Sprint Cars and Fireworks Light Up Friday Night at Chateau Speedway

August 8, 2020

Chateau Speedway (Lansing, MN) Matthew Grage

Chateau Speedway welcomed in the Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series (UMSS) Non Wing Traditional Sprint Cars for the second time in the last month Friday Night to be a part of a big show which included a gigantic fireworks display. The Track paused the nights racing action at about 10:00 to light up the sky with the Flashing Thunder Fireworks Display. It was the second year in a row that they moved the display off the fourth of July weekend and made it part of the August Sprint Car show and the fans seem to enjoy the show coming about a month after all the other Fourth of July shows. A good field of cars once again made for plenty of Thunder on the historic track that has sat in Lansing on the banks of the Cedar River for 64 years. Friday Nights show was sponsored by KS Engineering of Albert Lea and Eagle Prairie Insurance of Blooming Prairie and featured the largest car count of the season with 120 cars filling the pits.

Leading the way for the 15 car field of UMSS Sprinters was Cam Schafer of St Paul. After managing only a fourth place finish in his heat he worked from the outside of row two to second place on lap one behind Brian VanMeveren of Woodbury who stated on the outside of the front row. Brian had picked up a heat win earlier in the night in a car that won that 1997 WISSOTA Sprint Car Championship for Jimmy Kouba of Byron who was also on hand. Schafer dogged VanMeveren for five laps before moving to the point where he stayed the rest of the way. VanMeveren faded to fifth by the end of the feature as Jon Lewerer of Andover put together a strong run to take second. Pole sitter Mike Mueller of Oak Grove came home in third followed by Ryan Bowers of Nowthen. Jake Kouba of Minneapolis who had the classes other heat win finished sixth. Jake however did lower the Track Record for Traditional Sprints in his heat win. Turning a lap of 15.467 which is an Avg speed of 77.577 miles an hour he bested the record for the class which was only a year old. Last year Blake Anderson of Elk Mound Wisconsin reset the record to 15.501 but Kouba shaved a bit off it Friday Night. There was a little excitement in the waning laps when Eric Serabian of Ocala Florida was trying to pull into the infield after suffering mechanical issues. He caught the edge of the infield as he bounced off the track and ended up rolling the car one time landing back on his wheels.

Highest Individual car count for a class was 22 in the USRA B Mod Class. Michael Wytaske of Hartland drew the pole for the feature and had things his way for 18 of the 20 lap feature. Michael had survived a couple restarts but after completing lap 18 he suddenly pulled to the infield with mechanical issues and gave the lead over to AJ Hoff of Mantorville. Hoff lead the field around to the white and onto the checkers as he picked up his second straight feature win. Caleb Korpi of Claremont, who started outside of Michael on the front row came home in second ahead of Noah Grinstead, Matt Brooks and Dustin Steinbrink all of Austin. Steinbrink, one of the heat winners on the night, just barely made it to the finish line as smoke came pouring from under his machine as he crossed under the checkers. Grinstead and Brody Shaw of Brownsdale also scored heat wins in the class.

The French’s Repair USRA A Mod Main Event had plenty of drama all the way to the checkers as Ryan Wetzstein of West Conocrd and Jason Cummins of New Richland swapped the lead a few times during the event. The two started side by side on the front row with Ryan getting the advantage on lap one. After several side by side laps Cummins was shown as the leader on lap five only to see Ryan go back to the point a lap later. The pair was in lapped traffic by lap nine and that made for some interesting choices as the two would go high and low at the same time to move around cars and keep racing each other. Wetzstein took home his first feature win of the season with Cummins right behind him. Joel Alberts of Mantorville made it a three car battle down the stretch but had to settle for third. A pair of Kasson drivers, Joe Horgdahl and Darwyn Karau rounded out the top five. Cummins had one of the heat wins on the night for the class while Joe Ludemann of Grand Meadow and JT Wasmund of Pine Island took top honors in the other two heats.

