By: Paul Reichert
June 25, 2022
Now that we have reached the halfway mark of the 2022 racing season at the LaCrosse Speedway, it was time to take a little break and enjoy some smashing good action on the ‘action track’ quarter mile during the annual Smash-O-Rama. A lot of vehicles were smashed and destroyed throughout the night, but even truck campers and a piano would not be safe as they would be smashed to bits as well. There was also some competitive racing action on the quarter-mile with the Street Stocks and the High School Racing Association as they gave the fans some exciting action and heart stopping finishes.
Kreg Miller took the early lead from his pole position at the start of the Street Stock feature. 36 year quarter-mile veteran Al Bartels dove low on Miller to power his way to the top on lap three. Just when it looked like Bartels would claim a commanding victory, the caution flew with three laps remaining for a tussle in turn two. Matt Moore wasted little time on the restart as he shot past Bartels to take over the race lead and drove away with the victory.
The High School Racing Association feature only got a lap in when a lot of chaos took out some good drivers. Two separate accidents took out Mitchell Berg and newcomers Anne Green and Trinity Aasen. Inaugural division champion Ashton Kinsey shot to the front of the field quickly on the restart and would never be challenged as he scored an impressive feature win.
The first hard hitting action of the night was the T-Bone Crash. Rock McFadden from Green Bay planned to center-punch the truck bed camper and obliterate it into a million pieces. Instead he hit the camper a little too high and the car ended up stuck in the camper.
McFadden and Hans Anderson from Minneapolis competed for distance in the Yoga Ball Contest. Both competitors were given three attempts to see who could kick the yoga ball the farthest with their cars. The last kick by Anderson was kicked perfectly and went the furthest. It would not be enough as all three attempts by McFadden went right down the middle as he was given the best overall score to win the event.
The Street Stocks were featured in the Relay Race Novelty event. One teammate ran two laps, then bumped their teammate who ran another two laps. After completing ten laps of the race the team of Matthew Cleveland and Charles Vian, Jr. worked the best to claim the win.
The Monster Trucks put on an awesome aerial display as they crunched cars and caught big air to leave the fans in awe. Josh Baumgartner from Litchfield, Minnesota returned with Mechanical Mischief, and he was joined by the Bearly Tame monster truck piloted by Mike Rowley from Grand Forks, North Dakota
Anderson gave a smashing solo performance in the Piano Smash as he hit the perfect note that shattered the piano into nothing but junk. The piano’s shell became the new front nose of his car. Anderson is probably not a fan of tickling the ivories.
Alex Liebsch was the lucky driver to set his sights on destroying an inflatable pool in the Pool Jump. It was more like Liebsch drove right through the pool but he still completely obliterated the pool. The hit was so hard that the contact blew open the hood of the car.
The night of wrecking and crashing concluded with the annual Shipwreck Boat Race. The eleven competitors took out a number of boats as they smashed, crashed and trashed boats still on their trailers and sitting out there on the race tracks. After the hard hitting action it was up to the fans to decide which driver did the best job of destroying boats. Alex Liebsch got the loudest screams and cheers to capture his first Shipwreck Boat Race Fish Trophy.
The night ended with the Magdatude jet car, piloted by Kayla Anderson from Litchfield, Minnesota, burning out a mini-van in just a matter of minutes and leaving nothing but the burning frame of the vehicle. There was even a little mini pedal car on top of the mini-van that disappeared in only 90 seconds.
Action continues next Saturday, July 2 with the Late Models, Sportsmen, Hornets and Six Shooters. The annual wacky Outhouse Race is the Novelty event and the night will go out with a bang. If you thought tonight’s fireworks show was spectacular, just wait until you check next week’s display. It is always the biggest fireworks show in western Wisconsin. Gates open at 5:30, qualifying fires up at 5:45 and the wheel-banging on track action begins at 7.
For more information about LaCrosse Speedway or the 2022 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
Auto Value Street Stocks
Feature (15 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Al Bartels, 3. Matthew Cleveland, 4. Charles Vian, Jr., 5. Ryan Stanfield, 6. Keith Larson, 7. Peter Thompson, 8. Chris Larson, 9. Alex Liebsch, 10. Steven Brasda, 11. Kenan Ward, 12. Tory Lockington, 13. Adam Kerley, 14. John Huebner, 15. Matthew Bornheimer, 16. Kreg Miller, 17. Tim Murphy, Sr., 18. Brian Larson, 19. Jake Schomers, 20. Zachary Morgan, 21. Blake Von Ruden
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Alex Liebsch, 2. Charles Vian, Jr., 3. Adam Kerley, 4. Kenan Ward, 5. Blake Von Ruden, 6. Kreg Miller, 7. Zachary Morgan
Heat #2 (8 laps): 1. Al Bartels, 2. Ryan Stanfield, 3. Tory Lockington, 4. Brian Larson, 5. Tim Murphy, Sr., 6. Steven Brasda, 7. Peter Thompson
Heat #3 (8 laps): 1. Matt Moore, 2. Jake Schomers, 3. John Huebner, 4. Chris Larson, 5. Keith Larson, 6. Matthew Bornheimer, 7. Matthew Cleveland
Qualifying: 1. Matt Moore, 2. Jake Schomers, 3. Chris Larson, 4, John Huebner, 5. Keith Larson, 6. Matthew Bornheimer, 7. Peter Thompson, 8. Steven Brasda, 9. Brian Larson, 10. Al Bartels, 11. Tim Murphy, Sr., 12. Tory Lockington, 13. Ryan Stanfield, 14. Zachary Morgan, 15. Kreg Miller, 16. Alex Liebsch, 17. Adam Kerley, 18. Blake Von Ruden, 19. Kenan Ward, 20. Matthew Cleveland NO TIME, 21. Charles Vian, Jr. NO TIME
High School Racing Association
Feature (15 laps): 1. Ashton Kinsey, 2. Braydon Lockington, 3. Kennedy Krueger, 4. Charlie Thompson, 5. Trinity Aasen, 6. Mitchell Berg, 7. Anne Green
Heat #1 (8 laps): 1. Mitchell Berg, 2. Ashton Kinsey, 3. Braydon Lockington, 4. Charlie Thompson, 5. Trinity Aasen, 6. Anne Green, 7. Kennedy Krueger
Qualifying: 1. Mitchell Berg (New Track Record–16.722), 2. Braydon Lockington, 3. Charlie Thompson, 4. Ashton Kinsey, 5. Anne Green, 6. Trinity Aasen, 7. Kennedy Krueger
Novelty
Relay Race: 1. Matthew Cleveland and Charles Vian, Jr., 2. Keith Larson and Matthew Bornheimer, 3. Mitchell Berg and Braydon Lockington, 4. Jeffrey Von Ruden and Kenan Ward, 5. Al Bartels and Tory Lockington, 6. Brian Larson and Chris Larson, 7. Adam Kerley and Alex Liebsch, 8. Peter Thompson and Steven Brasda, 9. John Huebner and Rob Stanfield
Shipwreck Boat Race (Fan Vote): 1. Alex Liebsch, 2. John Clauson, 3. Adam Kerley