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RITCHIE ROLLS TO OUTAGAMIE LATE MODEL LOOT – TRACK CHAMPS CROWNED
Posted on: Saturday August 31, 2024
New London’s Justin Ritchie parked the Schueffner Bros. owned late model into victory lane at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour August 30. (danlewisphoto.net)
RITCHIE ROLLS TO OUTAGAMIE LATE MODEL LOOT – TRACK CHAMPS CROWNED by Joe Orsini
(SEYMOUR, WI) AUG. 30 – 123 cars rolled into the pits with six divisions set to crown 2024 champions. The excitement of first time feature winners threatened to upstage the champions as two drivers notched their first career feature wins.
The Seubert Calf Ranches Late Model feature saw second place points runner, Justin Ritchie, launch into the opening lap lead. Ritchie proved determined to grab the best possible finish in his quest to catch “Mighty” Mike Mullen for the points crown. While Ritchie hoped to sail away with the victory Brett Swedberg worked his way to 3rd by lap 4 and gave chase to Justin Schmidt who had a stranglehold on 2nd. Caution flew just before the halfway mark when Tim Rothe lost the handle coming out of turn 4 on lap 9. Ritchie led Schmidt, Swedberg, Kyle Frederick, and Mullen back to racing speeds. Mullen dared the high side and put his 99 machine inches from the back stretch wall to get past Frederick and keep his championship hopes solid. When the dust settled Ritchie had done all he could and secured the win followed by Schmidt, Swedberg, Mullen, and Frederick. Mullen captured the points championship by virtue of his 4th place finish.
Hometown driver Brian Mullen poses with a young fan following Mullen’s IMCA modified feature win at Outagamie Speedway Aug. 30. (danlewisphoto.net)
With Johnny “The Hitman” Whitman locking up the points title last week the Professional Plating IMCA Modified feature was all about being on top for one night only. “Zeke” Dave Zietler jumped to the early lead in his Z84 car. Zeitler’s time up front came to a close on lap 6 when Kevin Feck found the intestinal fortitude to test the top side and powered into the lead. Seymour’s favorite son, Flyin’ Brian Mullen, worked his familiar orange 72 into second one lap later and the pursuit was on. At the halfway mark Mullen got around Feck and never looked back as he soared to victory lane. Feck settled for 2nd, Konnor Wilinski was 3rd, Jayden Schmidt 4th, and Racin’ Jason Czarapata rounded out the top 5.
Austin Jansen’s hunt for the first, elusive, feature win of his career in the Monroe Truck Equipment IMCA Stock Car division looked to be over as he powered into the lead at the drop of the green in the championship night feature. Dan Sell Jr. quickly slid into 2nd on lap 2 and immediately pressured Jansen for the top spot. Sell put his Ford powered racer on the bottom and staged a multi lap, side by side, battle with Jansen for the lead. Jansen’s hopes for that first career win were dashed when Sell was able to finally pull ahead. Caution flew with 7 laps remaining and the field bunched behind Sell. Jansen took full advantage of the added opportunity and was able to recapture the lead with 4 laps remaining as Sell’s machine started to fade. One final, late, caution regrouped the field and Jansen had his hands full with a hard charging Brett Wenzel. Wenzel looked to steal away the victory as he hugged the infield tires while Jansen soared by the wall. The final 3 circuits saw the duo run side by side until the final checkered flag flew. At the end Jansen was able to secure career feature win #1 with Wenzel coming home 2nd, Kegan Van Ooyen completed a solid night with a 3rd place finish, Jesse Krahn was 4th, and Tim VanDeHei completed the top 5.