Jason Newkirk of Austin grabbed his second feature win of the season in the Adam Graphix WISSOTA Street Stock Class as he held off last weeks winner Kory Adams of Stacyville Iowa. The two were bumper to bumper much of the race as Adams looked for an opening to slip by. Braden Brauer of Eyota, making his first start of the year in the class came home in third followed by Zach Elward of Hayfield and Jesse Stahl of Austin. Newkirk also had a heat win on the night giving him a sweep. Elward had the classes other heat win. Elward, Adams and Stahl provided some excitement in the fist half of the race as they ran three wide for two laps for fifth place before lining up again.

The Action Builders WISSOTA Midwest Modified Feature saw Josh Mattick of Rose Creek get to the point about two thirds of the way through the race when leader Anton Nelson of Hayfield slipped up high in turn four and opened the door for the rest of the top five. Nelson fell back several spots. Mattick drove into victory lane after holding off Greg Pfeifer Junior of Austin and Kobie Kath of Owatonna. Kath had moved into second for awhile and had gotten up along side Mattick a few times before slipping back to third. Cole Neisius of Hastings drove all the way up to fourth after starting back in row seven finishing just ahead of Jeremy Misgen of New Richland who came from row six for a top five finish. Pfeifer and Tianna Mithun of New Richland pocketed the heat wins in the class. Trevis Underdahl of Northfield who entered the night with the points lead for the class had mechanical issues in the heat and never made it out for the feature. He now finds himself in second place in points but only one marker behind Pfeifer.

It took three passes for the lead before it finally stuck for Andrew Eischens in Power 96 WISSOTA Pure Stock action. Two straight cautions negated his passes for the lead in the main event before he finally took over the top spot and went on to score his third feature win of the year. Troy Maas of Faribault had a couple good runs on Eischens and the pair ran side by side under the checkers with Andrew claiming the win. Jack Paulson of Morristown who lead the first two laps of the race came home in third followed by Brady Krohnberg of Walters and Michael Wick of Faribault. Heat wins went to Paulson and Krohnberg.

It took till the final feature of the night to get a caution free main event. Nick Sillman of Minnesota Lake jumped from the outside of the second row to the point and lead flag to flag for his first feature win of the year. Troy Tuma of Owatonna came out of row three to close up on Sillman down the stretch but it would be Sillman’s night. Matt Wieman of Owatonna, Brian Schott of Mazeppa and Josh Winsky of Rochester made up the rest of the top five. Heat Winners were Josh Winsky of Rochester, Tuma, and Justin Schelitzche of Cologne.

The Track had a big announcement on the night. They were able to announc the Rescheduled date for the “Spirit of 83” Memorial Race on Friday Night. The race was postponed when the racing season had not started yet back in May. The Track was holding off on picking a spot for the Marquee event honoring the memory of Mike Guttormson and those that had his spirit and love for Chateau Speedway. When it was announced this past week that the WISSOTA 100 would be cancelled for this year The Track decided to jump into that Friday Night slot on September 18th. The Track still has a few Sponsorship spots open for their “83 for 83” slots. Almost 60 of the 83 Sponsorships of $83 each have been taken leaving just over 20 spots for anyone interested in getting involved in the event as a sponsor. Meanwhile seven classes of cars will once again fill The Track next Friday Night for week seven of action at Chateau Speedway in Lansing. After a week off the Brauer Roofing WISSOTA Super Stocks will be back on the schedule along with the WISSOTA Hornet, Pure Stock, Street Stock and Midwest Modified as well as the USRA A and B Mods. As always the first green flag will fly at 7:15 Friday Night.

8/7/2020 at Chateau Speedway
Kruckeberg Servicves WISSOTA Hornet

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 5-Nick Sillman-Minnesota Lake[4]; 2. 20T-Troy Tuma-Owatonna[6]; 3. 16M-Matt Wieman-Owatonna[5]; 4. 21S-Brian Schott-Mazeppa [10]; 5. 97X-Josh Winsky-Rochester[2]; 6. 33-Daniel Knish-Kilkenny[9]; 7. 88-Matt Tighe-Austin[7]; 8. 79T-Taylor Pearson-Prior Lake[11]; 9. 14-Justin Schelitzche-Cologne[8]; 10. 3X-Brandon Blanchard-Spring Valley[3]; 11. 6-Timothy Barnett-Owatonna[12]; 12. 21-Brandon Downs-Austin[1]; 13. 15-Bo Noble-Faribault[15]; 14. 169-Taylor White-Rochester[14]; 15. 511-Shawn Poston-Red Wing [13]; 16. 53-Nicole Kelzer-Plato[16]; 17. 51X-Gary Schumacher-Maplewood[17]; 18. (DNS) 3-Bob Carver Jr-Maplewood

