40th Annual WI State Championships Decided

CAMBRIDGE, WI (Saturday, September 19, 2020)              Day two of the 40^th annual Wisconsin State Championships began with Edgerton driver, Casey Johnson in search of a fifth consecutive Late Model title in the yearly event. After finishing the previous evening’s feature event in second place, Johnson continued his dominance of the premier division at Wisconsin’s Action Track to claim another championship. Twin 60 lap Late Model main events highlighted the marathon of features to close out the 2020 racing season at Jefferson Speedway.

The first feature began with Luke Westenberg jumping out to the early lead from the pole with Kyle Smith dropping in line for second. Johnson found himself in the top five by lap five as he made his trek towards the front of the field. Four cautions on the first 20 laps of the event saw Westenberg remain the leader while Shaun Scheel and Johnson worked their way through the top five. By lap 22, Scheel found himself in third with Johnson on his tail in fourth. Scheel made his way to second before another yellow flag slowed the pace on lap 29. As racing resumed, Johnson got under Scheel to grab the second position away and set his sights on Westenberg at the front. One more caution period on lap 39 set up an 21 lap shootout to the finish with Johnson lurking in Westenberg’s rear view mirror. Johnson spent the next ten laps sizing up the leader. But on lap 50, Johnson dove under Westenberg entering turn one. A lap later, Johnson was out front and cruising to the checkers to get the win. Westenberg finished second ahead of Scheel, Michael Grueneberg and Riley Stenjem.

Part two of the twin bill sponsored by Brown Heating and Air Conditioning began with Seth Reamer and Max Kahler at the front. After an early caution, Kahler moved ahead with the lead while Reamer remained close by in second. Reamer fought back on the high side of Kahler on lap 11, and after a good battle, stuck his mount out front alone on lap 20. Reamer began to stretch his lead with Kahler in second and Michael Grueneberg in third. Meanwhile, Johnson was once again charging toward the front in his quest for a fifth straight title. Johnson methodically picked his way through the top five, finding himself behind Grueneberg for third with around ten laps to go. Johnson completed the pass for the third spot on lap 51, but ran out of time to move ahead any further. At the checkers, it was Reamer with the big win followed by Kahler, Johnson, Shaun Scheel and Grueneberg. When the dust settled, it was Casey Johnson standing tall as the 2020 Late Model state champion once again for the sixth time in the previous seven seasons.

Twin 35 lap Sportsman features kicked off with Chris Weber grabbing the early lead while Randy Breunig charged up to second. Breunig worked past Weber on lap 12 to take over the top spot as the leaders began to pull away slightly. Robert Hansberry Jr worked his way up to second on lap 29, but with only six laps remaining, it looked like Breunig would sail to victory. But a caution on lap 30 erased Breunig’s huge lead, pitting him alongside Hansberry for the final five circuits. On the restart. Hansberry moved ahead, taking sole possession of the lead on lap 32. Mark Deporter slipped by Breunig as well in the closing laps, but Hansberry crossed under the checkers first to get the win. Deporter was second followed by Breunig, Weber and Chris Jones.

The second 35 lapper began with Adam Schook taking control of the top spot with Jake Biever in second. Jason Thoma worked around Biever on lap 16 just before the caution flew. Schook and Thoma led the field back to green with Thoma grabbing the lead on the restart. Chris Weber followed up to second as the laps began to tick away. Mark Deporter moved into third on lap 28, but Thoma had the field covered out front to secure the feature win. Weber was second with Mark Deporter, Robert Hansberry Jr and Tyler Deporter rounding out the top five. After combining top five finishes in the features, Fort Atkinson’s Mark Deporter was named the overall Sportsman champion of the two day event.

The International division competed in twin 25 lap feature events to determine the overall champion for the weekend. Tyler Deschaine of Loves Park, IL, claimed both features on Saturday night to pick up the overall title. Deschaine took over the top spot in the first feature on lap eight with Kyle Stark quickly up to second a lap later. Start drove to the high side of Deschaine on lap ten, moving ahead on lap 12. Two cautions in the waning laps set up a shootout to the finish with Stark and Deschaine side by side. Deschaine won the battle, taking the lead on lap 22 and holding it through the checkered flag to claim the race. Stark settled for second followed by John Handeland, Mike Lambert and Gary Stark.