Green Bay’s Austin Jansen picked up his first career IMCA stock car feature at Outagamie Speedway Aug. 30. (danlewisphoto.net)
The Trailer Express IMCA Northern Sport Mod A-main event had a season’s worth of drama packed into one feature event. Taylor Haufschildt took advantage of the pole position to lead the opening lap. Haufschildt’s time out front came to an abrupt end as he spun coming out of turn four on the 2nd lap. The ensuing scrum behind the spinning leader took second place points runner, Dylan Schmidt, out of the race and ended his championship pursuit. Point leader, Ryan Schmidt, suffered contact as well but luck appeared to be on his side as any damage would be only cosmetic in nature. The previous week’s feature winner, Shane Bahr, inherited the lead and looked poised to grab a second win in as many weeks. Cole Slezewski found himself in 2nd after the wild opening laps and gave furious chase to Bahr. Schmidt dropped back to 5th but still had breathing room in the points battle as third place point runner, Max Oreskovich, was only one spot in front of him. Another caution with 9 laps to go bunched the field one more time. Schmidt’s luck ran out on the restart as contact with another racer cut down his right front tire. Schmidt went down pit lane to the attention of his pit crew and was able to rejoin the field on the lead lap before the restart but with only a 5 point lead on Oreskovich he had a long way to go and a short time to get there.
With all eyes on the point drama, the battle for the race win might have been overshadowed except for the fact that Slezewski braved the high side to wrestle away the race lead from Bahr on lap 12. Lap 19 saw Oreskovich slide into 2nd in a desperate bid to move from 3rd to 1st in the points. When the checkers finally flew it was Slezewski that locked up his first career feature win, Oreskovich settled for 2nd but finished enough spots ahead of Schmidt that he completed the improbable move from 3rd to 1st in the championship battle on the final night of the season.
Bahr backed up his previous week’s win with a strong 3rd place finish, Barrett Hummelmeier was 4th, and Cory Kemkes came home 5th. Schmidt made a valiant charge from the back to finish 10th, but it wasn’t enough to hold on to the points lead.
Point leader, Paul Diefenthaler, rolled into the Vetting Customs Rigs and Rides Unified Dirt Street Stock feature with a 19 point advantage and just had to keep his nose clean to secure the points championship over Trey Van Straten. David Hoerning grabbed the lead at the drop of the green but the real show was Diefenthaler’s aggression looking to cost him as he made contact with Jason Piron in turn 3 on the 2nd lap. That contact put Piron into a spin and Diefenthaler to the tail of the field for the ensuing restart.
New Franken’s Derek Moede picked up the Unified Dirt street stock feature win at Outagamie Speedway in Seymour Aug. 30. (danlewisphoto.net)
On that restart Derek Moede muscled his way from 5th to 2nd and set his sights on running down Hoerning. Lap 5 saw 2nd place point runner, Van Straten, move to 3rd trying to maximize the number of markers he could gain over Diefenthaler. The same lap saw Moede work by Hoerning into the lead. Caution flew again with 6 laps in the books. Van Straten took advantage of the restart to move to 2nd and pressured Moede on the inside for the lead. Moede was able to pull away and Van Straten found himself in a battle with Brooke Diefenthaler for the runner up spot. At the line Moede secured his 2nd win in 3 weeks, Van Straten was 2nd, David Hoerning got back to 3rd, Brooke Diefenthaler 4th, and Paul Diefenthaler climbed back to finish 5th and salted away the 2024 points championship.
The Schulte Construction – Building Blocks Childcare IMCA Sport Compact A-main event saw Clint Malueg grab the opening lap lead but things got sketchy on lap 2 when the racers went 5 wide into turn 1 for the top spot. Thomas Schulte eventually was able to hug the infield tires and grabbed the lead. The action stayed hot and heavy as Schulte was under constant pressure from multiple cars until caution flew with 6 laps remaining. Schulte was the leader on the restart, Brett Deprey 2nd, point leader Cody Booth 3rd, 2nd place point runner, Al Cottrell, was 4th, and Alexis Czarapata was in the hunt at 5th.
Booth used the restart to move to 2nd and tried to pressure Schulte into a mistake. That mistake never came as Schulte hung on for the win, Booth locked up the championship with a 2nd place finish, Deprey was 3rd, Dan Thompson completed a late race charge to finish 4th, and Cottrell had to be content with 2nd in the points with his 5th place finish.
