Lake Mills pilot, Shaun Scheel, inherited the lead following a spin at the front of the field and hung on to win the Red Line BBQ 50 lap Late Model main event on Saturday night. The win marks Scheel’s second feature victory on the young season at Wisconsin’s Action Track, Jefferson Speedway.
Shane Radtke and Scott Patrick paced the field to green with Patrick gaining the early advantage on the opening lap. Radtke battled back to draw even with Patrick as the pair fought for control of the top spot. The first of several yellow flags waved on lap six for a spinning Seth Reamer in turn two. On the restart, Radtke moved ahead of Patrick to claim the lead. Patrick fell back into a battle for second with Stephen Scheel.
A lap later, Scheel cleared Patrick for second while Casey Johnson filled the gap under Patrick. Johnson followed Scheel into third on lap ten. Scheel quickly set his sights on the leader, Radtke, drawing even on lap 15 and sliding into the lead as they raced off turn four. Johnson continued to follow Scheel, making his way to second a lap later. Johnson immediately began to apply heavy pressure to the new leader, searching for an opening. On lap 20, Scheel got loose and couldn’t collect his machine exiting turn two. The spin forced the second caution period of the race putting Johnson out front. On the restart, Johnson got loose in turn four. As he tried to correct, he made contact with Radtke and the duo made hard contact to force another yellow flag.
The incident ended both drivers’ evenings and handed the top spot to Shaun Scheel with 30 laps to go. Shaun Scheel and Kurt Kleven led the pack back to green with Scheel charging into the lead through turns one and two. Kleven dropped in line behind Scheel as they lined up single file. Scheel maintained the point through two more cautions while Dale Nottestad entered the top three, trying to close on the leaders. A final yellow flag flew in the closing laps, setting up a green-white-checkered finish with Scheel still showing the way. But the top three remained unchanged as they flew to the checkers with Scheel picking up the feature win followed by Kleven, Nottestad, Luke Westenberg and Dylan Schuyler.
In Sportsman action, it was Jefferson’s Jason Thoma charging to the front and winning the 35 lap feature event. Chris Harmon and Sean Eurick brought the field to green as they battled side by side for control. Harmon grabbed the lead on lap four with Eurick back to second. Nick Bruley used a three wide maneuver to slide into third with Thoma trying to stay in his tracks. Bruley got by Eurick on lap seven to claim the second position while Thoma followed into third a lap later. Bruley closed in behind Harmon, getting to his inside on lap 13 while Thoma watched closely from third. Bruley cleared Harmon for the lead on la 14 with Thoma in tow for second. Thoma wasted no time, making his move under the new leader a lap later.
The duo raced wheel to wheel for several laps until Thoma managed to move ahead of Bruley on lap 20. Thoma cruised from there to the checkers to claim the win with Bruley settling for second. Robert Hansberry Jr, Tytus Helgestad and Chris Jones rounded out the top five.
Blake Nottestad of Cambridge flexed his muscle en route to winning the 20 lap International feature event. Keith Bell led early from the front row with David Russell up to second and Mark English in third. Russell got by Bell for the point on lap three with English in his tracks for second. English quickly dove under Russell, stealing the lead on lap four with Weston Strese in tow for second.
A lap later, Nottestad joined the leaders in third as the three lined up nose to tail and began to break away from the rest of the field. Nottestad began working the high side of Strese for second, finally drawing even and making the pass on lap 16. Nottestad set his sights on English, continuing to use the outside groove. Nottestad pulled up alongside the leader on lap 17 as they raced for control. A good run by Nottestad through turns three and four netted him the lead on lap 18 and he drove off to secure the win with Strese slipping by English for second in the closing laps. Devon Dixon was fourth with Russell completing the top five.
Chris Gottschalk of Fort Atkinson was credited with the win in the 20 lap Bandit feature event. Kienbaum grabbed the lead on lap one from the pole with Caden Pankow in second. Ryan Oetzel made his way up to third, slipping under Pankow for second on lap seven. Max Larson joined Oetzel in the pursuit of Kienbaum, moving into third on lap 13. Larson began to apply pressure to Oetzel for second on lap 17 while Kienbaum continued to show the way.
Chris Gottschalk joined the battle as the three drivers fought for the second spot on the scoreboard. Gottschalk gained control of the position with a lap to go as he watched Kienbaum cross under the checkers to complete the race. Following post race inspection, Kienbaum was forced to vacate his finishing position, handing the win to Gottschalk. Larson was second followed by Pankow, Tom Schuette and Oetzel.
Racing continues next Saturday, June 15, with time trials at 4 PM and racing at 6 PM. Please visit jeffersonspeedway.com for more information.
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