Sunday June 1st 2008

The Badger Land 30

Presented By Quaker Steak & Lube, Sign 1-1, and The Sun Prairie Tourism Commission

Jerry Coons Jr. WINS!!!

The Badger midgets shared the card with the MSA sprint cars on Sunday at Angell Park Speedway. When the bigger cousins to the midgets share a dirt track for a night of racing, there is always a concern the track will be a little rough. On this night the new clay held up well, thanks in part to the sprint car group running without their customary wings.

The midget heats started with Mike Hess going from fourth to first by turn three of the first heat. Sun Prairie’s Joe Wipperfurth gave chase but was never really a threat to the winner, Hess.

Brad Kuhn was making his homecoming tonight at Angell Park, hoping to show his new car owner, Bill Mentgen the way to victory lane. His night was cut short though. With Nick Lundgreen leading a hard charging Bubba Altig in heat two, the pair tangled on the backstretch. As Lundgreen got sideways, Altig got into him on lap six, sending both cars flipping. Kuhn, who was not far behind, at first looked to be a benefactor, but just past the leaders, he took a tumble of his own. Going higher and farther than either of the other two, his crash started just past the middle of the back straight and didn’t end until turn three. Afterward Kuhn indicated he thought he caught his right rear on one of the others’ as he passed them. None of these cars returned on the night. The race was declared complete and Buddy Luebke was the winner.

Heats three and four were won by AJ Fike and Jerry Coons Jr. respectively.

Lance Fassbender overcame a hot lap mishap to claim the first sprint car heat.

Brian Kristan licked the field by half the track in the second heat.

An early crash took four of the ten starters in the last MSA heat. But when the racing resumed, midget regular Chad DeSelle gave MSA front runner Wayne Modjeski a battle. Modjeski seemed to be enjoying his ride on the top side for several laps. But, at about lap seven DeSelle was poking his nose under Modjeski on the very bottom of the track. Modjeski slid down for the remaining laps, taking DeSelle’s line in turns one and two. It was enough to keep DeSelle in check and Modjeski nipped DeSelle at the line.

The midget semi was won by David Gough. Gough started on the pole and lead every lap.

With the only Ford motor in the MSA field, Alex Crimmings, a former Badger competitor, went from a lack luster heat race effort, to shining in the semi. Doug Wondra lead early on in the MSA semi-feature, but on lap six Crimmings took the point at the line, only to promptly smack the turn one wall. He bounced off it and continued forward, never seeming to miss a beat. Crimmings lost two positions, but caught right back up and made a pass on lap nine to seal the win.

The MSA feature was Kristan’s playground, despite his fifth lap slide job for the lead, that was called back due to a yellow flag. Shortly after the restart, Kristan got by the leader, Kurt Davis, after Davis hit the wall. Davis continued on, but filed in at about twelfth. From there no one came close to Kristan, who worked heavy lapped traffic with the greatest of ease. He won by a half of a lap.

The midget main held some promise that Coons and his Mopar motor would see his winning streak of eight Angell Park races come to an end. With a Hawk engine on the pole and a Toyota in row two, there seemed to be a chance that someone would have something for Coons. He had to work a little, as he was saddled with a starting spot of tenth. But when leader Scott Hatton’s car expired on lap six, Coons took the lead from Mike Hess with the Hawk, soon after the restart. On lap 20 Cody Brewer stalled in turn one. Hess, Davey Ray and Dave Darland in the Toyota all narrowly missed the Oklahoma driver. Another yellow three laps later gave the best hope for someone to beat Coons as the restart saw Hess put a slider on Coons coming out of turn three. Hess couldn’t hold it though and got into the loose clay on the far top, allowing Coons to go back under him. Coons went on to an easy victory.

Coons told the crowd that he understands if some fans are getting tired of him winning, but he said he really enjoys coming to Sun Prairie and is having a lot of fun. Other racing commitments will likely keep him from pursuing the Badger points race and he noted he will not be at Angell Park next week.

Pepsi presents the Flag Day 30 this Sunday at Angell Park, as the Badger Midget Series will again be in action.

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Three fans beat the Fantasy Midget Experts in week two. Dushek, dirtraceme and Lane19 finished one, two, three ahead of fourth place Tom Lindner. Lindner was the best of our experts while Bryan Gapinski is getting close to stride with a top ten finish. Amy Schulz fell a little, but was till in the top 20.

Ron Imberg improved some and beat out the children who trounced him last week.

Justin Zoch came in last among the experts.

Points were awarded for qualifying, but the feature was rained out.

Don’t forget to play this week and look at the choices carefully, as several names have been added.

