By: Betty Glynn
LaSalle, IL - Jay Fiene is no stranger to the 1/4 mile clay oval at LaSalle Speedway but victory lane has not been as familiar. Running "up front" in the Late Model division at LaSalle is not easy even for those who carry the skills and experience to do it.
Fiene has succeeded at earning the skills and experience, even the respect of fellow competitors, but was still missing the thrill of victory.
"I’ve raced with Jay a long time and nobody deserves a win more than him," fellow racer Mike Glynn expressed.
Saturday night it was earned in style, Fiene of West Chicago, finally did it. He tamed the highbanks in his ninth year of racing Late Models. Quite an accomplishment considering he has finished runner up over and over, made the "big shows" and always raced competitively no matter what the event but never had he been able to take home the trophy as proof of his accomplishments.
"I’ve been racing nine years in Late Models but never won," an excited Fiene said while smiling from ear to ear. With a contagious laugh and an extra bounce in his step he was ready to celebrate his win. "I am going to party all week," Fiene divulged.
Indeed the driver of the flashy #72 had much to celebrate with not only his feature victory but also setting fast time with a lap of 12.975, the only qualifying lap under a thirteen.
Two Dash finishers were forced to give up their top feature starting spots after mechanical trouble ended their nights early. In turn Fiene was positioned on the pole next to current track champ Frank Reaber, of Bensenville. At their back bumpers was Ryan Dauber of Tonica and last weeks winner Tim Hamburg of Dixon.
Reaber was quick out of the shoot and took the point but Fiene found a lower line and placed himself just behind the leader as Dauber, Hamburg, Darin Furar and Skip Martin gave chase.
For the first five laps, Reaber was in control of the sixteen contenders but Fiene’s lower groove came in as he stole the lead on the backstretch. Up front, Dauber and Hamburg were battling back and forth for third. During the eleventh lap, a yellow set the field back to a single file restart with Fiene at the front over Reaber, Dauber, Hamburg, Furar, Martin and Glynn.
Over the next several laps each one hosted a caution flag stopping the momentum. On Lap 19, Reaber and Hamburg were in a full throttle war for second place with Hamburg in a lower run while Dauber watched from fourth. Two laps later their battle ended after Reaber and Hamburg made contact and Reaber’s second place run was wiped out as he slammed hard into the concrete barrier wall on the front stretch.
For the final four laps, Hamburg trailed in second with Dauber, Furar, Martin and Oglesby’s Bill Weistart Jr. in tow. Only nine cars remained at the finish.
Finishing behind Fiene was Hamburg, Dauber, Furar, Martin, Weistart, Rich Bell, Scott Johnson and Matt Slager.
Tom Newquist won the Dash earning himself the pole but later broke before taking his feature place. Reaber, Fiene, and Hamburg followed. Tim Brach held off a hard charging Weistart to claim the first Heat with Jaggers finishing third. Dauber earned the fast Heat win over Hamburg, Furar and Reaber.
Travis Rokey of Dover started the Midwestern Late Model feature on the front row outside of Brian Claudnic and he quickly shot into the lead of the eighteen car field.
Shortly after the green flag dropped, a six car pile up between turns three and four halted the action and a complete restart was introduced. Once the race was back underway, Rokey powered into a nice lead over Cody Sommer, John Piccatto and Claudnic.
While Rokey was heading up the competition, Tonica’s Eric Dauber was rallying to the front from a tenth place grid start. Early in the night Dauber posted the fastest qualifying lap but was inverted to tenth after a roll of the dice determined his starting position.
On Lap 7, Dauber moved around Sommer and into second but a caution sent him back to third for the single file restart. On the next lap, Rokey went high on the track and Dauber started to reel him in. Dauber gracefully took over the lead on the back stretch of Lap 9.
Dauber ran away for the remainder of the race leaving Shane Hill, who started seventh, to fight for second.
At the checkers, Dauber picked up his second feature win in a row. Hill took home second in front of Rokey, Sommer, Dan Thryselius, Keith Piano, Mick Miller, Mike Lock, Brian Claudnic and Doug Newlin.
Piano and Rokey each won the division Heat races.
Tonica’s Scott Cimei took home top honors for the Midwestern Sportsman feature event. He started eighth on the twelve car line up and quickly moved to the front.
By the fourth lap out, only ten cars were still competing with Bobby Morgan in the lead. At the start of Lap 10, Cimei took over and held on til the finish. Morgan took second ahead of Peterson, Aaron Schmitt, Scott Hauge, Scott Schmitt, Nathan Balensiefen and Dan Goodhand.
Tom Legner won the Street Stock division with fifteen drivers on hand. Al Gray took home second with Charles Herhold, Gary Schmitt, Robert Schlappi, Tom Otrembiak, Nick Sell, Steve Lewis, Foster, and Shawn Mikolatis trailing.
