by Chris Stepan

ARCADIA, Wis. (Aug. 31, 2001) - The Fox Ridge Speedway in Arcadia, WI hosted the final regular Friday night of racing for the season on August 31st and the fans in attendance were treated to some of the best racing action at the speedway all season.

Shaun Wehlage took the lead at the start of the Street Stock feature and looked very strong as he began to pull away from the field out front. Jimmy Randall settled into second early on and began to track down Wehlage out front, while Danny Hanson, Mike Prochnow, Travis Krause and Tom Brink were engaged in a great war for third.

Randall continued to be very quick as he tracked down Wehlage and began to dog him for the lead on lap 7. Randall wasted no time stealing the lead away from Shaun and setting off into the night. The caution blinked on with 9 laps remaining, eliminating Randall's lead and putting Wehlage back on his rear bumper.

On the restart, Wehlage tried to shoot to the outside of Randall for the lead, but Jimmy was solid on the inside and again set off into the lead.

Prochnow suddenly came to life and blasted from fifth to third by both Krause and Hanson. Once Prochnow got into third, he appeared to have found a very quick line around the low side of the speedway and quickly reeled in Wehlage for second.

Once Prochnow caught Wehlage, he slipped by him into second and in no time had reeled in Randall and began to pressure him for the lead and the win.

Randall picked it up a notch once he began to feel the pressure and held off Prochnow for the win.

Bill Clemens took the lead from the pole at the start of the Super Stock feature and left the battle behind him for second between Troy Brand, Dan Nissalke and Dennis Dunbar. Nissalke was running very solidly on the high side and continued to pressure Clemens up front.

Brand snuck to the inside of Nissalke and then got back up to the cushion and continued on his tear toward the front. Brand shot to the outside of Clemens for the lead and took off into the lead, shuffling Clemens back into second. An amazing battle was ensuing behind Brand, which included the cars of Clemens, Nissalke, Jason Johnson, John Doelle and Mike Hesselink. Scott Lawrence was also on the move as he began to pick his way toward the front from his mid-pack starting spot.

Back up front, Brand was very solid and continued to stretch his lead until a late-race caution blinked on for a Johnson/Doelle crash. On the restart, Brand again set off into the lead with Clemens using the extreme inside of the speedway and cleared the scramble to appear back in second late in the event. Clemens just couldn't quite muster enough to sneak by Brand, who raced to his first feature win of the season in his # 177.

Clemens recorded a second place run and Hesselink rounded out the top three finishers.

Bob Timm, Brad Waits and Leroy Scharkey raced three-wide into the first turn at the start of the Modified feature, which saw Timm shoot out of the scramble early and take control in his # 49. Timm set off into the lead with Waits and Scharkey giving chase. Waits was not about to let Timm get away with out a fight as Brad dove to the inside of the speedway and pulled alongside of Timm for the lead. The duo swapped the lead several times throughout the event and put on an amazing show for the fans. Scharkey came back to life and began to pressure Timm and Waits up front for the lead, but Timm was just too strong and got back by Waits into the lead again.

The leaders were running in a very tight pack out front and Timm and Waits continued to run side-by-side for the lead with Scharkey, Hank Rollinger and Les Duellman all giving chase. Duellman made his move and slipped by Rollinger and Scharkey into third, but could not break up the intense battle between Timm and Waits up front.

Timm benefited from a late-race caution, which put him out front and settled Waits back into second. On the restart, Waits could not muster enough to pull back alongside of Timm for the lead and had to settle for second. Timm raced to his second win in a row at the speedway.

The Late Models also put on one of the best displays of the season throughout their 30-lap main event. Jerry Redetzke took command early and looked as if he was going to check out on the field until Jason Schill and Bob Timm began to track him down. Schill and Timm were running extremely well in the middle groove of the speedway, while Redetzke was locked t the cushion out front. Timm and Schill were engaged in a great battle for second early on, which soon became a three-car battle as Jon Kurshinsky came out of nowhere and joined the party on the inside of the speedway.

