By:  Paul Reichert

May 18, 2024

Hope springs eternal when we kick off another great season of racing at the LaCrosse Speedway.  New drivers debuting, new drivers in new places and drivers from the past returning to the stock car wars at LaCrosse gives everyone hope and high expectations for a terrific year.  It is also exciting to witness down the wire close finishes that leave the fans on the edge of their seats.  Out of the five features run on opening day, three of them gave us exciting last lap finishes that left the crowd speechless and cheering for the amazing performances.  The NASCAR Late Model feature capped off that thrilling opening day as Ryan Kamish just barely edged out Jacob Goede at the line to capture his first ever feature win at LaCrosse.

Billy Mohn (Elko New Market, MN) made some impressive moves by Ryan Kamish (Farmington, MN), MIchael Haggar (Hanover, MN) and Tom Luethe (West Salem, WI) to take the lead at the start of the 25 lap Budweiser NASCAR Late Model feature.  Mohn continued to lead the pack even after a yellow for a spin by Michael Ostdiek (Shakopee, MN) in turn four on lap eight.  Mohn was looking like the driver to beat, but then he suddenly slowed on the front straight just before halfway with a mechanical issue.  That handed the lead over to 2022 Rookie of the Year Luethe.  Luethe remained cool and in control even with a yellow for contact between Hagger and Bryan Worlstad (Faribault, MN) in turn three on lap 16.  Luethe ran a bit wide in turn two after taking the two laps left signal.  That allowed Kamish to dive under him to move into first place, and Jacob Goede (Carver, MN) quickly followed Kamish into second.  Kamish and Goede ran side-by-side for the final lap of the race, but Kamish got on the gas first coming out of turn four to capture his first LaCrosse checkered flag by about a third of a car length over Goede.  After the race, Kamish said “That was some great racing between the three of us at the end.  Beating Jacob Goede for a feature win has been on my bucket for some time now.”

Travis Gordon (LaCrescent, MN) led the opening two circuits of the NASCAR Sportsmen feature before Bob Fort (Fountain City, WI) charged to the top spot.  Surviving a couple of yellow flags and the repeated challenges of Tina Lodermeier (Rosemount, MN), Fort was able to power his way to Altra Federal Credit Union Victory Lane.

Lapped traffic can seriously change the complexion of a race, and that is what happened in the NASCAR Hornet feature.  The lead trio of Christopher Lofqust, Thomas Farra and Ben Thurk got tangled up with the lapped vehicle of Shaw Strangstelien in turn two on the final lap.  Lofquist suffered the least damage and came out of the chaos with his first ever feature win at LaCrosse.

It looked like Marshall Rinartz was on his way to return the Rinartz name to victory lane at LaCrosse in the Six Shooter feature.  That was until Rinartz’ car was sputtering after taking the two laps to go signal.  Keith Larson quickly charged past Rinartz down the back straight to capture another checkered flag for the Larson boys. 

Kevin Laufenberg shot past Marshall Rinartz to take the lead of the Mini-Van feature on lap four. No one would challenge Laufenberg the rest of the way as his feature victory put a cap on the season’s first clean sweep.

The Spin to Win race was the first Novelty event of the season.  When the drivers are shown a spin flag during the race and have to do a full 360 spin.  Zach Liebsch got the better of Kyle Cottone to dominate the race and score the first Novelty win of the year.

Kick off your Memorial Day weekend festivities at the LaCrosse Speedway next Saturday, May 25.  Fans will enjoy close competition by the Late Models, Sportsmen, Hornets, Street Stocks, Six Shooters, Mini-Vans and the Flagpole Novelty Race on the track.  Fans will feast on concessions to their hearts’ content during the annual Buck-Buck Night.  All concession items will be only $2, and cold beer will be available for $3.  Gates open at 5:30, qualifying revs up shortly after that and the nail biting fender rubbing racing goes green at 7.

