Wisconsin State Championships Day One Results

CAMBRIDGE, WI (Friday, September 13, 2019)    The 39^th Annual Pepsi Wisconsin State Championships at Jefferson Speedway got underway on a cool evening in south central Wisconsin. The first of two days of intense racing action presented by Madison Auto Trim was capped by two 50 lap feature events. In Late Model action, it was Utica’s Riley Stenjem picking up the win. Meanwhile, the Midwest Truck Series paid a visit to Wisconsin’s Action Track after a rain out earlier in the season. Sun Prairie’s Todd Kluever made a triumphant return to local racing by capturing the 50 lap feature win.

Luke Westenberg and Kody Hubred paced the stout field of Late Models to the green with Hubred taking the initial lead on lap one. Shaun Scheel fired alongside Westenberg on lap two, grabbing second a lap later and brining Stenjem along for third. Scheel continued forward, drawing even with Hubred on lap five while Stenjem watched from third. Scheel took control of the point on lap six with Stenjem staying in his tracks to pick up second. Stenjem went right to work on the new leader, applying heavy pressure to Scheel. On lap 19, Stenjem made his move, diving under Scheel as they raced into turn one. Stenjem flew into the lead entering turn three while Scheel tried to crossover and get back next to him. But Stenjem held him off to retain the new acquired lead. Back to back cautions on lap 35 and 36 slowed the action, but Stenjem remained in control throughout the remainder of the event to score the win. Scheel settled for second followed by Will Rece, Michael Grueneberg and Dale Nottestad.

While the Midwest Truck Series was making it’s return to Jefferson Speedway, Todd Kluever was making his return to local racing after a several year hiatus. Kluever motored to the front of the field and held off a hard charging Casey Johnson in the closing laps to secure the win. James Swan grabbed the early lead on lap one from the outside of the front row while Kyle Melton dropped back into a battle for second with Kevin Knuese. Knuese took the position for himself on lap three with Dave Edwards in two for third. On lap seven, Edwards snuck inside Knuese to steal away the runner up position. Kluever followed Edwards under Knuese to pick up third. Edwards pulled up behind Swan at the front, searching for an opening. On lap 12, Edwards found that lane, getting under Swan and using a slide job off turn two to complete the pass. Kluever stayed on Edwards’ rear bumper to pick up second as well. A single caution in the race appeared on lap 19. Edwards and Kluever paced the field back to green as they battled side by side for control. Kluever held the advantage on the restart, eventually clearing for the lead on lap 22. Meanwhile, John Ovadal Jr and Casey Johnson were slicing their way through the field and into the top five. By lap 30, the duo was side by side racing for the third position. Johnson took the spot on lap 31 and raced up behind Edwards in second. After a brief battle, Johnson took over the position and set his sights on Kluever at the front. Johnson closed in on the leader as the laps quickly ticked away. On the final circuit, Johnson got a good run off turn two as he pulled up next to Kluever down the backstretch. But Kluever held the momentum through turns three and four and across the stripe to get the win by inches. Johnson was forced to settle for second after a great run. Ovadal came home in third with Edwards and Swan rounding out the top five.

Beloit’s Robert Hansberry Jr captured the 30 lap Sportsman feature event. Cody Houseweart led early from the front row with Tytus Helgestad up to second. Helgestad got by Houseweart on the outside to take command on lap seven. After a yellow on lap ten, Helgestad led the pack back to green with Houseweart in second and Chris Weber in third. 2019 track champion, Mark Deporter, entered the top three on lap 15 when he and Weber made it a three way fight for second with Houseweart. Using the low groove, Deporter eventually cleared for second on lap 19 bringing Hansberry along for third. Hansberry wasted little time behind Deporter, moving under him on lap 22 and clearing for second two laps later. A final caution on lap 26 set up a four lap shootout to the finish with Helgestad trying to hold Hansberry at bay. As racing resumed, Hansberry began working the low side of Helgestad trying to get a run. The pair of competitors raced under the white flag side by side to begin the final lap. They jockeyed for the lead down the backstretch and through turns three and four. As the crossed the stripe to complete the race, Hansberry owned a slight advantage to get the win. Helgestad finished a very close second followed by Tyler Deporter, Mark Deporter and Jason Thoma.

