Quam Claims Mid Season Championship Feature

By Andrew Schaller

June 28, 2008; Jefferson WI — Chris Quam of Stoughton captured his first career Late Model feature win last Saturday in the Mid Season Championship 50 sponsored by Smith Motors of Fort Atkinson. Quam started his trek to the front from the outside of row three while Mike Taylor was taking the early lead. Luke Padfield tucked in behind Taylor for second with Quam sliding into the third spot. The leaders ran nose to tail until lap 12 when Quam snuck inside Padfield to take away the second spot.

Trent Erdman followed Quam under Padfield to move into third just as the first of multiple cautions flew over the field. Quam dove to the inside of Taylor for the lead on the restart, but before they could complete the lap, caution number two waved and slowed the field once again. As the green returned, Quam charged back to the inside of Taylor and made the winning pass a lap later. Erdman again followed Quam to gain a position to second. Quam began to open up a sizeable lead as Jason Erickson began to challenge Erdman for second. The third caution flew on lap 31 as Taylor lost control and spun, erasing Quam’s large lead. On the restart, Erickson got to the low side of Erdman to battle for second. But Erickson would lose some grip and fall back allowing Steve Dobbratz to move up and make his bid for second. Meanwhile, Quam was able to move back out to a comfortable lead while they fought behind him. Quam endured three more caution periods, but none proved to ruin his run to the checkers for his first win. Dobbratz managed to get by Erdman as they finished second and third respectively. Roger Behlke and Erickson rounded out the top five.

Oconomowoc’s James Helmer charged to the front of the 35 lap Mid Season Championship Sportsman feature to take the trophy in victory lane. John Handeland and Kody Hubred made up the front row at the start as the field was slowed for the only caution of the event before the completion of lap one. After the restart, Handeland took control of the race with Hubred pulling in behind for second. Handeland began to pull away from the pack as Nick Balis moved around Hubred into the second spot. Helmer moved into the top five and up to fourth on lap six. Helmer motored into third on lap 13 and second two laps later when Balis bounced off the backstretch wall. Helmer immediately started to run down the leader, closing the gap a little more each tour. Helmer finally caught Handeland on lap 26 and he slipped to the inside looking to lead. The duo battled side by side for a lap until making heavy contact in turns one and two, allowing Helmer to move out into the top spot all alone and pull away. At the stripe, it was Helmer with a comfortable advantage followed by Handeland, Ken Scott, Shaun Scheel and Tory Bagley.

In International action, it was Jefferson’s Kenny Au taking honors in the 25 lap feature event. Trent Rueth and Craig Knapp lead the field to the green as Peter Shelley made it a three wide battle for the top spot on the opening lap. Shelley and Knapp emerged side by side with Shelley gaining control on lap four. Meanwhile, Au was slicing through the pack and into third behind the battle for the lead. Au made quick work of Knapp and went right to work on Shelley for the lead. Au got inside and by Shelley for the top spot on lap seven. Mark English eventually got through the traffic to the front, but Au already owned a large lead that English could not overcome. Au cruised to the win with English, Shelley, Brandon Pendleton and Neil Higgins rounding out the top five.

Jimmy Robinson of Orfordville used a late race charge to grab the win in the 30 lap Hobby Stock feature event. Buck Stultz and Brett Carson battled door to door at the drop of the green until Carson took the initial lead on lap three. Nick Newton motored to second and then past Carson into the lead a lap later. The first of several cautions flew on lap five. The restart allowed Tim Lange to get inside Carson for second just as caution period number two waved when Carson spun. As the green returned, Lange dove to the inside of Newton looking to lead. The two competitors battled side by side as the pack bunched up behind them to watch the fight. Lange finally took control of the lead on lap 13 as Newton got shuffled out of the top five. Lincoln Keeser slid into second with Jim Tate right behind for third. After two brief caution periods, Steve Sauer tried to look inside Tate for third at the same time Tate peeked inside Keeser for second. All three made contact and spun bringing out yet another yellow flag and sending all three to the back for the restart. This allowed Robinson to inherit second as the green flag flew once again. With five laps remaining, Robinson got to the inside of Lange as he pulled even with the leader. They raced side by side over the final five laps trading the lead several times. At the stripe, it was Robinson with a very slight advantage for the win with Lange in second. Rounding out the top five were Zac Schmidt, Jason Dunn and Bart DiMattina.

