By: Betty Glynn
La Salle, IL – The 2007 points chase ended on Saturday night at La Salle Speedway with four new champions ready to be crowned. The real highlight was the grand return of a former champ to victory lane.
Ralph Markham was out so far in points that any outcome for the evening could not hinder his chance at the coveted Late Model championship. But the battle for second came down to the final laps of their feature event.
Princeton’s Steve Oeder was leading former division champ Eric Dauber in second by a mere four points prior to signing in.
Dauber shot out to narrow the lead with qualifying the second fastest picking up two points. But Oeder’s fourth place heat finish put two points back in his favor. Next up, Oeder won the dash adding six points to his corner.
The feature was still on tap and the runner up chase was about to get interesting.
Oeder and Keith Piano were at the helm of the grid with Ritchie Bell and fast qualifier Scott Schmitt in row two.
Oeder powered up hard to start the nineteen car field but got himself sideways and nearly spun collecting quite a few of the front runners. Bell and Billy Weistart Jr. were not as lucky as Oeder, they both returned to the pits for quick repairs but were not granted their original grid positions back for the complete restart.
The pack struggled to get past one lap on the board. As they came down the back stretch Schmitt was running wide open and crashed hard into the outside concrete barrier. His promising season has been shadowed by heavy damage as a result of his love of the high side.
Oeder set the pace quick with Piano pulling under his door repeatedly during the early laps. Dauber on the other hand was hunting for an opening. Heavy on the gas, he worked every line he could find but favored a higher groove for momentum. The momentum was hard to come by as the caution flag was flying far too often.
During Lap 14, Dauber got the opening he was waiting for and used the outside to stake his claim on second.
Just after, Oeder’s ride suffered mechanical woes and he ended his night climbing up the back retaining wall. Now, it was Dauber in the lead of the single file restart over Markham, Jeff Hartzell, Jim Loomis and Brian Claudnic.
One lap later, Loomis and Claudnic made significant contact ending with Claudnic’s machine briefly airborne. The division’s main event looked more like a demo then the side by side racing everyone enjoys.
Dauber opened up full throttle to leave Markham, Hartzell, Aaron Schmidt, Loomis, Jack Benson, Doug Newlin, Joe Fratt and Brian Lock in his dust.
Dauber’s return to victory lane was well overdue and moved him into the second place points finish overall.
“We worked for that,” Dauber said trackside following his grand return. “It feels so good finally getting a win. I was starting to get a little down.”
Markham beat Piccatto, Schmidt, and Jeff Small in the first heat. Weistart won the fast heat over Hartzell, Piano and Oeder. Oeder took home the dash in front of Piano, Bell and Scott Schmitt.
Morris driver Vince Cooper used the outside rails to win the UMP Open Wheel Modified feature race in a flag to flag victory.
Cooper was unstoppable from his front row start next to Nathan Balensiefen with Matt Barker and Milo Veloz Jr. in row two.
Fifteen drivers made the feature call but not as many were so lucky when the checkers dropped. Much like the Late’s the Modified’s were struggling to get a consistent run of green flag racing laps.
Cooper pulled away from Balensiefen, Veloz, and Joe Adam for the first ten laps. By Lap 14, Veloz took over second and shut the door on Balensiefen.
Cooper charged high to capture the win over Veloz, Balensiefen, Adam, AJ Dixon, Jim Phelps, Matt Barker, Mark Vervynck, Bill Theodorf, Ray Bollinger, and Matt Cleary.
Bollinger traveled the fastest lap with a time of 14.584. Barker won the first heat race in front of Cooper, Phelps, and Vervynck. Balensiefen took home the second heat over Theodorf, Veloz and Cleary.
Veloz easily won the divisional championship as Bollinger’s evening was not in his usual standout fashion. Veloz led the chase by twelve points prior to the night but with a tenth place finish in the feature Bollinger’s hope of a championship was not in the cards.
Young newcomer, Jimmy Partipilo, started the UMP Street Stock feature fourth on the grid behind Nick Sell, Mike Hughes and Steve Lewis.
Sell led the pack for the first six laps when he fell back giving up the lead to Partipilo for the first and final time.
Partipilo was unstoppable en route to his third main event victory. A late race restart brought everyone back together but it didn’t make an impact on the drive of Partipilo.
