Hahn Claims Overall Title at State Championships
By Andrew Schaller
JEFFERSON, WI (Saturday, September 18, 2010) Doug Hahn of Whitewater captured the overall title at the 30th annual Wisconsin State Championships at Jefferson Speedway. Hahn combined solid finishes of second and fifth in the Twin 75 lap Late Model features to claim the honor.
Jefferson’s Kyle Jarlsberg laid claim to the first of two Late Model main events. Jason Schuler and Dale Nottestad led the field of 24 competitors to the green flag with Nottestad moving out into the early lead. Ryan Zielski followed into second with Jarlsberg claiming the third spot on lap two. Nottestad began to stretch his lead until a caution on lap ten erased his advantage. As racing resumed, Nottestad once again opened up a big lead until Dave Edwards spun in turn four to bring out caution number two. Unfortunately, Nottestad didn’t see the parked car of Edwards in time as the leader struck Edwards sending both to the pit area and handing the top spot to Zielski. On the restart, Jarlsberg dove to the inside of Zielski as they pulled even down the backstretch. On lap 17, the duo made contact in turns one and two, forcing them up the track and opening the door for Hahn on the inside. Jarlsberg and Hahn emerged side by side as Zielski dropped to fourth. Jarlsberg claimed sole possession of the lead on lap 20 with Hahn staying right in his tracks in second. Hahn continued to apply heavy pressure to the new leader. Three more cautions slowed the action, but each time Jarlsberg held serve at the point with Hahn searching for a way around. But Jarlsberg remained out front as they came to the checkers. Hahn settled for second followed by Ryan Carlson, Zielski and Jon Reynolds Jr.
Tim Sargent of South Beloit captured the second Late Model feature, leading every lap from the pole. Starting alongside Steve Dobbratz, Sargent grabbed the lead on lap one with Dobbratz dropping in line in second. The sole caution of the race waved on lap seven when Alex Papini and Ryan Goldade made hard contact with the turn three wall. As racing resumed, Sargent and Dobbratz broke away from the pack while Jason Erickson challenged Dylan Schuyler for third. As the laps ticked away, Jarlsberg tried to keep pace with Hahn as they kept the overall title in mind. On lap 45, Jarlsberg moved up to seventh with Hahn riding in sixth which tied them for the overall lead. But Hahn quickly moved into the top five, placing one car between the pair of Jefferson Speedway hot shoes and giving him the overall championship lead. Nobody challenged Sargent at the point however, as he cruised to the checkers for the win followed by Dobbratz in second. Rounding out the top five were Schuyler, Erickson and Hahn. Hahn captured the overall title by one position over Jarlsberg.
In Sportsman action, Scott Riedner of Waunakee was crowned overall champion after combining a sixth and second place finish in each of the twin 35 lap feature events for his division. In feature number one, it was Curt Thompson of Jefferson getting the win after a thrilling finish on the final lap. Shaun Scheel and Brady Lilly led the field to green. The duo battled door to door over the opening four laps while Thompson watched from third. On lap five, Lilly grabbed the top spot with Thompson following into second. The top two pulled away from the pack while Thompson tried to find a way around the leader. Austin Nason joined the leaders as Thompson fought to keep him in third. On lap 29, Nason spun in turn two forcing a caution and setting up a six lap shootout to the finish. Thompson dove under Lilly as the green waved once again, pulling even a lap later as they raced towards the finish. Thompson stayed to the inside of Lilly as they flew past the white flag. The two drivers made contact entering turn three on the final circuit, and then again exiting turn four. At the stripe, Thompson owned a slight advantage to pick up the win with Lilly, Randy Bruenig, Scheel and James Helmer completing the top five.
In the second Sportsman contest, it was Phil Denikas of Columbus hanging on to bring home the win after leading the majority of the event. Rick Coppernoll took the initial lead on lap one with Denikas firing up to second. Denikas quickly moved around Coppernoll and into the top spot on lap two with Jay Kalbus up to second. Kalbus continued to fill up the rear view mirror of Denikas as Doug Bennett joined the leaders at the front. Bennett made his move past Kalbus on lap 15 and then pulling up to the rear bumper of Denikas. Caution waved on lap 26, and while under the yellow, Bennett experienced a flat rear tire, forcing him to relinquish the second spot back to Kalbus. As racing resumed, Riedner found himself in third. Riedner quickly charged underneath Kalbus to steal away the second spot. Riedner took his turn to challenge Denikas for the lead, but Denikas was up to the challenge as he held Riender off to see the checkers first. Rounding out the top five were Riedner, Kalbus, Helmer and Mark Deporter.
