Manitowoc, WI – August 14th, 2009 – With the highest car count so far this year, race fans were treated to some great racing action. There were 89 cars signed in to race. The race night was sponsored by Manitowoc Trophy and the trophy sponsor was Brad Ruh Racing. One of the founding members of EWSC, Happy Laack, was also remembered as it was Happy Laack Memorial night. Happy Laack was an integral part of EWSC for many, many years.

In the 360 MSA Sprint Car, presented by Image 1 Motorsports, 30 lap A-Main TJ Luedke (Plymouth) jumped out to the lead and led the entire race through several cautions and red flags. The first caution of the race came on lap one for the car of Lance Fassbender (Burnett), transferring from the B-Main, losing power in turn two. Fassbender now lining up in the back of the field had a lot of ground to make up. Luedke paced the field to the green once again and when the cars passed the line to be scored, Fassbender had passed 8 cars in one lap. On the next lap, Fassbender was in the top ten and had his sights set on the leader. The leader encountered lapped traffic on lap 10. Scotty Thiel (Sheboygan) passed Terry Marten (Sheboygan Falls) on lap 11 and was now running down the leader, Luedke. Luedke continued to put lapped cars between himself and Thiel but on lap 15 Thiel had passed all the lapped cars and was right behind Luedke. The field was slowed on lap 16 for the car of Earl Possi (Rock, MI) stopping in turn four with a flat tire. Before another lap could be completed, the race was stopped for the ride of Ben Schmidt flipping on the backstretch. Another red flag came out on the next lap for the car of Brian Portschy flipping in turn three. Both drivers checked out fine but retired to the pits for the remainder of the night. On the restart, Fassbender passed Thiel for second and was chasing down Luedke. The last five laps of the race were very interesting. After pulling to the infield during his heat race and finishing last, Brian Kristan (Zion, IL) had to make his way to the A-Main through the B-Main. Making his way through the field from his 19th place starting position, Kristan was in fourth on lap 20 and wanted the win. Luedke, Fassbender and Thiel were not going to make it easy for him. On lap 22, Kristan passed Thiel for third and now was working on Fassbender. The two ran side by side for three laps and on the final lap Kristan crossed the line in front of Fassbender to take home second behind Luedke. Finishing out the top five were Fassbender, Thiel and Marten.

The Sprint Car B-Main went flag to flag with Ben Schmidt leading the entire race. Kristan was in third on lap five after starting seventh. Schmidt took home the win followed by Fassbender, Kristan, Shane Wenninger (Kewaskum), Russ Wetenkamp (Newton) and Jason Lax (Kiel).

Rick Scheffler (Oconomowoc) took the lead of the 25 lap Late Model A-Main. The race was stopped on lap three for the car of Jim Schmidt (Cleveland) taking a wild ride down the backstretch and landing on its roof. Scheffler paced the field back to the green. With a lot of passing going on behind him between Randy Markwardt (Sheboygan), Brad Mueller (Random Lake) and Gordie Seegert, Jr. (Oostburg), Scheffler needed to put as much room as possible between himself and them. On lap nine, Seegert passed Mueller for good to claim second and could now start working on Scheffler. As they came to the line on lap 13, Seegert crossed first to be scored in the lead. Mueller pulled off the track on lap 15 with mechanical problems. Markwardt now was working on Scheffler and on lap 19 passed Scheffler for second. With two lapped cars between him and the leader, Markwardt had his work cut out for him and the laps were winding down. The yellow flag came out for the final time on lap 20 for debris on the field, which put Markwardt lined up directly behind the leader with Craig Schueffner (Sheboygan Falls) next to him. Seegert took the green and went the rest of the way to take home the checkers. Crossing the line behind him was Markwardt, Schueffner, Scheffler and Tim Buhler (Glenbeulah).

With 29 Late Models signed in, the fans were treated to a Late Model B-Main. Russ Scheffler (Pewaukee) claimed the lead of the race from his outside front row starting position. The first caution was on lap four for the car of Scott Haugstad (Plymouth) spinning between turn three and four. The second caution of the race was on lap six for the car of Turk Letizia (Milwaukee) having mechanical problems. The last caution of the race was on lap eight for debris on the track. With Letizia dropping out of the race, Chris Carlson (Union Grove) took over second. Carlson chased Scheffler but ran out of laps. Finishing behind Scheffler and Carlson were Scott Sohrweide (Chilton), Robert Cullen (Chilton), and Jeff Sayler (Howards Grove).