For more information about the LaCrosse Speedway or the 2024 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. Ryan Kamish, 2. Jacob Goede, 3. Tom Luethe, 4. Adam Degenhardt, 5. Adam Bendzick, 6. Skylar Holzhausen, 7. Steve Carlson, 8. Jeremy Wolff, 9. Nick Beaver, 10. Michael Ostdiek, 11. Bryan Wrolstad, 12. Michael Haggar, 13. Chad Walen, 14. Don Turner, 15. Ryan Brown, 16. Brian Lee, 17. Mike Carlson, 18. Nick Clements, 19. Bill Mohn, 20. Steve Bachman, 21. Chris Skrede, 22. Michael Beamish

6-for-6 Dash (6 laps):  1. Adam Bendzick, 2. Steve Bachman, 3. Adam Degenhardt, 4. Nick Clements, 5. Skylar Holzhausen, 6. Jacob Goede

Heat #1 (8 laps):  1. Tom Luethe, 2. Ryan Kamish, 3. Billy Mohn, 4. Michael Haggar, 5. Bryan Worlstad, 6. Michael Beamish, 7. Mike Carlson, 8. Chad Walen

Heat #2 (8 laps):  1. Jeremy Wolff, 2. Michael Ostdiek, 3. NIck Beaver, 4. Steve Carlson, 5. Don Turner, 6. Chris Skrede, 7. Brian Lee, 8. Ryan Brown, 9. Gregory Borchardt

Qualifying:  1. Skylar Holzhausen 19.426, 2. Jacob Goede 19.607, 3. Adam Degenhardt 19.612, 4. Adam Bendzick 19.671, 5. Steve Bachman 19.724, 7. Michael Beamish 19.826, 8. Mike Carlson 19.841, 9. Chad Walen 19.882, 10. Bryan Wrolstad 19.897, 11. Billy Mohn 19.908, 12. Ryan Kamish 19.948, 13. Michael Haggar 19.956, 14. Tom Luethe 20.018, 15. Steve Carlson 20.027, 16. Jeremy Wolff 20.153, 17. Michael Ostdiek 20.237, 18. Nick Beaver 20.305, 19. Chris Skrede 20.497, 20. Don Turner 20.666, 21. Brian Lee 20.713, 22. Gregory Borchardt 20.802, 23. Ryan Brown 22.508

NASCAR Sportsmen

Feature (15 laps):  1. Bob Fort, 2. Bill Schott, 3. Tina Lodermeier, 4. Travis Gordon, 5. Zach Oliver, 6. Andy Muller, 7. Tom Carlson, 8. Julie Jorgenson, 9. Jason Bolster, 10. Justin Berg, 11. Nathan Borchardt, 12. Tony Leis

6-for-6 Dash (6 laps):  1. Bob Fort, 2. Tina Lodermeier, 3. Tony Leis, 4. Bill Schott, 5. Travis Gordon, 6. Julie Jorgenson

Heat #1 (8 laps):  1. Nathan Borchardt, 2. Zach Oliver, 3. Justin Berg, 4. Andy Muller, 5. Jason Bolster, 6. Tom Carlson

Qualifying:  1. Tony Leis 22.059, 2. Tina Lodermeier 22.071, 3. Julie Jorgenson 22.085, 4. Bill Schott 22.123, 5. Bob Fort 22.127, 6. Travis Gordon 22.151, 7. Tom Carlson 22.185, 8. Nathan Borchardt 22.254, 9. Jason Bolster 23.000, 10. Justin Berg 23.033, 11. Andy Muller 23.263

Skyline Fireworks NASCAR Hornets

Feature (15 laps):  1. Christopher Lofquist, 2. Jimmy Bjorkman, 3. Dan Linnehan, 4. Carter Horstman, 5. Nick Hadler, 6. Jacob Iverson, 7. Jace Lafleur, 8. Ben Thurk, 9. Jake Schomers, 10. Abigail Knaack, 11. Thomas Farra, 12. Austin Albrecht, 13. Ben Worthington, 14. Terry Lafleur, 15. Jacob Lodermeier, 16. Zach Liebsch, 17. Shaw Strangstelien, 18. Glen Bush, Jr., 19. Shawn Kohlmeier, 20. Darren Pahl, 21. Joey Johnson III 