Kyle Stark of Sun Prairie took top honors in the 40 lap International feature event. Kyle Smith and Travis Schneeberg made up row one at the start with Smith taking control on lap two. Stephen Scheel followed into second as he quickly began to challenge for the top spot. Scheel claimed the lead on lap five as Stark entered the top five. Mike Lambert slid under Smith looking for second and continuing forward alongside Scheel. Lambert took his turn at the front of the field, claiming the lead on lap ten. Two laps later, Lambert got very loose in turns one and two, sliding up the track and allowing Scheel and Smith to drive by. Smith briefly took the lead again, but Stark pounced on the inside to claim the top spot on lap 13. Stark immediately drove out to a healthy advantage as Scheel worked his way back into second. Stark stayed strong through two late cautions to get the win followed by Scheel, Mark English, Casey Strese and Smith.
An exciting finish to the 40 lap Hobby Stock main event ended with Steven Sauer of Waterloo sitting in victory lane with the win. Chester Williams led early on with Brent Gergen in second and Dustin Ward up to third. On lap five, Gergen nosed his mount into the lead as Ward followed him past Williams. Ward wasted little time moving past Gergen and opening up a large lead. Meanwhile, Sauer was slicing his way through the top five. Sauer took the second spot from Gergen on lap 11, as he looked to close the gap on Ward for the lead. Sauer chipped away at the lead until he was sitting on Ward’s back bumper by lap 33. Ward drove to the bottom trying to protect his lead while Sauer looked to the outside. Sauer pulled even with Ward on lap 36 as they battled side by side. Ward stayed low while Sauer worked the high side. As they came to the checkers, Sauer surged forward to nip Ward at the line for the win. Ward settled for second followed by Larry Moen, Jim Tate and Gergen.
Bill Reynolds capped a dominating season in the Road Warrior division as he walked away with the win in the 15 lap feature event. Tina Stephenson led early on with Kyle Dopkins staying to her outside. Reynolds sliced through the middle of the pack and into the lead on lap two as he quickly opened up a large lead. Reynolds continued to increase his advantage as Bill Sweeney made his way to second. Sweeney cut into the lead Reynolds was enjoyed as the laps wound down. On the final lap, Sweeney caught the leader entering turn three. The duo made contact before exiting turn four, but Reynolds crossed the stripe first to get the win. Sweeney was second followed by Bryan Ellis, Jared Larson and Dopkins.
Rounding out the two day program was the 35 lap Bandit feature event. Dave Schmidt of Menomonie led from start to finish picking up the victory. Starting from the pole, Schmidt grabbed control on lap one with Jim Lorang charging up to second. Lorang remained in Schmidt tracks as Will Rece looked for a way past Dylan Buckingham for third. Rece managed to squirt past on lap 18 as the leaders lined up single file. They stayed nose to tail over the remainder of the contest as Schmidt captured the win followed by Lorang, Rece, Phil Wuesthoff and Buckingham.
The 30th annual Wisconsin State Championships complete the regular racing schedule for the 2010 season. Please visit www.jeffersonspeedway.com for more information regarding future events at the track.