The 20 lap Krajnik Chevrolet Grand National A-Main saw Chad Ninmer (Cleveland) take the lead for the first three laps. On lap four, Brian Gilles (Plymouth) took the lead and never looked back. On lap seven, Ben Stumpf (Brillion) passed Ninmer for second. The yellow flag came out on lap ten for the cars of point leader, Bob Peter (Howards Grove), and Paul Perronne (Sheboygan) getting together on the back stretch. Gilles took the green and paced the field to the checkers. Finishing behind Gilles was Stumpf, Ninmer, Scott Houpt (Belgium) and Jason Winkler (New Holstein).

The Hobby Stocks ran twin 15 lap features in honor of 50 years of EWSC racing. The overall winner was determined by who had the best average finish of the combined races. The only caution of the first race came on lap two for the cars of Matt McDonald (Manitowoc) and Michael Meier (Chilton) getting together between turns three and four. Greg Herrmann (Whitelaw) passed pole sitter, Robert Hensel (Two Rivers), for the lead on the restart. Herrmann continued to pace the field while Adam Krepline (Manitowoc) was making his way to the front from his 12th place starting position. On lap five, Krepline was in the top five and now had his sights on Herrmann. Kyle Resch (Manitowoc) was also on the move. On lap six, Resch, who started eighth, was in third place. After another completed circuit, Krepline passed Resch for third. Resch wasn’t going to give up that easy. On lap ten, Krepline passed Jeff Bender (Plymouth) for second and Resch followed right behind to claim third back. Chasing Herrmann to the line was Krepline, Resch, Ryan Minster (Sheboygan) and Jeff Leonhard (Sheboygan).

After inverting all the cars on the lead lap from the first 15 lap feature, the lineup was set for the second 15 lap Hobby Stock feature. Kraig Koehler (Francis Creek) took control of the race for the first three laps. Leonhard crossed the line in front on lap 4. Resch, looking for his first feature win, was right behind Leonhard. Krepline passed Resch on lap eight for second. Krepline was on a roll and on the next circuit passed Leonhard for the lead. Resch stayed close behind Krepline and passed Leonhard for second. Resch ran out of laps and would have to settle for second. Finishing behind Krepline and Resch was Leonhard, Bradley Ruh (Elkhart Lake), and Herrmann.

After averaging the final finishes of both 15 lap features, the overall top five finishers were Krepline, Resch, Herrmann, Leonhard, and Kraig Koehler.

Join EWSC next week Friday, August 21, for Back to School Night and Autograph night. Kids will receive back to school items and then can stop in the pits after the races to get their favorite drivers autograph and maybe some treats. Racing starts at 7:00.

Mark your calendars as EWSC will be racing on Wednesday, August 26, during the Manitowoc County Fair and will not be racing on Friday, August 28.

Race Summary

360 Sprints:

Heat 1: 1, Tony Wondra. 2, Terry Marten. 3, Lance Thompson. 4, Brian Portschy. 5, Scott Conger. 6, Brandon Thone. 7, Jason Lax. 8, Samantha Portschy.

Heat 2: 1, Jeff Wilke. 2, Travis Luedke. 3, Dave Lisowe. 4, Tim Haddy. 5, Paul Pokorski. 6, Russ Wetenkamp. 7, Shane Wenninger. 8, Brian Kristan.

Heat 3: 1, Scotty Thiel. 2, Earl Possi. 3, Mark Wernes Jr. 4, Wayne Modjeski. 5, Jeremy Schultz. 6, Ben Schmidt. 7, Lance Fassbender. 8, Jay Riemer.

B-Main: 1, Ben Schmidt. 2, Lance Fassbender. 3, Brian Kristan. 4, Shane Wenninger. 5, Russ Wetenkamp. 6, Jason Lax. 7, Jay Riemer. 8, Samantha Portschy.

A-Main: 1, Travis Luedke. 2, Brian Kristan. 3, Lance Fassbender. 4, Scotty Thiel. 5, Terry Marten. 6, Jeremy Schultz. 7, Tim Haddy. 8, Wayne Modjeski. 9, Lance Thompson. 10, Paul Pokorski. 11, Jeff Wilke. 12, Mark Wernes Jr. 13, Tony Wondra. 14, Dave Lisowe. 15, Scott Conger. 16, Shane Wenninger. 17, Russ Wetenkamp. 18, Brandon Thone. 19, Jason Lax. 20, Brian Portschy. 21, Ben Schmidt. 22, Earl Possi.

