved up to 4th. Bob Timm had his hands full with Jay Ihrke and Shane Wehrs trying the high side to get around him. Timm changed grooves and passed Sharkey on the high side for the position. Ihrke followed Timm around Sharkey. With 3 laps to go, Timm got underneath York for 4th, with Keith Foss following him. Meanwhile, Ben Mattick was having an impressive run moving up to 2nd under Wagamon. A caution involving Glenn and Doelle brought out the caution. With three laps to go, the rear end broke on Andy Bohnstengel's number 25 spinning him down the front stretch and into the wall. Angst held on the final 3 laps to pick up another checkered flag, with Mattick finishing 2nd, followed by Wagamon, Timm, and Foss.

Next Friday night's racing features the Dart Cornbelt Clash Late Model special, featuring many of the best Late Model racers from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. USRA B-Mods, WISSOTA Super Stocks, USRA A-Mods, and Mini Mods also scheduled to participate. The first green flag flies at 7PM.

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