Heat 1 (5 Laps): 1. 97X-Josh Winsky[1]; 2. 3X-Brandon Blanchard[3]; 3. 21-Brandon Downs[4]; 4. 21S-Brian Schott[6]; 5. 511-Shawn Poston[2]; 6. 53-Nicole Kelzer[5]

Heat 2 (5 Laps): 1. 20T-Troy Tuma[2]; 2. 33-Daniel Knish[3]; 3. 16M-Matt Wieman[1]; 4. 79T-Taylor Pearson[6]; 5. 169-Taylor White[5]; 6. (DNF) 3-Bob Carver Jr[4]

Heat 3 (5 Laps): 1. 14-Justin Schelitzche[1]; 2. 88-Matt Tighe[2]; 3. 5-Nick Sillman[3]; 4. 6-Timothy Barnett[4]; 5. 15-Bo Noble[5]; 6. 51X-Gary Schumacher[6]

Action Builders WISSOTA Midwest Mods

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 1M-Josh Mattick-Rose Creek[3]; 2. 00JR-Greg Pfeifer Jr-Austin[8]; 3. 83K-Kobie Kath-Owatonna[9]; 4. 15-Cole Neisius-Hastings [13]; 5. 79-Jeremy Misgen-New Richland [12]; 6. G12-Ryan Goergen-Stacyville IA[6]; 7. RED1-Dan Wheeler-Savage[7]; 8. 4-Brayten Cisneros-Blooming Prairie[5]; 9. 44Z-Anton Nelson-Hayfield[2]; 10. 86-Noel Hoppe-New Richland[10]; 11. 33-Darryl Hainka-Wannamingo[1]; 12. (DNF) 79H-Luke Hainka-Wannamingo[14]; 13. (DNF) 53-Tianna Mithun-New RIchland[4]; 14. (DNS) 23B-Britt Olson Jr-New Richland; 15. (DNS) 17-Trevis Underdahl-Northfield

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 00JR-Greg Pfeifer Jr[2]; 2. 1M-Josh Mattick[3]; 3. RED1-Dan Wheeler[5]; 4. G12-Ryan Goergen[7]; 5. 83K-Kobie Kath[6]; 6. 23B-Britt Olson Jr[4]; 7. 15-Cole Neisius[1]; 8. (DNF) 17-Trevis Underdahl[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 53-Tianna Mithun[2]; 2. 44Z-Anton Nelson[1]; 3. 4-Brayten Cisneros[7]; 4. 33-Darryl Hainka[3]; 5. 86-Noel Hoppe[4]; 6. 79-Jeremy Misgen[5]; 7. (DNF) 79H-Luke Hainka[6]

Power 96 WISSOTA Pure Stock

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 7X-Andrew Eischens-Taopi[8]; 2. 1-Troy Maas-Faribault[5]; 3. 3-Jack Paulson-Morristown [4]; 4. 26-Brady Krohnberg-Walters[7]; 5. 17-Michael Wick-Faribault[12]; 6. 96-Kyndra Neis-Chatfield[11]; 7. 21-Noah Lund-Waseca[2]; 8. 33-Jim Briggs-Waseca[3]; 9. 44-PJ Duchene-Faribault[14]; 10. 35-Edward Jones-Elko New Market[18]; 11. 07-Dylan Pederson-Austin[16]; 12. 08-Kyle Kotek-Owatonna[1]; 13. 81-Broderick Diekman-Waltham[10]; 14. (DNF) 31-Raey Hastings IV-Austin [9]; 15. (DNF) 7L-Devin Losee-LeRoy[13]; 16. (DNF) 1GX-Brandon Shaner-Owatonna[6]; 17. (DNF) 41-Jordan Allen-New Richland[15]; 18. (DNS) 13-Zach Olson-Blooming Prairie

