(Racing Every Saturday Night)
Race Results
May 15, 1999
By Rob Ristesund
Although weather conditions were once again less than ideal for racing, the cloudy skiesheld off long enough for another large crowd to witness an exciting night of racing action at Lake County Speedway.
The late model stock car feature saw Colman’s Todd Sterzinger hold off Brad Wollman for his first feature win in two years. Sterzinger’s tenure in the late model stock cars could probably be best exemplified by his performance in the feature last week. Although he has led numerous feature events over the years, mechanical woes often have kept him from finishing events. Last week Sterzinger led the first half of the feature before pulling to the infield once again, but this week the familiar purple #56 held together the entire fifteen laps and the second generation driver held off a late charge by Brad Wollman for the win as the pair battled side-by-side on the final circuit. Dale Furby took third ahead of Perry Tschetter and Don Bickett. Gary Brown looked to be a strong challenger early in the event as he went from eighth to third on the first lap but Brown saw his chances literally go up in smoke as the powerplant in his #22 let go during a caution.
The Nordstrom’s Sportsman feature was once again a real thriller as J.J. Zebell came from the sixth row to take the lead on the final lap for the win. Moose Schuldt and rookie Al Barnhart battled much of the race for the lead and the pair were side-by-side on the final lap when they made contact in the second turn, slowing them just enough to allow the opportunistic Zebell by for the lead. Barnhart managed to hang on to take second while a wild scramble at the finish for third saw Schuldt make hard contact with the front straightaway wall, allowing “B” feature winner Matt Steuerwald by for third followed by Russ Peterson and Mike Husman.
After sitting out last week’s feature due to mechanical problems, Mike Ellingson’s car was flawless this week as he led wire-to-wire in winning the sprint car feature. Ellingson was chased the entire way by Gary Johnson, who took the runner-up honors ahead of Doug Martens, Paul Poncelet, and the winner of the two previous features, Chuck McGillivray.
Steve Carmody was one happy driver as he outran the field to win the hobby stock feature. Carmody got by Jeff Hoogendorn on the fourth lap of the scheduled twelve lap event and led the rest of the way for the win. The race was red-flagged on the fifth circuit when Josh Schmidt “parked” his car on top of the turn three wall, and after the delay in removing Schmidt’s car the race was restarted with just two laps to go due to time restraints. Hoogendorn took second followed by Jeff Beck, last-row-starter Larry Kracht, and Dale Tomes.
The team of Schmidt and Grayson put their potent black #3:16 into the winner’s circle again as they came from deep in the field to win the front-wheel drive feature. Early leaders Sampson and Tieszen were second ahead of Olson and Gluhn.
360 Sprint Cars
HEAT: 1. Gary Johnson, Madison 2. Mike Ellingson, Dell Rapids 3. Chuck McGillivray,Madison 4. Paul Poncelet, Sioux Falls
FEATURE: 1. Ellingson 2. Johnson 3. Doug Martens, Wentworth 4. Poncelet 5. McGillivray
Late Model Stock Cars
FIRST HEAT: 1. Rob Anderson, Chester 2. Gary Brown, Winner 3. Dale Furby, Sioux Falls 4. Scott Freet, Madison
SECOND HEAT: 1. Todd Sterzinger, Madison 2. Perry Tschetter, Bridgewater 3. Brad Wollman, Bridgewater 4. Don Bickett, Ramona
FEATURE: 1. Sterzinger 2. Wollman 3. Furby 4. Tschetter 5. Bickett 6. Rick Eich, Colman 7. Anderson 8. Curt Bauman, Brookings 9. Ross Dixon, Ramona 10. Freet 11. Brown 12. Gus Clark, Sioux Falls 13. Larry Dixon, Ramona
Nordstrom's Sportsman
FIRST HEAT: 1. Brad Haas, Sioux Falls 2. Matt Ayres, Parker 3. Jeff Wittrock, Sioux Falls 4. Bob Dafoe, Sioux Falls
SECOND HEAT: 1. Ryan Nelson, Madison 2. Mike Husman, Madison 3. J.J. Zebell, Parker 4. Russ Englund, Hartford
THIRD HEAT: 1. Kenny Berens, Parker 2. Jeff Coster, Sioux Falls 3. Al Barnhart, Madison 4. Matt Steuerwald, Madison
FOURTH HEAT: 1. Moose Schuldt, Sioux Falls 2. Rick Goth, Madison 3. Russ Peterson, Sioux Falls 4. Richard Holbrook, Sioux Falls
FIRST B FEATURE: 1. Steuerwald 2. Dafoe 3. Darin Duffy, Dell Rapids 4. Jerry Herndon, Madison 5. Don Brady, Sioux Falls
SECOND B FEATURE: 1. Jeff Hertlel, Parker 2. Todd Holter, Humboldt 3. Englund 4. Holbrook 5. Gary Gonyo, Madison
A FEATURE: 1. Zebell 2. Barnhart 3. Steuerwald 4. Peterson 5. Husman 6. Schuldt 7. Coster 8. Wittrock 9. Ayres 10. Berens 11. Hertl 12. Nelson 13. Goth 14. Haas
I.M.C.A Hobby Stocks
FIRST HEAT: 1. Jeff Hoogendorn, Rock Rapids, Ia. 2. Steve Carmody, Ramona 3. Justin Selken, Hartford 4. Rick Wibeto
SECOND HEAT: 1. Dale Tomes, Dell Rapids 2. Nick Grad, Madison 3. Jeff Beck, Winfred 4. Doug Van Liere, Madison
THIRD HEAT: 1. Kevin Konda, Marion 2. Mike Kiggins, Sioux Falls 3. Josh Schmidt, Marion 4. Tim Dann, Lennox
B FEATURE: 1. Dean Dunkelberger, Hartford 2. Larry Kracht, Magnolia, Mn. 3. Jeff Ellingson, Madison 4. Dan Doyle, Flandreau
A FEATURE: 1. Carmody 2. Hoogendorn 3. Beck 4. Kracht 5. Tomes 6. Van Liere 7. Dann 8. Kiggins 9. Grad 10. Wibeto 11. Schmidt 12. Konda 13. Selken 14. Dunkelberger
Front Wheel Drives
FIRST HEAT: 1. Anderson/Michelke, Madison 2. Harmon/Ludwig, Canton 3. Rose/Dafoe, Sioux Falls
SECOND HEAT: 1. Sampson/Tieszen, Canistota 2. Larson/Ryan, Madison 3. Schmidt/Grayson
THIRD HEAT: 1. Olson/Gluhn, Madison 2. Fedeler/Tooker, Nunda 3. Herlyn/Nelson, Madison
B FEATURE: 1. Willmott/Insley, White 2. Schneider/Miles, Colman 3. Powell/Engelkes, Brookings
A FEATURE: 1. Schmidt/Grayson 2. Sampson/Tieszen 3. Olson/Gluhn 4. Willmott/Insley 5. Harmon/Ludwig 6. Herlyn/Nelson 7. Anderson/Michelke, Madison