By: Paul Reichert
May 29, 2021
The unofficial start to the summer season was kicked off with ‘chamber of commerce’ weather at the La Crosse Speedway. Fans were armed with tons of dollars and change to take advantage of the great ‘Buck Day’ deals in the stands. On the track the fans were also treated to some great racing action for the third afternoon show of 2021. Devin Schmidt stuck to the inside groove to get under Brent Kirchner with ten laps to go, then had to fight off Matthew Henderson to drive away with his first La Crosse Late Model feature victory.
Brent Kirchner (LaCrosse, WI) wasted little time to get to the front at the start of the Pepsi 25 lap NASCAR Late Model feature. As Kirchner tried to pull away from the field, Devin Schmidt (Belle Plaine, MN) began to slowly cut into Kirchner’s margin. Despite a yellow for the spin by Mandi McKinney (West Salem, WI) down the front straight on lap ten, Kirchner and Schmidt continued their tussle over the lead on the restart. Matt Henderson (LaCrosse, WI) was slowly catching the lead duo as the battle for the lead became even more contentious. Schmidt taking the inside line finally paid off as he powered under Kirchner coming out of turn two to take the lead with ten laps to go. Two laps later Henderson also dove to the inside to take away second from Kirchner. Henderson did everything he could to close the distance on Schmidt over those final ten laps. Henderson got as close as three car lengths, but Schmidt would not be denied his first career Late Model feature. Schmidt would become the fourth different NASCAR Late Model feature winner in four races. Schmidt said after the race “I was hoping to make the inside move stick to get around Kirchner. I’ve done it before, but this time I pulled it off.”
In the Sportsmen feature, Bill Schott (LaCrosse, WI) brought out his brand new modified for the first time. He took the lead on lap six then would get into a tough battle for the lead with Sam Niles (Holmen, WI). Niles got a big run down the back straight with three laps to go and drove off with his second straight feature win.
Past champions Brandon Gallagher and Jason Bolster battled tooth and nail for much of the Hobby Stock feature. A slip by Bolster coming to the white flag allowed Gallagher to pull away with win number three on the season.
Lap traffic played a big time in the last few laps of the Hornet feature as Michael Wachs Jr. caught up to Andy Barney. Barney was able to clear the traffic as he took the white flag and scored the win.
In the Street Stock feature, Keith Larson took the lead three laps into the race. Tristan Drazkowski tried to close the gap in the last five laps, but Larson and his unique Dodge station wagon were unstoppable as he claimed his first ever win at LaCrosse.
The Street Stocks competed in a very unique Novelty race, the ‘Joker Lap’ race. Once during the five lap event the competitors had to drive on the high side around a tire in turn two. Despite that added twist to the race, John Huebner fought back teammate Rob Stanfield to be the ‘King of the Jokers’.
Action continues next Saturday, June 5th with the Late Models, Sportsmen, Hobby Stocks, Six Shooters and the 2021 season debut of the High School Racing Association. Make sure you get to the track early with new start times beginning next week. Gates open at 5:30, qualifying happens at 5:45 and the first green flag will fly at 7. So do not be late for the first night program of the season!
For more information about the LaCrosse Speedway or the 2021 schedule of events, please call the track office at 608-786-1525 or visit our web site at lacrossespeedway.com. LaCrosse Speedway is proud to be a NASCAR Hometrack, part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
RESULTS
Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Models
Feature (25 laps): 1. Devin Schmidt, 2. Matthew Henderson, 3. Michael Beamish, 4. Nick Murgic, 5. Adam Oxborough, 6. Brent Kirchner, 7. Tony Leis, 8. Jerimy Wagner, 9. Steve Bachman, 10. Mike Carlson, 11. Justin Mullikin, 12. Don Turner, 13. Jeff Partington, 14. Joseph Scholze, 15. Kenneth Donais, 16. Mandi McKinney, 17. Nick Clements