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 3-Jack Paulson[5]; 2. 1GX-Brandon Shaner[1]; 3. 1-Troy Maas[3]; 4. 21-Noah Lund[2]; 5. 31-Raey Hastings IV[6]; 6. 96-Kyndra Neis[4]; 7. 7L-Devin Losee[8]; 8. 35-Edward Jones[9]; 9. 07-Dylan Pederson[7]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 26-Brady Krohnberg[5]; 2. 33-Jim Briggs[4]; 3. 7X-Andrew Eischens[7]; 4. 08-Kyle Kotek[1]; 5. 81-Broderick Diekman[2]; 6. 17-Michael Wick[6]; 7. 44-PJ Duchene[3]; 8. 41-Jordan Allen[8]; 9. 13-Zach Olson[9]

Adams Graphix WISSOTA Street Stock

A Feature 1 (18 Laps): 1. 32-Jason Newkirk-Austin[4]; 2. 01-Kory Adams-Stacyville IA[5]; 3. 34JRB-Braden Brauer-Eyota[6]; 4. 15-Zach Elward-Hayfield[7]; 5. 21-Jesse Stahl-Austin[3]; 6. 0-Brian Adams-Montgomery[10]; 7. 34JR-Bobby Blowers-Waseca[8]; 8. 16K-Kevin Vogt-Rose Creek[9]; 9. 42-Cody Hyatt-Waseca[11]; 10. 16-Jacob Bennett-Austin [12]; 11. 2-Marcus Berndt-Austin[13]; 12. (DNF) 46-Stacy Krohnberg-Walters[14]; 13. (DNF) 4-Chris Hotovec-Dodge Center[2]; 14. (DNF) 147-Brent Holland-Glenville [1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Jason Newkirk[4]; 2. 01-Kory Adams[3]; 3. 4-Chris Hotovec[2]; 4. 147-Brent Holland[1]; 5. 16K-Kevin Vogt[6]; 6. 42-Cody Hyatt[5]; 7. 2-Marcus Berndt[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Zach Elward[1]; 2. 34JR-Bobby Blowers[3]; 3. 34JRB-Braden Brauer[5]; 4. 21-Jesse Stahl[4]; 5. 0-Brian Adams[6]; 6. 16-Jacob Bennett[7]; 7. 46-Stacy Krohnberg[2]

USRA B-Mods

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 55H-Aaron Hoff-Mantorville[5]; 2. 81K-Caleb Korpi-Claremont[2]; 3. 99-Noah Grinstead-Austin [6]; 4. 44-Matthew Brooks-Austin [7]; 5. 33S-Dustin Steinbrink-Austin [11]; 6. 7W-Drew Williams-Rochester[9]; 7. 35JR-Garitt Wytaske-Austin[21]; 8. 3A-Taylor Ausrud-Hayfield[10]; 9. 14-Steven O'Brien-Red Wing [14]; 10. 45-Cole Longergan-Dexter[15]; 11. 40-Larry Scott-Northfield[16]; 12. 0D-Thomas Rolfes-Carpenter IA[17]; 13. (DNF) 38-Michael Wytaske-Hartland[1]; 14. (DNF) 17-Justin Murray-Owatonna[18]; 15. (DNF) 4W-Tucker Williams-Rochester [13]; 16. (DNF) 454-Patrick Kelley-Columbus[3]; 17. (DNF) 21-Taylor Ovrebo-Wells[4]; 18. (DNF) 02K-Toby Kennedy-St Ansgar IA[19]; 19. (DNF) 83R-Kullen Kath-Owatonna[8]; 20. (DNF) 55-Brody Shaw-Brownsdale[12]; 21. (DNS) 20-Mark Motl-Owatonna; 22. (DNS) 72-Alex Schubbe-North Mankato