While the feature event for the Miller Genuine Draft Memorial 50 was rained out, there was plenty of action leading up to it at Angell Park Speedway on Sunday. With fresh clay on the track fans have been anticipating a new one lap track record. Stoughton’s Buddy Luebke set the fast time for the field, but it was half a second slower than last week’s time and well off any track record. For Leubke, it was his first time leading the field in qualifications at the speedway.

The trophy dash saw more of the same from Jerry Coons Jr. The initial laps had Luebke in the lead, but Coons soon slid by him and sailed to an easy win.

Heat number one had Dan Mecum taking the point. By lap two Sun Prairie’s Joe Wipperfurth, showing no ill effects from last week’s tumble, took the lead, but everyone could see Coons was coming. At the mid point of the race Coons went by Wipperfurth and cruised to the win. Coons seems unstoppable at Angell Park, as he has won eight races in a row dating back to last year’s Nationals weekend.

Indy Light driver, Jake Slotten fresh off a start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, powered Bill Ecker’s car to the front of the second heat. Sun Prairie’s Chad DeSelle got by him on lap three, but Brandon Waelti of Sun Prairie, was joining the hunt too. Waelti faded a little, while Slotten faded a lot. DeSelle had too much for the others, but NASCAR competitor AJ Fike gave Waelti a battle for second as they crossed the line wheel to wheel on lap seven. DeSelle won the race tailed by Waelti well over Fike. Asked about his car that has displayed noticeable amounts of smoke recently, DeSelle told the crowd he’d fixed the problem to a degree, but it seemed faster the more it smoked.

Pole sitter Jon LeJeune lead the initial laps of the final heat, as he did the week prior. Running his usual high groove the Iowa transplant seemed smooth over the cushion. Davey Ray, in his second week of duty in the Bernie and Bob Schreffler car, made it seem easy as he slid by LeJeune on the second lap. As Ray sped away, LeJeune had his hands full holding off Bryon Walters. The two cars seemed equal but any miscue by LeJeune was capitalized upon by Walters. The two ran nose to tail with Walters at his inside from time to time over the last six laps. In the end LeJeune won the battle for second.

The cars were pushed off for the feature but sprinkles turned into showers and showers to heavy rain. The event was deemed official, by virtue of four completed races. The points and purse were split equally among the teams.

Fans will be allowed to turn their ticket stubs in from this event, for a $3 discount at next week’s races. Sponsored by Quaker Steak and Lube, Sign-1-1 and the Sun Prairie Tourism Commission, race will feature the Badger Midgets along with the MSA Sprint Cars. The sprinters will race without wings.

Altig v. Mecum

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Sunday May 25th 2008

Miller Genuine Draft Memorial Day 50

COMPLETED SHOW DECLARED DUE TO RAIN, BUT...

The Miller Genuine Draft Memorial Day 50 race at Angell Park was declared complete, due to the running of four events. The Dash and a heat were won by Jerry Coons Jr. Coons is undefeated on the season at Angell Park. Chad DeSelle and Davey Ray also scored heat wins.

With the feature pushed off, the skies opened up and fans, teams, drivers, and officials alike were hit by the bullet they had hoped to dodge.

However, as announced by Dave Shannon at the track, fans turning in a ticket stub from the shortened MGD 50, will receive a $3 discount for next week’s Badgerland 30 (presented by Quaker Steak and Lube, Sign-1-1 and the Sun Prairie Tourism Commission). Included in this event will be the TechSquad MSA Sprint Cars on the card with the normal Badger show.

We at Angell Park appreciate the support we have received from the teams and fans thus far this year and we look forward to a great season of racing at the speedway.

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Schulz Beats the Boys:

Well, it’s not exactly how we pictured it. If the Fantasy Midget at angellpark.com contest was a perfect world our experts would have filled the top five positions for week-one of the contest. But beyond Amy Schulz’ third place effort, the rest of the group could not even crack the top twenty. Perhaps they got together and hedged their picks so they had all the bases covered, and as a team they knew one of them would be on top. Doubtful, considering the pre-race strategizing some of them were engaged in, they were going all out, for themselves.

Tom Lindner was the best of the boys, as he finished in the top 25. As for the rest, it was really a rookie outing for Bryan Gapinski and Justin Zoch who finished near the 35^th and 65^th spots respectively. We thank them for joining and applaud their effort. We have no doubt they will get better in the coming weeks.

Then we have Racetrack Ronnie who only managed to beat four other people. Ronnie, a veteran of the game, must have been up too early watering the track on Sunday morning and thought some of our throw off picks, like Darland or Allgaier, were going to show. While we don’t know everyone playing the game, we do know he was beaten by at least one 8 year old and a 12 year old. Ronnie is currently on probation according to the Fantasy Midget commissioner and we are in search of a replacement for him at this time. Interviews will be conducted at local grade schools all week.

