(Racing Every Saturday Night)
Race Results
August 14, 1999
By Rob Ristesund
Even though it was the fourteenth night of racing at Lake County Speedway, the close competitiveness at the track was evident as three drivers scored their first feature wins of the year Saturday night.
In the late model stock cars, it was Kent Plimpton outrunning the field to win his first feature of the year. Plimpton roared into the lead at the start of the fifteen lap event and never looked back during the race which was slowed by just one caution, stretching his lead to eight car lengths as he took Jeff Peterson’s checkered flag. Gus Clark had a solid run as he ran second the entire way ahead of a wild, seven car battle for third which saw drivers battling four-wide on the high-banked three-eighths mile oval. Brad Wollman was the winner of the “mini-race” for third as he came from the fourth row to edge Rob Anderson, Don Bickett, Larry Dixon and Todd Sterzinger. The tight point battle between Wollman and Sterzinger became even closer as Sterzinger’s lead unofficially fell to just two points over Wollman.
Steve Haman was another driver to take his first win of the year as he led wire-to-wire in winning the Pam Oil/Valvoline/AC Delco/Lewis/Pepsi 360 sprint feature. Haman dominated the twelve lap event that ran non-stop, eventually pulling away to win by a straightaway over Brad Nelson, who fought off a hard charging Chuck McGillivray for second. Fourth went to point leader Gary Johnson followed by Dave Ekern.
Matt Ayres snatched the lead from Jeff Ellingson on lap five and went on to win the twelve lap Nordstrom’s Sportsmen feature. Ayres, a perennial top contender in the class who has struggled some this year, took the win four car lengths ahead of fellow Parker driver Jeff Hertel, with Ryan Nelson, Rick Goth and point leader Matt Steuerwald rounding out the top five.
The hobby stock feature was an event that saw a couple of great driving performances as the first and second place finishers came all the way from sixteenth and seventeenth starting spots, respectively, in the seventeen car field. When it was all over, it was Josh Schmidt following up his first ever feature win last week with a run through the field to take his second in a row. Curt Ottoson also came from the back to the front to take second, followed by early race leader Mark Janke, Dale Tomes and P.J. Stoner. Tomes’s finish tightened up his battle for the point lead with Tim Dann as he moved within three points of Dann’s lead.
The “Deuces Wild” feature was a thriller as point leaders Schmidt and Grayson passed race-long leaders Fuller and Parish in the final turn for their third feature win of the year.
360 Sprint Cars
FIRST HEAT: 1. Steve Haman, Egan; 2. Brad Nelson, Brookings; 3. Gary Johnson, Madison; 4. Brent Vonk, Hudson.
SECOND HEAT: 1. Chuck McGillivray, Madison; 2. Dave Ekern, Flandreau; 3. Jay Schmidt, Hartford.
FEATURE: 1. Haman; 2. Nelson; 3. McGillivray; 4. Johnson; 5. Ekern; 6. Schmidt; 7. Donovan Peterson, Brookings; 8. Vonk; 9. Mike Ellingson, Dell Rapids.
Late Model Stock Cars
FIRST HEAT: 1. Perry Tschetter, Bridgewater; 2. Rob Anderson, Chester; 3. Gus Clark, Sioux Falls; 4. Brad Wollman, Bridgewater; 5. Rick Eich, Colman.
SECOND HEAT: 1. Don Bickett, Ramona; 2. Kent Plimpton, Lennox; 3. Brad Van Voorst, Canton; 4. Todd Sterzinger, Colman; 5. Scott Freet, Madison.
FEATURE: 1. Plimpton; 2. Clark; 3. Wollman; 4. Anderson; 5. Bickett; 6. Larry Dixon, Ramona; 7. Sterzinger; 8. Freet; 9. Tschetter; 10. Curt Bauman, Brookings; 11. Van Voorst; 12. Eich; 13. Ross Dixon, Ramona; 14. Jeff Machovsky, Aurora; 15. Dale Furby, Sioux Falls.
Nordstrom's Sportsman
FIRST HEAT: 1. Todd Holter, Humboldt; 2. J.J. Zebell, Parker; 3. Matt Steuerwald, Parker; 4. Jerry Hernden, Madison.
SECOND HEAT: 1. Russ Peterson, Sioux Falls; 2. Jeff Ellingson, Madison; 3. Rick Goth, Madison; 4. Mike Husman, Madison.
THIRD HEAT: 1. Ryan Nelson, Madison; 2. Matt Ayres, Parker; 3. Jeff Hertel, Parker; 4. Chris Ellingson, Madison.
FEATURE: 1. Ayres; 2. Hertel; 3. Nelson; 4. Goth; 5. Steuerwald; 6. Peterson 7. Jeff Wittrock, Sioux Falls; 8. Zebell; 9. Jeff Ellingson; 10. Husman; 11. Holter; 12. Russ Englund, Hartford; 13. Brad Haas, Sioux Falls; 14. Hernden; 15. Darin Duffy, Dell Rapids; 16. Chris Ellingson.
I.M.C.A Hobby Stocks
FIRST HEAT: 1. Mark Janke, Madison; 2. Ryan Bickett, Ramona; 3. Jeff Beck, Winfred; 4. P.J. Stoner, Sioux Falls.
SECOND HEAT: 1. Jason Armstrong, Flandreau; 2. Justin Selken, Hartford; 3. Dale Tomes, Dell Rapids; 4. Chad Lemme, Wentworth.
THIRD HEAT: 1. Dan Doyle, Flandreau; 2. Doug Van Liere, Madison; 3. Andy Ullom, Madison; 4. Tim Dann, Lennox.
FEATURE: 1. Josh Schmidt, Marion; 2. Curt Ottoson, Madison; 3. Janke; 4. Tomes; 5. Stoner; 6. Beck; 7. Dann; 8. Doyle; 9. Bickett; 10. Armstrong; 11. Derck Uthe, Madison; 12. Ullom; 13. Steve Carmody, Ramona; 14. Selken; 15. Tim Waltner, Freeman; 16. Van Liere; 17. Lemme.
Front Wheel Drives
FIRST HEAT: 1. Fuller/Parish, Sioux Falls; 2. Rose/Dafoe, Sioux Falls; 3. Scholl/Johnson, Madison.
SECOND HEAT: 1. Harmon/Ludwig, Canton; 2. Anderson/Michelke, Madison; 3. Fedeler/Tooker; Nunda.
THIRD HEAT: 1. Schmidt/Grayson, Brookings; 2. Ralfs/Ludwig, Inwood, Iowa; 3. Larson/Ryan, Madison.
FIRST B FEATURE: 1. Boatright/Schmidt, Hartford; 2. Willmott/Insley, White; 3. Gross/Schmit, Hartford; 4. Bender/Nielson, Madison.
SECOND B FEATURE: 1. Harney/Lien, Brandon; 2. Herlyn/Nelson, Marion; 3. Schneider/Miles, Colman.
A FEATURE: 1. Schmidt/Grayson; 2. Fuller/Parish; 3. Anderson/Michelke; 4. Harmon/Ludwig; 5. Boatright/Schmidt.