9/19/2024
Beaver Dam Raceway
Champions Crowned at Beaver Dam
Beaver Dam, WI (September 19th, 2024) - Five drivers wrote their names in the history books as track champions at the famed Beaver Dam Raceway this previous Tuesday, the 17th. The final night of weekly racing for the season produced fireworks and excitement up to the final checkered flag in what is the final season of weekly racing for the foreseeable future.
111 cars filled the pits with 20 EK Machines Unified Street Stocks, 29 Legends.Direct Legends, 23 Rich’s Truck & Auto Repair IMCA Sport Modifieds, 17 N&S Towing IMCA Stock Cars, and 22 Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds.
Mark Hoeppner and Ryan Sullivan picked up the EK Machines Unified Street Stock heat races. John Sidesky and Sullivan started on the front row of the feature. It was James Fletcher that got the best jump and led the field for the race. Sullivan was able to hang around the front of the field before coming under pressure from some of the best in the division. Jon Schultz and Kenny Richards battled with Sullivan for a number of laps and were able to work past him. The two battled for the remaining laps. A late race restart and a good restart from James Fletcher set him up for the win with Schultz and Richards following him on the podium. Hard charger honors went to TJ Reichenberger, up eight spots in the end. At the end of the race, second was enough for Jon Schultz to pick up the track championship for the season, a mere one point ahead of Fletcher in second and seven points ahead of Dale Kreuziger in third.
The Legends.Direct Legend heats went to Jordan Miklas, Cal Swenson, Jackson Lewis, and Hayden Schmuhl followed by Griffin McGrath winning the B-main. Lilly Fassbender and Swenson started at the front of the feature. All eyes were trained on Lewis, who agreed to a bounty and started at the back of the A-main, with over $500 on the line just from donations for whoever wins. Swenson led the race early while a ton of racing behind ensued. Lewis was up to fifth by lap eight, fighting his way through the field and charging down the race leader. Schmuhl and Hunter Cardinal fought for the second-place spot while Lewis closed in on both of them, with Cardinal getting a piece of a tractor tire and sending himself for a ride. Lewis made the move for the lead on the restart halfway through the race and had the charge complete, last to first. Adam Zellmer used the restart to advance as well, making it to second and began to chase down Lewis. He would not have enough even with a late yellow and Jackson Lewis picked up win nine at the track, with Zellmer and Miklas rounding out the podium. Lewis was, unsurprisingly, the hard charger, up all the spots in the feature. To add to his good night, Jackson also earned the track championship, with Ryan Sullivan in second and Zellmer taking third.
An exciting N&S Towing IMCA Stock Car season ended with Roger Frank and Alex Crapser winning their heat races and Nick Kufalk and Rick Malberg leading the feature to green. A four-car pileup started the feature off. Racing got back underway with Malberg and Kufalk side-by-side for the lead. Matt Rechek was the first challenger for the lead. Brandon Schmitt followed Rechek and Cole Czarneski to the front, with Rechek leading for a handful of laps before Schmitt took over before the yellow flew again. A late race run for Kenny Richards promoted him to third, with Brandon Schmitt taking the win in the end with Rechek in second. Schmitt took the hard charger honors at the end of the race after a ten-spot gain. At the end of the season, a tie was found at the front of the points. Jeremy Christians and Brandon Schmitt both sat on 343 points. The tiebreaker went to whichever driver got the most feature wins, which meant Christians took home the championship and Schmitt had to settle for second. Third went to Dustin Ward after a strong but quiet season.
Rich’s Truck & Auto Repair IMCA Sport Modifieds saw Mitchell Fairbank, Dakota Johnson, and Mike Mueller win the heats, with Fairbank and Mueller taking the first two spots on the grid. An even start upfront saw a two-car battle for the lead early on. Mueller powered by on the highline and took over the lead on the third lap. Nick Schultz was moving through the field and got to the back of Mueller with lapped traffic in play. Mueller was strong on the middle lane, being able to keep momentum up just enough to stay in front and in the lead. Elijah Koenig was on the gas closing in on the top two, but it was too little too late as Mike Mueller took home the win while Schultz and Koenig second and third. Colton See drove up ten spots to be the hard charger at the end of the race. Elijah Koenig finished on top of the points standings, comfortably in front of second place Colton See and third place Nick Schultz.
The final division, the Shepy’s Auto Body IMCA Modifieds saw Ben Godlewski, Skyler Woods, and Tim Robbins win the heat races with Jeff Schepp and Godlewski on the front row of the feature. Cole Czarneski jumped to the lead immediately. Woods moved into second while Brandon Schmitt was charging from eleventh. An elbows out racetrack made for racing showcased itself in the feature with action all over the track. Schmitt made it to the rear of Czarneski, bringing Woods and Geoff Jeche with him and making it a four-car battle for the win. In the end, Cole Czarneski was able to fend off the charges and pick up the win while Schmitt and Woods finished the rest of the podium. A nine-position change for Schmitt made him the hard charger in the feature. Brandon Schmitt was able to pick up his second track championship in a row with Jeff Schmuhl and Skyler Woods second and third at the end of the season.
Beaver Dam Raceway will be back in action for more racing this coming Friday the 20th and Saturday the 21st for the Sport Mod Twin 25’s. The Grand Nationals will be back on Friday night with the Midwest Legends Dirt Series joining the card in Saturday for their season finale. All the action will be live on DirtVision if you can’t make it. Pits will open at 3:30pm with grandstands opening at 4:00pm. Racing will kick off at 6:00pm.
For more information about future events visit Beaver Dam Raceway’s website at wismotorsports.net.
Article Credit: Zack Krueger
Submitted By: Zack Krueger