The youngster collected the checkers over Lewis, Justin Rutledge, Al Gray, Hughes, Jay Mesarchick, Shawn Whittington, Rick Koltveit, Gary Schmitt, and Sell.
Sell and Hughes each won their heats.
Koltveit won the Street Stock points challenge over Justin Rutledge.
DJ Werkmeister continued his winning ways in the Hornet division but not without a well driven fight from Travis Mahoney.
Mahoney was flying in the lead until Werkmeister stole it on the outside while they traveled the back stretch. After a restart, Mahoney gave it all he had but Werkmeister continued doing what he does best, leading the field.
Mahoney’s chances were nixed when the event was yellow checkered with Werkmeister as the leader. Mahoney finished a strong runner up over Loren Westerhold, Jon Small, Jamie DeFord, Chad Williams, Asa Robart, Gabe Koncor, Mark Sutton, and Dan Slover.
Westerhold and Mahoney each won their preliminary races.
Werkmeister won the championship uncontested.
La Salle Speedway Scoreboard Results 08/11/07
Steel Block Late Models – 19 Cars
Qualifying: Scott Schmitt 13.735
Heat One: Ralph Markham, John Piccatto, Aaron Schmidt, Jeff Small Heat Two: Billy Weistart Jr., Jeff Hartzell, Keith Piano, Steve Oeder
Dash: Steve Oeder, Keith Piano, Ritchie Bell, Scott Schmitt
Feature: 1. Eric Dauber, 2. Ralph Markham, 3. Jeff Hartzell, 4. Aaron Schmidt, 5. Jim Loomis, 6. Jack Benson, 7. Doug Newlin, 8. Joe Fratt, 9.
Brian Lock, 10. Ed Williams, 11. Brian Claudnic, 12. Steve Oeder, 13. Keith Piano, 14. Ritchie Bell, 15. Joe Jelinek, 16. Jeff Small, 17. John Piccatto, 18. Scott Schmitt, 19. Billy Weistart Jr.
UMP Modifieds 18 Cars
Qualifying: Ray Bollinger 14.584
Heat One: Matt Barker, Vince Cooper, Jim Phelps, Mark Vervynck Heat Two: Nathan Balensiefen, Bill Theodorf, Milo Veloz Jr., Matt Cleary
Feature: 1. Vince Cooper, 2. Milo Veloz Jr., 3. Nathan Balensiefen, 4. Joe Adam, 5. AJ Dixon, 6. Jim Phelps, 7. Matt Barker, 8. Mark Vervynck, 9. Bill Theodorf, 10. Ray Bollinger, 11. Matt Cleary, 12. Wally Forsythe, 13. Duane Peterson, 14. Mark Novorolsky, 15. Brian Lucas
UMP Street Stocks 20 Cars
Heat One: Nick Sell, Jimmy Partipilo, Jay Mesarchick, Justin Rutledge Heat Two: Mike Hughes, Steve Lewis, Al Gray, Shawn Whittington
Feature: 1. Jimmy Partipilo, 2. Steve Lewis, 3. Justin Rutledge, 4. Al Gray, 5. Mike Hughes, 6. Jay Mesarchick, 7. Shawn Whittington, 8. Rick Koltveit, 9. Gary Schmitt, 10. Nick Sell, 11. Mike Stewart, 12. John Peterson, 13.
Alex Club, 14. Randy Lucas, 15. Ryan Johnson, 16. Joe Hamilton, 17. Roger Rickels, 18. Jerrod Thomas
Hornets 19 Cars
Heat One: Loren Westerhold, DJ Werkmeister, Mark Sutton, Asa Robart Heat Two: Travis Mahoney, Jon Small, Don Slover, Chad Williams
Feature: 1. DJ Werkmeister, 2. Travis Mahoney, 3. Loren Westerhold, 4. Jon Small, 5. Jamie DeFord, 6. Chad Williams, 7. Asa Robart, 8. Gabe Koncor, 9.
Mark Sutton, 10. Don Slover, 11. Jon Wagner, 12. Tony Harlacher, 13. Ande Bivens, 14. #72, 15. Bubba Siwinski, 16. Nick Clubb, 17. Dan Leonard
La Salle, IL – The 2007 points chase ended on Saturday night at La Salle Speedway with four new champions ready to be crowned. The real highlight was the grand return of a former champ to victory lane.
