Morris, IL, September 15 – Mark Fogel of West Bend, WI, collected his third Midwest Enduro Stock Car Series win of the season during the running of the "Roger Helland Memorial 250" enduro held at the Grundy County Speedway. Fogel took command in the later stages of the 250 lap event to win by a sizeable margin as he crossed the finish line.
Fogel was the overall winner and first in the "A" Class over Don Lunsford. First in the "B" Class was Tom DeYoung over Ken Hocking.
The top ten in each class received plaque awards plus prize money. The awards were courtesy of the friend’s of Roger Helland and Olson’s Auto Wrecking of Seneca.
Jason Condrad won his first ever Midwest Enduro Small Car Series event. Condrad led most of the scheduled 125 laps of the event.
The evening started with the running of the friend’s of Roger Helland sponsored "Roger Helland Memorial 15" Mechanic’s event. Brad Blenker was the winner of the event over Rob Nuti. Nuti closed in on Blenker on the final circuit but was not enough with Blenker’s fast pace during the fifteen lap contest.
The field for the "Roger Helland Memorial 125" Midwest Enduro Small Car Series 4-cylinder event was much smaller than anticipated and hence was going to be one of the fastest paced events in Series history. With most of the drivers returning from experiencing the rain induced Fourth of July event at the speedway, this event was going to be intense as they now had a clear dry track underneath them.
Trevor Partell set the early pace as he darted out from his pole position with Bob Mueller in tow. Partell and Mueller swapped the lead several times in the early going but the event came to a halt on lap 18 for crash and loss of tire. In the melee, Dennis Jones suffered the most damage with a host of others including Partell. As the race resumed, Roger Schultz now battled with Mueller for the top spot having a slight edge at the 25 lap marker. Schultz started to pull away from Mueller but not Condrad as he continued to close the gap. Condrad caught Schultz at the 59 lap marker just prior to Schultz causing another red flag for a loose tire that came off his car. Mark Johler was now pressing Condrad for the lead as they were at the half way point on lap 63. Condrad continued his blistering pace for the remainder of the event to finish three seconds ahead of Johler at the line with current point leader Louis Chatroop next to follow. Condrad, Johler and Chatroop were the only cars on the lead lap at the conclusion of the 125 lap event.
Matt Schlick, the 2005 Midwest Enduro Stock Car Series champion, made his first appearance of the season and darted out front quickly with Ryan Nuti in tow. With a small car count the “Roger Helland Memorial 250” was sure to be hotly contested and fast. Jared Pinkalla joined the leaders and by lap 25 the top five were Schlick, Ryan Nuti, Pinkalla, Lunsford and Art Speciale. The field was slowed on lap 46 for a loose tire from the David Dominguez entry. During the same time, Schlick headed to the pit area with a flat right rear tire. As the race resumed, there were six drivers that looks like they were the ones that would most likely win the event. Speciale, Nuti, Darryl Traber, Lunsford, Geoff VeZain and Fogel were the top cars at the lap 50 marker. As the field approached the first of three mandatory refueling pit stops on lap 67, Speciale was thought to be in the lead but a missed lap in scoring relegated him one lap down with Nuti then shown as the leader.
After the break, Nuti was out in front once again. The red flag was once again shown on lap 72 for another Dominguez tire departure. Another unusual circumstance took place during the red as Nuti’s scorer also missed a lap relegating Nuti one lap down to current leader Traber. At the 75 lap marker it was Traber out front followed by Lunsford, Fogel, VeZain and Speciale. Traber and Fogel started to pull away fromn the rest of the field and by lap 131 were the only two cars on the lead lap. In the “B” class the action was great as well as Hocking and DeYoung were close with 127 laps counted in the record book.
The action did not stop between the second and third pit stop but the line up remained the same except for the battle between DeYoung and Hocking as DeYoung now had the advantage as the field awaited for the final 65 circuits around the 1/3 mile paved oval.
Fogel once again had a great pit stop and held the point as the field was once again lined up for the final laps of the 250 lap event. Fogel got a great jump on Traber as the green was waved and set the pace. The way Fogel or Traber made it through traffic was going to determine the winner of the event. Fogel held the point up to lap 200 when Traber took over one circuit later. Fogel held close on Traber’s rear bumper and for the last 50 laps it looked to be another race to the wire. As Traber and Fogel was coming up on lapped traffic on lap 235, Traber tried to make a pass through the Tom Ruh and Brian Blenker entries and apparently there was not enough room to make it through as Traber suffered a flat left front tire in the melee. With Traber in the pit area for the tire change, Fogel cruised to a one lap advantage over Nuti for the win. Nuti was later disqualified in post race inspection for a tire violation. At the line the official finish had Fogel taking the win followed by Lunsford, Speciale, Blenker and Tom Arnold.
