The caution free 30 lap 360 Sprint Car A-Main saw 16 year old rookie, Scotty Thiel of Sheboygan, and veteran, Pete Ostrowski of Troy Center, lead the field to the drop of the green flag. Ostrowski jumped out to the lead until lap 7. That’s when Plymouth’s Ben Schmidt took control of the race. Schmidt was in lapped traffic on lap 8. Ostrowski and Thiel were in hot pursuit of Schmidt, weaving their way through the lapped traffic. On lap 12, Thiel passed Ostrowski for second but had 3 lapped cars between him and leader, Schmidt. Heat winner, Lance Fassbender of Burnett, started the race seventh, threw his ride in high gear, to chase down the leader. On lap 20, Fassbender was in third, right behind Thiel and on lap 25, he made the pass on the young rookie for second. Keeping his composure, Thiel stayed in his groove and followed right behind Fassbender. On lap 27, leader Schmidt expired his motor and pulled into the pits. This handed the lead over to Fassbender with Thiel right behind him in second. Fassbender claimed his third checkered flag of the season at Manitowoc Expo followed by Thiel, Campbellsport’s Tony Wondra, Ostrowski, and Al Schlafer of Sussex. The Cher-Make “Hot Dog” Hard Charger came from the Sprint Car division this week and claiming the prize was Waupun’s Tim Haddy for passing 8 cars.

The 25 lap Late Model Feature saw several yellow flags. Right after the drop of the green flag, the cars of Dan Dippel of Plymouth, Sheboygan’s Randy Markwardt, and Howie Weiss of Glenbeulah got tangled together in turn two retiring Dippel and Markwardt to the pits for the remainder of the night. The field was reset and pole sitter Ralph Aschenbrenner of Oneida took the lead. After two completed circuits, the yellow came out again for an incident between Cleveland’s Eric Michaels, Weiss, Frank Geiger of Whitelaw, and Green Bay’s Ron Berna. Not being able to repair their cars, Geiger and Berna withdrew from the race. On the restart, heat winner Todd Jensema of Sheboygan Falls passed Aschenbrenner for the lead and never looked back. Craig Schueffner of Sheboygan Falls passed Aschenbrenner on lap 3 for second and continued to chase Jensema. On lap 19, Jensema put two lapped cars between himself and Schueffner and went on to take his 3rd feature win this year at Manitowoc Expo. Crossing the line behind Jensema and Schueffner were Aschenbrenner, Tim Carman of Sheboygan Falls and Michaels. The first four cars were the only cars on the lead lap at the end of the race. Jensema claimed the extra purse money donated by Baleigh Industrial of Manitowoc.

Plymouth’s Brian Gilles jumped out to lead the lead in the 20 lap Grand National Feature. Bob Peter of Howard’s Grove was chasing heat winner Gilles until the caution flag flew on lap 9. On the restart, Brett Wenzel of Two Rivers passed Peter for second and after one more completed lap the yellow flag came out again. Gilles continued to lead the pack with Wenzel and Peter chasing him and took home his 5th feature victory of the year in Manitowoc. Rounding out the top five were Manitowoc’s Mike Bastian and Matt Jackson of Sheboygan.

Heat winner Jeff Leonhard of Sheboygan took home the checkers in the caution free 15 lap Hobby Stock Feature. Leonhard took the lead from the outside front row position at the start of the race and led the entire race. On lap 7, Leonhard put a lapped car between him and second place Josh Schroeder of Manitowoc. Schroeder got around the lapped car on lap 8 and continued to chase down Leonhard. Once again, on lap 10, Leonhard gave himself some breathing room by putting 2 lapped cars between him and Schroeder. Leonard crossed the line for his first feature win of the season in Manitowoc followed by Schroeder, Newton’s Mike Kaufmann, Mike Rausch of Two Rivers, and Manitowoc’s Mike Plate, Jr. Leonhard and Schroeder were the only 2 cars on the lead lap.

Greg Gierke of Kiel took the lead on the first lap of the 12 lap Mighty 4 Feature. Manitowoc’s Kyle Resch crossed the line ahead of Gierke on the second lap to be scored as the leader. Gierke would not give up and passed Resch to get the lead back. On lap 4, a flat tire sent Resch to the pits handing second place to Amber Rabe of Plymouth. Rabe chased down Gierke and passed him on lap 8 for the lead and went on to take home her third feature checkered flag of the year at Manitowoc Expo. Crossing the line after Rabe was Elkhart Lake’s Chris Gilson, Gierke, Michael Schultz of Sheboygan Falls, and Resch.

Racing continues next Friday, August 8th with Back to School Night for the kids. The 2008 EWSC yearbooks are on sale for $4.00. Get yours and stop in the pits after the races and get your favorite drivers autograph. Race Summary

360 Sprints:

Heat 1: 1. Fassbender 2. A. Schlafer 3. Thiel

Heat 2:1. Brandon Thone (Sheboygan) 2. Schmidt 3. Kevin Karnitz (West Bend)

Heat 3:1. Wayne Modjeski (Oak Creek) 2. Wondra 3. Ostrowski

B-Main:1. Shane Wenninger (Kewauskum) 2. Dave Lisowe (Chilton) 3. Haddy 4. Russ Wetenkamp (Newton) 5. Michael Emme (Manitowoc) 6. Lee Mohs (Waldo) 7. Derek Siegel (St. Francis) 8. Randy Call (New Berlin)

A-Main:1. Fassbender 2. Thiel 3.Wondra 4. Ostrwoski 5. A. Schlafer 6. Danny Schlafer (Sussex) 7. Modjeski 8. Paul Pokorski (West Bend) 9. TJ Luedke (Plymouth) 10. Thone

Late Models:

Heat 1: 1. Berna 2. Schueffner 3. Aschenbrenner

Heat 2: 1. Jensema 2. Weiss 3. Dippel

A-Main: 1. Jensema 2. Schueffner 3. Aschenbrenner 4. Carman 5. Michaels 6. Jon Grossted (Mukwonago) 7. Jim Juneau (Brookfield) 8. Weiss 9. Turk Letizia (Milwaukee) 10. Scott Haugstad (Plymouth)

Grand Nationals:

Heat 1: 1. Gilles 2. Wenzel 3. Peter

Heat 2:1. Jackson 2. Bastian 3. Gary Tisler (Reedsville)

A-Main: 1. Gilles 2. Wenzel 3. Peter 4. Bastian 5. Jackson 6. Keith Kellenbenz (Manitowoc) 7. Chris Seehaver (Manitowoc) 8. Josh McDonald (Plymouth) 9. Jerry Brickner (Mishicot) 10. Tom Surfus (Manitowoc)

Hobby Stocks:

Heat 1: 1. Leonhard 2. Schroeder 3. Rausch

A-Main:1. Leonhard 2. Schroeder 3. Kaufmann 4. Rausch 5. Plate, Jr. 6. Zac Minster (Shebogan) 7. Adam Krepline (Manitowoc)

Mighty 4’s:

Heat 1: 1. Gierke 2. Rabe 3. Resch

A-Main:1. Rabe 2. Gilson 3. Gierke 4. Schultz 5. Resch