By: Paul Reichert
July 6, 2024
The big track takes a week of summer vacation and gives the ‘action track’ quarter-mile the keys to the LaCrosse Speedway for the annual Quarter-Mile Mania event. The drivers were not just competing for feature wins, but they were also going for the gold in a special Stock Car Summer Games event. The drivers would participate in a number of Novelty events that would test their stamina and see how well they can maneuver a race car. Before those Summer Games took place, there was thrilling close quarters racing with tight knit packs of cars in our regular quarter-mile divisions.
Keith Larson powered by John Clauson on lap three of the Street Stock feature. Clauson took a hard shot into the back straight on lap six thanks to contact with Matthew Bornheimer, but he came out of the melee in okay shape. Larson had to deal with Steven Brasda the rest of the race, but Larson pulled away down the stretch to hit the finish line in first.
The Six Shooter feature saw Alex Rud lead the first half of the race before Tory Lockington shot into the lead. After a few laps John Huebner began to reel in Lockington, and Huebner took command of the race with three laps left and drove away with another quarter-mile victory to add to his racing resume.
John Clauson needed only the first lap of the Mini-Van feature to blow by both Miranda McCarthy and Marshall Rinartz for the race lead. Clauson stretched out his lead and scored a dominant feature victory of nearly a half of a lap over the field.
The High School Racing Association feature saw Charlie Thompson shoot past newcomer Noah Waughtal for the lead on lap six. Waughtal stayed within a few car lengths of Thompson the rest of the way, but could not make a dent in the deficit as Thompson drove away with the victory.
The Stock Car Summer Games kicked off with the Flagpole Race. A flagpole was put in the middle of the front straight and the competitors had to do a complete 360 around it for every one of the five laps run. There was a lot of contact and waiting for an opening to do that rotation around the flagpole, but in the end Lester Stanfield out dueled Jay Raines to capture the first gold medal of the games.
Drivers were paired up in the Tag Team Race. In this event a driver would run a lap, bump the rear of their partner who would run the next lap and then bump his partner for their next lap. The Stanfield team had their bumped timed perfectly as Lester and Rob drove away with the victory.
The 2nd Over the Line Wins Race is always a great chess match to watch. As the cars come to the checkered flag, you have to wonder who will flinch first and who will be the driver to take advantage of that mistake and be the winner. A slightly harder bump by Lester Stanfield sent Rob Stanfield’s rear high in the air. It somehow worked when John Huebner blinked first and Rob snuck into the winner’s position.
The drivers had a bit more of a challenge in the Double Spin to Win Race. Two flagpoles were set up on both the front straight and the back straight. A lot more contact occurred trying to do those spins while battling your fellow competitors. Jay Raines battled both Lester and Rob Stanfeld, but when Lester ran wide on the next to last lap that is when Raines pounced on the lead and took his place on the top step of the podium.
The most unique event of the Stock Car Summer Games was the Drive-Thru Race. The drivers were given a token, and sometime during the race each driver had to stop at a bucket and drop off the token. Rob Stanfield deposited his token early in the race and powered his way to an impressive victory in the event.
In the Cone Race, the drivers had to carefully maneuver around the track while balancing a cone on the hood of their car. Many of the drivers lost their cones during lap two and three, setting up a showdown between Alex Rud and Steven Brasda. Rud lost his cone on the next to last lap, while Brasda carefully held onto his cone all the way to the finish.
The grand finale of the Stock Car Summer Games was the Race in Total Darkness. The competitors had their cars decorated with all sorts of light so they could get around their fellow drivers for ten laps. Lester Stanfield started on the pole and left the competition in his wake as he scored his third gold medal. When the final scores were tabulated, Rob Stanfield just nosed out Lester by a single point to win the overall Stock Car Summer Games competition.
