By: Dave Noelke
(West Salem, WI – July 18, 2015) It was a hot summer night and the action leading up to the two Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Model Features had many moments of memories for fans go home with. In the end, it was Steve Carlson, claiming his sixth feature win of 2015 and Brad Powell, winning his third of the season.
The first race was only three fourths of a lap in when Matthew Henderson and Carter Christenson spun in turn four, setting up a complete race restart, and the field then almost finished the first lap again when Scott Rand spun heading down the frontstretch. A multi-car incident was unavoidable with Rand near the front. The car of Jason Dummer launched up into the air after collision with another car, and the cars of Mike Carlson and Shawn Pfaff were also collected.
“I missed a couple big wrecks and got hit in the back. Luckily we were able to make it through,” commented Carlson after the race. “Cole [Howland] ran a great race, but the bottom worked out for us. We have a little work to do on the car before the next feature,” concluded Carlson.
Carlson used lapped traffic to his advantage to catch early leader Brad Powell, who slipped out of the top five by the end of the feature as he cut a tire and slowed. Howland was second, followed by Jerimy Wagner, Adam Degenhardt, and Jack Litsheim.
Brad Warthan earned his first Dean’s Satellite Sportsmen feature win of his career in a race filled with pressure from behind. Rick Johnson Jr. was fast early on but Warthan was able to take the lead by lap three on the outside. The car to watch was Nick Clements, point leader, whom started sixteenth after being disqualified after post-qualifying tech. Clements passed the most cars and ended up third.
“The car ran great tonight, really good. Johnny Olson ran my car last week and helped me set it up a little, it ran so well,“ concluded a jubilant Warthog.
Thomas Farra took control of the field and won the Auto Value Thunderstox feature, over Kyle Lockington, Andy Moore, Charles Vian Jr. and Bill Schott.
The final race of the night was the second Late Model feature, where it was Adam Degenhardt jumping out to the lead from the outside front row. As the field headed to complete lap three, Steve Carlson and Cole Howland started to skid into each other, and both spun as a result. The incident sent Mike Carlson into the wall and he was unable to continue.
After the restart, Degenhardt ran the high line for a few laps before he was able to break away from the pack with the lead. Being a short 20 lap race, Brad Powell was on a mission to make up for his poor finish in the first race, and caught Degenhardt with four laps remaining. It all changed when Scott Rand spun in turn three, setting up a two lap shootout with Degenhardt, Powell, and the rest of the field right in their rear-view mirrors.
Powell took command on the restart and cruised to victory ahead of Degenhardt. Also in the top five were Jerimy Wagner and Steve Carlson.
“We worked out butts off this week, and today in hot laps. Our car was very good tonight, and we earned this win. Thanks to all the fans for coming out tonight,” Powell said.
The next event on the LaCrosse Speedway schedule is Pischke Motors Autograph Night, where fans are welcomed to see the cars up close and get photos and autographs of all the drivers. The on-track pre-race driver autograph session starts at 6:30, and the first 500 fans will get a free 2015 collector’s poster. Fans will see the Late Models, Sportsmen, Thunderstox and Hornets all in action.
. 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.
Click here for the full results.