PEVELY, MO (April 14, 2001) Kevin Gundaker of St. Charles, MO continued his strong performance at I-55 Raceway by winning his second straight UMP Late Model feature. A strong field of competitors including NASCAR Winston Cup driver Kenny Schrader were on hand and made it difficult for Gundaker to claim the back-to-back victories. Gundaker started on the front role pole of the feature by virtue of winning his heat race and the dash. Gundaker used his front row starting position to jump out front at the start and had to hold off a hard charging Ed Dixon early on. Tim Ratajczyk moved up to battle Dixon for second allowing Gundaker to stretch out his lead. Meanwhile, Kenny Schrader and Mark Oller battled for fourth position for the entire feature. Ratajczyk held on for second, Dixon was third and Schrader beat Oller to line for fourth. Oller, Gundaker and Schrader won the heats and Gundaker also won the dash.
Kenny Schrader, who is co-promoter of I-55 Raceway, is scheduled to compete four times this season at his track. His next trip back to I-55 Raceway will be on May 12th.
A strong group of 37 UMP Modifieds entered the gates and put on a great display of side-by-side racing. The feature saw three lead changes in the final six laps with Jeff LeBaube picking up the win. Reigning track champion Scott Weber was able to jump out to the early lead and lead until lap fourteen, thatÂ’s when he jumped the cushion in turn four and scraped the outside wall. That allowed Jim Shereck to get by for the lead. Weber jumped the cushion again in turn two and this time it caused him to lose a lot of positions. A caution flag came out a lap later allowing the field to bunch back up. On the restart, Jeff LeBaube used the low side to take the lead past Shereck. Rusty Griffaw, who started fourteenth followed LeBaube underneath Shereck and finished second. Shereck came home third, with Dean Hoffman fourth and Shawn Rayfield fifth. LeBaube, Ray Walsh, Shawn Rayfield and Brian Collins won the heat races and Collins also won the dash.
Troy Naeger picked up his first victory of 2001 in the AARA Sportsman division. Naeger battled with Doug Wood and Paul Belken for much of the race. Belken got caught up in a spin with lapped traffic late in the race and was forced to restart at the rear of the pack. Naeger held off Wood and Scott Stuppy for the final three laps and picked up the victory. Mike McGowan was fourth and Mark Blanke fifth. Belken, Wood and Stuppy won the heats and Belken also won the dash.
For more information on upcoming events at I-55 Raceway, call (636) 479-3219 or visit www.i55raceway.com!
UMP LATE MODELS
HEAT 1:
1. 67 Mark Oller
2. 33 Jason Frankel
3. 112 Tim Ratajczyk
4. 44 Dean Motsinger
HEAT 2:
1. 11 Kevin Gundaker
2. 50 Ed Dixon
3. 47 Danny Haynes
4. 16A Eric Kwasigroh
HEAT 3:
1. 99 Kenny Schrader
2. 16 Mike Hammerle
3. 2J Dave Jumper
4. 10 Rodney Pense
DASH:
1. 11 Kevin Gundaker
2. 67 Mark Oller
3. 50 Ed Dixon
4. 112 Tim Ratajczyk
5. 99 Kenny Schrader