Next Saturday night the Midwestern Sportsman Special and a full program is on the schedule.
LaSalle Speedway Results
Xtreme Late Model
Qualifying: Jay Fiene 13.975
Dash: Tom Newquist, Frank Reaber, Jay Fiene, Tim Hamburg
First Heat: Tim Brach, Bill Weistart Jr., Jason Jaggers, Rich Bell
Second Heat: Ryan Dauber, Tim Hamburg,Darin Furar, Frank Reaber
Feature: Jay Fiene, Tim Hamburg, Ryan Dauber, Darin Furar, Skip Martin, Bill Weistart Jr., Rich Bell, Scott Johnson, Matt Slager, Frank Reaber, Mike Glynn, Garrett Slager, Jason Jagers, Larry LeGrand, Dan Thacker, Tim Brach
Midwestern Late Model
Qualifying: Eric Dauber 14.070
First Heat: Keith Piano, Ken Fischer, Brian Claudnic, Allen Christy
Second Heat: Travis Rokey, Doug Newlin, Cody Sommer, John Piccatto
Feature: Eric Dauber, Shane Hill, Travis Rokey, Cody Sommer, Dan Thryselius, Keith Piano, Mick Miller, Mike Lock, Brian Claudnic, Doug Newlin, John Piccatto, Allen Christy, Brian Ray, Jason Bogle, Ralph Markham, Ken Fischer, Frank King, Jerry Vance
Midwestern Sportsman
First Heat: Bobby Morgan, Duane Peterson, Aaron Schmitt, Tina Soberri
Feature: Scott Cimei, Bobby Morgan, Duane Peterson, Aaron Schmitt, Scott Hauge, Scott Schmitt, Nathen Balensiefen, Dan Goodhand, Jake Patterson, Sharon Schlappi, Tina Soberri, BJ Grabow
Street Stock
First Heat: Dan Filkowski, Charles Herhold, Steve Lewis, Matthew Scott
Second Heat: Tom Legner, Al Gray, Gary Schmitt, Robert Schlappi
Feature: Tom Legner, Al Gray, Charles Herhold, Gary Schmitt, Robert Schlappi, Tom Otrembiak, Nick Sell, Steve Lewis, Foster, Shawn Mikolatis, Mike Stewart, Matthew Scott, Dan Filkowski, Mike Hughes, Jay Mesarchik
LaSalle, IL - Jay Fiene is no stranger to the 1/4 mile clay oval at LaSalle Speedway but victory lane has not been as familiar. Running "up front" in the Late Model division at LaSalle is not easy even for those who carry the skills and experience to do it.
Fiene has succeeded at earning the skills and experience, even the respect of fellow competitors, but was still missing the thrill of victory.
"I’ve raced with Jay a long time and nobody deserves a win more than him," fellow racer Mike Glynn expressed.
Saturday night it was earned in style, Fiene of West Chicago, finally did it. He tamed the highbanks in his ninth year of racing Late Models. Quite an accomplishment considering he has finished runner up over and over, made the "big shows" and always raced competitively no matter what the event but never had he been able to take home the trophy as proof of his accomplishments.
"I’ve been racing nine years in Late Models but never won," an excited Fiene said while smiling from ear to ear. With a contagious laugh and an extra bounce in his step he was ready to celebrate his win. "I am going to party all week," Fiene divulged.
Indeed the driver of the flashy #72 had much to celebrate with not only his feature victory but also setting fast time with a lap of 12.975, the only qualifying lap under a thirteen.
Two Dash finishers were forced to give up their top feature starting spots after mechanical trouble ended their nights early. In turn Fiene was positioned on the pole next to current track champ Frank Reaber, of Bensenville. At their back bumpers was Ryan Dauber of Tonica and last weeks winner Tim Hamburg of Dixon.
Reaber was quick out of the shoot and took the point but Fiene found a lower line and placed himself just behind the leader as Dauber, Hamburg, Darin Furar and Skip Martin gave chase.
For the first five laps, Reaber was in control of the sixteen contenders but Fiene’s lower groove came in as he stole the lead on the backstretch. Up front, Dauber and Hamburg were battling back and forth for third. During the eleventh lap, a yellow set the field back to a single file restart with Fiene at the front over Reaber, Dauber, Hamburg, Furar, Martin and Glynn.
Over the next several laps each one hosted a caution flag stopping the momentum. On Lap 19, Reaber and Hamburg were in a full throttle war for second place with Hamburg in a lower run while Dauber watched from fourth. Two laps later their battle ended after Reaber and Hamburg made contact and Reaber’s second place run was wiped out as he slammed hard into the concrete barrier wall on the front stretch.
