Manitowoc, WI – July 17, 2009 – For the second week in a row, rain in the forecast did not dampen race fans spirit for the Hales Corners Reunion Night at Manitowoc County Expo Speedway. The night was sponsored by Mueller Sales and Service and the trophy sponsor was Lakeshore Fleet Maintenance, Inc. A big thank you goes out to Central Service Co., Inc and Behling Racing Equipment for the added purse money to the Late Model feature drivers. Also, thanks to the fans for sticking it out through a few rain showers that moved through.

Tim Haddy (Waupun) captured his second in a row EWSC Sprint Car A-Main victory while Paul Parker (Appleton) took home his fourth EWSC Late Model win. Brian Gilles (Plymouth) claimed his fourth Grand National feature win and the Hobby Stock feature was canceled due to curfew.

The 40 lap Late Model feature got off to a slow start. Before a lap was complete the cars of Billy Rezutek (Big Bend), Turk Letizia (Milwaukee), Pete Parker (Kaukauna) and Bret Sievert (Mukwonago) got tangled on the back stretch with Rezutek and Letizia retiring to the pits. On the restart, Ron Stroika (Mukwonago) took control of the race from the outside front row starting position. The field was slowed on lap 10 for the car of Tim Buhler (Glenbeulah) stopping in turn three. On the restart, Paul Parker (Appleton) passed Stroika for the lead. The caution flag flew on lap 15 for the cars of Pete Parker and Jarrod Anvelink (Navarino) getting together in turn three. Parker continued to pull away from the field with Tom Naeyaert (Shawano) and Gordie Seegert, Jr. (Oostburg) chasing him down. On lap 24, Seegert passed Naeyaert for second and had his sights on Parker. To Parker’s dismay, the yellow flag flew again on lap 28 for the rides of Dan Sorce (Franklin) and Sievert spinning on the front stretch. On the restart, Stroika and Jeff Sayler (Howards Grove) got together on the front stretch bringing out yet another yellow. Without getting another lap in, the yellow flag came out again for the car of Ted Dolhun (Milwaukee) losing a wheel on the back stretch. With the time limit now nearing the end, the drivers were given five laps to go. Parker showed the way to the checkers with Seegert, Naeyaert, Russ Scheffler (Pewaukee), and Brad Mueller (Random Lake) rounding out the top five.

With 30 Late Models signed in, the fans were treated to two 15 lap Late Model B-Mains with four cars transferring to the feature. The first B-Main saw Rick Scheffler (Oconomowoc) take the lead with Craig Schueffner (Sheboygan Falls) right behind him. The race was slowed for the only time on lap two for the car of Eric Michaels (Cleveland) spinning in turn two. Scheffler led the way to the checkered flag with Schueffner, Tim Carman (Sheboygan), Sayler, and Scott Haugstad (Plymouth).

The second B-Main saw Sievert take the lead from the pole followed closely by Letizia. Buhler passed Letizia for second on lap four. The only caution of the race came on lap 10 for the car of George Scheffler (Waukesha) getting into the guardrail in turn three. Sievert took home the win followed by Buhler, Letizia, Dolhun, and R.W. Aschenbrenner (Oneida).

Tim Haddy (Waupun), who had a clean sweep by winning his heat race, took home his second in a row EWSC Sprint Car A-Main trophy in a shortened race due to curfew. Haddy jumped out to the lead from his outside front row starting position and was slowed on lap one for the car of Robbie Pribbnow (driving for Brian Portschy) spinning in turn two. Haddy set the pace on the restart and on lap two, Wayne Modjeski (Oak Creek) moved into second place. On lap seven, the yellow came out for the car of Derek Siegel (St. Francis) spinning in turn two. After two more complete laps the yellow flew once again for the car of Russ Wetenkamp (Newton) spinning in turn two and collecting the car of Dave Lisowe (Chilton) sending Lisowe to flip. Lisowe checked out fine. Due to the curfew, the order was to go green, white, checkered. One the restart, Pribbnow lost control of his ride and spun in turn two taking with him the car of Paul Pokorski (West Bend). The race program was stopped. Finishing behind Haddy was Modjeski, Jeremy Schultz (Beaver Dam), TJ Luedke (Plymouth), and Lance Fassbender (Burnett).

Bob Peter (Howards Grove) took the lead in the 20 lap Krajnik Chevrolet Grand National feature. Before a complete lap was in, the cars of Jason Dyer (New Holstein) and Mike Bastian (Manitowoc) got together in turn four. Peter set the pace and when they came around on lap two, Chad Kistner (New Holstein) was scored in first. Chad Ninmer (Cleveland) moved into second. The yellow flag flew on lap two for the cars of Jestin Danes (New Holstein) and Paul Perronne (Sheboygan) colliding in turn three. Brian Gilles (Plymouth) was charging his way to the front. After the restart, Gilles was already in fourth from his 12th place starting position. Gilles patiently made his way to the front and on lap seven was leading the race. Ben Stumpf (Brillion) was another car on the move as he moved from his 10th place starting position right behind Gilles on lap 9. Lap 12 brought out another caution for the car of Steven Wirtz (Greenfield) spinning in turn four. With five more completed laps the caution flag flew again for several cars getting together in turn two. With the time limit of the race expired, the race went green, white, checkered on the restart. Gilles took home the win with Stumpf, Kistner, Peter, and Jason Winkler (New Holstein) rounding out the top five.

The 15 lap Hobby Stock feature was canceled due to the curfew.