Redetzke continued to roll out front while the pack began to track him down as he began to negotiate lapped traffic. Timm caught Redetzke first and ducked to the inside of him for the lead, which he held briefly before the caution blinked on with 12 laps remaining.

On the restart, Redetzke again shot off into the lead, but Schill and Timm continued to stalk him out front. Kurshinsky again came to life on the inside of the speedway and slipped by Schill into third late in the event and pulled up alongside of Timm for second. Kurshinsky shot to the inside of Timm for second and began to focus his attention on reeling in Redetzke up front.

Kurshinsky pulled even with Redetzke on lap 25 and began an intense 2-lap battle for the lead until he was able to steal the top spot away with 4 laps remaining. Kurshinsky then raced away from the pack to pick up the hard-earned win. Redetzke came home in second with Schill nipping Timm at the line for third.

Racing resumes at the Ridge with our 2-day, year-ending invitational on Friday and Saturday, October 5th and 6th called Thunder at the Ridge. This race will feature WISSOTA Late Models for $3,000 to win; Modifieds for $1,500 to win; WISSOTA Super Stocks for $1,000 to win; WISSOTA Street Stocks for $500 to win and WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds for $500 to win. Camping is free at the track all weekend, music will be provided after the races on Friday night and breakfast will be served on Saturday morning for everyone at the track. For more information, please call Dave at (608) 323-3132, call Chris at (715) 497-8916 or the track at (608) 323-3396 or please check out the tracks website at www.foxridgespeedway.com.

RESULTS

WISSOTA LATE MODELS

Feature: Jon Kurshinsky, Jerry Redetzke, Jason Schill, Bob Timm, Ron Mahder, Keith Foss, Chad Cummings, Duane Mahder, Jeff Keeney, Lance Matthees

Heat 1: D. Mahder, Cummings, Matthees, R. Mahder, Ashley Anderson

Heat 2: Foss, Timm, Troy Brand, Terry Lanphear, Jon Chrest

Heat 3: Redetzke, Kurshinsky, Dan Larson Jr., Schill, Keeney

MODIFIEDS

Feature: Bob Timm, Brad Waits, Les Duellman, Leroy Scharkey, Hank Rollinger Jr., Bruce Angst, Troy Langowski, Steve Speltz, Kerry Ledebuhr, Gary Doelle

Heat 1: Duellman, Tim Ludwigson, Mark Iverson, Langowski, Dan Hesch

Heat 2: Waits, Mike Anderson, Timm, Ledebuhr, Bruce Angst

Heat 3: Rollinger, Keith Foss, Scharkey, Dave Wiersgalla, Steve Speltz

WISSOTA SUPER STOCKS

Feature: Troy Brand, Bill Clemens, Mike Hesselink, Scott Lawrence, John Doelle, Dennis Dunbar, Brian Fetting, Shatney Sanders, Steve Hallquist, Josh Rodewald

Heat 1: Rodewald, Sanders, Dan Nissalke, S. Hallquist, Quinn Arnoldy

Heat 2: Dunbar, Gary Wiersgalla, Brand, Lawrence, Kevin Hager

Heat 3: Jason Johnson, Jon Duffy, Clemens, Jeff Bush, Brock Haines

Heat 4: Doelle, Hesselink, Fetting, Matt Durnen, Brad Lutz

WISSOTA STREET STOCKS

Feature: Jim Randall, Mike Prochnow, Travis Krause, Shaun Wehlage, Danny Hanson, Darryl Foegen, Tom Brink, Tony Sass, Lee Hager, Darran Jonsgaard

Heat 1: Randall, Rick Hanestad, Prochnow, Brink, Dennis Davis

Heat 2: Krause, Wehlage, Kevin Adams, Foegen, David Nastvold

Heat 3: Hanson, Jeremy Sommer, Lester Beardsley, Hager, Andy Bohnstengle