For the final four laps, Hamburg trailed in second with Dauber, Furar, Martin and Oglesby’s Bill Weistart Jr. in tow. Only nine cars remained at the finish.
Finishing behind Fiene was Hamburg, Dauber, Furar, Martin, Weistart, Rich Bell, Scott Johnson and Matt Slager.
Tom Newquist won the Dash earning himself the pole but later broke before taking his feature place. Reaber, Fiene, and Hamburg followed. Tim Brach held off a hard charging Weistart to claim the first Heat with Jaggers finishing third. Dauber earned the fast Heat win over Hamburg, Furar and Reaber.
Travis Rokey of Dover started the Midwestern Late Model feature on the front row outside of Brian Claudnic and he quickly shot into the lead of the eighteen car field.
Shortly after the green flag dropped, a six car pile up between turns three and four halted the action and a complete restart was introduced. Once the race was back underway, Rokey powered into a nice lead over Cody Sommer, John Piccatto and Claudnic.
While Rokey was heading up the competition, Tonica’s Eric Dauber was rallying to the front from a tenth place grid start. Early in the night Dauber posted the fastest qualifying lap but was inverted to tenth after a roll of the dice determined his starting position.
On Lap 7, Dauber moved around Sommer and into second but a caution sent him back to third for the single file restart. On the next lap, Rokey went high on the track and Dauber started to reel him in. Dauber gracefully took over the lead on the back stretch of Lap 9.
Dauber ran away for the remainder of the race leaving Shane Hill, who started seventh, to fight for second.
At the checkers, Dauber picked up his second feature win in a row. Hill took home second in front of Rokey, Sommer, Dan Thryselius, Keith Piano, Mick Miller, Mike Lock, Brian Claudnic and Doug Newlin.
Piano and Rokey each won the division Heat races.
Tonica’s Scott Cimei took home top honors for the Midwestern Sportsman feature event. He started eighth on the twelve car line up and quickly moved to the front.
By the fourth lap out, only ten cars were still competing with Bobby Morgan in the lead. At the start of Lap 10, Cimei took over and held on til the finish. Morgan took second ahead of Peterson, Aaron Schmitt, Scott Hauge, Scott Schmitt, Nathan Balensiefen and Dan Goodhand.
Tom Legner won the Street Stock division with fifteen drivers on hand. Al Gray took home second with Charles Herhold, Gary Schmitt, Robert Schlappi, Tom Otrembiak, Nick Sell, Steve Lewis, Foster, and Shawn Mikolatis trailing.
Next Saturday night the Midwestern Sportsman Special and a full program is on the schedule.
LaSalle Speedway Results
Xtreme Late Model
Qualifying: Jay Fiene 13.975
Dash: Tom Newquist, Frank Reaber, Jay Fiene, Tim Hamburg
First Heat: Tim Brach, Bill Weistart Jr., Jason Jaggers, Rich Bell
Second Heat: Ryan Dauber, Tim Hamburg,Darin Furar, Frank Reaber
Feature: Jay Fiene, Tim Hamburg, Ryan Dauber, Darin Furar, Skip Martin, Bill Weistart Jr., Rich Bell, Scott Johnson, Matt Slager, Frank Reaber, Mike Glynn, Garrett Slager, Jason Jagers, Larry LeGrand, Dan Thacker, Tim Brach
Midwestern Late Model
Qualifying: Eric Dauber 14.070
First Heat: Keith Piano, Ken Fischer, Brian Claudnic, Allen Christy
Second Heat: Travis Rokey, Doug Newlin, Cody Sommer, John Piccatto
Feature: Eric Dauber, Shane Hill, Travis Rokey, Cody Sommer, Dan Thryselius, Keith Piano, Mick Miller, Mike Lock, Brian Claudnic, Doug Newlin, John Piccatto, Allen Christy, Brian Ray, Jason Bogle, Ralph Markham, Ken Fischer, Frank King, Jerry Vance
Midwestern Sportsman
First Heat: Bobby Morgan, Duane Peterson, Aaron Schmitt, Tina Soberri
Feature: Scott Cimei, Bobby Morgan, Duane Peterson, Aaron Schmitt, Scott Hauge, Scott Schmitt, Nathen Balensiefen, Dan Goodhand, Jake Patterson, Sharon Schlappi, Tina Soberri, BJ Grabow
Street Stock
First Heat: Dan Filkowski, Charles Herhold, Steve Lewis, Matthew Scott
Second Heat: Tom Legner, Al Gray, Gary Schmitt, Robert Schlappi
Feature: Tom Legner, Al Gray, Charles Herhold, Gary Schmitt, Robert Schlappi, Tom Otrembiak, Nick Sell, Steve Lewis, Foster, Shawn Mikolatis, Mike Stewart, Matthew Scott, Dan Filkowski, Mike Hughes, Jay Mesarchik
