By: Ashley Iwanski
(West Salem, WI – August 2, 2014) Adam Degenhardt had a huge smile on his face Saturday night after grabbing his first Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Model feature of the season at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway. Degenhardt, who has been running a partial season, held off short-track legend and points leader Steve Carlson for the win.
Degenhardt started in ninth six spots behind Bill Niles. Niles was able to move into the lead quickly and pull away from the field after eight laps, but he didn’t get far enough to keep the top spot away from Degenhardt.
After 11 laps Degenhardt was door-handle to door-handle with Niles. One lap later the lead belonged to Degenhardt.
The win didn’t come that easy though.
A caution came out with 12 laps to go when Travis Christenson hit the inside wall on the front stretch. The yellow flag that waved brought the field to the back bumper of the leader. Degenhardt then had the challenge of fending off Carlson, Niles and Cole Howland.
On the restart Carlson and Howland charged to the front on the outside, but Degenhardt was right there to defend his lead. Howland and Carlson stayed close running second and third, respectively.
Degenhardt was able to sneak away from the duo as Carlson overpowered Howland on the inside groove for the second position.
The top two drivers were able to secure their finishing positions with just a few laps to go, however Howland fell off the pace for just a moment allowing Mike Carlson to finish in the third spot. Howland held on for fourth followed by Matthew Henderson in fifth.
Brad Powell finished sixth and is sitting second in the division standings, 57 points behind Steve Carlson (628 points). Howland is in the third spot with 510 points.
Nick Clements won the Grand National Sportsmen feature over hard-charging Brian Hesselberg and Steve Bachman. Greg Scheck, who finished fourth, sits atop the leader board with 511 points. Bachman is a close second, just 15 points behind Scheck.
Jordan Myers tightened the points race in the United Auto Supply Thunderstox division. Myers won the feature, two spots ahead of points leader Jason Bolster (654), and is now only two points out of the top spot in the standings. But Andy Moore (fifth in the feature) is only one point behind Myers in third. Jason Schaller, who finished second in the feature, is third in the standings with 648 points.
John Eron captured the checkered flag in the United Auto Supply Street Stock feature after winning a heat race earlier in the night.
Dakota Miller was voted the fan favorite in the crowd-pleasing Trailer Race of Destruction. Miller, who was hauling a yellow 08 trailer in honor of his brother Kaleb, made a memorable entrance onto the track releasing yellow balloons from the trailer. What was possibly even more memorable and undeniable impressive was that Miller was able to continue racing after his trailer tipped onto its side and got stuck between two other trailers in Turns 1 and 2. Miller struggled to free his trailer but when he did it righted itself. He went on to win the event in front of a large, cheering crowd.
Friday, August 8 is another installment of Premier Powdercoating Friday Night Street Drags. Featured events include Bracket Racing, Burnout Contest, Shine N’ Show Contest and Pre-Event Grudge Matches. Then on Saturday, August 9 Kwik Trip presents all the great NASCAR Whelen All-American Series excitement. The ANTS Pest Control Hornets and Coke-Zero Outlawz will join the three weekly divisions. Plus, there’s a Tough Truck Competition. For more information please call the Speedway office at (608) 786-1525 or visit www.lacrossespeedway.com.
LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway is a proud NASCAR Hometrack, part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series – www.hometracks.nascar.com.
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