Late Models:

Heat 1: 1, Tim Buhler. 2, Jarrod Anvelink. 3, Pete Parker. 4, Russ Scheffler. 5, Jim Rychtik. 6, Robert Cullen. 7, Eric Michaels. 8, Jim Juneau.

Heat 2: 1, George Scheffler. 2, Gordie Seegert Jr. 3, Turk Letizia. 4, Ted Dolhun. 5, Ray Reiss. 6, Jim Lavey. 7, Kyle Odekirk.

Heat 3: 1, Rick Scheffler. 2, Craig Schueffner. 3, Brad Mueller. 4, Tim Carman. 5, Jeff Sayler. 6, Eickberg Racing. 7, Scott Haugstad.

Heat 4: 1, Randy Markwardt. 2, Jim Schmidt. 3, Ron Stroika. 4, Chris Carlson. 5, Dingel Bros. 6, Dave Haag. 7, Scott Sohrweide.

B-Main: 1, Russ Scheffler. 2, Chris Carlson. 3, Scott Sohrweide. 4, Robert Cullen. 5, Jeff Sayler. 6, Jim Rychtik. 7, Jim Lavey. 8, Scott Haugstad. 9, Tim Carman. 10, Dave Haag. 11, Jim Juneau. 12, Eickberg Racing. 13, Eric Michaels. 14, Turk Letizia. 15, Dingel Bros. 16, Kyle Odekirk. 17, Ray Reiss (DNS).

A-Main: 1, Gordie Seegert Jr. 2, Randy Markwardt. 3, Craig Schueffner. 4, Rick Scheffler. 5, Tim Buhler. 6, Russ Scheffler. 7, Ted Dolhun. 8, Chris Carlson. 9, Pete Parker. 10, Robert Cullen. 11, Scott Sohrweide. 12, George Scheffler. 13, Jeff Sayler. 14, Scott Haugstad. 15, Jim Lavey. 16, Jim Rychtik. 17, Jarrod Anvelink. 18, Brad Mueller. 19, Ron Stroika. 20, Jim Schmidt.

Grand Nationals:

Heat 1: 1, Jestin Danes. 2, Chad Ninmer. 3, Matt Jackson. 4, Ryan Mueller. 5, Kevin Damrow. 6, Jerry Brickner.

Heat 2: 1, Matt Yancey. 2, Ben Stumpf. 3, Mike Bastian. 4, Jason Dyer. 5, Daniel Schumacher. 6, Chad Kistner.

Heat 3: 1, Brian Gilles. 2, Scott Houpt. 3, Jason Winkler. 4, Bob Peter. 5, Paul Perronne. 6, Brian Rathe.

A -Main: 1, Brian Gilles. 2, Ben Stumpf. 3, Chad Ninmer. 4, Scott Houpt. 5, Jason Winkler. 6, Mike Bastian. 7, Matt Yancey. 8, Ryan Mueller. 9, Jason Dyer. 10, Daniel Schumacher. 11, Jerry Brickner. 12, Brian Rathe. 13, Kevin Damrow. 14, Matt Jackson. 15, Bob Peter. 16, Paul Perronne. 17, Jestin Danes (DNS). 18, Chad Kistner (DNS).

Hobby Stocks:

Heat 1: 1, Adam Krepline. 2, Ryan Minster. 3, Mike Kaufmann. 4, Matt McDonald. 5, Robert Hensel. 6, James Riske.

Heat 2: 1, Kyle Resch. 2, Jeff Leonhard. 3, Pat Wazny. 4, Ray Fuller. 5, Jay Van Asten. 6, Michael Meier.

Heat 3: 1, Kevin Damrow. 2, Bradley Ruh. 3, Jeff Bender. 4, Kraig Koehler. 5, Paul Nelesen. 6, Chris Gilson.

A-Main: 1, Adam Krepline. 2, Kyle Resch. 3, Kevin Damrow. 4, Jeff Leonhard. 5, Kraig Koehler. 6, Ryan Minster. 7, Robert Hensel. 8, Bradley Ruh. 9, Mike Kaufmann. 10, Ray Fuller. 11, Jay Van Asten. 12, Jeff Bender. 13, Chris Gilson. 14, Pat Wazny. 15, Matt McDonald. 16, James Riske. 17, Michael Meier. 18, Paul Nelesen.