Warning – Extra-long post
It was a long week for those that was there all week. But lots of racing was had and lots of excitement was had. For us, we where able to get practice in each day as normal. Lots of Laps was put on some cars. Some cars made good gains and others was not able to.
I would like to take this moment and thank everyone that came out and did what they could and run with us. Including some bandits. We did have to turn away a few cars for safety reasons. It is part of if at times. Safety has to come first.
After all said and done, we had 29 cars that qualified. Taking top qualifier was Karter Stark. He was followed Mike Heidmann, Tim Anderson, Phil Malouf, and rounding out the top 5 was Davey Pennel. These folks were flying and just over a quarter of a second apart from first to fifth.
In 6th place was George Sparkman, he was followed by Justin Pearson, Anna Malouf, Justin Schelizche, and rounding the top 10 was Tyler Muller.
Heat races we were not able to get the lineups, so the track did them for us. When you have 29 cars, it is not easy to get everyone through tech afterwards and get this done. So please forgive us if things was not to our norm.
Heat race 1 and 2 was the top 14 split into odd and even heats. And they went like this.
Heat 1: Taylor Dawson and Justin Pearson brought the field to the green flag. Taylor was not able to do much and went strait to the back while Justin took the lead. But that was short lived when Karter Stark made his way to him and took over on lap 4 to win the race. He was followed by Tim Anderson, Justin Pearson and Davey Pennel.
Heat 2: It was Kamren Hill and Shawn Kemnets that brought the field to the green with Shawn taking the lead. But the man on the move was Phil Malouf coming from the back row to the front taking over the lead on lap 4. Anna found the whole after Phil went by and followed him to the front. But it was Phil taking home Heat 2 win. He was followed by Anna Malouf, Mike Heidmann, George Sparkman and in 5th was Shawn Kemnetz.
Heat 3: We had Brent Mickelson and Merek Pankow leading the group to the green flag. Merek doing what he could but just could not get it and falling back a little while Shawn Grabinger mad ehis way by and set his eyes on Brent finally taking the lead on lap 4 and it was smooth sailing to the end for him. He was followed by the 72?(don’t have a name as the transponder did not get updated), Merek Pankow in 3rd, Brent Mickelson in 4th, and Jacob Iverson in 5th.
Heat 4: The rest of the cars where in this one. Mark English and Jerimy Wagner lead the field to the green flag and Mark English took off. He was having issues all day and it looked like he may had them fixed. But that was not the case and the issues continued and he dropped out on lap 4. That put Branden Sischo in the lead and was able to keep it to the checker flag. He was followed by Jerimy Wagner, Dave Auringer, Shane Kohlmeier, and Lyle Phillips in 5th.
We did have a B Feature. Had 12 cars. Mark English and Jerimy Wagner lead the field to the green flag with Mark getting the better run. With issues that have kept Mark back, he did everything he could. With that, he was able to complete the race and win the B Feature. He was followed by Jerimy Wagner, Shane Kohlmeier, the 72 car, and Doxey in 5th. The top 2 made their way to the A Feature.
Now it’s the main event for the MidWest Dash. It sure was looking to shape up to be a great race and sure enough, it was. Lyle Phillips and Shawn Kemnetz lead the 18 car field to the green flag and Lyle got the lead. H sure looked good and was doing everything he could. But on lap[ 3, he lost the lead to Justin Schelizche. That was not the only moves being made. We had cars all through out the field making moves and making passes. I will say, you sure could not keep up with everything going on. But the transponder system helped and the folks in the tower did a heck of a job keeping track. You had Phil making moves, Davey doing what he could, Karter pushing he way through, Mark English looked like he was able to make some moves, did he have the issue fixed? Tim Anderson climbing the ladder. Everyone was battling for position and keeping it clean and professional. As the field started to spread out, and drivers doing what they could, Mark English ended up continuing to have issues, Karter Stark making he way up to 5th half way through the race. Davey Pennel taking over the lead on lap 7. Phil Malouf up to 2nd on lap 9. Mike Heidmann to 4th at lap 9. Tim Anderson to 3rd at lap 10. You just knew it was going to be an exciting ending.
Who was going to come out on top? Well, as the race went on, Davey got a decent lead and was not looking back. As everyone else battled it out, it was Tim Anderson that was able to make his way to Davey. Tim was not able to make it happen as he got to him just at the end of the race.
Your Oktoberfest 2024 Winner was Davey Pennel. He was followed by Tim Anderson in 2nd. Karter Stark finished 3rd. Phil Malouf in 4th. Rounding out your top 5 was Mike Heidmann. In 6th place doing what he can to not let Phil get to far away in points was Justin Pearson. He was followed by Anna Malouf, George Sparkman, Justing Schelizche, and Shawn Kemnetz in 10th. 11th on back was Lyle Phillips, Tyler Muller, Karmen Hill, Shawn Grabinger, Taylow Dawson, Jerimy Wagner, Travis Hill, and Mark English.
Normally this is the final race of the season. Not this year. We still have 1 more race to go. We will be back at Dells Raceway Park for their Falloween special on Oct 19th. We will crown the 2024 champion. Who will it be? Tim Anderson has been coming on strong as of late. Will it be Justin Pearson? Had the lead earlier in the season. He has been strong. He knows what he has to do to make the car work for this race. Or will it be Phil Malouf taking it again this year? He has always been consistent and never quitting. Always strong no matter where he runs. Your guess is as good as ours.
Thanks to our wonderful sponsors that have come on board to help out with some of the backend stuff. Computers-3s and Scoring.racing. Also need to thank SolutionzLLC for coming on board and helping the racers out with some extra cash a few times this year. At OktoberFest, 5 drivers got an extra $100 bucks added to their winnings. Those drivers were Phil Malouf, Shawn Kemnetz, Thomas Farra (In turn gave it to Shawn Kemnetz for 10th place), Lyle Phillips, and Brian Schott.