Sunny skies, hot laps, tight racing, and a dramatic finish — Detjens Memorial Night at Dells Raceway Park had it all!
The day started out sunny and warm, but everyone knew the real heat was going to come once the cars hit the track. Twenty drivers rolled into Dells Raceway Park with one goal in mind: to leave the night as the winner.
Unfortunately, after practice, the field was down to 19 cars. Based on the practice times, though, it was clear that this was going to be a battle from front to back. The field was tight, and there wasn’t going to be much room for error.
Qualifying
When qualifying wrapped up, it was Mark Dewey putting down the quickest lap of the night, grabbing fast time with a 15.714.
Right behind him was Josh Rusch, followed by Mark English, Shawn Kemnetz, and Phil Malouf rounding out the top five.
The rest of the qualifying order was:
- Keagan Benz
- Tim Anderson
- Josh Wilhite
- Joe Kuehn
- Anna Malouf
- John Handeland
- Al Strobel
- Jim Lietz
- Brian Marquardt
- John Lietz
- John Preston
- Dereck Krause
- Mitch Strobel
- Julia Pirog
With a full night of racing on the schedule and a goal of keeping things moving, the heat races were split into two groups.
Heat Race #1
Dereck Krause and John Lietz brought the first heat to the green.
For Krause, it was his first time racing with us, and he made the most of the opportunity. He jumped out front and managed to lead six of the eight laps before John Handeland made his move and charged to the front to claim the heat-race victory.
Handeland took the checkered flag ahead of Krause, with John Lietz, Jim Lietz, John Preston, Al Strobel, Brian Marquardt, Julia Pirog, and Mitch Strobel completing the field.
Heat Race #2
Anna Malouf and Joe Kuehn led the second heat to the green flag.
Kuehn wasted little time grabbing the lead, but the hungry pack behind him wasn’t about to let him get comfortable. Drivers battled throughout the field, looking for every opportunity to move forward.
When the checkered flag flew, it was Kuehn taking the heat-race win, followed by Tim Anderson, Phil Malouf, Josh Rusch, Mark English, Anna Malouf, Shawn Kemnetz, Josh Wilhite, Mark Dewey, and Keagan Benz.
With the heat races in the books, everything was set for what promised to be one heck of a feature!
25-Lap Feature
If there were three words to describe this field, they would be:
Good. Strong. Tough.
Jim Lietz and Al Strobel brought the field around to the green flag for the 25-lap feature, and Strobel wasted no time taking control of the race.
Behind him, the battles began immediately. Drivers were fighting all over the track and throughout the field, trying to gain every position possible.
Anna Malouf quickly worked her way around Lietz and set her sights on Strobel. She began closing the gap, but on lap six, everything changed.
Strobel’s car developed problems right in front of Anna. With nowhere to go, Anna had no choice but to get caught up in the incident as Strobel spun. Al’s night came to an end when his car died right in front of Anna, bringing out the caution.
The caution shook up the running order as drivers chose their preferred lane when the cone came out, giving the field a chance to reset.
Back to green they went — but the drama wasn’t over.
One lap later, trouble struck again, this time involving the 92 Rusch machine. Another caution meant another shuffle in the lineup as drivers once again made their cone choices.
Finally, the field was lined up and ready to go racing.
Green flag!
Anna Malouf led the field, but behind her, Mark English and Tim Anderson were putting on a show of their own. The two drivers battled their way past Anna, with Phil Malouf right there and ready to capitalize.
As the laps clicked away, the intensity only increased.
Then came a late-race charge from Mark Dewey.
Dewey began picking off cars one by one, moving his way through the field and into fourth place as he set his sights on the leaders. The laps were winding down, but Dewey wasn’t giving up.
When the checkered flag finally waved, it was Mark English crossing the finish line first, with Tim Anderson right behind him.
Phil Malouf came home third, followed by Mark Dewey and Shawn Kemnetz to round out the top five.
The rest of the finishing order was:
- Joe Kuehn
- Josh Wilhite
- Keagan Benz
- John Handeland
- Anna Malouf
- Jim Lietz
- John Lietz
- Brian Marquardt
- Dereck Krause
- Julia Pirog
- Josh Rusch
- Al Strobel
- Mitch Strobel
But the night wasn’t over just yet.
Post-Race
Following post-race tech inspection and some additional time, Mark English was disqualified.
That moved everyone behind him up one position — and most importantly, it handed the feature win to Tim Anderson!
🏁 Congratulations to Tim Anderson on the Detjens Memorial Night feature victory!
Thank You, Dells Raceway Park!
A huge thank-you goes out to Jerry Auby and everyone at Dells Raceway Park for having us out for a great night of racing.
We also want to thank the tech officials and the entire Dells Raceway Park staff for all their help in putting on the event.
Congratulations to all of our winners, and an even bigger THANK YOU to every driver who came out and put on a heck of a show. Without the drivers, there is no racing — and nights like this are exactly why we love doing what we do!
🏁 NEXT STOP: MARSHFIELD MOTOR SPEEDWAY
We’ll be back in action at Marshfield Motor Speedway on August 15, 2026.
Come on out, bring the family, and get ready for another night of wheel-to-wheel racing!
We’ll see you at the track! 🏁🔥
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