By:  Paul Reichert

October 6, 2022

 

A tinge of fall was in the air to signal the start of the 53rd edition of the Oktoberfest Race Weekend at the LaCrosse Speedway.  Over the next four days we will witness over 600 laps of feature racing with 17 different divisions in action.  Thursday’s racing was highlighted by the local LaCrosse divisions wrapping up their seasons and crowning their track champions.  The Super Late Model Knights made their Oktoberfest debut after being rained out last year, and they thrilled the crowd with some very competitive racing.  A daring three wide move by Derek Kraus with six laps remaining would help him make history and claim the ‘knight in shining armor’ trophy.

 

Former LaCrosse track champion Nick Pantizke (Lonsdale, MN) drove by Austin Nason (Roscoe, IL) to take the lead early in the going in the inaugural Super Late Model Knights feature.  Panitzke tried to open up a lead on the field, but Nason stuck right behind Panitzke to stay within a couple car lengths.  Nason slowly closed the difference with Panitzke. Just before the halfway mark Nason started to look underneath for a way past Panitzke, but the LaCrosse veteran pulled away out of turn two.  This went on for about five laps until the yellow came out with eight laps remaining for the stalled car in turn two of Jeff Storm (Waterford, WI).  On the restart Derek Kraus (Stratford, WI) made a bold three wide move underneath both Panitzke and Nason to surge into the top spot.  Pantizke’s car began to fade deep into the field as Nason took over the second position late in the race.  Kraus was not to be denied as he captured the inaugural Super Late Model Knights feature victory.

 

After starting with a heated side-by-side battle for the opening few laps of the Super Late Model Futures feature, Bryan Syer-Keske (Lakeville, MN) got a better run out of turn two to charge past Brady Bill (Reedsburg, WI) to take charge of the race.  Tristan Swanson (Elko New Market, MN) got into a very intense fight with Grant Griesbach (Pewaukee, WI) over the number three position for several laps before Griesbach surges ahead to claim third at the midway mark.  Griesbach’s car was running on rails as he powered his way underneath Bill to move into second place with ten laps to go.  Griesbach had no answer for Syer-Keske as he led gate to wire to claim the victory and an automatic entry into Friday’s running of the Dick Trickle 99.   

 

Grant Brown (Prior Lake, MN) needed a couple of laps before powering past Jackson Lewis (Elko New Market, MN) to lead the early going in the LaCrosse Late Model Oktoberfest 20 lap feature #1.  Nick Clements (West Salem, WI) made his way forward through the field in pursuit of the lead.  By lap eight Clements was right on the rear bumper of Brown as he looked for an opening to dive under Brown.  That opportunity came on lap ten as Clements dove under Brown in turns one and two to assume the top spot.  Don Turner (LaCrosse, WI) and Adam Degenhardt (Coon Valley, WI) tangled in four four on lap 12 to bring out the yellow.  Jerimy Wagner (Onalaska, WI) challenged Clements for the lead on the restart, but Clements pulled away after a couple of laps to keep a tight hold on the top spot.  The memory of his close defeat by a thousand of a second last year was just a memory as Clements scored a long overdue Oktoberfest feature win. 

 

In the second 20 lap Oktoberfest LaCrosse Late Model feature, Ryan Kamish (Farmington, MN) powered his way past Steve Carlson (West Salem, WI) to lead the field at the start.  Kamish maintained about a six car length lead over Steve Carlson, who was not able to make a dent in Kamish’s lead with his patented outside line.  After Adam Degenhardt spun in turn four on lap six, Kamish opened up his lead over Carlson once again.  Dan Fredrickson (Lakeville, MN) was making some impressive moves to get to the front of the field as he cracked the top five on lap eight.  Just as Fredrickson was looking for a way around Kamish the caution came out for a stalled Devin Schmidt in turn two with five laps to go.  Fredrickson wasted little time on the restart to surge past Kamish and assume the race lead.  Fredrickson pulled away to a huge advantage to notch his second feature win this season.  

 

The LaCrosse Sportsmen feature saw a very intense battle take place over the second half of the race between veterans Dave Trute (New Lisbon, WI) and Randy Humfeld (Chaseburg, WI).  Sadly the black flag was shown with five laps to go to Trute for breaking out of the max lap time on two different occasions during the feature.  Humfeld would hold off Chris Weber (West Salem, WI) in the stretch run to claim the win.  Sam Niles (Holmen, WI) finished in seventh as he vaulted over the two title contenders in front of him to score back-to-back season titles for the first time in about 15 years.  Andy Barney (West Salem, WI) came home fourth and one spot ahead of Justin Berg (Bangor, WI) to add the Chase Championship crown to his Rookie of the Year title.

 

Brandon Olson survived a late flurry of yellow flags in the Hornet feature to cross the line in first.  Unfortunately Olson was nabbed for an infraction in post-race inspection, which gave the victory to Justin Schelitzche.  Despite dropping out in the late going, Lester Stanfield had built up enough of a points lead to claim the season championship.  While the Chase contenders struggled in the race, Keanna Barney scored the best finish in tenth place to join her dad as a Chase Champion.

 

Matt Moore powered around the outside of Tim Anderson on lap five of the Six Shooter feature.  Moore endured a rash of caution periods just before the halfway mark and pulled away from the pack to capture an Oktoberfest feature victory.

 

The thrills and excitement of the night concluded with the World Famous Double-O Race, the 12 lap race that alternates between the big track and the ‘action track’ quarter mile.  Mid-Am Racing Series veteran Dale Lecus, Jr. started a little further back from the rest of the field but only needed eight laps to get to the front of the field.  Lecus, Jr. would hold off Midwest Dash racers Phil Malouf and Kyle Stark to claim his first Oktoberfest championship.

 

The racing festivities at the 53rd Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend continue on Friday, October 7 with one of the marquee events of the weekend.  Super Late Models will battle for the Cheese Trophy in the 16th Annual Dick Trickle 99, a race featuring three 33 lap segments.  The driver with the lowest score after the three segments will capture the overall victory.  The Area Sportsmen will feature Sportsmen racers from across the Midwest competing for an Oktoberfest championship.  The LaCrosse Late Models will compete in another pair of 20 lap feature races to decide the Festmaster Champion from the four features run in two days, the driver that outlasts the other 19 to become Chase Champion and the season points championship.  Gates open at 3, qualifying fires up at 3:05 and the furious green flag action begins at 5:30.

 

For more information about the LaCrosse Speedway or the 2022 schedule of events, call the track office at 608-786-1525 or visit our web site at lacrossespeedway.com.  For more information about the 53rd Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend, check out oktoberfestraceweekend.com.  LaCrosse Speedway is proud to be a NASCAR Hometrack, part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.