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Noah Grinstead[1]; 2. 55H-Aaron Hoff[4]; 3. 81K-Caleb Korpi[2]; 4. 454-Patrick Kelley[5]; 5. 4W-Tucker Williams[6]; 6. 40-Larry Scott[8]; 7. 02K-Toby Kennedy[3]; 8. (DNF) 72-Alex Schubbe[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Brody Shaw[2]; 2. 44-Matthew Brooks[6]; 3. 3A-Taylor Ausrud[5]; 4. 83R-Kullen Kath[4]; 5. 14-Steven O'Brien[7]; 6. 0D-Thomas Rolfes[3]; 7. (DNF) 35JR-Garitt Wytaske[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33S-Dustin Steinbrink[4]; 2. 21-Taylor Ovrebo[6]; 3. 38-Michael Wytaske[5]; 4. 7W-Drew Williams[7]; 5. 45-Cole Longergan[3]; 6. 17-Justin Murray[2]; 7. 20-Mark Motl[1]

French’s Repair USRA Modifieds

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 90-Ryan Wetzstein-West Concord[1]; 2. 71-Jason Cummins-New Richland[2]; 3. 4A-Joel Alberts-Mantorville[4]; 4. 29H-Joe Horgdal-Kasson[8]; 5. 23-Darwyn Karau-Kasson[7]; 6. 15-Scotty Anderson-Mason City IA[14]; 7. 77-Tom Brink-Winona[3]; 8. 1A-Dwaine Hanson-Lakevield[13]; 9. 65D-Dustin Brown-Thornton IA[12]; 10. 31-Bill Stettner-Inver Grove Heights[15]; 11. 21R-Tony Ranes-Lake Mills IA[18]; 12. (DNF) 00-Mark Gartner-Mapleton[16]; 13. (DNF) 99-Josh Angst-Winona[9]; 14. (DNF) 83-Kylie Kath-Claremont[11]; 15. (DNF) 33-Joe Ludemann-Grand Meadow[10]; 16. (DNF) 51W-JT Wasmund-Pine Island[6]; 17. (DNF) 77S-Jacob Stark-Austin[5]; 18. (DNF) 72-Doug Hillson-Blooming PRairie[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 51W-JT Wasmund[2]; 2. 4A-Joel Alberts[5]; 3. 77-Tom Brink[1]; 4. 77S-Jacob Stark[4]; 5. (DNF) 72-Doug Hillson[3]; 6. (DNF) 21R-Tony Ranes[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Joe Ludemann[1]; 2. 99-Josh Angst[3]; 3. 83-Kylie Kath[4]; 4. 90-Ryan Wetzstein[6]; 5. 1A-Dwaine Hanson[5]; 6. 31-Bill Stettner[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Jason Cummins[1]; 2. 65D-Dustin Brown[2]; 3. 23-Darwyn Karau[4]; 4. 29H-Joe Horgdal[6]; 5. 15-Scotty Anderson[3]; 6. 00-Mark Gartner[5]

UMSS Non-Winged Traditional Sprints

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 97-Cam Schafer-St Paul[4]; 2. 69-Jon Lewerer-Andover[6]; 3. 22-Mike Mueller-Oak Grove [1]; 4. 16-Ryan Bowers-Nowthen[10]; 5. 45-Brian VanMeveren-Woodbury [2]; 6. 6-Jake Kouba-Minneapolis[5]; 7. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman-Grey Eagle[8]; 8. 99-Bryan Roach-Welch[12]; 9. 2K-Jimmy Kouba-Byron[9]; 10. 2C-Brad Cunningham-St Paul Park[7]; 11. 159-Keith Weber-Austin [15]; 12. (DNF) 12-Johnny Parsons III-Owatonna[3]; 13. (DNF) 49-Eric Serabian-Ocala FL[14]; 14. (DNF) 2V-Chris Vogel-Cottage Grove[11]; 15. (DNF) 7B-Scott Brandt-Andover[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 45-Brian VanMeveren[2]; 2. 69-Jon Lewerer[4]; 3. 12-Johnny Parsons III[6]; 4. 97-Cam Schafer[7]; 5. 2V-Chris Vogel[1]; 6. 99-Bryan Roach[3]; 7. 49-Eric Serabian[5]; 8. 159-Keith Weber[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Jake Kouba[1]; 2. 22-Mike Mueller[2]; 3. 2C-Brad Cunningham[4]; 4. 3K-Jeremy Kerzman[3]; 5. 2K-Jimmy Kouba[6]; 6. 16-Ryan Bowers[7]; 7. 7B-Scott Brandt[5]