Wisconsin State Championship Race Summary
Late Model-
75 lap Feature #1 Results- 1) 87 Kyle Jarlsberg, Jefferson 2) 99 Doug Hahn, Whitewater 3) 55 Ryan Carlson, Loves Park (IL) 4) 21 Ryan Zielski, Oconomowoc 5) X Jon Reynolds Jr, Rockford (IL) 6) 99 Jerry Gille, Roscoe (IL) 7) 94 Jason Erickson, Fort Atkinson 8) 97 Jason Schuler, Cambridge 9) 33 Dylan Schuyler, Jefferson 10) 39 Tim Sargent, S.Beloit (IL) 11) 52 Steve Dobbratz, Rio 12) 97 James Swan, Lake Geneva 13) 44 Roger Behlke, Jefferson 14) 39 Ryan Goldade, Edgerton 15) 14 Zack Riddle, Brooklyn 16) 39 Alex Papini, Rockford (IL) 17) 18 Dan Lensing, Roscoe (IL) 18) 77 Bruce Lee, Cambridge 19) 61 Jerry Eckhardt, Johnson Creek 20) 29 Davey Pennel, Sparta 21) 4 Chris Quam, Stoughton 22) 5 Casey Johnson, Stoughton 23) 51 Dale Nottestad, Cambridge 24) 5 Dave Edwards, Salem
75 lap Feature #2 Results- 1) 39 Tim Sargent, S.Beloit (IL) 2) 52 Steve Dobbratz, Rio 3) 33 Dylan Schuyler, Jefferson 4) 94 Jason Erickson, Fort Atkinson 5) 99 Doug Hahn, Whitewater 6) X Jon Reynolds Jr, Rockford (IL) 7) 87 Kyle Jarlsberg, Jefferson 8) 99 Jerry Gille, Roscoe (IL) 9) 97 Jason Schuler, Cambridge 10) 18 Dan Lensing, Roscoe (IL) 11) 14 Zack Riddle, Brooklyn 12) 21 Ryan Zielski, Oconomowoc 13) 44 Roger Behlke, Jefferson 14) 97 James Swan, Lake Geneva 15) 4 Chris Quam, Stoughton 16) 61 Jerry Eckhardt, Johnson Creek 17) 77 Bruce Lee, Cambridge 18) 29 Davey Pennel, Sparta 19) 5 Dave Edwards, Salem 20) 55 Ryan Carlson, Loves Park (IL) 21) 39 Ryan Goldade, Edgerton 22) 39 Alex Papini, Rockford (IL) 23) 51 Dale Nottestad, Cambridge
Overall- 1) 99 Doug Hahn 2) 87 Kyle Jarlsberg 3) 94 Jason Erickson 4) X Jon Reynolds Jr 5) 39 Tim Sargent 6) 33 Dylan Schuyler 7) 52 Steve Dobbratz 8) 99 Jerry GIlle 9) 21 Ryan Zielski 10) 97 Jason Schuler
Sportsman-
35 lap Feature #1 Results- 1) 66 Curt Thompson, Jefferson 2) 22 Brady Lilly, Milton 3) 51 Randy Bruenig, Columbus 4) 8 Shaun Scheel, Lake Mills 5) 7 James Helmer, Beaver Dam 6) 26 Scott Riedner, Waunakee 7) 4 Mark Deporter, Fort Atkinson 8) 20 Kody Hubred, Utica 9) 79 Justin Schultz, Rio 10) 7 Phil Denikas, Columbus 11) 5 Doug Bennett, Rockford (IL) 12) 75 Rick Coppernoll, Cottage Grove 13) 27 Jay Kalbus, Madison 14) 67 Tory Bagley, McFarland 15) 62 Scott Null, Lake Mills 16) 77 Mike Winters, Sun Prairie 17) 55 Terry Wangsness, Jefferson 18) 6 Jason Thoma, Jefferson 19) 23 Austin Nason, Rockford (IL) 20) 51 Kurt Kleven, Utica 21) 4 Jim Taylor, Stoughton 22) 71 Jason Dunn, Sun Prairie
