Chateau Raceway 8/4/17

August 4, 2017 | by Matthew Grage

Temperatures may have cooled for the first Friday of Racing in August but the action on the track was as hot as ever at Chateau Raceway In Lansing. Six classes of cars filled the pits for the nights activiitties which included a benefit night for USRA A Mod driver Jake Stark of Austin. In addition to the benefit night the evening turned into a full Cancer Awareness Night as well. Jake, a regular competitior at the track, now in his ninth season has quickly moved up the competition ladder. Starting out in Hornets in 2009, when he won the Track Championship, he has moved through Pure Stocks and Midwest Mods on his way to the top class. Where as the wins may not have come as often as he may like, its obvious the enjoyment of the sport fuels him. Stark was diagnosed earlier this year with Stage 2 Melanoma, a skin cancer on his scalp, and has been undergoing treatment much of the season while still competing most nights. Friends and Family gathered in the stands to show there support and help raise some funds for the ongoing expense that goes with the treatments and battle. In addition to Jake’s battle former driver Mike Hernke of Cannon Falls, who was diagnosed with Panceatic Cancer in the last couple years was inspired to build a Cancer Awareness Car and was on hand with it Friday Night. The car is a show car with over 1600 lights on it and is used for pace laps and demonstration laps in an effort to bring awareness to getting regular checkups and screenings to stay ahead of “The Beast”. Jake, with his family, were in Victory Lane before the start of the night to talk about Jake’s year, and to thank everyone for there support. Chris, also was there was his Awareness car to talk about his story and to urge people to be pro-active in there health care. After intermission the car was brought into the stands for people to sign in support of the campaign.

Hornet driver Pat Wells of Faribault also had a special Cancer Awareness car in the stands as he lost an Aunt to Cancer in the last year and has dedicated this season to her and raising money for Cancer Research. He sells Awareness T-Shirts and collections the nights cans for raising funds for the cause. In his regular car at feature time he was able to find his way to victory lane. Ryan Timm of Austin appeared to have the race in hand when he had a right front tire go flat on the last lap dropping him back to third giving the win to Wells who held off Nick Sillman of Minnesota Lake for the win. An emotional Wells told his story in victory lane about his season. The class had a low car count so ran just a feature on the night.

It was a night for wild finishes all the way around with the Chateau Pure Stocks providing an exciting fifteen lap main event. Troy Mass of Faribault, Chris Hotovec of Dodge Center and Jesse Stahl of Austin took turns running side by side much of the race and traded the lead at the start finish line on over half the laps, not to mention how many times they went back and forth around the oval. The final pass for the win came late as Maas scored his third straight feature win at Lansing with Stahl slipping by Hotovec for second. Stahl and Zach Ehmke of Dexter took the classes heat wins.

In WISSOTA Midwest Modified action Josh Mattick of Rose Creek worked from a row two starting spot to take the lead from Luke Hainka of Wannamingo on lap four. From there he set sail to his first feature win of the year. In victory lane after the race Josh, who also scored a heat win on the night, became the first of two drivers who would donate there feature winning checks to the Stark Benefit Fund. Current Track Points Leader Garitt Wytaske of Austin, also starting on row two came home in second ahead of Jason VandeKamp of Scandia and current National Points Leader Dan Wheeler of Savage. It turned out to be a long night for Jason who had his engine challenged and had to be torn down after the races before he could head home. It was great to see that not only was the engine found to be 100 percent legal, after a long night and a long day getting the car back together, on his next stop Saturday Night he took home the feature win as he continued his season. VandeKamp along with Wheeler posted the classes other two heat wins on the night.

After a pair of cautions to open the WISSOTA Street Stock Feature the field put on an exciting fifteen lap event with two wide and three wide racing for the led. Bobby Blowers of Waseca and Zach Elward of Hayfield dueled from start to finish for the win along with Jason Newkirk of Austin and Kory Adams of Stacyville Iowa. Blowers lead the majority of the laps at the line, but much like the Pure Stock Feature the lead changed hands several times around the track. At the checkers however it was Elward who got there first. Jason Newkirk nipped Adams for third. Kory, who did get a heat win on the night, put on a good show in the feature getting up along side the two leaders for a three wide battle on several occasions before ending up in fourth. Blowers took the classes other heat win. Elward had a wild moment in second of the two cautions when contact launched him several feet into the air in turn one and off the end of the track. In victory lane he said he felt like something was bent in the front end but was able to pull off the win.

Jerry Young of Blooming Prairie, making just his third start of the season at Lansing, used a pair of front row starting spots to his advantage as he swept the USRA B Mod Class leading flag to flag in both his events. AJ Zvorak of Blooming Prairie out ran Matt Brooks of Austin and Jayden Larsen of Mankato for second. Nate Chodur of Lake Mills Iowa, who picked up a heat win on the night, took fifth. Afterwards in Victory Lane Young donated his feature winning check to the Stark Benefit pushing the total amount raised on the night up close to $11,000 dollars. T-shirt sales, the 50/50 drawing, donations and Silent Auction fund raising already had the total well over $10,000 dollars before he and Mattick donated there checks.. A grand total on the fund raiser will be announced next week at the track.

