Steve Dobbratz Captures Overall Title at State Championships
By Andrew Schaller
September 14, 2008; Jefferson WI –After a rain shortened show on Friday and a lengthy delay on Saturday, the racing action went into the early morning hours of Sunday ending with Rio’s Steve Dobbratz claiming the overall title at the 28th Annual Miller Brewing State Championships at Jefferson Speedway. Dobbratz combined finishes of 4th and 6th in the dual 50 lap features to get the championship after coming up two points shy of the track championship only week earlier.
Jeremy Miller of Rockton, IL set the pace for the Late Models in qualifying, turning a lap of 14.232 seconds. Miller encountered problems during the first feature and never seemed to recover fully to mount a challenge. Fort Atkinson’s Jason Erickson dominated the first of two 50 lap Big 8 Series feature events after starting on the outside of row one and leading every lap of the contest. Two early cautions slowed the race, but Erickson maintained complete control over the field. Erickson cruised to the easy victory with Tim Sargent, Kyle Jarlsberg, Dobbratz and Michael Bilderback rounding out the top five.
In the second 50 lap contest, it was Doug Hahn of Whitewater showing the way after a mid-race pass for the lead gave him the win. Skylar Holzhausen and Ross Kenseth paced the field at the drop of the green. The duo battled side by side until Holzhausen cleared for the spot on lap six. But two laps later, Holzhausen spun by himself in turn four, handing the lead to Kenseth. Another caution period slowed the pack on lap 13, and after the restart, Kenseth drifted high in turn two allowing Hahn to slip by for the top spot. Meanwhile, Erickson was making his way forward, trying to claim the overall title, in a pack with Jarlsberg and Dobbratz. On lap 14, Jarlsberg got loose and spun into the side of Erickson. The accident essentially ended Erickson’s hopes of winning the championship as he was forced to restart the race in the rear. Hahn and Kenseth began to stretch their advantage over the field until the yellow waved a final time on lap 37. After the restart, Kenseth took a look underneath Hahn, but the leader was able to maintain his advantage. Kenseth stayed large in the rearview mirror of Hahn, but was not able to challenge for the position. At the stripe, it was Hahn for the win followed by Kenseth, Jon Reynolds, Brady Liddle and Casey Johnson. As mentioned, Steve Dobbratz was crowned the overall champion with Hahn claiming second and Casey Johnson third.
McFarland’s Tory Bagley owned the field; as he went on to win the 50 lap Sportsman feature event. After a lap one caution, James Helmer took the initial lead with Bagley shooting up behind for second. On lap three, Bagley took a peek to the inside of Helmer and pulled even as Jay Kalbus watched the battle from third. A three way fight for the lead ensued as the competitors traded a little paint until lap 7 when Bagley finally took over the top spot. Meanwhile, Bret Schmidt was moving through the field and into the top five on lap 8. Schmidt quickly moved up to fourth while Bagley stretched his lead. Schmidt made his way past Kalbus and alongside Helmer for second. Schmidt cleared on lap 21 with Kalbus following in his tracks. Caution slowed the field on lap 26, bunching up the leaders for the restart. But Bagley had the field covered as he cruised to the win followed by Schmidt, Kalbus, Helmer and Fred Nason.
In International action, Janesville’s Mark English capped his 2008 track championship by also capturing the 35 lap feature event. English began his trek to the front from the outside of row six while Matt McKinney claimed the early lead. Chris Gottschalk slid up to second and began to challenge the leader. Gottschalk went to the low side of McKinney, clearing for the lead down the backstretch on lap 11. Rodney Mundt followed under McKinney for second while English began to shadow the top five. English joined the group on lap 21 as he picked off a car per lap, moving into second on lap 24. English started to run down Gottschalk, catching him on lap 27. One lap later, English moved to the inside of the leader, taking the spot for himself on lap 28 and motoring off to the checkers for the win. Rounding out the top five were Gottschalk, Mundt, Casey Strese and Kenny Au.