6-for-6 Dash (6 laps): 1. Jeff Partington, 2. Nick Clements, 3. Jerimy Wagner, 4. Nick Murgic, 5. Matthew Henderson, 6. Tony Leis
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Brent Kirchner, 2. Justin Mullikin, 3. Mike Carlson, 4. Michael Beamish, 5. Devin Schmidt, Adam Oxborough
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Steve Bachman, 2. Don Turner, 3. Joseph Scholze, 4. Mandi McKinney, 5. Kenneth Donais, 6. Carter Christenson
Qualifying: 1. Tony Leis, 2. Jerimy Wagner, 3. Nick Murgic, 4. Nick Clements, 5. Matthew Henderson, 6. Jeff Partington, 7. Michael Beamish, 8. Mike Carlson, 9. Devin Schmidt, 10. Justin Mullikin, 11. Brent Kirchner, 12. Adam Oxborough, 13. Carter Christenson, 14. Steve Bachman, 15. Don Turner, 16. Joseph Scholze, 17. Kenneth Donais, 18. Mandi McKinney
LawnKeepers Sportsmen
Feature (15 laps): 1. Sam Niles, 2. Bill Schott, 3. Ed Ross, 4. Justin Berg, 5. Jesse Green, 6. Kevin Seidler, 7. Jonathan Eckelberg, 8. Dexter Malin, 9. Denny Schott
Dash (8 laps): 1. Sam Niles, 2. Jutsin Berg, 3. Bill Schott, 4. Denny Schott, 5. Jonathan Eckelberg, 6. Kevin Seidler, 7. Ed Ross, 8. Jesse Green, 9. Dexter Malin
Qualifying: 1. Bill Schott, 2. Denny Schott, 3. Ed Ross, 4. Justin Berg, 5. Sam Niles, 6. Jesse Green, 7. Kevin Seidler, 8. Dexter Malin, 9. Jonathan Eckelberg
Auto Value Hobby Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Brandon Gallagher, 2. Jason Bolster, 3. John Clauson, 4. Landon Lockington, 5. Joey Johnson
Dash (8 laps): 1. Jason Bolster, 2. Brandon Gallagher, 3. John Clauson, 4. Landon Lockington, 5. Joey Johnson
Qualifying: 1. Brandon Gallagher, 2. Jason Bolster, 3. Landon Lockington, 4. John Clauson, 5. Joey Johnson
ANT’s Complete Pest Control Hornets
Feature (15 laps): 1. Andy Barney, 2. Michael Wachs Jr., 3. Kristopher Berg, 4. Cheyanne Stanfield, 5. Jake Schomers, 6. Joey Johnson III, 7. Ben Thurk, 8. Brandon McCarthy, 9. NIck Hadler, 10. Rob Stanfield, 11. Matthew Miller, 12. Kyle Cottone, 13. Christopher Lofquist, 14. John Huebner, 15. Travis Atkinson, 16. Karl Schroeder, 17. Marc Luethe, 18. Abigail Knaack, 19. Keanna Barney
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Marc Luethe, 2. Michael Wachs Jr., 3. Ben Thurk, 4. Cheyanne Stanfield, 5. Andy Barney, 6. Kristopher Berg, 7. Jake Schomers, 8. Joey Johnson III, 9. John Huebner, 10. Brandon McCarthy, 11. Tyler Stuber
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Rob Stanfield, 2. Keanna Barney, 3. Kyle Cottone, 4. Matthew Miller, 5. Christopher Lofquist, 6. Travia Aktinson, 7. Karl Schroeder, 8. Abigail Knaack, 9. Jacob Iverson
Qualifying: 1. Cheyanne Stanfield, 2. Michael Wachs Jr., 3. Andy Barney, 4. Marc Luethe, 5. Joey Johnson III, 6. Ben Thurk, 7. Kristopher Berg, 8. Jake Schomers, 9. John Huebner, 10. Brandon McCarthy, 11. Keanna Barney, 12. Rob Stanfield, 13. Jacob Iverson, 14. Kyle Cottone, 15. Christopher Lofquist, 16. Matthew Miller, 17. Abagaili Knaack, 18. Nick Hadler, 19. Tyler Stuber (NO TIME), 20. Karl Schroeder (NO TIME), 21. Travis Atkinson (NO TIME)
Auto Value Street Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Keith Larson, 2. Tristan Drazkowski, 3. John Huebner, 4. Adam Kerley, 5. Chris Larson, 6. Zach Liebsch, 7. Rob Stanfield, 8. Peter Thompson, 9. Al Bartels, 10. Alex Liebsch, 11. Brian Larson, 12. Tory Lockington, 13. Steven Brasda, 14. Chris Christen
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. John Huebner, 2. Tristan Drazkowski, 3. Chris Larson, 4. Zach Liebsch, 5. Peter Thompson, 6. Rob Stanfield
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Alex Liebsch, 2. Troy Lockington, 3. Keith Larson, 4. Adam Kerley, 5. Al Bartels, 6. Steven Brasda, 7. Brian Larson
Qualifying: 1. Rob Stanfield, 2. Peter Thompson, 3. John Huebner, 4. Chris Larson, 5. Tristan Drazkowski, 6. Zach Liebsch, 7. Keith Larson, 8. Al Bartels, 9. Alex Liebsch, 10. Adam Kerley, 11. Steven Brasda, 12. Brian Larson, 13. Tory Lockington (NO TIME), 14. Chris Christen (NO TIME)
Novelty
‘Joker Lap’ Race: 1. John Huebner, 2. Rob Stanfield, 3. Zach Liebsch, 4. Chris Larson, 5. Adam Kerley, 6. Al Bartels, 7. Peter Thompson, 8. Steven Brasda, 9. Brian Larson, 10. Keith Larson, 11. Tristan Drazkowski