Among the items in the silent auction were several used panels donated by drivers from previous car bodies, including the current National Points Leader, and current Track Points Leader Jason Cummins of New Richland in the USRA Modified Division. Cummins had an exciting night as he posted his sixth feature win of the season at Chateau, but he had to come from the back of the field after having issues in his heat. Jason had started in the back of his heat and had come to the front to take the lead as the white flag came out but suddenly the car slowed and he pulled into the infield on the back straightaway on the final lap. Darwyn Karau of Kasson streaked by to take that heat win and with a DNF Jason was out of the redraw and stuck going to the back of the field for the feature. There was just one short caution on the opening attempt to start the feature. From there after the green flag waved the second time they went clean for the entire twenty-five laps. Greg Pfeifer Junior of Austin, looking for a sweep on the night after taking a heat win, started on the pole and jumped out to the lead while Cummins starting picking his way through the field. He cracked the top five on lap five, and was up to third on lap ten and set his sights on Pfeifer and Joe Horgdahl of Kasson who was running second. After slipping around Joe he pulled up behind Pfeifer with less than ten to go. The two ran side by side on lap seventeen before Cummins took over the point a lap later and rocketed off to the win. Greg Jensen of Albert Lea went around Karau to take fourth late.

Racing action continues next Friday Night at Lansing with the Outlaw Mini Mods joining the nights action scheduled to get underway at 7:00.

USRA A Modifieds
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 71-Jason Cummins-New Richland, [11]; 2. 73JR-Greg Pfeifer Jr-Austin, [1]; 3. 29H-Joe Horgdal-Kasson, [6]; 4. 1-Greg Jensen-Albert Lea, [7]; 5. 23-Darwin Karau-Kasson, [9]; 6. 90-Steve Wetzstein-West Concord, [5]; 7. 24-Charlie Steinberg-Kasson, [2]; 8. 77-Jacob Stark-Austin, [8]; 9. 90W-Ryan Wetzstein-West Concord, [12]; 10. 21-Troy Gudmonson-Savage, [10]; 11. (DNF) 72-Doug Hillson-Blooming Prairie, [4]; 12. (DNF) 20JR-David Wytaske-Grand Meadow, [3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Darwin Karau, [1]; 2. 90-Steve Wetzstein, [3]; 3. 24-Charlie Steinberg, [2]; 4. 1-Greg Jensen, [4]; 5. (DNF) 71-Jason Cummins, [6]; (DQ) 90W-Ryan Wetzstein, [5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 73JR-Greg Pfeifer Jr, [3]; 2. 72-Doug Hillson, [2]; 3. 29H-Joe Horgdal, [6]; 4. 20JR-David Wytaske, [4]; 5. 77-Jacob Stark, [5]; 6. 21-Troy Gudmonson, [1]

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 1M-Josh Mattick-Rose Creek, [3]; 2. 35JR-Garritt Wytaske-Austin, [4]; 3. 16-Jason VandeKamp-Scandia, [9]; 4. RED1-Dan Wheeler-Savage, [8]; 5. G12-Ryan Goergen-Stacyville IA, [7]; 6. TB81-Tommy Bawden-Clear Lake, [6]; 7. 23-Mitch Weiss-Scandia, [5]; 8. 7E-Neil Eckhart-Rochester, [15]; 9. 77T-Casey Trom-Zumbrota, [10]; 10. 79-Jeremy Misgen-New Richland, [14]; 11. 33S-Dustin Steinbrink-Austin, [21]; 12. 14J-Ron Jablonske-Hager City WI, [12]; 13. 79H-Luke Hainka-Wannamingo, [1]; 14. 17B-Bonnie Jablonske-Hagar City WI, [13]; 15. 33-Darryl Hainka-Wannamingo, [20]; 16. 14-Tyron Friese-Zumbrota, [16]; 17. 86-Noel Hoppe-New Richland, [18]; 18. 17-Harland Morehart-Rochester, [17]; 19. (DNF) 21K-Paul Kroneman-Brownsdale, [19]; 20. (DNF) 43-Scott Simmons-Lakeville, [2]; 21. (DNF) 4-Brayten Cisneros-Blooming Prairie, [11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. RED1-Dan Wheeler, [2]; 2. TB81-Tommy Bawden, [3]; 3. 23-Mitch Weiss, [5]; 4. 77T-Casey Trom, [1]; 5. 17B-Bonnie Jablonske, [7]; 6. 14-Tyron Friese, [6]; 7. 86-Noel Hoppe, [4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1M-Josh Mattick, [2]; 2. G12-Ryan Goergen, [1]; 3. 43-Scott Simmons, [3]; 4. 4-Brayten Cisneros, [4]; 5. 79-Jeremy Misgen, [5]; 6. (DNF) 33-Darryl Hainka, [6]; (DNS) 33S-Dustin Steinbrink,