Outagamie Speedway by Klink Equipment & Elite Coatings is back in action for the Fall Brawl on Friday, September 13th and Saturday, September 14th. Night one will feature heat race qualifiers for the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern Sport Mods, Unified Dirt Street Stocks, IMCA Sport Compacts, and Unified Dirt Grand Nationals. In addition the Midwest Legends Dirt Series will be running a complete show.
Saturday night’s program will be B mains and features for the IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern Sport Mods, Unified Dirt Street Stocks, IMCA Sport Compacts, and Unified Dirt Grand Nationals plus a full show for the WABAM Dirt Kings Tour.
Seubert Calf Ranches Late Model 20 Lap Feature:
1. 70-Justin Ritchie[1]; 2. 97-Justin Schmidt[3]; 3. 3S-Brett Swedberg[8]; 4. 99-Mike Mullen[7]; 5. 50F-Kyle Frederick[4]; 6. 15-Nick Anvelink[9]; 7. 24-Jayden Schmidt[6]; 8. 66-Ron Berna[5]; 9. 10-Paul Parker[11]; 10. 9N-Tom Naeyaert[2]
Heat 1:
1. 70-Justin Ritchie[2]; 2. 3S-Brett Swedberg[6]; 3. 9N-Tom Naeyaert[3]; 4. 50F-Kyle Frederick[1]; 5. 15-Nick Anvelink[9]
Heat 2:
1. 24-Jayden Schmidt[1]; 2. 99-Mike Mullen[3]; 3. 66-Ron Berna[4]; 4. 97-Justin Schmidt[5]; 5. 42-Paul Niznik[6]
Professional Plating Inc IMCA Modified 20 Lap Feature:
1. 72M-Brian Mullen[6]; 2. 21F-Kevin Feck[2]; 3. 6-Konnor Wilinski[7]; 4. 24-Jayden Schmidt[11]; 5. 56C-Jason Czarapata[10]; 6. 37S-John Schultz[9]; 7. Z84-Dave Zeitler[1]; 8. 33A-Adam Abbey[4]; 9. 52-Bruce Troesch[3]; 10. 27-Derek Janke[13]
Heat 1:
1. 72M-Brian Mullen[5]; 2. Z84-Dave Zeitler[1]; 3. 52-Bruce Troesch[2]; 4. 88X-Shawn Frelich[6]; 5. 31M-Dylan Moeller[4]
Heat 2:
1. 21F-Kevin Feck[1]; 2. 6-Konnor Wilinski[5]; 3. 37S-John Schultz[6]; 4. 56C-Jason Czarapata[7]; 5. 33A-Adam Abbey[3]
Monroe Truck Equipment IMCA Stock Cars 20 Lap Feature:
1. 24-Austin Jansen[2]; 2. 0-Brett Wenzel[9]; 3. 26V-Kegan Van Ooyen[4]; 4. 55K-Jesse Krahn[7]; 5. 4-Tim VanDeHei[8]; 6. 18-Daniel Sell Jr[3]; 7. 10-Rod Snellenberger[10]; 8. 28-Nathan Otto[5]; 9. 50F-Kyle Frederick[11]; 10. 5K-Kyle Stedjee[16]
Heat 1:
1. 24-Austin Jansen[5]; 2. 18-Daniel Sell Jr[6]; 3. 28-Nathan Otto[7]; 4. 10-Rod Snellenberger[10]; 5. 55K-Jesse Krahn[8]
Heat 2:
1. 4-Tim VanDeHei[8]; 2. 9-Jerry Wilinski[7]; 3. 0-Brett Wenzel[9]; 4. 45X-Troy LaRock[1]; 5. 26V-Kegan Van Ooyen[6]
