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Sands Championship Titles to Richards,
Coon, Zakrezwski and Kralovetz! Duchow Collects First Sands Super
Late Checkered!
By Jeffrey Sachse |
September 4, 2006;
Plover, WI -
While showers threatened to shorten the Golden Sands Speedway season,
track officials were able to get the raceway back in shape in spite of a
late afternoon downpour. With an adjusted format using lineups
based of the season point standings, the stage was set to conclude the
final weekly point program of the season Labor Day evening. In the
Super Late Model division, Jim Duchow would pace the 50 lap headline
from green to checkered to score his first career victory at the Golden
Sands Speedway. Duchow would have to fend off the efforts of Frank
Nitzke throughout the contest, but when the checkered flag fell it was
Duchow in victory lane after several runner-up finishes this season,
taking a well deserved victory. In the season long point chase
Kenny Richards, would collect his first career championship at Golden
Sands Speedway. This season marked the first year Richards ran
full time here on the high banked third mile oval. Formerly he was
a competitor at Dells Motor Speedway, where he also won the 2006 point
title during an abbreviated season this year, giving him a pair of
championships in Super Late Model competition this year.
In Super Stock action it
would be Mike Brooks earning his fifth
feature win of the 2006 season after
fending off the challenges of Tim
Plowman to reach victory lane. The
point battle in the Super Stocks was the
closest of any division heading into the
evening's program as Wes Coon and Brian
Back had been locked in a season long
point battle. Coon, took over the
point lead late in the season, but only
had a narrow lead heading into this
evening's program. Though Back
would finish ahead of Coon in both the
heat race and feature contest this
evening it was Coon able to hold onto
the slim 11 point advantage when the
final checkered fell giving Coon his
first career championship at the Golden
Sands Speedway. In the Pure Stock
division, Michael Gwidt stole the lead
from Erik Kawlewski in the final turn to
take the feature win. Gwidt was
able to take a solid slice out of the
point lead of Dean Zakrzewski on this
final night but Zakrzewski drove a
conservative race to finish seventh in
the main event, which was enough to give
him the 2006 title by 22 points.
The final division competing this
evening was the 4 Cylinder class.
Dallas Kralovetz had already locked up
the 2006 title and did not appear
tonight so the attention shifted to the
feature race itself. When the race
leaders Colin Reffner and Kevin Teske
tangled on the final lap, it would be
Jousha Opper taking the advantage and
securing the victory this evening.
The 2-Man Cruiser title will be decided
during the Eve of Devastation on Friday
Night September 15th.
In the 50 lap Super Late
Model headliner polesitter Jim Duchow
would get the jump on fellow front row
starter Tim Hintz to grab the opening
lead. Nitzke who started outside
the second row would use the high line
to power past Pat Williams for third
with two laps on the books.
Nitzke, sticking to his preferred high
groove would use the momentum off the
corners to move past Hintz for the
runner-up spot by lap five. Hintz
would hug the low line and remain within
striking distance of Nitzke as both
drivers sought to catch Duchow.
The first caution of the event occurred
on lap 11 when Ted Reichenberger spun
his machine in turn two bunching the
field.
On the restart Duchow
went back to the lead while Nitzke and
Hintz resumed their battle for second.
The battle for second allowed Duchow to
stretch his lead to eight car lengths by
the halfway point of the contest.
Nitzke was shown as second on the leader
board ahead of Hintz, Jason Weinkauf and
Richards in the top five.
With 20 laps to go Hintz
and Weinkauf made contact slowing both
momentarily and allowing Richards to
scoot past and into the third position.
As the laps wound down Nitzke slowly
began to close on Duchow closing to
within three car lengths when the final
caution of the contest occurred when
Reichenberger spun again, this time
coming off turn four.
The placed Nitzke on
Duchow's rear bumper for the restart.
When the green flag fell, Duchow was
back to leading the way as Richards
began to challenge Nitzke for the second
position. That battle allowed
Duchow some breathing room, and it was
enough to allow him to reach the finish
line without a serious challenge from
Nitzke for his first feature win on the
third-mile oval. Nitzke would
settle for second ahead of Richards,
Hintz and Blake Horstman.
The Pure Stock main
event would see the attention focused on
two different battles. The battle for
the lead of the race and the battle for
the championship. The lead of the
event was settled early as Mike Brooks
would take off at the drop of the green
flag. He would never surrender the
position enroute to his fifth win of the
season. The point battle however
proved interesting. Wes Coon lead
the standings heading into the event,
but could not afford to have an
off-night, Brian Back meanwhile needed
to score as many points possible in
effort to steal the title. In the
feature contest Back began to slice his
way through the pack heading toward the
front while Coon seemed content to hold
his position in the pack.
By the time the first
caution flew on lap seven, both racers
found themselves in the top five.
Brooks was leading the way followed by
Roger Stanczyk, Tim Plowman, Coon and
Back. With the race resuming
Brooks went back to the lead, with
Plowman making a bold move past Stanczyk
for second. Back, knowing he had
to advance to have any shot at the title
would maneuver to the outside passing
both Coon and Stanczyk to reach the
third position by the time the contest
reached a dozen laps to go.
Back would patiently
wait in the third position as the
leaders Brooks and Plowman fought for
the lead position with Brooks holding
fast to the top spot. Over the
final laps it became apparent that Back
would not advance further unless there
was a miscue between the leaders.
In spite of hard racing both front
runners drove a clean race and Brooks
took the win by lass than a car length.