The kids will be the top dogs next Saturday, July 13 with Kids’ Night taking place. All kids 11 and under are admitted FREE, and they will get the chance to ride in a race car during the Kids’ Rides after qualifying. You will witness thrilling competition with the Late Models, Sportsmen, Hornets, Street Stocks, the High School Racing Association and the Hot Dog Novelty Race. The adults will be handsomely rewarded with $5 off their admission that night when they show their Kwik Trip Kwik Rewards card at the ticket gate Gates open at 5:30, the race to be at the top the time sheets begins shortly after that and the exciting fender rubbing racing roars to life at 7.
For more information about the LaCrosse Speedway or the 2024 schedule of events, call the track office at 608-786-1525 or visit our website at lacrossespeedway.com. LaCrosse Speedway is proud to be a NASCAR Hometrack, part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
RESULTS
Auto Value Street Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Keith Larson, 2. Steven Brasda, 3. John Huebner, 4. Alex Rud, 5. Landon Lockington, 6. Matthew Bornheimer, 7. Joey Miller, 8. Ryan Stanfield, 9. Josh Heyer, 10. Kyle Cottone, 11. John Clauson, 12. Rob Stanfield, 13. Chris Larson, 14. Al Bartels
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. John Huebner, 2. Chris Larson, 3. Keith Larson, 4. Rob Stanfield, 5. Steven Brasda
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Ryan Stanfield, 2. Matthew Bornheimer, 3. Al Bartels, 4. Alex Rud, 5. Landon Lockington
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. John Clauson, 2. Melissa Rusch, 3. Kyle Cottone, 4. Josh Heyer, 5. Joey Miller, 6. Bryon Olson
Qualifying: 1. Keith Larson 16.204, 2. Chris Larson 16.279, 3. John Huebner 16.514, 4. Rob Stanfield 16.663, 5. Steven Brasda 16.876, 6. Al Bartels 16.888, 7. Lester Stanfield 17.006, 8. Matthew Bornheimer 17.155, 9. Landon Lockington 17.511, 10. Ryan Stanfield 17.568, 11. Alex Rud 17.833, 12. John Clauson 18.062, 13. Kyle Cottone 18.153, 14. Joey Miller 18.171, 15. Josh Heyer 18.202, 16. Bryan Olson 18.331, 17. Melissa Rusch 18.675
Auto Value Six Shooters
Feature (15 laps): 1. John Huebner, 2. Tory Lockington, 3. Alex Rud, 4. Keith Larson, 5. John Clauson, 6. Cody Bell, 7. Carlie Rinartz, 8. Marshall Rinartz, 9. Joey Miller, 10. Kyle Cottone, 11. Landon Lockington, 12. Thomas Dreger, 13. Josh Heyer, 14. Jessica Rinartz, 15. Jay Raines, 16. Matthew Parent, 17. Bryon Olson, 18. Matthew Miller, 19. Melissa Rusch
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Jay Raines, 2. John Huebner, 3. Matthew Miller, 4. Keith Larson, 5. Matthew Parent, 6. Marshall Rinartz, 7. Chris Larson
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Carlie Rinartz, 2. Alex Rud, 3. Cody Bell, 4. Landon Lockington, 5. Tory Lockington, 6. Jessica Rinartz, 7. Bryon Olson
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. John Clauson, 2. Kyle Cottone, 3. Melissa Rusch, 4. Steven Brasda, 5. Josh Heyer, 6. Thomas Dreger, 7. Joey Miller