Congratulations to codename VRR3 and Jen for beating all of our experts and a tip of the hat to the three people who tied Amy. Thanks so much to everyone who played. We will be tweaking the columns as the weeks go on, so pay attention.

To find your results just log on. You’ll see your point total and the top 25 in the point standings. If you don’t want to log in, there’s a spot to click on the right, once you get to the Fantasy Midget section of Angell Park’s site. There you can see the full rundown.

Thanks to all who played. It’s never too late to join the fun, just sign up, log in and make your picks!

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Sunday May 18th 2008

Miller Genuine Draft Light Spring Opener 30
Jerry Coons Jr. Wins

Angell Park Speedway kicked off their 2008 season with the 30 lap, Miller Genuine Draft Light Spring Opener, contested by the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association.

Arizona’s Jerry Coons Jr started the new campaign where he left off last year, as he took the checkers in the Trophy Dash. He then had to make a quick turnaround to join the first heat race. Jon LeJeune took the early in that race, but by lap two Coons, who started in the back, took the point and went on to win by a half lap.

The second heat race saw Sun Prairie’s Chad DeSelle charge from sixth to first on the initial circuit. He held the lead over Jake Slotten but the field halted for a lap three tumble by Buddy Luebke. The Luebke machine crashed in turn four and ended up laying against the inside guardrail. Luebke exited the machine on his own. When the race resumed DeSelle had his hands full as AJ Fike was on the charge. The two battled with Fike showing a nose under DeSelle at the line on lap five and then completing the pass one lap later. Fike, who has had several starts in NASCAR, told the crowd that he had recently considered getting out of racing, but at this point was pleased to be back in the cockpit.

Robbie Ray held off advances from Brandon Waelti of Sun Prairie and Bubba Altig, to claim the last heat of the night. Thanks to a caution that bunched the field, Altig and Waelti ganged up on Ray coming out of turn two on lap eight. With Waelti low and Altig high they both got a wheel next to Ray, but Ray held his ground during the battle and at the checkers was safely ahead of both. After the race he thanked his father, Mark Ray, for building the new engine under the hood. His early assessment was that it gave him much more horse power than in the past.

Bryan Walters of Beaver Dam, started on the outside of row one and got the jump on pole sitter Nick Lundgreen for the feature. But Coons was coming, and by lap two he took the lead from Walters. Lap seven saw a red flag situation due to a nasty end over end flip by Joe Wipperfurth. The car came to a rest almost at the foot of the flag stand and was heavily damaged. Wipperfurth exited in fairly short order but was limping noticeably. He later said his calf whacked the down tube in the cockpit but he thought he’d be alright. Contact with another vehicle was the cause of the flip according to the Sun Prairie driver.

When action resumed, Coons checked out and the only hope for anyone to catch him was the dreaded curse of lap 26 or beyond that had befallen so many leaders last year. But Coons would have no such bad luck and he cruised to victory. Behind him were some great battles as Waelti and Hess went side by side for third, while three lengths behind them, Davey Ray and Aaron Fiscus were doing the same thing for the fifth spot. Once that was sorted out, DeSelle got worked over by Hess and Waelti for second. In the end it was Hess in the runner up spot, then DeSelle and Waelti. Sun Prairie’s Aaron Fiscus, who started fourteenth, rounded out the top five.

To the thump of winter gloves clapping together, more reminiscent of a December Packer game, Coons declared to emcee Dennis Thompson and the crowd, "This is a blast."

Next week Angell Park hosts the Badger midgets again, with the Miller Genuine Draft 50.

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Signup for the 2008 fantasy midget league has begun. Visit our Fantasy Midget page to signup and submit your picks for the spring opener at Angell Park.

ALLGAIER LEADS THE WAY IN ARCA

Justin Allgaier of Riverton, Illinois beat a stout ARCA stock car field on Sunday, April 13 on the half mile paved oval of Salem Speedway in Indiana. This marks the second time he’s conquered the high banks, as he took the checkers there last year too. Allgaier beat midget ace and NASCAR vet Ken Schrader to the line.   After an impressive runner up finish at Daytona during Speedweeks, where he went from 30th to finish second, Allgaier is now the ARCA point leader.  Check www.arcaracing.com for full details

At this year’s Chili Bowl, Allgaier told us he would be chasing the ARCA title, but his schedule would allow for several Angell Park bouts. He was excited to note he would be back in Ebby Bergfield’s midget for those races. Check Allgaier’s website for schedule updates at www.justinallgaier.com.

Two other Angell Park veterans raced on this day with Ricky Stenhouse finishing sixth in a Roush-Fenway car and Tom Hessert finishing 15th.

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