KASSON, Minn. (June 8, 2002) - It was another great evening at the Dodge County Speedway on Sunday, as spectators and racers entered the fairgrounds. The track looked great, the grandstand was filled, and the sun was shining.

The Wissota Midwest modifieds were the first division to take to the track, and as always, the action was fast and competitive. Jesse Frericks jumped out in front on the first lap from his pole position, while Jerry Young and Harland Morehart battled for second behind him. Young took the position, and not long after, racing came to a halt as Carter Gerlach, Matt Stark, and Dan Fagerlind got together in turns three and four. Acouple cars went to the pits to make necessary repairs, and re-started at the tail of the field.

When racing resumed, Neil Eckhart was on the move, and very fast on the top. Jerry Young was challenging for the lead, and positions were up for grabs throughout the pack.

The next caution came when Morehart had mechanical troubles, and during the caution, Stark and Jade Anderson retired to the pit area with problems also.

On the next re-start, Frericks still held the top spot, followed by Young and Brian Hernandez and Dane Schultz took over the third position while Young inherited the lead after Morehart was sent to the tail, and Young would take the checkers in a very dramatic finish. Going down the backstretch on the cool-down lap, Young's car made hard contact with the concrete, and had to be towed to the pit area.

Next in line were the Wissota Super Stocks, with defending National Champion, Don Eischens in attendance, starting from outside of row six. After a couple failed starts, the cars went to a single file start, and Mark Teske was in command. But Bill Clemens was not going to make it easy. Clemens was all over the back of Teske, and tried everything he could, but could not find a way around. Kenny Wytaske was on the move and had worked his way up to fifth.

Clemens and Teske were putting on quite a show up front, and distancing themselves from the field. Wytaske took over the fourth position, and further back, Eischens was making some progress. Also moving up was Tom Chrest, using the top groove to move forward.

The final caution came when Dan Nissalke and Mark Oltjenbruns got together and spun. With just a handful of laps remaining, Clemens would make one last attempt at getting around Teske but could not make it work. Teske took the win followed by Clemens, Wytaske, Jon Duffy, and Tom Chrest rounded out the top five.

The Wissota Late Models were next on the program, and one car that failed to make the call was Ben Mattick, who took a wild flip, barrel-rolling three times in his heat race. Luckily, he was not injured, but still disappointing for him after looking very fast in the heat race and headed towards the front.

When the green flag flew, it was John Kaanta grabbing the lead, followed by Duane Mahder and a hard-chrging Keith Foss. Foss immediately started to pressure Mahder for second, and then was all over Kaanta, trying to get underneath in every turn. After getting a great run off of turn two, Foss won the drag race down the backstretch and took over the lead.

Mahder also started to pick up the pace, and followed the example set by Foss, to also pass Kaanta and move in to second.

Brent Larson and Joel Cryderman had a great side by side battle going on for the fifth position, and both were trying to reel in the fourth place car of Tom Nesbitt. The top three cars were starting to stretch out a big lead over the others, and after a great run, John Kaanta would be forced to the pit area with a flat right rear tire. He would get it changed and re-start at the tail of the field with only three laps to go.

On the final re-start, Foss would again try to get around Mahder, but to no avail. At the line, it would be Mahder, Foss, Nesbitt, Cryderman and Larson.

What turned out to be the last race of the evening were the Wissota Modifieds. Always putting on an excellent show at the Dodge County Speedway, the Modifieds were once again ready to entertain.

Tim Donlinger drew the lucky number and would start from the pole, along side of Steve Wetzstein. And when the green flag waved, it was Wetzstein getting the jump and taking charge early on.

There were a few cautions early in the race, and Mike Sorenson was an early casualty with mechanical troubles.

Starting from the 12th position, and coming to the front in a hurry, was Todd Scharkey. After only a few laps, he was up to fifth, and had the leaders in his sights.

After a couple cars running in the top five spun, and a couple more cautions, the father and son duo of Leroy Scharkey and Todd Scharkey would go to work on second place Tim Donlinger. Leroy got under Donlinger, and both cars drifted kind of high, and that opened the door for Todd to grab the second spot and move past both of them. And after a couple late-race cautions, Todd Scharkey would put a lot of pressure on Wetzstein, and it almost looked like he was going to have to settle for second.

But, on the last re-start, Todd finally got the run he needed, and just a lap later, Leroy Scharkey would also get around Wetzstein and take second. And at the stripe, it was Todd Scharkey, followed by father Leroy, Wetzstein, Donlinger, and Nathan Kilwine.

Scheduled last were the Wissota Street Stocks, but due to the curfew, the Street Stock feature was postponed until next Sunday, June 16th. Racing will resume then, with all five divisions racing and a double feature for the Wissota Street Stocks.

RESULTS

WISSOTA MIDWEST MODIFIEDS

Heat 1: Bohlman, Young, Carter Gerlach, Scott Olson, Lisowski

Heat 2: Matt Stark, Pfiefer, Schultz, Hainka, Ron Skalicky

Heat 3: Eckhart, Kenny Wytaske, Harland Morehart, Chad Herman, George Schrumpf

Heat 4: Hernandez, Jesse Frericks, Jade Anderson, Ryan Weber

B-Feature: Fagerlind, Tony Angrimson, Nick Kramer, Schrumpf, Scott Grondvold

Feature: Jerry Young, Brian Hernandez, Neil Eckhart, Greg Pfiefer, Alan Bohlman, Daryl Hainka, Jerry Lisowski, Ryan Weber, Dan Fagerlind

WISSOTA SUPER STOCKS

Heat 1: Clemens, Oltjenbruns, Steve O'Malley, Haberman, Dave Solum

Heat 2: Brandon Jensen, Duffy, Eischens, Wytaske, Chrest

Heat 3: Teske, Dan Nissalke, Kelly Anderson, Bridley

Feature: Mark Teske, Bill Clemens, Mark Wytaske, Jon Duffy, Tom Chrest, Don Eischens, Matt Sinna, Derek Bridley, Dave Haberman

WISSOTA LATE MODELS

Heat 1: Larson, Nesbitt, Marty Wold, Chrest, Wrazidlo

Heat 2: John Kaanta, Foss, Cryderman, Aho, Mahder

Feature: Duane Mahder, Keith Foss, Tom Nesbitt, Joel Cryderman, Brent Larson, John Chrest, Paul Wrazidlo, Ryan Aho, Nick Herrick, Joe Bean

WISSOTA MODIFIEDS

Heat 1: Wetzstein, Todd Scharkey, Mike Hernke, Matt Madsen, Jay Poidinger

Heat 2: Mike Sorenson, Jim Arnold, Dean Riess, Leroy Scharkey,

Heat 3: Bobby Sorenson, Nathan Kilwine, Deny Barwald, Donlinger, Karau

Feature: Todd Scharkey, Leroy Scharkey, Steve Wetzstein, Tim Donlinger, Nathan Kilwine, #52??, Dave Siercks, Dean Riess, Bobby Sorenson, Darwyn Karau

WISSOTA STREET STOCKS

Heat 1: Dan Gullickson, Steve Goodenough, Jim Gullickson, Arlen Diercks

Heat 2: Jeff Brauer, Rusty Coleman, Greg Erickson, Tony Sass

Feature: Postponed until June 16th (curfew)