Ralph Markham was out so far in points that any outcome for the evening could not hinder his chance at the coveted Late Model championship. But the battle for second came down to the final laps of their feature event.
Princeton’s Steve Oeder was leading former division champ Eric Dauber in second by a mere four points prior to signing in.
Dauber shot out to narrow the lead with qualifying the second fastest picking up two points. But Oeder’s fourth place heat finish put two points back in his favor. Next up, Oeder won the dash adding six points to his corner.
The feature was still on tap and the runner up chase was about to get interesting.
Oeder and Keith Piano were at the helm of the grid with Ritchie Bell and fast qualifier Scott Schmitt in row two.
Oeder powered up hard to start the nineteen car field but got himself sideways and nearly spun collecting quite a few of the front runners. Bell and Billy Weistart Jr. were not as lucky as Oeder, they both returned to the pits for quick repairs but were not granted their original grid positions back for the complete restart.
The pack struggled to get past one lap on the board. As they came down the back stretch Schmitt was running wide open and crashed hard into the outside concrete barrier. His promising season has been shadowed by heavy damage as a result of his love of the high side.
Oeder set the pace quick with Piano pulling under his door repeatedly during the early laps. Dauber on the other hand was hunting for an opening. Heavy on the gas, he worked every line he could find but favored a higher groove for momentum. The momentum was hard to come by as the caution flag was flying far too often.
During Lap 14, Dauber got the opening he was waiting for and used the outside to stake his claim on second.
Just after, Oeder’s ride suffered mechanical woes and he ended his night climbing up the back retaining wall. Now, it was Dauber in the lead of the single file restart over Markham, Jeff Hartzell, Jim Loomis and Brian Claudnic.
One lap later, Loomis and Claudnic made significant contact ending with Claudnic’s machine briefly airborne. The division’s main event looked more like a demo then the side by side racing everyone enjoys.
Dauber opened up full throttle to leave Markham, Hartzell, Aaron Schmidt, Loomis, Jack Benson, Doug Newlin, Joe Fratt and Brian Lock in his dust.
Dauber’s return to victory lane was well overdue and moved him into the second place points finish overall.
“We worked for that,” Dauber said trackside following his grand return. “It feels so good finally getting a win. I was starting to get a little down.”
Markham beat Piccatto, Schmidt, and Jeff Small in the first heat. Weistart won the fast heat over Hartzell, Piano and Oeder. Oeder took home the dash in front of Piano, Bell and Scott Schmitt.
Morris driver Vince Cooper used the outside rails to win the UMP Open Wheel Modified feature race in a flag to flag victory.
Cooper was unstoppable from his front row start next to Nathan Balensiefen with Matt Barker and Milo Veloz Jr. in row two.
Fifteen drivers made the feature call but not as many were so lucky when the checkers dropped. Much like the Late’s the Modified’s were struggling to get a consistent run of green flag racing laps.
Cooper pulled away from Balensiefen, Veloz, and Joe Adam for the first ten laps. By Lap 14, Veloz took over second and shut the door on Balensiefen.
Cooper charged high to capture the win over Veloz, Balensiefen, Adam, AJ Dixon, Jim Phelps, Matt Barker, Mark Vervynck, Bill Theodorf, Ray Bollinger, and Matt Cleary.
Bollinger traveled the fastest lap with a time of 14.584. Barker won the first heat race in front of Cooper, Phelps, and Vervynck. Balensiefen took home the second heat over Theodorf, Veloz and Cleary.
Veloz easily won the divisional championship as Bollinger’s evening was not in his usual standout fashion. Veloz led the chase by twelve points prior to the night but with a tenth place finish in the feature Bollinger’s hope of a championship was not in the cards.
Young newcomer, Jimmy Partipilo, started the UMP Street Stock feature fourth on the grid behind Nick Sell, Mike Hughes and Steve Lewis.
Sell led the pack for the first six laps when he fell back giving up the lead to Partipilo for the first and final time.
Partipilo was unstoppable en route to his third main event victory. A late race restart brought everyone back together but it didn’t make an impact on the drive of Partipilo.