Edgerton’s Titus Helgestad gained the top spot early on in the 25 lap Bandit feature and held on to take the victory. Paul Willett took the early lead with Helgestad shadowing the leader in second. On lap three, Willett lost control entering turn three, spinning and allowing Helgestad to take over the lead. Meanwhile, Tommy Pfeifer and Chad Olds were picking their way through the field. The duo entered the top five on lap 12 as Pfeifer went to the high side to move forward on the scoreboard. Pfeifer got to second with seven laps remaining and caught the leader a lap later. Pfeifer began to peek to the outside of Helgestad for the top spot. Pfeifer finally pulled even with the leader as they passed under the while flag. As the pair exited turn four to see the checkers, Pfeifer pushed high allowing Helgestad to fly across the line in first. Pfeifer was second with Tony Ciano, Olds and Barrett Hammond completing the top five.

Next week, Jefferson Speedway will host the Independence Day Special on Thursday, July 3. A regular program of racing is scheduled highlighted by round one of the Goodyear Stateline Challenge with round two occurring on Saturday, July 5 at the Rockford Speedway. The Late Model division will compete in the Old Glory 50 lap feature on Thursday night. The evening will include a fireworks spectacular as well as stock car rides and big wheel races for the kids. Time trials begin at 5:30 with racing at 8 pm. Jefferson Speedway is located halfway between Jefferson and Cambridge on Hwy 18. For more information, please visit www.jeffersonspeedway.com.

Jefferson Speedway Race Summary

Late Model—

Feature Results- 1) 4 Chris Quam, Stoughton 2) 52 Steve Dobbratz, Rio 3) 11Trent Erdman, Fort Atkinson 4) 44 Roger Behlke, Jefferson 5) 94 Jason Erickson, Fort Atkinson 6) 16 Luke Westenberg, Jefferson 7) 5 Casey Johnson, Stoughton 8) 4 Luke Padfield, Jefferson 9) 7 Bob Kahler, Caledonia, IL 10) 71 Jason Deppe, Waterloo 11) 41 Mike Taylor, Stoughton 12) 1 Jody Krueger, Edgerton 13) 29 Scott Lindsay, Dousman 14) 22 Jasper Gronert, Fort Atkinson 15) 13 Andy Brocker, Jefferson 16) 61 Jerry Eckhart, Johnson Creek 17) 71 John Ovadal, Watertown 18) 33 Dylan Schuyler, Jefferson 19) 3 Chuck Duncan, Milwaukee 20) 7 Ed Kubicz 21) 99 Doug Hahn, Whitewater 22) 17 Duane Deppe, Waterloo

Fast Qualifier- 94 Jason Erickson—14.275 seconds

Heat Winners- 1) 41 Mike Taylor 2) 99 Doug Hahn 3) 44 Roger Behlke

Sportsman—

Feature Results- 1) 7 James Helmer, Oconomowoc 2) 19 John Handeland, Belleville 3) 39 Ken Scott, Rio 4) 8 Shaun Scheel, Lake Mills 5) 52 Tory Bagley, McFarland 6) 42 Tom Reents, Janesville

Fast Qualifer- 31 Dave Oswald—15.202 seconds

Heat Winners- 1) 41 Dick Reents 2) 39 Ken Scott

International—

Feature Results- 1) 31 Kenny Au, Jefferson 2) 57 Mark English, Janesville 3) 5 Peter Shelley, Edgerton 4) 21 Brandon Pendleton 5) 66 Neil Higgins, Watertown 6) 00 Scott Hoeft, Jefferson

Fast Qualifier- 57 Mark English—16.474 seconds

Heat Winners- 1) 00 Scott Hoeft 2) 57 Mark English

Hobby Stock—

Feature Results- 1) 33 Jimmy Robinson, Orfordville 2) 96 Tim Lange, Dousman 3) 19 Zac Schmidt 4) 71 Jason Dunn, Sun Prairie 5) 5 Bart DiMattina 6) 96 Alan Dorn, Columbus

Fast Qualifier- 27 Jim Tate—16.535 seconds

Last Chance- 71 Jason Dunn, 07 Mike Maurer, 32 Craig Staude, 5 Bart DiMattina

Heat Winners- 1) 41 Nick Newton 2) 96 Tim Lange 3) 42 Bobby Selsing

Bandit—

Feature Results- 1) 90 Titus Helgestad, Edgerton 2) 57 Tommy Pfeifer, Fort Atkinson 3) 86 Tony Ciano, Janesville 4) 89 Chad Olds 5) 19 Barrett Hammond 6) 10 Dave Schmidt, Cudahy

Fast Qualifier- 57 Tommy Pfeifer—14.426 seconds

Heat Winners- 1) 93 Heather Stark 2) 89 Chad Olds