6/15/2018
Granite City Motor Park
MARTINI SERVES UP ANOTHER MODIFIED WIN AT GRANITE CITY SPEEDWAY
SAUK RAPIDS, MN (JUNE 15, 2018) – On a hot and steamy night, it was only fitting that Eric Martini continued his hot streak as he won his third WISSOTA Modified Feature of the season at Granite City Speedway.
Danny Vang got the jump on the start, but the race wouldn’t complete a lap before Denis Czech brought out the caution after a brush with the backstretch wall. When the action resumed, Vang had Don Eischens mounting a serious challenge. Eischens would spin on lap six to bring out another caution. The race barely got going again before Jonathan Olmscheid, Taton Hansen and Jeffery Lien Jr collected in turn one. Vang continued to show the way before still yet another caution slowed the action when Eichens hit an infield tire in turn one. When the green flew for the final time, Vang still held the top spot, but now had Martini looking for a way around. With a handful of laps left, Martini would get by Vang only to get passed back before the completion of a lap. With three to go, Martini again got by Vang and this time made it stick as he again parked it in Victory Lane.
“He’s a pretty fast and smooth driver,” said Martini about his battle with Vang. “It’s hard when you’re in the lead, because you don’t know where the second place guy is and which line is faster. And, that’s the advantage the second place guy has.”
Dave Mass backed up his WISSOTA Super Stock Feature win from a week ago, with another one. Pole sitter Kevin Schmidt showed the way as Mass wasted no time moving into a race for the lead. Once in front, Mass quickly opened things up as he extended his lead to more than a full straightway over Schmidt. Andy Miskowic’s spin in turn four would negate the advantage. On the restart, Mass again took command, but Jordan Henkemeyer stopped in turn three to slow the action again. Back to green and Mass now had Dexton Koch working the high side as he attempted to take lead. With three to go, Schmidt, Davey Kruchten and Kurt Becken got together in turn one. After the cleanup, Mass and Koch continued their race for the win. Mass locked down the low side while Koch tried to make the high side work. The short way around proved to be the better as Mass went on to take the win.
Shane Howell worked his way to the win in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifed Feature. Rookie driver Jack Rivord held off Andy Mayavski’s early race challenge as the field stayed tight behind. Howell would get by Mayavski and then worked on Rivord. Howell would take the lead just prior to an early yellow for Bud Martini who slowed on track. When the race got going again, Howell set the pace and slowly opened up a lead over second running Ashton Schulte. A final yellow waved for debris with just a couple of laps left. Schulte tried to get by Howell, but Howell hung on to take the win by about three car lengths by the time the checkered flag waved.
“You could really pound it in turn one, pick the throttle up in turn two and throttle all the way down in turn three,” said Howell following the race as he described how hard he ran. “You drive in so deep here at Granite City, but then you basically dump the throttle and basically wait for the car to catch up to the track.
Justin Pogones had his car all figured out as he won the WISSOTA Mod 4 Feature. Pogones took the lead from the get-go and had Dwight Gilyard as an early contender. Chris McClain’s spin near the halfway point brought out the only caution of the race. When the green waved, Pogones picked up where he left off as Dean Larson had now moved up to second. Larson didn’t have anything for Pogones as he had to settle for second, as Pogones led from start to finish in taking the win.
Justin Schelitzche hung on for dear life as he managed to take the win in the WISSOTA Hornet Feature. Schelitzche started on the pole and immediately took the lead over Nate Servaty. Jakob Mohr went for a wild ride as he barrel rolled his car several times on lap five. Mohr was uninjured, but out of the race. After the cleanup, Schelitzche led the pack which featured Brittany Smith, Corey Mehrwerth, Servaty and Zach Schreder. Schelitzche hugged the bottom of the track as he tried to preserve the lead. On the final lap, Smith drifted a little high and that allowed Mehrwerth to scoot by to grab second. Meanwhile, Schelitzche held his line and hung on to take the win.