Qualifying: 1. Keith Larson 16.479, 2. Marshall Rinartz 16.609, 3. Matthew Parent 16.623, 4. John Huebner 16.629, 5. Jay Raines 16.733, 6. Chris Larson 16.920, 7. Matthew Miller 17.055, 8. Cody Bell 17.075, 9. Landon Lockington 17.275, 10. Tory Lockington 17.282, 11. Carlie Rinartz 17.312, 12. Bryon Olson 17.842, 13. Alex Rud 18.159, 14. Jessica Rinartz 18.184, 15. John Clauson 18.329, 16. Josh Heyer 18.448, 17. Kyle Cottone 18.533, 18. Steven Brasda 18.642, 19. Joey Miller 19.181, 20. Thomasa Dreger 19.303, 21. Melissa Rusch 19.384
Auto Value Mini-Vans
Feature (15 laps): 1. John Clauson, 2. John Huebner, 3. Marshall Rinartz, 4. Al Bartels, 5. Fletcher Milene, 6. Miranda McCarthy, 7. Matthew Parent
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Matthew Parent, 2. Fletcher Milene, 3. Marshall Rinartz, 4. John Huebner, 5. Al Bartels, 6. Melissa Rusch, 7. Miranda McCarthy, 8. Matthew Miller
Qualifying: 1. Fletcher Milene 17.016, 2. John Heubner 17.251, 3. Al Bartels 17.511, 4. John Clauson 17.752, 5. Marshall Rinartz 17.782, 6. Matthew Miller 18.340, 7. Matthew Parent 19.033, 8. Miranda McCarthy 19.069
Finish Line Towing High School Racing Association
Feature (15 laps): 1. Charlie Thompson, 2. Noah Waughtal, 3. Kennedy Kreuger, 4. Caleb Arneson, 5. Parker Thompson, 6. Alivia Moore, 7. Bella Bolduan, 8. Ayla Reuter
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Kennedy Krueger, 2. Noah Waughtal, 3. Alivia Moore, 4. Caleb Arneson, 5. Charlie Thompson, 6. Parker Thompson, 7. Ayla Rueter, 8. Bella Bolduan
Qualifying: 1. Alivia Moore 16.663, 2. Caleb Arneson 17.003, 3. Charlie Thompson 17.281, 4. Kennedy Krueger 17.384, 5. Bella Bolduan 17.522, 6. Parker Thompson 17.667, 7. Noah Waughtal 18.147, 8. Ayla Reuter 21.196
Stock Car Summer Games
Flagpole Race (5 laps): 1. Lester Stanfield, 2. Jay Raines, 3. Rob Stanfield, 4. Cody Bell, 5. John Huebner, 6. Alex Rud, 7. John Clauson, 8. Matthew Miller, 9. Marshall Rinartz, 10. Kyle Cottone
Tag Team Race (5 laps): 1. Rob Stanfield/Lester Stanfield, 2. Cody Bell/Jay Raines, 3. Alex Rud/John Clauson, 4. Kyle Cottone/John Huebner, 5. Al Bartels/Fletcher Milene, 6. Matthew Parent/Marshall Rinartz
2nd Over the Line Wins Race (5 laps): 1. Rob Stanfield, 2. Steven Brasda, 3. John Clauson, 4. Lester Stanfieldm, 5. Jay Raines, 6. Al Bartels, 7. Alex Rud, 8. Cody Bell, 9. Bryon Olson, 10. Kyle Cottone, 11. John Huebner
Double Spin to Win Race (5 laps): 1. Jay Raines, 2. Rob Stanfield, 3. Lester Stanfield, 4. John Clauson, 5. Alex Rud, 6. Cody Bell, 7. Kyle Cottone, 8. John Huebner
Drive-Thru Race (5 laps): 1. Rob Stanfield, 2. Alex Rud, 3. Lester Stanfield, 4. Fletcher Milene, 5. John Huebner, 6. Marshall Rinartz, 7. John Clauson, 8. Al Bartels, 9. Kyle Cottone
Cone Race (5 laps): 1. Steven Brasda, 2. Alex Rud, 3. John Clauson, 4. Kyle Cottone, 5. Lester Stanfield, 6. John Huebner, 7. Al Bartels, 8. Rob Stanfield
Race in Total Darkness (10 laps): 1. Lester Stanfield, 2. Rob Stanfield, 3. Alex Rud, 4. Marshall Rinartz, 5. Josh Heyer, 6. John Huebner, 7. Kyle Cottone, 8. Steven Brasda, 9. Al Bartels, 10. Fletcher Milene
Overall Results: Rob Stanfield (Gold), Lester Stanfield (Silver), Alex Rud (Bronze)
