Chris Wimmer tops Miller Lite Inviatational!
By Amy Kolo

September 11, 1998; Plover, WI: - Thousands gathered for the 4th Annual Miller Lite Night with the 2nd Annual CWRA Race of Champions, plus our annual corvette giveaway night. The lucky winner of this years corvette was Carol Trzebny. Carol burst into tears of joy as she found out that she was the lucky winner of the 1985 Golden Sands/Miller Lite/ Channel 9/WDEZ corvette. Track owner Darrel Bassuener took Carol on a fast ride around the track in her new corvette.

The fans turn to win big in the annual "Corvette Giveaway" at Golden Sands!
	Fans turned out for some great racing action, and each one wanted a chance to win the 1985 Corvette pace car.  Things started off with the drawing of 10 names to be the finalists for the giveaway.
Carol Trzebny (center) had the lucky sign and won the car, gathered with her are track reps, Craig, Darrel and Shela Bassuener along with Dick Sedal from Miller and reps Forman WDEZ who all sponsored the giveaway.

A 79 lap late model feature was the main event for the evening, in memory of Brian Lambie. The late model feature started with a spin right on the first lap. Bobby T the pole sitter, spun coming out of turn two. Drivers were all pretty excited with $2,000.00 to win up for grabs. As the cars were realigned, Mike Budleski took the lead with Jeremy Lepak right behind him. Brian Back was holding up the third position. The top three position stayed the same until lap 15.

Lepak made his move and maneuvered around Budleski for the first position. Back started experiencing engine problems and had to take it to the pits. This gave way for Rory Melbinger to start moving up to the front. Wimmer started making his way up to the front. By lap 40 he took the second position away from Budleski and started working on Lepak. As the top three positions stayed the same.

Scott Wimmer had been on a roll late in the season at Golden Sands Speedway. Wimmer's victory in the 2nd Annual CWRA Race of Champions was his fourth victory of the season at the Speedway, this one netted him $2,000 for the victory!! Wimmer also was the last driver this season to set a new track record.  Not bad for a rookie season.

Jeff Weinfurter was on a mad dash up to the front. By lap 31 Weinfurter made his way around Melbinger and started working on Budleski. By lap 34 Wimmer took the top position away from Lepak and Weinfurter took the third position away from Budleski. A spin occurred on lap 37 sending Jesse Haase off the track on turn 3.

Instead of pulling Haase back on to the track over the sand hills, the tow truck pushed Haase further over the track, to let him drive through the parking lot around the back of the track, back to the pit area, and then back onto the track. Haase made this priceless comment about the incident: "As I drove through the parking lot, it was pretty dark and hard to see. I saw an older gentlemen walking to his car and shouted at him, Hey! how do I get back to the pits!. You should of seen the look on his face to see me out in the parking lot in my late model!" To bad no one had a camera for that one!

Jeff Weinfurter did his best to wrestle the lead away from Scott Wimmer but at the end of 79 laps (the distance of the race reflects the car number of the late Brian Lambie as an honor to him),  Weinfurter would finish second. Weinfurter however is currently leading the overall CWRA Late Model standings, the series which competes at 3 area tracks.

As the cars were realigned, Wimmer had the lead still with Weinfurter in second. Weinfurter beat on Wimmer hard, but Wimmer held his position. Quite a few times it looked like Weinfurter was going to get around Wimmer. On lap 67 lapped traffic came into play, and Keith Witt made his way around Lepak for the third position.

In one of his strongest runs of the season, former Sportsman champion Keith Witt managed a strong third place finish in the 79 lap Race of Champions.

A yellow came out on lap 74 with only five laps to go. As the cars got ready for the start, the crowd sat at the edge of their seats. Who would gain the lead at the restart? Wimmer pulled ahead of Weinfurter for the lead. They battled hard for the next 5 laps. Wimmer took the checkered with Weinfurter in second and Witt in third.

The super stock main event was just as exciting as the late model main. Tim Plowman started out in the lead with Randy Storlie hot on his heals. Dave Pagels made his way around Storlie right away. But Storlie stayed on the back quarter panel of Pagels hanging on to the third position. By lap 11 Storlie took the second position away form Pagels.

By the very next lap, Storlie got loose coming out of the turn taking him four positions down. As all of this was happening fast runner Jason Kirsling was quickly making his way to the front. By lap 14 Kirsling had already taken the second position away from Pagels. Storlie, who has been very fast this year, had already gained back his positions and was back in the third spot. Another fast runner Gary Wosick was coming from the back of the pack, hoping to get into the top positions.

Former track Super Stock champion, Gary Wosick had a fine evening to end his season at the raceway.  Wosick set fast time in the Super Stock class and charged through the field to record a win in the 40 lap feature race.

By lap 23 Storlie edged out Plowman for the second spot. Plowman started to loose positions, and slipped to the middle of the pack. Wosick had made his way up to the third spot. Wosick snuck around Storlie for the second position on lap 26. By lap 29 Wosick made his way around Kirsling for the top position. Wosick held on.

On lap 35 Storlie made his way around Kirsling for second spot. By lap 38 lapped traffic started to come into play. As the white flag flew a caution came out ending the race. Which was probably a very good thing. As the caution came out for a spin towards the back of the pack, Wosick ended up loosing his transmission and Merle Weinfurter’s and Jason Szymkowiak’s engines blew. What a mess on the track! Wosick took the checkered with Storlie in second and Kirsling in third.

NOTE:  Only drivers which were not already placed in the Inviatational made qualifying attempts for this event.  Those drivers had to comnpete in the semi where the winner would advance.
First Heat: 1.) Jack Greenwood; 2.) Scheinoha; 3.) Steve Gress
Second Heat: 1.) Donald Trapp; 2.) Brahmstedt; 3.) LaPointe
Third 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Turzinski; 2.) Doug Drost; 3.) Mike Budleski
Fourth 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Weinfurter; 2.) Joe Krzykowski; 3.) Sam Brundidge
Fifth 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Mark Mackesy; 2.) Gary Back; 3.) Woller