Gary Stark of Fort Atkinson hold off brother, Kyle Stark, to get the win in the 25 lap International feature event. Phil Malouf led lap one with Jason Uttech up to second. Josh Marx overtook Uttech on lap eight with Gary Stark trying to follow into third. Marx continued forward, sliding alongside Malouf on the highside. Marx cleared for the lead on lap 11 with Stark sticking close by. Stark moved into second on lap 12 and drew in behind the new leader. On lap 15, using the outside groove, Stark drew even with Marx while Kyle Stark pulled into third behind them. Gary Stark took over the top spot on lap 17 with Kyle Stark following past Marx for second. Kyle Stark pulled up to the rear bumper of Gary Stark in the closing laps, waiting for his brother to make a mistake. But Gary stayed strong out front as he flew past the checkers to get the win ahead of Kyle. Marx was third followed by George Sparkman and Mark English.

2019 Hobby Stock track champion, Brandon Riedner of Waunakee, got the win in his 25 lap feature event. Jason Dunn led early from the outside of row one with Jim Tate Jr quickly up to second. Tate slipped by Dunn on lap three with Christian Janssen in tow for second. While Tate was leading the pack, Riedner was charging through the field and into the top five. Riender got by Kolton Guralski for fourth on lap nine. Riedner picked up the third spot on lap 11 as he continued his march toward the front. By lap 16, Riedner and Janssen were wheel to wheel for the second spot with Tate still showing the way out front. Riedner cleared for second on lap 17 and closed in behind Tate. On lap 19 Riedner drew even with Tate for the lead. As they raced side by side, the caution slowed the pace with five laps to go. Riedner was scored as the leader and, as such, led the field back to green from the point. Riedner cruised through the final laps to secure the win with Tate coming in second. Janssen, Lucas Buckingham and Chester Williams rounded out the top five.

The Road Warrior division ran double 20 lap feature events on the evening with Bill Sweeny and AJ Accardi picking up wins respectively. In the first feature, Bill Reynolds led early with Accardi in second and Sweeney up to third. Accardi dove under Reynolds on lap  three while Sweeney closed in behind them. On lap five, Sweeney made it a three wide fight for first as they raced into turn one. Sweeney emerged with the lead down the backstretch. Jordan Lamb made a late race charge up to second, but Sweeney had the field covered to win feature number one. Lamb was second followed by Accardi, Reynolds and Mark Dewey.

The second feature began with  Reynolds once again moving out front. Accardi and Dewey raced side by side for second on lap six, with Accardi emerging with the position. Sweeney pulled into third as Accardi drew in behind Reynolds. On lap ten, Reynolds got loose, allowing Accardi to slip past into command. Following a caution, Sweeney moved into second and began to shadow Accardi at the front. But Accardi kept him in check in the closing laps to pick up the win. Sweeney was second followed by Lamb, Reynolds and Jasper Gronert. With his combined finished of first and second, Sweeney was crowned the 2019 Road Warrior Wisconsin State Champion.

The Bandits also ran double features with Nick Schmidt and Bryan Gottschalk attaining 20 lap wins. Nick Newton took the early lead in the first feature with Michael Heimann in second. But Heimann dropped off the pace on lap 11, allowing Brody Chilvers to pick up the second position. A lap later, Josh Lenz moved past Chilvers for second and set his sights on Newton. With two laps remaining, Lenz dove under Newton entering turn three. A lap later, Lenz was out front on his way to crossing the stripe first. Following post race tech, Lenz was forced to vacate his finishing position. Nick Schmidt’s last lap pass netted him the win. Chris Gottschalk was second followed by Bryan Gottschalk and Newton.

Feature number two began with Lyle Phillips taking the early lead. Tyler Deschaine moved past Phillips on lap three with Bryan Gottschalk up to second and Chris Gottschalk in third. Bryan took to the high side, moving up next to Deschaine for the lead. Gottschalk cleared for first on lap six, with his brother in tow for second. The brothers led the field back to green after a late caution, but Bryan returned to the point on the restart as he cruised to the checkers for the win. Chris Gottschalk was second followed by Newton, Deschaine and Schmidt. Chris was named the overall 2019 Bandit Wisconsin State Champion.

The second half of the 2019 Pepsi Wisconsin State Championships resumes on Saturday, September 14, is racing beginning at 6pm. Jefferson Speedway is located halfway between Jefferson and Cambridge on Hwy 18. Please visit jeffersonspeedway.com for more information.

JEFFERSON SPEEDWAY WISCONSIN STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY ONE SUMMARY

Late Model-

Qualifying

Qualifier Races

Friday Feature

Midwest Truck Series-

Qualifying

Heat Races

Feature

Sportsman-

Qualifying

Qualifying Races

Friday Feature

International-

Qualifying

Qualifying Races

Friday Feature

Hobby Stock-

Qualifying

Qualifying Race

Friday Feature

Road Warrior-

Feature #1

Feature #2

Bandit-

Qualifying

Feature #1

Feature #2