Plowman would settle for second followed
by Back, Coon and Dave Neitzke.
The Pure Stock contest
saw but a single slowdown and Eric
Kawlewski set the pace for much of the
contest. In the closing laps
Michael Gwidt broke into the second
position and closed rapidly.
Kawlewski and Gwidt would battle side by
side for the final two trips around the
raceway with Kawlewski hugging the low
line. Coming off the final turn it
appeared Kawlewski would have the
momentum to reach the finish line first
but his machine began to slide sideways,
allowing Gwidt to nose ahead and take
the win by a fender at the line.
Kawlewski would have to settle for
runner-up honors. Andrew Hintz
would come home in the third spot
followed by Troy Engman and Ron
Grabarski.
The 4 cylinder contest
would come down to a shoot-out between
young Colin Reffner and veteran Kevin
Teske. Reffner would pace much of
the contest being shadowed by Teske in
the closing laps. With three laps
to go Teske shot to the front taking
over the top spot. Heading for the
white flag Reffner attempted to retake
the lead heading into turn three but the
pair made contact, both drivers came off
turn four sideways eventually spinning
into the infield and taking with them
the third place car of Jousha Opper who
was attempting to avoid the melee.
With the white flag already shown the
race was considered complete and Opper
was awarded the win. Philip Malouf
would finish second followed by Jeff
Cormack, Mike Oehmichen and Pete Carlson
in the top five.
Though the weekly racing
program has concluded for 2006, one very
special event remains on the schedule
this season. A Night filled with
metal mangling mayhem will take place on
the high-banked third mile oval on
Friday Night September 15th. Many
various forms of novelty racing will
take place and the point battles will be
decided for the 2-Man Cruisers.
Golden Sands Speedway is located between
Wisconsin Rapids and Plover, Wisconsin
on Highway 54. For additional
information please call (715) 423-4660
or consult the track website at
www.goldensandsspeedway.com
For complete RACESTAT Race Results Click
Here
Super Late Models
50 Lap Feature: 1.) Jim Duchow; 2.)
Frank Nitzke; 3.) Kenny Richards; 4.)
Tim Hintz; 5.) Blake Horstman; 6.) Pat
Williams; 7.) Jason Weinkauf; 8.) Chris
Weinkauf; 9.) Burton Brown; 10.) Mark
Eswein
25 Lap Semi-Feature: 1.) Todd Stapleman;
2.) Steve Gress; 3.) Ted Reichenberger;
4.) Eugene Gregorich Jr.; 5.) Jim
Carlson; 6.) Rene Scheinoha
First 12 Lap Heat: 1.) Todd Stapleman;
2.) Rene Scheinoha; 3.) Jim Carlson
Second 12 Lap Heat: 1.) Burton Brown;
2.) Jim Duchow; 3.) Keith Bohmsach
Third 12 Lap Heat: 1.) Chris Weinkauf;
2.) Jason Weinkauf; 3.) Blake Horstman
Fast Qualifier: Rained Out - Lined up by
points
Super Stocks
25 Lap Feature: 1.) Mike Brooks; 2.) Tim
Plowman; 3.) Brian Back; 4.) Wes Coon;
5.) Dave Neitzke; 6.) Scott Hamel; 7.)
Brian Schmutzer; 8.) Adam Krzykowski;
9.) Matt Raykowski; 10.) Donald Zuelke
15 Lap Semi-Feature: 1.) Brian
Schmutzer; 2.) Bert Soyka; 3.) Steve
Syverson; 4.) John Totzke Jr.; 5.)
Thomas Dowe; 6.) Curtis Pfister
First 10 Lap Heat: 1.) John Totzke Jr.;
2.) Steve Syverson; 3.) John Zuch
Second 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Brian Schmutzer;
2.) Matt Raykowski; 3.) Adam Krzykowski
Third 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Scott Hamel; 2.)
Brian Back; 3.) Josh Oleson
Fast Qualifier: Rained Out - Lined up by
points
Pure Stocks
15 Lap Feature: 1.) Michael Gwidt; 2.)
Eric Kawlewski; 3.) Andrew Hintz; 4.)
Troy Engman; 5.) Ron Grabarski; 6.) Brad
Luck; 7.) Dean Zakrzewski; 8.) Becky
Grabarski
12 Lap Semi-Feature: 1.) Becky
Grabarski; 2.) Brad Luck; 3.) Cliff
Christianson; 4.) Robert Hinz; 5.)
Kendall Johnson
First 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Becky Grabarski;
2.) Brad Luck; 3.) Dennis Stilson
Second 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Gary Haarklau;
2.) Justin Ligenza; 3.) Mark Kaeliher
Third 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Ron Grabarski;
2.) Troy Engman; 3.) Andrew Hintz;
Fast Qualifier: Rained Out - Lined up by
points
4 Cylinders
15 Lap Feature: 1.) Jousha Opper; 2.)
Philip Malouf; 3.) Jeff Cormack; 4.) Mike Oehmichen;
5.) Pete Carlson; 6.) Tim Gorecki; 7.)
Dale Robinson; 8.) Jenny Nitzsche
First 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Dale Robinson;
2.) Philip Malouf; 3.) Jenny Nitzsche
Second 10 Lap Heat: 1.) Kevin Teske; 2.)
Jeff Cormack; 3.) Brandon Polansky
Fast Qualifier: Rained Out - Lined up by
points
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