August 17, 2003; Seymour, WI - Finally. After two weeks of heavy rains, a beautiful night greeted fans and drivers back to the Seymour Tri Oval Raceway for a full program Sunday night. The track was smooth and fast, with 124 cars checking in.
In a three wide run through the tri oval on lap 16, Brandon Czarapata emerged as the leader before the final caution and then held on for the final 4 laps to win his third feature event of the season. Christians took second with Jason Czarapata in third. Kyle Fredrick was fourth, Wagner was fifth and Rod Snellenberger rounded out the top 6. The win gives Brandon Czarapata an 18 point margin entering next weeks final IMCA point night over Jason Czarapata, who led the division for much of the first half of the season. Jason could sneak out the title if Brandon would have a major problem and not make the feature next week. Will Parker took control of the Street Stock main at the start and held on until Rick Naparalla took over after a lap 2 caution. Naparalla was able to pull away from the pack as Charlie Van Ooyen, Joe Van Ooyen, Parker, Phil Hiles, Shawn Van Ooyen, David Zegers and Darren Otto sorted out behind. By lap 9, Joe Van Ooyen had taken over second and Hiles was finally out of the pack in third. The pair hooked up and started to close on the leader. By lap 15, they caught up to the leader and started to pressure for the lead, when a caution bunched the field on the leader for a 4 lap dash to the finish. Before the restart, Hiles was forced to pit with a flat tire, but was able to rejoin before the green appeared. Naparalla was now trailed by Joe Van Ooyen, Darren Otto, Shawn Van Ooyen, Jeremy Wiitala and Brian Koch. On lap 18 the lead pack was hooked up and running three wide entering the tri oval. Otto was the outside guy, but when Naparalla and Joe Van Ooyen drifted out a bit, Otto backed off and quickly shot between the pair at the finish line to take the lead with the white flag displayed. Out of the tri oval to the finish, Otto took the checker for his first feature win of the year. Van Ooyen had second until the A frame broke and caused the car to break lose in front of the field out of the Tri Oval. Fortunately, everyone missed the car with Naparalla taking the runner up finish. Shawn Van Ooyen took third with Wiitala and Koch next in line. Jamie Van Ooyen took sixth. After the spin, Joe Van Ooyen was credited with 11th place. With 2 point nights left for the Streets, point leader, Lance Arneson had troubled throughout the night and was a DNF for the feature. Hiles came back to finish 7th in the main and is now only 9 marks behind in the run for the title. Anyone of the top 4 have a shot at the title yet. The WISSOTA Late Models put 14 cars on the grid tonight with Greg Dhein leading the opening lap before Luke Roffers took over, and led the way for 3 laps before defending champion, Troy Springborn, took over and pulled away from the field. His lead was erased on lap 9 when a flat tire forced a Pete Parker spin in turn one and put Roffers, Nick Anvelink and Dhein right behind the leader. Springborn pulled away again and Anvelink took over second on lap 12. Cautions on lap 13 and 16 bunched the field again, but each time, Springborn was able to hold the lead. Anvelink stayed with him after the final caution, but could not seriously challenge for the lead. Springborn captured his first feature of the season here with Anvelinks second place finish, moving him into the point lead with 2 point nights left. Dhein was third with Roffers fourth, Mike Hintz fifth and Mark Mitchell sixth. The Mods took the track with Chad Wilcox taking the lead at the start with Joel Schmit, Joe White, Jared Siefert, Brian Mullen and Dennis Young behind. It took 4 laps for Mullen, the current point leader, to power on the outside lien to take the lead. Once in front, he pulled away from the field, was almost a ¼ lap ahead when the first caution appeared on lap 15. A couple more cautions and then a lengthy clean up for a blown engine through the tri oval before the race could resume, kept the field bunched and then a shortened event. On the final restart, Mullen was followed by brother Scott, team mate, Mike Mashl, Siefert, Wilcox and Schmit. A slight miss cue out of turn 2 on the final lap, almost gave the win the Scott, but Brian corrected quickly and drove off with his 100th career modified feature. It was his second feature win of the year and his 45 career at his home town track. Scott chased him in second with Mashl third, Siefert fourth. Danny Deau snuck into fifth place and Wilcox held on for the sixth place finish. The win gives Brian a 26 point lead entering next weeks final point night over Scott. Brian would have to have a problem next week and finish lower than 7th in the consy to not win a sixth track title. The 4 Banger feature saw Tim Jorgensen take the lead at the start, and lead the way through a caution on lap 5, and then until lap 7, when Jasper Drengler took over and started to pull away from the pack. A final caution on lap 10 set up a 2 lap dash, and point leader, Marty Vande Hei battled side by side with the leader to the finish, with Drengler hold off the challenge to win his 4th feature of the year. Vande Hei was second with Greg Banker, Justin Sobieck, Todd Welsing and Tim Heinrick rounding out the top six. Drengler had a big night, also winning his heat race and then, anchored the team that won the Flintstone Relay Race that pitted all five divisions against one another, on peddle carts. The second place finish gives Vande Hei a 23 point margin over Drengler for the first 4 Banger track title chase, and a virtual lock on the championship by Vande Hei despite having 2 weeks left. Next week, the kids coin toss will be held at intermission, and there will be a corn roast following the races in the pit area. SUMMARY IMCA MODIFIED WISSOTA LATE MODELS STREET STOCKS IMCA STOCK CARS 4 BANGERS |