Dave Trute of New Lisbon charged through the field and claimed the 40 lap Hobby Stock feature. Dustin Ward grabbed the top spot on lap one with Alan Dorn following in second. Trute moved up to third and went to work on Dorn for second. Trute got around Dorn on lap eight and moved up alongside Ward for the lead. Lap ten saw Trute take the position and begin to pull away. Trute was never challenged as the event went caution free and he saw the checkers first for the win. Ward was second followed by Brad Luck, Jim Tate and Dorn.
The 35 lap Bandit feature rounded out the championship events with John Beale taking the win and the title. Jeff LeFave took the early lead with Barrett Hammond in second and Beale sitting in third. The leaders ran nose to tail until lap 14 when Hammond drifted high allowing Beale to get inside him for the second spot. Caution waved on lap 16, and as the green returned, Beale got underneath LeFave, taking the lead entering turn three. Track champion Tommy Pfeifer was slicing through the field and into third as Beale took the lead. Pfeifer got around LeFave for second as another caution waved on lap 28. After the restart, Pfeifer began to look to the outside of Beale for the lead, but Beale was able to hold him off for the win. Pfeifer took second with LeFave, Brian Beale and Dennis Johnson rounding out the top five.
The two day event brings to a close a great season of racing at Jefferson Speedway. Jefferson Speedway is located halfway between Jefferson and Cambridge on Hwy 18. For more information, please visit www.jeffersonspeedway.com.
Jefferson Speedway Miller Brewing State Championships Race Summary
Big 8 Series Late Model-
50 Lap Feature No. 1 Results- 1) 94 Jason Erickson, Fort Atkinson 2) 11 Tim Sargent, S.Beloit,IL 3) 87 Kyle Jarlsberg, Cambridge 4) 52 Steve Dobbratz, Rio 5) 2 Michael Bilderback, S.Beloit, IL 6) 5 Casey Johnson, Stoughton 7) 16 Luke Westenberg, Jefferson 8) 18 Brady Liddle, Oregon 9) 88 Jon Reynolds,Jr, Roscoe,IL 10) 99 Doug Hahn, Whitewater 11) 78 Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor 12) 25 Ross Kenseth, Spring Valley,IL 13) 28 Bobby Wilberg, Beloit 14) 17 Ryan Carlson, Loves Park,IL 15) 97 Jason Schuler, Cambridge 16) 27 Jim Duchow, Appleton 17) 51 Wes Coon, Nekoosa 18) 97 Scott Broughton, Stoughton 19) 61 Jerry Eckhart, Johnson Creek 20) 01 Ed Szelagowski, Westfield 21) 44 Roger Behlke, Jefferson 22) 57 Ryan Miles, Crystal Lake 23) 5 Jeremy Miller, Rockton,IL 24) 4 Chris Quam, Stoughton
50 Lap Feature No. 2 Results- 1) 99 Doug Hahn, Whitewater 2) 25 Ross Kenseth, Spring Valley,IL 3) 88 Jon Reynolds,Jr, Roscoe,IL 4) 18 Brady Liddle, Oregon 5) 5 Casey Johnson, Stoughton 6) 52 Steve Dobbratz, Rio 7) 16 Luke Westenberg, Jefferson 8) 2 Michael Bilderback, S.Beloit,IL 9) 17 Ryan Carlson, Loves Park,IL 10) 11 Tim Sargent, S.Beloit,IL 11) 97 Scott Brougton, Stougton 12) 28 Bobby Wilberg, Beloit 13) 78 Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor 14) 94 Jason Erickson, Fort Atkinson 15) 51 Wes Coon, Nekoosa 16) 57 Ryan Miles, Crystal Lake 17) 61 Jerry Eckhart, Johnson Creek 18) 44 Roger Behlke, Jefferson 19) 01 Ed Szelagowski, Westfiled 20) 27 Jim Duchow, Appleton 21) 87 Kyle Jarlsberg, Cambridge 22) 97 Jason Schuler, Cambridge 23) 5 Jeremy Miller, Rockton,IL 24) 4 Chris Quam, Stoughton
