6/28/2023
Beaver Dam Raceway
Driver Appreciation Night Sees New Winners All Around the Track
Beaver Dam, WI (6/27/2023) - Amid a smoky backdrop, driver appreciation night and the five divisions of fun returned for the final time before independence day to Beaver Dam Raceway. Four new feature winners made for an exciting night as the competitive field continues to heat up.
97 cars checked into the pits as 16 EK Machine Unified Street Stocks, 19 Legends.Direct Legends, 24 Beaver Dam Tire and Service IMCA SportMods, 13 N&S Towing IMCA Stock Cars, and 25 Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds.
Heat races saw 13 winners as Chris Prust and Russ Davison won with the EK Machine Unified Street Stocks; Eric Blumer, Ryan Sullivan, and Adam Zellmer for the Legends.Direct Legends; Jimmy Berkevich, Jim Zdroik, and Jaeden Voigt for the Beaver Dam Tire and Service IMCA SportMods; Aaron Stolp and Kenny Richards for the N&S Towing IMCA Stock Cars; and finally, Kelsy Hayes, Dab Roedl, and Don Scheffler in the Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds.
T.J. Reichenberger and Russ Davison started from the front row in the EK Machine Unified Street Stock feature. The green flag would fly but it would be short lived as the start was deemed not good. On the second try, the 25P would get the better start as Davison took the lead. Reichenberger was shuffled back as the yellow came out for a three car incident in turn four. The field restarted as Davison led with Dustin Ward behind him. The 55K of Jesse Krahn started to catch the top two before another three car incident caused another yellow. Davison got the best start on the restart as a multi-car battle for second place started. Ward, Krahn, and Jon Schultz fought for second before contact between Krahn and Ward saw Ward having to take evasive action into the infield. The final yellow of the night came out as Jacob Rens had a tire go out. The restart would come and go as Davison had to fight off a hungry Krahn, which he did. Russ Davison picked up his first win of the season with Krahn and Schultz second and third.
The Legends.Direct Legend feature was next, and it was Brady Ascherien and Bill Prietzel, in Tim Franz’s 51F, on the front row. On a somber night for Brady, after losing his Aunt last week, he rocketed to the lead on the start. Mike Mueller and Adam Zellmer worked their way up to the back bumper of the 7A. The 43 of Ryan Sullivan, 1K of Kim Clover, and 45 of Hunter Cardinal made their way to the front making it a six car battle for the win. The first yellow of the race came out for 21 of Payton Jones, who came to a stop in turn four. It was Grandpa and Grandson first and second on the restart with Mueller and Sullivan. The green flag came out and Zellmer was able to work around Sullivan for second for a short period but Ryan came right back at him. The battle for the top three spots heated up with two laps to go as Zellmer was able to look inside of Mueller, forcing the 95M off line allowing himself and Sullivan past. Zellmer had the win in his sights before a yellow changed his plans. With a green-white-checkered on tap, the field restarted before chaos ensued with Mueller facing the field backwards in turn one. On the final restart, Zellmer was able to defend the top spot and pick up his first feature win of 2023 at Beaver Dam Raceway. Ryan Sullivan came second and Eric Blumer third.
The third feature of the night saw Jim Zdroik and Chris Blawat on the front row for the Beaver Dam Tire and Service IMCA SportMods. It was the third place starter Kolton Roehl who took the early jump and led. The first yellow came out as four cars at the back of the field made turn three a parking lot. Before the yellow flew, Mike Mueller made his way past Roehl for the lead, meaning on the restart it was Mueller the leader. Two more yellows for the same reason halted the field before another lap could be completed. The field was able to get another lap in before another yellow flew. A single file restart finally allowed for racing to resume as Mueller brought the field back racing. The 03W of Timothy Warner was up to second and chasing down the leader before another yellow came out for a spoiled racecar sandwich. The green came back out with Mueller still in the lead but Warner and a fast Ryan Kuehn right behind him. Tim Sheppard made it a four car battle for the win. Warner made the move at the halfway point for the lead and let the field behind him battle as he drove off into the night. Warner brought home his first feature win of the season as Sheppard and Keuhn followed him on the podium.
N&S Towing IMCA Stock Car was next with Roger Frank and Karly Stadler on the front row. Frank got the jump on the field before a yellow slowed his roll. Frank led the field back to green before another yellow a few laps later for a three car pile up in turn three. Frank had Tim Paitrick and Kenny Richards to deal with as the racing got back underway. The three time feature winner Kenny Richards was able to find his way under Frank and into the lead five laps in as he took the lead. Lap eight called for another yellow as the 21 of Devin Snellenberger biked his bad boy up on a tractor tire, managed to keep it from rolling, and managed to avoid any big dent on his car. The battle for second was the best on track as Roger Frank, Charlie Sancinati, and Aaron Stolp all went at it before Brandon Paitrick found himself stranded in turn four drawing a caution. Richards picked up his fourth feature win of the season as Sancinati and Stolp wrapped up the top three.
Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds feature saw Mike Wedelstadt and Ben Godlewski start on the front row. The green flag came out and Wedelstadt got the jump as Godlewski fell into the grips of Don Scheffler. The first yellow of the feature came out for the E85 of Justin Pearson who got it spun around in turn two. Wedelstadt got the jump on the restart as the field fanned out behind him. Noah Schepp moved into the third place spot and then made his way past Scheffler for second as he started to chase down the race leader. Battles throughout the field allowed Wedelstadt to grow a gap as big as two seconds to the field before the yellow came back out. Wedelstadt had pressure from Brandon Schmitt and Dan Roedl on the restart and had to defend for the remaining laps, but a yellow flag coming to the checkered flag caused a green-white-checkered. Wedelstadt was able to hold out from the pressure and pick up his first feature win of the season and his 114th career IMCA feature win which moved him up to 51st overall in the all time national IMCA Modified win list. Roedl and Schmitt rounded out the podium on the night.
Beaver Dam Raceway will be back in action Tuesday, July 11th with a regular, 5 class show, as the Beaver Dam Tire and Service IMCA SportMods will race for $1,000. All information can be found on wismotorsports.net and the Beaver Dam Raceway Facebook page.
Article Credit: Zack Krueger
Submitted By: Zack Krueger