6. 16 Mike Hammerle
7. 33 Jason Frankel
8. 2J Dave Jumper
9. 47 Danny Haynes
FEATURE:
1. 11 Kevin Gundaker
2. 112 Tim Ratajczyk
3. 50 Ed Dixon
4. 99 Kenny Schrader
5. 67 Mark Oller
6. 33 Jason Frankel
7. 16 Mike Hammerle
8. 47 Danny Haynes
9. 2J Dave Jumper
10. 87 Ken Rumble
11. 7 Rick Bayer
12. 16A Eric Kwasigroh
13. 44 Dean Motsinger
14. 9B Chuck Baird
15. 51 Steve Shive
16. 20 Mark Gansmann
17. 28 Don Klein
18. 10 Rodney Pense
19. 71 John Bohn
20. 11A Mike Abney
21. 69 John Scott
UMP MODIFIEDS
HEAT 1:
1. 29 Jeff LeBaube
2. 59 Rich Whaley
3. 14 Leroy Haney
4. 444 Matt Simpson
HEAT 2:
1. 1W Ray Walsh
2. 17 Jim Shereck
3. 12 Tom Ratajczyk
4. 95 Jerry Grither
HEAT 3:
1. 18R Shawn Rayfield
2. 4J Scott Weber
3. 99 Brian Wolfmeier
4. 16 Rusty Griffaw
HEAT 4:
1. 11Z Brian Collins
2. 16J Darrell Hoffman
3. 1D Dean Hoffman
4. 3S Dan Schlup
DASH:
1. 11Z Brian Collins
2. 4J Scott Weber
3. 29 Jeff LeBaube
4. 17 Jim Shereck
SEMI #1:
1. 6 Ray Wagner
2. 56 Kevin Epperson
3. X1 Dave Sandage
4. 81 Mike Barbeau
5. JJ1 Steve Mills
6. 2 Dave Miller
7. 9 Brian Voilas
8. 8 Greg Mackling
SEMI #2:
1. 11 Kyle Steffens
2. 4M Brent Mullins
3. 1W Ray Walsh
4. 62 Troy Medley
5. 45 Mike Seymour
6. C4 Chris Soutiea
7. 19C Vic Catalano
8. 35 Cody Hupp
FEATURE:
1. 29 Jeff LeBaube
2. 16 Rusty Griffaw
3. 17 Jim Shereck
4. 1D Dean Hoffman
5. 18R Shawn Rayfield
6. 12 Tom Ratajczyk
7. 11Z Brian Collins
8. 99 Brian Wolfmeier
9. 11S Kyle Steffens
10. 4M Brent Mullins
11. 4J Scott Weber
12. 59 Rich Whaley
13. 21 Dennis Richards
14. 41 Steve Maisel
15. 377 Casey Pearson
16. 6 Ray Wagner
17. 14 Leroy Haney
18. 29C John Campbell
19. 56 Kevin Epperson
20. 95 Jerry Grither
21. 1W Ray Walsh
22. 444 Matt Simpson
23. 16J Darrell Hoffman
24. 3S Dan Schlup
Other Cars Present:
8 Kirk Murphy
AARA SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1:
1. 46 Paul Belken
2. 12 Troy Naeger
3. 166 Brian Worley
4. 2% Tim Streisel
HEAT 2:
1. 9 Doug Wood
2. 36 Bob Schmidt
3. 92 Jim Abshier
4. 500 Dan Dixon
HEAT 3:
1. 00 Scott Stuppy
2. 50 Mike McGowan
3. 93 Jeff Hoena
4. 18 Daryl Dodge
HEAT 4:
1. 38D Mark Blanke
2. D5 Dave Jenkins
3. 87 Gary Haynes
4. 01 Steve Borgetti
DASH:
1. 46 Paul Belken
2. 9 Doug Wood
3. 12 Troy Naeger
4. 00 Scott Stuppy
SEMI:
1. 64 Jody Smith
2. 75 Ron Ihm
3. 105 Matt Hancock
4. 48 Mike Harvey
5. 30 Rick Hackett
6. 19 Brad Grantham
7. 21 Brad McKinnon
8. D40 Ed DeMille
9. 111 Zac Parks
10. 26 Rob Inman
11. 44 Nick Werner
FEATURE:
1. 12 Troy Naeger
2. 9 Doug Wood
3. 00 Scott Stuppy
4. 50 Mike McGowan
5. 38D Mark Blanke
6. 500 Dan Dixon
7. 87 Gary Haynes
8. 92 Jim Abshier
9. 18 Daryl Dodge
10. D5 Dave Jenkins
11. 46 Paul Belken
12. 166 Brian Worley
13. 36 Bob Schmidt
14. 75 Ron Ihm
15. 105 Matt Hancock
16. 48 Mike Harvey
17. 8 Ed Lowry
18. 30 Rick Hackett
19. 45 Mike Seymour
20. 2% Tim Streisel
21. 93 Jeff Hoena
22. 20 Gary McKinnon
DQ. 64 Jody Smith
DQ. 01 Steve Borgetti
Other Cars Present:
10 Todd McGraw
28 Jason Worley
24 Paul Bauman
34 Ray Wohlschlaeger