The next event at Granite City Speedway will be Meet the Drivers Night on Friday June 22nd. Racing is scheduled to start at 7:30pm. For more information and to purchase tickets online, go to www.gcspeedway.com
WISSOTA Modifieds
Feature (15 Laps): 1. D1RT-Eric Martini, [7]; 2. 47-Danny Vang, [1]; 3. 442-Aaron Johnson, [4]; 4. 89JR-J.T. Johnson, [9]; 5. 24JR-Jeffrey Lien Jr., [13]; 6. 00-Kyle Thell, [3]; 7. US-Jonathan Olmscheid, [11]; 8. 23-Tim Patchen, [10]; 9. 8-Jeff Lien, [6]; 10. 96-Taton Hansen, [12]; 11. (DNF) 9E-Don Eischens, [2]; 12. (DNF) 18A-Landon Atkinson, [5]; 13. (DNF) 2-Denis Czech, [8]; (DNS) 06-Jeremy Nelson,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 47-Danny Vang, [2]; 2. 18A-Landon Atkinson, [4]; 3. 8-Jeff Lien, [1]; 4. 00-Kyle Thell, [3]; 5. 89JR-J.T. Johnson, [5]; 6. US-Jonathan Olmscheid, [7]; (DNS) 06-Jeremy Nelson,
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. D1RT-Eric Martini, [1]; 2. 2-Denis Czech, [4]; 3. 9E-Don Eischens, [6]; 4. 442-Aaron Johnson, [3]; 5. 23-Tim Patchen, [5]; 6. 96-Taton Hansen, [7]; 7. 24JR-Jeffrey Lien Jr., [2]
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds
Feature (15 Laps): 1. L1-Shane Howell, 10:24.033[4]; 2. 11-Ashton Schulte, 10:24.803[5]; 3. C1-Craig Lofdahl, 10:25.316[9]; 4. 7-Brandon Mehrwerth, 10:25.613[11]; 5. 7D1-Mitchell Kittridge, 10:26.698[12]; 6. 29-Andy Mayavski, 10:26.964[2]; 7. 70JR-David Simpson, 10:27.289[8]; 8. 2R-Jeff Reed, 02:19.725[7]; 9. 34-Scott Engholm, 10:27.943[10]; 10. L1H-Patrick Howell, 10:28.547[14]; 11. 19J-Jack Rivord, 10:29.026[1]; 12. (DNF) 17B-Zach Benson, 07:22.669[17]; 13. (DNF) 27-Matt Baker, 07:18.708[13]; 14. (DNF) 20-Thomas Gill, 02:19.725[3]; 15. (DNF) 4Q2-Bud Martini, 02:19.725[6]; (DNS) 3-David Pixley, 02:19.725; (DNS) 06-Jeremy Nelson, 02:19.725; (DNS) 97-Cole Anderson, 02:19.725; (DNS) 33X-Nicholas Thill, 02:19.725
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. L1-Shane Howell, [4]; 2. 2R-Jeff Reed, [2]; 3. 11-Ashton Schulte, [3]; 4. 70JR-David Simpson, [7]; 5. C1-Craig Lofdahl, [6]; 6. 7-Brandon Mehrwerth, [9]; 7. 27-Matt Baker, [5]; 8. (DNF) 3-David Pixley, [8]; 9. (DNF) 17B-Zach Benson, [1]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4Q2-Bud Martini, [3]; 2. 20-Thomas Gill, [1]; 3. 19J-Jack Rivord, [2]; 4. 29-Andy Mayavski, [4]; 5. 34-Scott Engholm, [8]; 6. 7D1-Mitchell Kittridge, [6]; 7. L1H-Patrick Howell, [10]; 8. (DNF) 06-Jeremy Nelson, [5]; 9. (DNF) 97-Cole Anderson, [7]; (DNS) 33X-Nicholas Thill,
WISSOTA Mod 4
Feature (15 Laps): 1. L1-Justin Pogones, 06:17.999[1]; 2. 37-Dean Larson, 06:06.999[3]; 3. 9-Adam Prieve, 06:17.999[4]; 4. 7L-Tyler Larson, 06:09.012[5]; 5. 32-Dwight Gilyard, 06:10.553[2]; 6. 5H-Dustin Holtquist, 06:17.999[8]; 7. 5-Robert Holtquist, 06:11.736[6]; 8. 89-Chris McClain, 06:17.999[7]
Heat (8 Laps): 1. 37-Dean Larson, [1]; 2. 9-Adam Prieve, [4]; 3. L1-Justin Pogones, [5]; 4. 7L-Tyler Larson, [8]; 5. 32-Dwight Gilyard, [6]; 6. 5-Robert Holtquist, [7]; 7. 89-Chris McClain, [3]; 8. (DNF) 5H-Dustin Holtquist, [2]
WISSOTA Hornets
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 14-Justin Schelitzche, [1]; 2. 27-Corey Mehrwerth, [4]; 3. 5-Brittany Smith, [5]; 4. 99-Nate Servaty, [2]; 5. 11-Zachery Schreder, [3]; 6. 1M-Hunter McDougall, [9]; 7. 7-Joe Karl, [7]; 8. 3-Thomas Inderieden, [8]; 9. (DNF) 26-Jakob Mohr, [6]
Heat (8 Laps): 1. 27-Corey Mehrwerth, [3]; 2. 99-Nate Servaty, [1]; 3. 5-Brittany Smith, [2]; 4. 11-Zachery Schreder, [5]; 5. 14-Justin Schelitzche, [6]; 6. 26-Jakob Mohr, [8]; 7. 7-Joe Karl, [4]; 8. 3-Thomas Inderieden, [9]; 9. (DNF) 1M-Hunter McDougall, [7]
WISSOTA Super Stocks
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 2-Dave Mass, [4]; 2. 78K-Dexton Koch, [8]; 3. 15-Devin Fouquette, [5]; 4. 70X-Kurt Becken, [6]; 5. 18-Kevin Schmidt, [1]; 6. 33-Austin Niemeyer, [9]; 7. 10X-Josh Schmidt, [10]; 8. (DNF) 11K-Davey Kruchten, [3]; 9. (DNF) 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer, [2]; 10. (DNF) 27X-Andy Miskowic, [7]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 78K-Dexton Koch, [1]; 2. 27X-Andy Miskowic, [3]; 3. 11K-Davey Kruchten, [2]; 4. 11A-Jordan Henkemeyer, [5]; 5. 33-Austin Niemeyer, [4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Dave Mass, [2]; 2. 15-Devin Fouquette, [5]; 3. 70X-Kurt Becken, [4]; 4. 18-Kevin Schmidt, [3]; 5. 10X-Josh Schmidt, [1]
Article Credit: Dean Reller
Submitted By: Dean Reller