Trailer Express IMCA Northern Sport Mod 20 Lap Feature:
1. 36C-Cole Slezewski[3]; 2. 75-Max Oreskovich[11]; 3. 58-Shane Bahr[4]; 4. 33H-Barrett Hummelmeier[8]; 5. 07-Cory Kemkes[9]; 6. 72-JJ Vanderloop[10]; 7. 19-Jerry Duggan[17]; 8. 98-Dustin Wudstrack[12]; 9. 10F-Mitchell Fairbank[14]; 10. 464-Ryan Schmidt[7]
Heat 1:
1. 464-Ryan Schmidt[5]; 2. 72-JJ Vanderloop[6]; 3. 00-Bernie Miller[4]; 4. 74M-Brad Miller[2]; 5. 44-Skyelin Krohlow[3]
Heat 2:
1. 33H-Barrett Hummelmeier[5]; 2. 36C-Cole Slezewski[2]; 3. 26-Taylor Haufschildt[1]; 4. 75-Max Oreskovich[6]; 5. 10F-Mitchell Fairbank[7]
Heat 3:
1. 58-Shane Bahr[3]; 2. 07-Cory Kemkes[5]; 3. 98-Dustin Wudstrack[6]; 4. 4E4-Dylan Schmidt[4]; 5. 7-Evan Call[2]
Vetting Customs Rigs and Rides Unified Dirt Street Stock 20 Lap Feature:
1. 9M-Derek Moede[5]; 2. 20T-Trey Van Straten[6]; 3. 71H-David Hoerning[1]; 4. 35-Brooke Diefenthaler[9]; 5. 35X-Paul Diefenthaler[11]; 6. 33C-Michael Czarapata[16]; 7. 181-Jason Piron[7]; 8. 23-Devin Yaeger[8]; 9. 914-Tyler Nettekoven[13]; 10. 07W-Matt Warner[17]
Heat 1:
1. 20T-Trey Van Straten[6]; 2. 35X-Paul Diefenthaler[8]; 3. 8-Tony Everard[4]; 4. 35-Brooke Diefenthaler[7]; 5. 914-Tyler Nettekoven[5]
Heat 2:
1. 71H-David Hoerning[1]; 2. 5-Todd Berzowski[4]; 3. 181-Jason Piron[6]; 4. 19B-Scott Besaw[8]; 5. 6M-Mitch Meyerhofer[5]
Heat 3:
1. 15-Ben Schulte[4]; 2. 23-Devin Yaeger[6]; 3. 75F-James Fletcher[7]; 4. 9M-Derek Moede[5]; 5. XXX-Ford Malvitz[2]
LCQ: 1. 33C-Michael Czarapata[10]; 2. 07W-Matt Warner[2]; 3. 21W-Cole Warner[6]; 4. 86W-Paul White[3]; 5. 24-Travis Stratton[11]
Schulte Construction / Building Blocks Childcare Center IMCA Sport Compact 20 Lap Feature:
1. 69-Thomas Schulte[7]; 2. 3B-Cody Booth[11]; 3. 54D-Brett Deprez[9]; 4. 99-Dan Thomson[6]; 5. 00A-Al Cottrell[10]; 6. 19L-Logan Boehnlein[14]; 7. 15C-Alexis Czarapata[2]; 8. 111-Kyle Jorgenson[22]; 9. 27T-Bailey Tate[21]; 10. 10-Bo White[5]
Heat 1:
1. 69-Thomas Schulte[5]; 2. 22-Clint Malueg[1]; 3. 00A-Al Cottrell[7]; 4. 69L-Juan Panales[2]; 5. 787-Skyler Bork[8]
Heat 2:
1. 3B-Cody Booth[7]; 2. 888-TJ Everard[5]; 3. 725-Brian Watzka Jr[8]; 4. 10-Bo White[3]; 5. 19L-Logan Boehnlein[6]
Heat 3:
1. 54D-Brett Deprez[6]; 2. 99-Dan Thomson[4]; 3. 15C-Alexis Czarapata[1]; 4. 88-Nick Everard[2]; 5. 19D-David Rumfelt[3]