6-for-6 Dash (6 laps):  1. Thomas Farra, 2. Nick Hadler, 3. Jacob Iverson, 4. Ben Thurk, 5. Jimmy Bjorkman, 6. Carter Horstman

Heat #1 (8 laps):  1. Jonathan Eckelberg, 2. Shaw Strangstelien, 3. Jacob Lodermeier, 4. Glen Bush, Jr., 5. Joey Johnson, 6. Austin Albrecht, 7. Dakota Clauson, 8. Zach Liebsch

Heat #2 (8 laps):  1. Terry Lafleur, 2. Jace Lafleur, 3. Jake Schomers, 4. Christopher Lofquist, 5. Darren Pahl, 6. Ben Worthington, 7. Dan Linnehan, 8. Abigail Knaack

Qualifying:  1. Ben Thurk 16.061, 2. Jimmy Bjorkman 16.084, 3. Carter Horstman 16.173, 4. Jacob Iverson 16.178, 5. Thomas Farra 16.196, 6. Nick Hadler 16.291, 7. Christopher Lofquist 16.301, 8. Jake Schomers 16.427, 9. Abigail Knaack 16.536, 10. Dan Linnehan 16.594, 11. Ben Worthington 16.645, 12. Jace Lafleur 16.754, 13. Darren Pahl 16.918, 14. Terry Lafleur 17.008, 15. Bentley Knaack 17.138, 16. Austin Albrecht 17.161, 17. Joey Johnson III 17.178, 18. Shaw Strangstelien 17.311, 19. Glen Bush, Jr. 17.323, 20. Jonathan Eckelberg 17.424, 21. Zach Liebsch 17.663, 22. Jacob Lodermeier 18.814

Auto Value Six Shooters

Feature (15 laps):  1. Keith Larson, 2. Marshall Rinartz, 3. Cody Bell, 4. Jay Raines, 5. Chris Larson, 6. John Huebner, 7. Zach Liebsch, 8. Joey Miller, 9. Matthew Miller, 10. Matthew Parent, 11. Bryon Olson, 12. Josh Heyer, 13. Jessica Rinartz, 14. Carlie Rinartz, 15. Kyle Cottone, 16. Chad Aasum

Heat #1 (8 laps):  1. Jay Raines, 2. Cody Bell, 3. Keith Larson, 4. Zach Liebsch, 5. Carlie Rinartz, 6. Marshall Rinartz, 7. Matthew Miller

Heat #2 (8 laps):  1. Joey Miller. 2. Chris Larson, 3. Bryon Olson, 4. Matthew Parent, 5. Kyle Cotton, 6. Jessica Rinartz, 7. Josh Heyer, 8. Chad Assum

Qualifying:  1. Jay Raines 16.802, 2. Keith Larson 16.881, 3. Zach Liebsch 17.021, 4. Carlie Rinartz 17.241, 5. Marshall Rinartz 17.424, 6. Cody Bell 17.477, 7. Bryon Olson 18.159, 8. Josh Heyer 18.527, 9. Jessica Rinartz 19.100, 10. Chad Assum 19.758, 11. Joey Miller 20.829 

Auto Value Mini-Vans

Feature (15 laps):  1. Kevin Laufenberg 2. Al Bartels, 3. Marshall Rinartz, 4. Dan Noth, 5. Matthew Parent, 6. Fletcher Milene, 7. Matthew Miller

Heat #1 (8 laps):  1. Kevin Laufenberg, 2. Al Bartels, 3. Marshall Rinartz, 4. Matthew Miller, 5. Dan Noth, 6. Matthew Parent, 7. Fletcher Milene

Qualifying:  1. Kevin Laufenberg 17.660, 2. Dan Noth 17.784, 3. Al Bartels 17.968, 4. Marshall Rinartz 18.841, 5. Fletcher Milene 19.951

Novelty

Spin to Win Race:  1. Zach Liebsch, 2. Kyle Cottone