35 lap Feature #2 Results- 1) 7 Phil Denikas, Columbus 2) 26 Scott Riedner, Waunakee 3) 27 Jay Kalbus, Madison 4) 7 James Helmer, Beaver Dam 5) 4 Mark Deporter, Fort Atkinson 6) 51 Randy Bruenig, Columbus 7) 79 Justin Schultz, Rio 8) 22 Brady Lilly, Milton 9) 62 Scott Null, Lake Mills 10) 55 Terry Wangsness, Jefferson 11) 51 Kurt Kleven, Utica 12) 4 Jim Taylor, Stoughton 13) 6 Jason Thoma, Jefferson 14) 23 Austin Nason, Rockford (IL) 15) 75 Rick Coppernoll, Cottage Grove 16) 5 Doug Bennett, Rockford (IL) 17) 8 Shaun Scheel, Lake Mills 18) 20 Kody Hubred, Utica 19) 71 Jason Dunn, Sun Prairie 20) 77 Mike Winters, Sun Prairie 21) 66 Curt Thompson, Jefferson 22) 67 Tory Bagley, McFarland
Overall Finish- 1) 26 Scott Riedner 2) 51 Randy Bruenig 3) 7 James Helmer 4) 22 Brady Lilly 5) 7 Phil Denikas 6) 4 Mark Deporter 7) 27 Jay Kalbus 8) 79 Justin Schultz 9) 8 Shaun Scheel 10) 66 Curt Thompson
International-
40 lap Feature Results- 1) 92 Kyle Stark, Sun Prairie 2) 4 Stephen Scheel, Lake Mills 3) 57 Mark English, Edgerton 4) 23 Casey Strese, Jefferson 5) 90 Kyle Smith, Lake Mills 6) 26 Mike Lambert, Madison 7) 74 Scott Uttech, Watertown 8) 6 John Handeland, Jefferson 9) 75 Travis Schneeberg, Cottage Grove 10) 17 Eric Connell, Fort Atkinson 11) 66 Neil Higgins, Watertown 12) 67 Joe Cross, Sun Prairie 13) 40 Adam Eckes 14) 32 Phil Malouf, Manitowish Waters 15) ONO Keith Bell, Brodhead 16) 11 Jason Kubicz, Whitewater 17) 89 Chad Olds, Whitewater 18) 35 Gary Stark, Sun Prairie 19) 5 Bo Bennish 20) 29 Waylin Willman, Beloit 21) 5 Peter Shelley, Edgerton 22) 25 Darren Brown, Jefferson
Hobby Stock-
40 lap Feature Results- 1) 11 Steven Sauer, Waterloo 2) 9 Dustin Ward, Waterloo 3) 10 Larry Moen, Madison 4) 27 Jim Tate, Watertown 5) 2 Brent Gergen, Jefferson 6) 22 Kyle Chwala, Lake Mills 7) 86 Tony Ciano, Janesville 8) 92 Kyle Stark, Sun Prairie 9) 66 Terry Ciano, Janesville 10) 22 Chester Williams, Waukesha 11) 55 Lucas Buckingham, Whitewater 12) 4 Brandon Riender, Waunakee 13) 79 Jeff Nowack 14) U2 Wayne Buchs 15) 79 Craig Phillips 16) 71 Jamie Dunn, Sun Prairie 17) 88 Bill Bush, Jefferson 18) 7 Jim Wolf, Watertown
Road Warrior-
15 lap Feature Results- 1) 6 Bill Reynolds, Watertown 2) 71 Bill Sweeney, Janesville 3) 01 Bryan Ellis, Loves Park (IL) 4) 135 Jared Larson 5) 17 Kyle Dopkins 6) 88 Tina Stephenson, Cambridge
Bandit-
35 lap Feature Results- 1) 10 Dave Schmidt, Menomonie 2) 20 Jim Lorang, Stoughton 3) 15 Will Rece, Stoughton 4) 99 Phil Wuesthoff, Beaver Dam 5) 53 Dylan Buckingham, Whitewater 6) 18 Brandon Johnson, Avalon 7) 18 Scott Pauls, Janesville 8) 27 Kyle Padfield, Madison 9) 81 Jeff LeFave, Fort Atkinson 10) 71 Tim Bristol, Sun Prairie 11) 09 Nick Schmidt, Menomonie 12) 2 Gary Stark, Sun Prairie 13) 31 Bryan Gottschalk, Jefferson 14) 93 Heather Stark, Sun Prairie 15) 7 Phil Malouf, Manitowish Waters 16) 03 Keith Erickson, Jefferson 17) 98 Tom Bleecker, Watertown 18) 11 Cory Jenson, Janesville 19) 18 Robby Robinson, Orfordville 20) Michelle Heimann, Sun Prairie 21) 5 Kameron Lee, Madison