The youngster collected the checkers over Lewis, Justin Rutledge, Al Gray, Hughes, Jay Mesarchick, Shawn Whittington, Rick Koltveit, Gary Schmitt, and Sell.
Sell and Hughes each won their heats.
Koltveit won the Street Stock points challenge over Justin Rutledge.
DJ Werkmeister continued his winning ways in the Hornet division but not without a well driven fight from Travis Mahoney.
Mahoney was flying in the lead until Werkmeister stole it on the outside while they traveled the back stretch. After a restart, Mahoney gave it all he had but Werkmeister continued doing what he does best, leading the field.
Mahoney’s chances were nixed when the event was yellow checkered with Werkmeister as the leader. Mahoney finished a strong runner up over Loren Westerhold, Jon Small, Jamie DeFord, Chad Williams, Asa Robart, Gabe Koncor, Mark Sutton, and Dan Slover.
Westerhold and Mahoney each won their preliminary races.
Werkmeister won the championship uncontested.
La Salle Speedway Scoreboard Results 08/11/07
Steel Block Late Models – 19 Cars
Qualifying: Scott Schmitt 13.735
Heat One: Ralph Markham, John Piccatto, Aaron Schmidt, Jeff Small Heat Two: Billy Weistart Jr., Jeff Hartzell, Keith Piano, Steve Oeder
Dash: Steve Oeder, Keith Piano, Ritchie Bell, Scott Schmitt
Feature: 1. Eric Dauber, 2. Ralph Markham, 3. Jeff Hartzell, 4. Aaron Schmidt, 5. Jim Loomis, 6. Jack Benson, 7. Doug Newlin, 8. Joe Fratt, 9.
Brian Lock, 10. Ed Williams, 11. Brian Claudnic, 12. Steve Oeder, 13. Keith Piano, 14. Ritchie Bell, 15. Joe Jelinek, 16. Jeff Small, 17. John Piccatto, 18. Scott Schmitt, 19. Billy Weistart Jr.
UMP Modifieds 18 Cars
Qualifying: Ray Bollinger 14.584
Heat One: Matt Barker, Vince Cooper, Jim Phelps, Mark Vervynck Heat Two: Nathan Balensiefen, Bill Theodorf, Milo Veloz Jr., Matt Cleary
Feature: 1. Vince Cooper, 2. Milo Veloz Jr., 3. Nathan Balensiefen, 4. Joe Adam, 5. AJ Dixon, 6. Jim Phelps, 7. Matt Barker, 8. Mark Vervynck, 9. Bill Theodorf, 10. Ray Bollinger, 11. Matt Cleary, 12. Wally Forsythe, 13. Duane Peterson, 14. Mark Novorolsky, 15. Brian Lucas
UMP Street Stocks 20 Cars
Heat One: Nick Sell, Jimmy Partipilo, Jay Mesarchick, Justin Rutledge Heat Two: Mike Hughes, Steve Lewis, Al Gray, Shawn Whittington
Feature: 1. Jimmy Partipilo, 2. Steve Lewis, 3. Justin Rutledge, 4. Al Gray, 5. Mike Hughes, 6. Jay Mesarchick, 7. Shawn Whittington, 8. Rick Koltveit, 9. Gary Schmitt, 10. Nick Sell, 11. Mike Stewart, 12. John Peterson, 13.
Alex Club, 14. Randy Lucas, 15. Ryan Johnson, 16. Joe Hamilton, 17. Roger Rickels, 18. Jerrod Thomas
Hornets 19 Cars
Heat One: Loren Westerhold, DJ Werkmeister, Mark Sutton, Asa Robart Heat Two: Travis Mahoney, Jon Small, Don Slover, Chad Williams
Feature: 1. DJ Werkmeister, 2. Travis Mahoney, 3. Loren Westerhold, 4. Jon Small, 5. Jamie DeFord, 6. Chad Williams, 7. Asa Robart, 8. Gabe Koncor, 9.
Mark Sutton, 10. Don Slover, 11. Jon Wagner, 12. Tony Harlacher, 13. Ande Bivens, 14. #72, 15. Bubba Siwinski, 16. Nick Clubb, 17. Dan Leonard