Join EWSC next week for Holiday House night at the races. It will also be Salvation Army Toys for Tots collection. We will also be celebrating Christmas in July (hopefully the weather won’t be like December). Check out all the decorated haulers. Racing starts at 7:00

Race Summary

360 Sprints:

Heat 1: 1, Tim Haddy. 2, Travis Luedke. 3, Shane Wenninger. 4, Samantha Portschy. 5, Randy Call. 6, Jay Riemer. 7, Scott Mohs. 8, Jeff Wilke. 9, Danny Schlafer.

Heat 2: 1, Scotty Thiel. 2, Jeremy Schultz. 3, Scott Conger. 4, Lance Fassbender. 5, Paul Pokorski. 6, Derek Siegel. 7, Dave Lisowe. 8, Tony Wondra.

Heat 3: 1, Wayne Modjeski. 2, Joe Wipperfurth. 3, Brian Portschy. 4, Terry Marten. 5, Russ Wetenkamp. 6, Brandon Thone. 7, Pat Richer. 8, Marlin Bowers.

A-Main: 1, Tim Haddy. 2, Wayne Modjeski. 3, Jeremy Schultz. 4, Travis Luedke. 5, Lance Fassbender. 6, Scotty Thiel. 7, Terry Marten. 8, Shane Wenninger. 9, Scott Conger. 10, Jay Riemer. 11, Jeff Wilke. 12, Scott Mohs. 13, Brandon Thone. 14, Pat Richer. 15, Samantha Portschy. 16, Randy Call. 17, Paul Pokorski. 18, Derek Siegel. 19, Brian Portschy. 20, Russ Wetenkamp. 21, Dave Lisowe. 22, Marlin Bowers. 23, Joe Wipperfurth. 24, Danny Schlafer-DNS. 25, Tony Wondra-DNS.

Late Models:

Heat 1: 1, Gordie Seegert Jr. 2, Jarrod Anvelink. 3, Tom Naeyaert. 4, Tim Carman. 5, Rick Scheffler. 6, Chris Carlson. 7, Jim Lavey. 8, Ray Reiss.

Heat 2:1, Billy Rezutek. 2, Ron Stroika. 3, Craig Schueffner. 4, Russ Scheffler. 5, Dave Haag. 6, Matt Schultz. 7, Scott Haugstad. 8, R.W. Aschenbrenner.

Heat 3: 1, Jim Schmidt. 2, Pete Parker. 3, Paul Parker. 4, Turk Letizia. 5, Jeff Sayler. 6, Eric Michaels. 7, Robert Cullen.

Heat 4: 1, Brad Mueller. 2, Dan Sorce. 3, Randy Markwardt. 4, Bret Sievert. 5, George Scheffler. 6, Tim Buhler. 7, Ted Dolhun.

B-Main 1:1, Rick Scheffler. 2, Craig Schueffner. 3, Tim Carman. 4, Jeff Sayler. 5, Scott Haugstad. 6, Ray Reiss. 7, Chris Carlson. 8, Eric Michaels.

B-Main 2:1, Bret Sievert. 2, Tim Buhler. 3, Turk Letizia. 4, Ted Dolhun. 5, R.W. Aschenbrenner. 6, Dave Haag. 7, Jim Lavey. 8, Matt Schultz. 9, George Scheffler.

A-Main:1, Paul Parker. 2, Gordie Seegert Jr. 3, Tom Naeyaert. 4, Russ Scheffler. 5, Brad Mueller. 6, Rick Scheffler. 7, Craig Schueffner. 8, Tim Carman. 9, Jeff Sayler. 10, Randy Markwardt. 11, Ron Stroika. 12, Dan Sorce. 13, Ted Dolhun. 14, Bret Sievert. 15, Jarrod Anvelink. 16, Pete Parker. 17, Tim Buhler. 18, Jim Schmidt. 19, Billy Rezutek. 20, Turk Letizia.

Grand Nationals:

Heat 1:1, Matt Jackson. 2, Jason Winkler. 3, Ben Stumpf. 4, Mike Bastian. 5, Jerry Brickner. 6, Jason Dyer. 7, Paul Perronne. 8, Brian Rathe. 9, Steven Wirtz. 10, Ryan Brandes.

Heat 2:1, Brian Gilles. 2, Scott Houpt. 3, Chad Kistner. 4, Jestin Danes. 5, Bob Peter. 6, Chad Ninmer. 7, Kevin Damrow. 8, Ryan Mueller. 9, Joe Brenner. 10, Mike Schultz.

A -Main:1, Brian Gilles. 2, Ben Stumpf. 3, Chad Kistner. 4, Bob Peter. 5, Jason Winkler. 6, Chad Ninmer. 7, Scott Houpt. 8, Mike Bastian. 9, Matt Jackson. 10, Jerry Brickner. 11, Ryan Brandes. 12, Brian Rathe. 13, Kevin Damrow. 14, Paul Perronne. 15, Joe Brenner. 16, Ryan Mueller. 17, Jestin Danes. 18, Steven Wirtz. 19, Mike Schultz. 20, Jason Dyer.

Hobby Stocks:

Heat 1:1, Bradley Ruh. 2, Jeff Leonhard. 3, Jay Van Asten. 4, Jeff Bender. 5, Kyle Resch. 6, Pat Wazny.

Heat 2: 1, Adam Krepline. 2, Chris Gilson. 3, Michael Meier. 4, Ryan Minster. 5, James Riske. 6, Matt McDonald.

A-Main: Cancellation due to curfew