The Scoop
“CHARGIN’CHARLIE” KROLL LEADS THE WAY WITH STURGEON BAY STOCK CAR WINS
Posted on: Tuesday April 26, 2022
Forestville’s “Chargin’ Charlie” Kroll leads the way in all-time stock car class wins at The Hill in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin with 35. (Panske Ent. photo)
When it comes to the class dubbed “Too Tough To Tame” at The Hill Raceway in Sturgeon Bay nearly half of the top twenty racers in all time wins are still active to some degree heading into the 2022 racing season.
Even though the stock car class no longer follows the IMCA sanction many local racers still battle in the division with many of them making the circular-shaped third mile a regular stop on their schedules.
Leading the way in the division is Forestville’s “Chargin’ Charlie Kroll with 35 feature flags under his belt. Sitting second is Wisconsin’s all-time leader in IMCA feature wins “Hot Rod” Snellenberger from Pulaski with 26. Most of those wins came in the 1990s and Snellenberger has told this scribe that he’ll be taking the 2022 season off from racing as he plans to finish building his garage this year.
Casco’s Matt Junio sits third with 24 wins while a pair of active drivers remain tied in the fourth spot with 21 wins – Union’s Troy Muench and Shawn Havel of Algoma.
Dave “Bulldozer” Bouche sits in the fifth spot with 20 wins at The Hill and has indicated he plans a full schedule at the Sturgeon Bay oval in 2022. Behind Bouche is Luxemburg native Benji LaCrosse with 19 wins. LaCrosse remains tied in the IMCA modified ranks with R.M. Van Pay in all time wins among Wisconsin drivers but does plan a partial schedule in a stock car driving for Joe and Jim White, with their focus primarily on big dollar specials.
Hometown racer Billy LeMieux ranks 10th in all time stock car victories at The Hill with 10. (danlewisphoto.net)
Hometown driver Bill LeMieux is the next highest ranked active driver. LeMieux remains in a three-way tie for tenth place, where he shared the spot with a pair of retired racers – Pat Davister and Eugene Gregorich. A pair of lakeshore area racers are the next two highest ranked drivers who remain active. Two Creeks Bret Koehler sits with eight overall victories and second-generation racer Brett Wenzel with seven wins, respectively.
It’s another second generation racer – Kewaunee native Luke Lemmens, who remains in the top twenty in all time winners with seven career wins at The Hill, tied with the late Eric Van Iten.
Since track historian Tom Wagner began keeping stats at the track in 1993, 72 different drivers have scored a total of 394 feature wins at The Hill. The first ever IMCA stock car division winner was Charlie Kroll who snagged the track’s first ever IMCA stock car feature win on May 1, 1993.
The 2022 season at The Hill kicks off with a car show May 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a “test-and-tune” scheduled afterwards.
The first race is set for the Nathan Bouche Memorial Sunday, May 29 at 5 p.m. at John Miles Park. The four-division show includes stock cars, sportmods, street stocks and 4 cylinders.
STURGEON BAY ALL TIME STOCK CAR TOTAL FEATURE WINS
Charlie Kroll 35
Rod Snellenberger 26
Matt Junio 24
Shawn Havel 21
Troy Muench 21
Dave Bouche 20
Benji LaCrosse 19
Shawn Kilgore 15
John Gregorich 12
Billy LeMieux 10
Eugene Gregorich 10
Pat Davister 10
Brett Koehler 8
Craig Paque 8
Greg Gretz 8
Jay Matthias 8
John Heinz 8
Brett Wenzel 7
Eric VanIten 6
Luke Lemmens 6
Jamie Suchocki 5
Rick Mahlberg 5
B.J. Soquet 4
Dan Sell 4
Gary Bouche 4
Jerry Wenzel 4
John Anschutz 4
Mark Derenne 4
Rob Waechter 4
Tim VanDeHei 4
Bernie Reinhardt 3
Dan Heinritz 3
Dave DeGrave 3
Jeff Vlies 3
Jeremy Wiitala 3
Larry Jonet 3
Scott Reinhardt 3
Tony Bouche 3
Von Eytcheson 3
Ben Kroll 2
Bob Wagner 2
Brandon Czarapata 2
Jason Geyer 2
Kyle Wanner 2
Larry Karcz, Jr 2
Mike Wietor 2
Sean Jerovetz 2
Shawn Olson 2
Tom Brumlic 2
Zach Spangenberg 2
Corey Haen 1
Cory Cochart 1
Dan Gagne 1
Darren Otto 1