Overall State Championship Finish- 1) 52 Steve Dobbratz, Rio 2) 99 Doug Hahn, Whitewater 3) 5 Casey Johnson, Stoughton 4) 11 Tim Sargent, S.Beloit,IL 5) 88 Jon Reynolds,Jr, Roscoe,IL 6) 18 Brady Liddle, Oregon 7) 2 Michael Bilderback, S.Beloit,IL 8) 25 Ross Kenseth, Spring Valley,IL 9) 16 Luke Westenberg, Jefferson 10) 94 Jason Erickson, Fort Atkinson 11) 87 Kyle Jarlsberg, Cambridge 12) 78 Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor 13) 17 Ryan Carlson, Loves Park,IL 14) 28 Bobby Wilberg, Beloit 15) 97 Scott Broughton, Stoughton 16) 51 Wes Coon, Nekoosa 17) 27 Jim Duchow, Appleton 18) 61 Jerry Eckhart, Johnson Creek 19) 97 Jason Schuler, Cambridge 20) 57 Ryan Miles, Crystal Lake 21) 44 Roger Behlke, Jefferson 22) 01 Ed Szelagowski, Westfield 23) 5 Jeremy Miller, Rockton,IL 24) 4 Chris Quam, Stoughton
Fast Qualifier- 5 Jeremy Miller—14.232 seconds
Last Chance 1- 28 Bobby Wilberg, 99 Doug Hahn
Last Chance 2- 18 Brady Liddle, 51 Wes Coon
Qual 1- 88 Jon Reynolds,Jr, 97 Jason Schuler
Qual 2- 5 Casey Johnson, 16 Luke Westenberg
Dash Winners- 1) 52 Steve Dobbratz 2) 97 Scott Broughton
Preview Feature Winner- 97 Scott Brougton
Sportsman-
50 Lap Feature Results- 1) 52 Tory Bagley, McFarland 2) 20 Bret Schmidt, Watertown 3) 27 Jay Kalbus, Watertown 4) 7 James Helmer, Oconomowoc 5) 14 Fred Nason 6) 26 Scott Riedner, Waunakee
Fast Qualifier- 20 Bret Schmidt—15.037 seconds
Last Chance- 6 Chris Ehrhart, 55 Terry Wangsness, 38 Brent Gergen, 42 Tom Reents
Qual – 67 Russ Nicholson, 83 James Assmann
Preview Feature Winner- 26 Scott Riedner
International-
35 Lap Feature Results- 1) 57 Mark English, Janesville 2) 61 Chris Gottschalk, Jefferson 3) 21 Rodney Mundt, Lake Mills 4) 23 Casey Strese, Watertown 5) 31 Kenny Au, Jefferson 6) 05 Ashley Smith, Lake Mills
Fast Qualifier- 57 Mark English- 16.505 seconds
Last Chance- 0 Keith Bell, 22 Mark Dewey, 32 Phil Malouf, 75 Tucker Miller
Qual- 00 Scott Hoeft, 3 Cody Strese
Preview Feature Winner- 4 Stephen Scheel
Hobby Stock-
40 Lap Feature Results- 1) 76 Dave Trute, New Lisbon 2) 9 Dustin Ward, Waterloo 3) 67 Brad Luck, Prairie du Sac 4) 27 Jim Tate, Watertown 5) 96 Alan Dorn, Columbus 6) 33 Jimmy Robinson, Orfordville
Fast Qualifier- 27 Jim Tate—16.347 seconds
Last Chance- 92 Kyle Stark, 2 Eaan Carson, 49 Buck Stultz, 71 Jamie Dunn
Qual- 88 Roger Stephenson, 20 Gary Pashley
Preview Feature Winner- 9 Dustin Ward
Bandit-
35 Lap Feature Results- 1) 04 John Beale 2) 57 Tommy Pfeifer, Fort Atkinson 3) 81 Jeff LeFave, Madison 4) 4 Stephen Scheel, Lake Mills 5) 3 Dennis Johnson 6) 45 Matt Goodwin, Beloit
Fast Qualifier- 57 Tommy Pfeifer—14.408 seconds
Last Chance- 4 Brian Beale, 54 Richie Henson, 93 Heather Stark, 87 Ryan Oetzel
Qual- 31 Michael Heimann, 90 Tytus Helgestad
Preview Feature Winner- 31 Alex Lee