By: Kevin Ramsell and Aspen Andre (West Salem, WI – October 6, 2016)
Eight divisions kicked off the 47th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Salem, Wisconsin. Ty Majeski, Cole Anderson, Brad Warthan, Andy Moore, Cory Kemkes, Phil Malouf, Jimmy Bjorkman, and Kyle Stark all took home feature wins on night one of the four-day racing event.
Ty Majeski put an exclamation mark on his season in the La Crosse Late Model division by taking the lead from Mike Carlson with nine laps to go and win his eighth feature of the season. Mike Carlson finished second with his father Steve Carlson finishing third.
Mike Carlson took over the lead from Cole Howland lap 13 while Majeski had to start shotgun on the field after failing post qualifying inspection. By lap seven, Majeski was up to the top five. He moved up to second by passing Howland on lap 21. Majeski would get the lead on the restart after a multi-car wreck on the backstretch with nine laps to go in the 40-lap event.
Steve Carlson picked up his fourth championship in a row in the Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Model division.
Cole Anderson made an early statement by taking a dominating win in the 25-lap Futures race for the Super Late Models. The Northfield, Minnesota driver took the lead from Bobby Wilberg on lap eight by making his winning move on the inside of turns one and two. He would drive away to a 4.9 second victory in the caution free race.
Behind Anderson, Dalton Zehr and Dan Lensing put on a great battle for second place. On the last lap, Zehr got past Lensing for the spot at the finish. Brian Back was fourth and Wilberg finished fifth.
Jay VanDerGeest won the Futures Hooligan race over Michael Ostdiek and Matt Goede. Jerry Brickner was fourth with Jimmy Dragich in fifth. Bradley Tilton was sixth. Those six cars advanced to the main event.
It was Brad Warthan taking the win in the Dean’s Satellite Sportsmen 20-lap feature.
Things got crazy on lap three when Paul Neisius was leading the field. As he came off of turn two, he spun causing a big wreck on the backstretch with about 12 cars involved in the melee. On the restart, it was Jason Stark battling Warthan for the lead in a good side-by-side race until Warthan took over the top spot on lap four. Warthan would then hold off Steve Bachman for the victory. Rick Schermerhorn was third. Brent Kane and Nick Clements rounded out the top five.
Clements is the 2016 Dean’s Satellite Champion.
Andy Moore celebrated his Auto Value Thunderstox championship by winning the Oktoberfest 15-lap feature. Moore started 14th and challenged for the lead with five laps to go. With four to go, Moore made the move to the inside of Kaleb Hardy to get the lead and would pull away for the checkered flag. Hardy would hold off Adam Moore for second. Bill Schott was fourth and Jason Schaller finished fifth.
Cory Kemkes had a spirited battle with Jason Bolster in the 20-lap Subway Outlawz feature. The two swapped the lead back and forth in the closing laps. With three laps to go, Bolster appeared to get loose going into turn one and spun to bring out a caution. He would restart and the rear and finish third while Kemkes cruised to the win.
Jason Stark is the 2016 Subway Outlawz Champion.
Phil Malouf took the lead from Lyle Phillips on lap three and would on a Thursday night cruise to victory in the Bandit division with Phillips in second. Scott Schlafke was third after a spirited three car battle with Matt Moore, who finished fourth, along with Hunter Poehnelt to round out the top five.
Jimmy Bjorkman took home a big win in the Ants Complete Pest Control Hornets Oktoberfest 15-lap feature. Bjorkman had a fun battle for the lead with Justin Schelitzche throughout most of the race. After a caution for a spin in turns one and two, Bjorkman would take the lead and pull away from the field for the win. Brandon LeMoine got by Schelitzche for second. Kevin Turner and Jordan Young rounded out the top five.
Kris Berg won the Ants Complete Pest Control Hornets championship.
Kyle Stark led wire-to-wire en route to victory in the Double-O 12-lap feature. Stark got a good jump at the start and was uncontested throughout the race. Joe Mueller finished second with Andy Moore in third. Justin Schelitzche was fourth and Nick Schmidt finished fifth.
Day two of the 47th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend gets underway at 2:45pm on Friday with qualifying for the Dick Trickle 99 presented by JE Pistons. The Great Northern Trucks Sportsmen and Midwest Trucks will also be in action with racing starting at 5:30pm.
Click here for the full results.