The next Series event is scheduled for Sunday afternoon September 23 at the Charter Raceway Park in Beaver Dam, WI. For further information call (262) 895-6682 from 6- 9 pm. or leave a message. Additional up to date information can be found at the Series website at www.midwestenduro.com
COMPLETE SUMMARY: "Roger Helland Memorial 250" by Olson’s Auto Wrecking
OVERALL FINISH
1. Mark Fogel, West Bend, WI, 250 laps completed; 2. Don Lunsford, Oak Creek, WI, 248; 3. Art Speciale, Bartlett, 244; 4. Brian Blenker, Junction City, WI, 244; 5. Tom Arnold, Minooka, 243; 6. Darryl Traber, Waterford, WI, 243; 7. Tom DeYoung, Lowell, IN, 242; 8. Ken Hocking, Joliet, 242; 9. Brad Jones, Rockton, IL, 240; 10. Jim Watters, Bonfield, 239; 11. Matt Schlick, Cortland, 238; 12. Tom Barnharst, Wind Lake, WI, 238; 13. Jay LeBrun, Antioch, 237; 14. David Paskiewicz, Madison, WI, 235; 15. Tom Ruh, Elkhart Lake, WI, 235; 16. Erich Iversen, Kenosha, WI, 234; 17. Jay Bozart, Milton, WI, 232; 18. Gary Paulick, Racine, WI, 231; 19. Jill Balcerowski, Franklin, WI, 216; 20. Chris Prince, Coal City, 211; 21. John Krolicki, Milwaukee, WI, 211; 22. Julie Hayes, Monee, 197; 23. Mark Tomasi, Wind Lake, WI, 195; 24. Scott Riemer, Brookfield, WI, 191; 25. Geoff VeZain, Ottawa,177; 26. Mike Herwald, Lake Geneva, WI, 137; 27. Mike VanHowe, Oak Lawn, 128; 28. Rick Cregger, Madison, WI, 127; 29. David Dominguez, Edgerton, WI, 57;. 30. Mark Lebeda, Joliet, 49; 31. Jared Pinkalla, Racine, WI, 46; 32. Gerry Galloway, Hanover Park, 46; 33. David Donahue, Milwaukee, WI,14; 34. Ryan Nuti, Edgerton, WI, 0
"A" CLASS
1. Fogel; 2. Lunsford; 3. Speciale; 4. Brian Blenker; 5. Tom Arnold; 6. Traber; 7. Schlick; 8. Barnharst; 9.Paskiewicz; 10. Ruh; 11. Bozart; 12. Tomasi; 13. Riemer; 14. VeZain; 15. Cregger; 16. Jared Pinkalla; 17. Galloway; 18. Donahue; 19. Ryan Nuti
"B" CLASS
1.DeYoung; 2. Hocking; 3. Brad Jones; 4. Watters; 5. LeBrun; 6. Iversen; 7. Paulick; 8. Balcerowski; 9. Prince; 10. Krolicki; 11. Hayes; 12. Herwald; 13. Van Howe; 14. Dominguez; 15. Lebeda;
"Roger Helland Memorial 125" SMALL CAR by Olson’s Auto Wrecking
1. Jason Condrad, Burlington, WI, 125 laps completed; 2. Mark Johler, Des Plaines, 125; 3. Louis Chatroop, Palatine, 125; 4. Steven Mueller, Caledonia, WI, 123; 5. Becky Pinkalla, Racine, WI, 123; 6. Darwin Niemcyzk, Franklin, WI, 122; 7. Bob Palermo, Crown Point, IN, 120; 8. Chris Hart, Edgerton, WI, 120; 9. Lori Jacoby, Elkhorn, WI, 119; 10. Corey Abel, West Bend, WI, 118; 11. Tony Prietzel, Racine, WI; 117; 12. Alex Clubb, Morris, 114; 13. Chet Hartley, Joliet, 112; 14. Mike Weaver, Morris, 106; 15. Rich Shouse, Morris, 106; 16. Ryan Webster, Morris, 101; 17. Steve Bayer, Burlington, WI, 97; 18. Matt Mangiaracina, Machesney Park, 95; 19. Keith Slagg, Racine, WI, 95; 20. Carl Thornton, Aurora, 91; 21. Tom Arnold jr, Minooka, 84; 22. Trevor Partell, Warrenville, 77; 23. Chris Lelak, Crest Hill, 73; 24. Roger Schultz, Rockford, 64; 25. Brian Struck, Morris, 59; 26. Cody Clubb, Coal City, 54; 27. Dusty Heil, Carol Stream, 28; 28. Chris Jones, Rockford, 19; 29. Chad Fagenbaum, DeMotte, IN, 17; 30. John Dosch, Joliet, 10; 31. Dennis Jones, Rockton, 8; 32. Bob Mueller, Racine ,WI, 0
“Roger Helland Memorial 15" Mechanic’s Race by Olson’s Auto Wrecking
1. Brad Blenker, Junction City, WI; 2. Rob Nuti, Stoughton, WI;3. Chuck Hawley, Madison; 4. David Nowaczynski, Oak Creek, WI; 5. Eric Schmitz, West Bend, WI; 6. Rob Morgan, South Milwaukee, WI; 7. Troy Hambrick, Joliet; 8. Ed Jones, Broadhead, WI; WI; 9. Jason Traber, Waterford, WI; 10. James Waschbisch, Racine, WI; 11. Don Hanson, Caledonia, WI; 12. Randy Romanowski, Franklin, WI 13. Roger Ward, Kenosha, WI 14. Andy Pighetti, Sycamore; 15. Paul Weihofen, Jolet,, WI; 16. Christopher Danek, Morris; 17. Howard Lundgren, Streamwood