Nick Schmidt took the early lead in the second feature event. Schmidt held the advantage until a caution on lap 14 slowed the action. Schmidt and Ryan Nelson led the field back to green with Schmidt regaining the top spot on the restart. Deschaine moved around Nelson on lap 16, continuing forward alongside Schmidt on lap 19. Another yellow on lap 21 set up a four lap spring to the checkers with Schmidt and Deschaine on the front row. As racing resumed, Deschaine grabbed the lead and ran to the checkers to get the win. Schmidt was second followed by Nelson, Brent Nottestad and Mike Lambert.

Twin 30 lap Hobby Stock feature events began with Ken Scott and Dustin Ward on row one battling for the lead. Ward eventually took the lead on lap seven. A melee on lap nine brought out the sole caution  of the first 30 lapper. Ward and Jim Tate Jr led the pack back to green with Tate moving into the lead. Kolton Guralski followed into second and went right to work on the new leader. Guralski drove to the high side of Tate, trying to edge ahead. On lap 20, Guralski gained the top spot as they raced into turn one. Guralski held the advantage to score the win in the first feature event. Tate was second followed by Chester Williams, Chris Flairty and Jared Vike

Scott Riedner grabbed the lead of feature number two with his son, Brandon, charging up to second. Brandon moved to the outside lane, drawing even with Scott on lap four. Brandon cleared for the top spot on lap seven and began to pull away while Scott tried to hold off the field behind him. As they laps wound down, Guralski got alongside Riedner, eventually taking the second spot away on lap 28. But Brandon Riedner remained unchallenged to score the win with Guralski, Scott Riedner, Chris Flairty and Jared Vike rounding out the top five. With his top finishes, Wausau’s Kolton Guralski claimed the overall championship in the Hobby Stock division.

Dillon Schwanbeck of Poynette opened up the twin 25 lap Legends features taking the win after a late race pass. Michael Weber led early with Schwanbeck up to second on lap five. Aaron Moyer made his way up to challenge Schwanbeck on lap 18, moving into second before the caution waved a lap later. Weber regained the advantage on the restart with Schwanbeck following up to second. On lap 23, Schwanbeck got under Weber, stealing the top spot away and hanging on to see the checkers first. Weber finished second with Max McNamara, Moyer and James Lynch completing the top five.

Chad Olds grabbed the point in the second feature and quickly moved out to a healthy advantage. Aaron Moyer and Ethan Ross battled for second before a caution on lap nine slowed the pace. Olds and Moyer led the field back to green. Ross joined the battle as they raced three wide on the restart. Moyer emerged with the lead on lap ten with Ross in second. Another yellow waved on lap 20, pitting Moyer and Ross on the front row for the restart. Moyer took back the lead as racing resumed and hung on to see the checkers first. Max McNamara moved up to finish second with Schwanbeck, Lynch and Michael Guderski rounding out the top five. With finishes of first and third, Dillon Schwanbeck captured the overall Legends title.

The first of twin 15 lap Bandolero features began with Chase Wangsness out front. After a caution on lap two, Wangsness was joined by Anna Price and Tucker Bodendorfer in a three way battle for the lead. Jevin Guralski joined the fight, emerging alongside side Wangsness on lap five. Guralski took the top spot for himself, holding it through the checkers for the win. Alex Hartwig claimed second followed by Price, Cohen Henze and Wangsness.

After several early cautions in the second 15 lapper, Anna Price took the lead with Chase Wangsness up to second. Jevin Guralski moved into third with Alex Hartwig right behind in fourth. Guralski and Hartwig moved past Wangsness on lap six, pulling up behind Price. Contact between Guralski and Price on lap eight resulted with Price spinning to force another caution. Both were relegated to the rear of the field for the restart with Hartwig now the  leader. Hartwig raced to the checkers from there to pick up the win with Wangsness in second. Avery Linnerud finished third followed by Tucker Bodendorfer and Axel Oldenhoff.

This closes the regular racing season at Jefferson Speedway for 2020. Please refer to jeffersonspeeway.com for other planned events at the facility. Jefferson Speedway is located haflway between Jefferson and Cambridge on Hwy 18.

JEFFERSON SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY

Late Model-

Last Chance Race

Feature #1

Feature #2

Sportsman-

Feature #1

Feature #2

International-

Feature #1

Feature #2

Hobby Stock-

Consy-

Last Chance

Feature #1

Feature #2

Legends-

Qualifying

Qualifier Races

Last Chance

Feature #1

Feature #2

Bandolero-

Qualifying

Qualifier Races

Last Chance

Feature #1

Feature #2