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Jason VandeKamp, [3]; 2. 79H-Luke Hainka, [1]; 3. 35JR-Garritt Wytaske, [7]; 4. 14J-Ron Jablonske, [5]; 5. 7E-Neil Eckhart, [4]; 6. 17-Harland Morehart, [6]; 7. 21K-Paul Kroneman, [2]

Hornets
Heat 1 (12 Laps): 1. 73-Pat Wells-Faribault, [3]; 2. 5-Nick Sillman-Minnesota Lake, [4]; 3. 17-Ryan Timm-Austin, [1]; 4. 34CJ-Caylie Blowers-Waseca, [7]; 5. 25-Alan Schmidt-Hayward, [6]; 6. 42-Cody Hyatt-Waseca, [2]; 7. 13K-Daniel Knish-Kilkenny, [8]; 8. 119-Nick Zago-Austin, [5]

Pure Stocks
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 1-Troy Maas-Faribault, [3]; 2. 21-Jesse Stahl-Austin, [6]; 3. 4-Chris Hotovec-Dodge Center, [1]; 4. 99L-Derek Ludington-Zumbrota, [5]; 5. 70-Beau Stevens-Albert Lea, [2]; 6. 83-Dan Guttormson-Austin, [10]; 7. 55-Tyler Nelson-Albert Lea, [4]; 8. 53-Zack Ehmke-Dexter, [8]; 9. (DNF) 3-Danielle Maas-Owatonna, [7]; 10. (DNF) 00-Dalton Ludington-Zumbrota, [9]

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 53-Zack Ehmke, [4]; 2. 70-Beau Stevens, [1]; 3. 1-Troy Maas, [5]; 4. 4-Chris Hotovec, [2]; 5. 83-Dan Guttormson, [3]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 21-Jesse Stahl, [1]; 2. 3-Danielle Maas, [2]; 3. 99L-Derek Ludington, [4]; 4. 55-Tyler Nelson, [5]; 5. 00-Dalton Ludington, [3]

WISSOTA Street Stocks
A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 15-Zach Elward-Hayfield, [6]; 2. 34JR-Bobby Blowers-Waseca, [2]; 3. 32-Jason Newkirk-Austin, [3]; 4. 01-Kory Adams-Stacyville IA, [7]; 5. 47-Brent Holland-Glenville, [1]; 6. 14A-Blake Adams-McInitre IA, [5]; 7. 2-Fred Prudoehl-Winona, [11]; 8. 101-Ken (Bernie) Adams-Stacyville IA, [4]; 9. 99-Greg Lammers-Owatonna, [13]; 10. 99G-Noah Grinstead-Austin, [9]; 11. 19-Parker Voth-Mazeppa, [10]; 12. 34-Mike Blowers-Waseca, [8]; 13. (DNF) 42-Cody Hyatt-Waseca, [14]; (DNS) 16-Jacob Bennett-Austin,

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Kory Adams, [2]; 2. 34-Mike Blowers, [7]; 3. 15-Zach Elward, [5]; 4. 101-Ken Adams, [4]; 5. 99G-Noah Grinstead, [3]; 6. 2-Fred Prudoehl, [1]; 7. (DNF) 99-Greg Lammers, [6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 34JR-Bobby Blowers, [2]; 2. 32-Jason Newkirk, [3]; 3. 14A-Blake Adams, [6]; 4. 47-Brent Holland, [4]; 5. 19-Parker Voth, [7]; 6. 16-Jacob Bennett, [5]; 7. (DNF) 42-Cody Hyatt, [1]

USRA B Modifieds
A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 18y-Jerry Young-Blooming Prairie, [2]; 2. Z29-Anthony (AJ) Zvorak-Blooming Prairie , [4]; 3. 44-Matthew Brooks-Austin, [1]; 4. 36K-Jayden Larson-Mankato, [3]; 5. 88-Nate Chodur-Lake Mills IA, [6]; 6. 83X-Kadden Kath-Owatonna, [7]; 7. 54-Jett Sorensen-Rochester, [9]; 8. 27-Channing Warner-Owatonna , [5]; 9. 31-Raey Hastings IV-Austin, [8]; 10. 81K-Caleb Korpi-Claremont, [10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 411-Jerry Young, [2]; 2. 83X-Kadden Kath, [3]; 3. 36K-Jayden Larson, [1]; 4. 27-Channing Warner , [4]; (DQ) 81K-Caleb Korpi, [5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 88-Nate Chodur, [1]; 2. Z29-Anthony (AJ) Zvorak, [3]; 3. 44-Matthew Brooks, [2]; 4. 54-Jett Sorensen, [4]; 5. 31-Raey Hastings IV, [5]