By: Paul Reichert
With all the recent rains and flooding much of southwestern Wisconsin has experienced, fans came out in full force to forget their troubles and enjoy some good clean smashing and crashing. A packed house witnessed the 27th annual Night of Destruction at the LaCrosse Speedway on a picture perfect night. Fans loved the metal mangling mayhem that the Night of Destruction always brings.
The Hornets ran their next to last race of the season, and it turned into an interesting race. Jason Lindvig led most of the way before Jimmy Bjorkman got around with five laps to go to claim the victory. Point leader Brandon Lemoine got by Lindvig late to claim second, setting up another exciting championship battle to be settled at Oktoberfest.
The Hornets even competed in the Double Spin to Win novelty event. Cheyanne Stanfield pulled off some timely spins to claim the victory. John Huebner finished second, and captured the Novelty division season championship.
Jim Burns from Rockford returned with his Mechanical Mischief monster truck. He was joined by Brandon and Mitch Tulachka from Green Bay with their monster truck, Just Get Er Done 2. Both crushed cars and caught big air, thrilling the race fans. They even did wheelies and burn outs that brought out a loud roar of approval.
Jared Novak skimmed over the top of the pool in his first attempt to do the pool jump and crashed into the wall. Jared gave it another shot later on in the evening and was successful in destroying the pool.
Drivers Taylor Dobbs and Jeff Sarver competed in the Steel Wall Crash. The fans decided that Sarver had the bigger hit and won the fan vote.
Ryan Suchanek returned to perform wheelies and burn outs on his motorcycle. The Edgerton native has set three world records on ice, although he is an amputee from a motorcycle accident. Ryan’s performance ended with a flat rear tire, but the crowd still showed their appreciation for his show.
Remember when Nadia Comaneci scored perfect 10s at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal? Well, Dan Osthoff pulled off three perfect five-point rolls to dominate the Rollover Contest.
Four competitors came out to see who could pull off the biggest burnout. Molly ‘Redneck’ Snodgrass competed in her very first burnout contest, and impressed the fans with her burnout to capture the fan vote.
Elkhart, IN native Fred Sibley brought his Little Red Beer Hauler jet car to town to burn down a Hearst. The 84 year old has been driving jet cars for nearly 60 years, and his burn out of the Hearst thrilled the crowd.
The ultimate smashing and crashing race thrilled the crowd once again. The Trailer Race of Destruction saw a lot of metal mangling mayhem, and a big pile up in turn two. After all the carnage was done, Jared Novak won a close fan vote over John Clauson.
Up next is the biggest year end racing special in the state of Wisconsin. The 49th annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend will be taking place October 4th through 7th. You will see in action several different Late Model and Sportsmen divisions, trucks, modifieds, four-cylinders and many other divisions competing over those four days. Check out the Oktoberfest Fan Guide to see all the off track activities that will take place, and visit oktoberfestraceweekend.com for the latest news on ‘one big racing weekend’.
For more information on LaCrosse Speedway or the 2018 schedule of events, please call the office at 608-786-1525 or visit lacrossespeedway.com. LaCrosse Speedway is proud to be a NASCAR Hometrack, part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
RESULTS
ANT’s Complete Pest Control Hornets
Feature: 1., Jimmy Bjorkman, 2. Brandon Lemoine, 3. Mike Carlson, 4. Jason Lindvig, 5. Jake Schomers
B-Feature: 1. Cheyanne Stanfield, 2., Garrett Thicke, 3. Ben Thurk
Heat #1: 1., Rob Stanfield, 2. Bjorkman, 3., Paul Mahlum III
Heat #2: 1. Kris Berg, 2., Schomers, 3. Kendon Thurk
Heat #3: 1., Lindvig, 2., Kevin Turner, 3. Lemoine
Double Spin to Win: 1. Cheyanne Stanfield, 2. John Huebner, 3. Kris Berg
Trailer Race of Destruction (Fan Vote): 1. Jared Novak, 2. John Clauson