Raceway Park Weekend Wrap-Up and Cars For Courage Event Sunday

Raceway Park NASCAR Results 7.29.2012
by Kevin Busse   "The Voice of Raceway Park"

"...All I can say is, WOW!"  That was the comment made by one of the media reporters who came out to in Shakopee for the Double-Header Weekend of Racing.  It pretty much sums up the entire event from start to finish.

On Friday, July 27, the Monster Energy Freestyle Motorcycle MX Stunt Team brought their show to Raceway Park as part of its national tour.  The grandstands were packed with families and fans of all ages to see this event, featuring incredible ramp to ramp jumps and amazing motorcycle stunts.  After the event concluded, fans were still lined up outside their trailer trying to get the autographs of the professional riders.

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In Friday night racing action, Figure-8 feature wins went to Mike Dickey of Bloomington and Burnsville driver Todd Wilson.  The Flagpole race feature was awarded to Mark Bronstad of Maple Plain.  Great North Legends feature winner was Tim Brockhouse of Webster.  And the Banoloero feature winner was Jared Duda of Saint Michael.

The action continued on Sunday night in front of what had to be the largest weekend crowd of racefans this year, for a special event to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities. 

The highlight event of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action were the twin 20-lap Wild'n'Crazy Figure-8 features, which had drivers rocketing through the "crossroads of doom" 40 times each race.  In the first feature, Shakopee driver John Lebens started alongside Dennis "The Menace" Barta of Richfield, with Lebens taking an early lead followed by Phil Haluptzok of Bethel going to second. Three laps into the run, Farmington driver Ricky Martin was up to third, closing in on Haluptzok until 14 laps to go, when the Farmington racer pulled along side, and then passing for second 2 laps later. With 10 laps to go, and the action heating up in the "X," Matt Dickey of Shakopee was moving in on Minneapolis driver Joel Johnston for fourth place, as Ricky Martin began to quickly close in on the leader.  The chase was on, and with 7 laps remaining, Martin made the pass to take the lead.  The younger Martin's night almost came to an end early though, when with 3 laps remaining Martin almost collided with Maple Plain driver Mark Bronstad in the crossroads as both drivers narrowly missed each other in a move that had racefans jumping to their feet.  At the checkers it was Ricky Martin with the win, Lebens in second, and Haluptzok crossing the line in third.

In the second Figure-8 feature, it was Minnetonka driver Louie Ansolabehere on the pole with Mark Bronstad of Maple Plain to his outside.  At the green flag, Bronstad immediately powered to the lead, followed by Burnsville's Todd Wilson who made the pass for second on the very next lap.  Both drivers began to pull away from the rest of the group, leaving Lakeville's Danny Johnson battling Ansolabehere for third, and then passing the Minnetonka driver to take the spot with 15 laps to go.  Three laps later, Wilson was right on Bronstad's bumper, and with 10 laps remaining, the two drivers were side by side racing each other for the lead while trying to manuever through the traffic in the "X,"  resulting in several near misses with slower cars trying to beat them through the intersection.  Ricky Martin was once again thrilling his fans with a move through traffic coming up from the back and taking fourth spot with 6 laps to go, and then one lap later moving in on Johnson, which lead to a bumper to bumper run which lasted until the final 3 laps, when Martin thumped Johnson's car solid in the rear, sending the Lakeville driver high into the pit turn which opened the spot up for Martin to pass to third on the low side.  At the finish, it was Bronstad crossing the line just feet ahead of Wilson, and Ricky Martin  finishing in third place.

The American Short Tracker feature began with veteran racer Mike Dimmick of Hastings starting along side New Prague's Jeremy Roche.  The two drivers, and the rest of the field behind, kept it side by side until 11 laps remained when Dimmick was able to break free to take the lead.  That opened up the door for Keith Paulsrud of Rogers to go inside of Roche and move to second 3 laps later, but Roche stayed in there, retaking second place with 7 laps to go leading to a back and fourth chase which continued until the checkers.  In a tightly packed group of drivers, Dimmick took the win, followed by Paulsrud crossing just ahead of Roche who settled for third.

The Hobby Stocks provided fans with a lesson in amazing passes and high speed thoughout its entire feature run.  At the start, Minnetonka's Louie Ansolabehere went side by side for the lead with Bloomington's John Heath, with the two drivers exchanging the top spot until Heath was able to clear for the point with 22 laps to go.  Two laps later, Heath, a former Mini Stock driver who made the move this season to the Hobby Stock class, was pulling away from the rest of the pack, leaving Rosemount's Tina Davis chasing down Ansolabehere and passing for second with 18 laps remaining.  Burnsville's Drew Skaja was on the move as well, taking third place with 16 laps to go.  Davis was charging hard, closing in slowly on Heath with 13 laps remaining, as Farmington driver Dusty Mann was able to pass Skaja for third, followed right behind by Lonsdale driver Brent "The Freight Train" Kane  to fourth.  Kane shot outside Mann with 9 laps to to go, and then making the pass to take third 2 laps later.  The Lonsdale driver didn't stop there, as with 4 laps remaining Kane moved in right next to Davis, and the two fought for second place right until the checkered flag.  Heath got his first Hobby Stock feature win of 2012, as Kane crossed in second just ahead of Davis, who got a big cheer from the fans for her hard charging run as she hung on for third.

The NASCAR Super Late Model feature was a run-away ride for Goodhue driver Bryan Roach, who started the race along side Crystal's Jerry Ziemiecki, and taking the lead 2 laps in.  Both Roach and Ziemiecki began pull away from the rest in the early going, leaving Bryan Keske of Lakeville in a battle for third with Minnetonka's Joe Prusak and Chad Walen of Prior Lake with 25 laps to go.  Two laps later, the Ziemiecki power started to go away, as Keske quickly closed in to take second, followed br Prusak who rocketed to third as the Crystal driver started to slip back in the pack.  Bloomington's Mark Lamereaux was starting his charge, taking third place from Prusak with 20 laps to go, and then moving around Keske to take second 2 laps later.  As Roach extended his lead further from the group, Walen went outside with 15 laps to go to pass Keske for third, and then set his sights on Lamereaux, trying to close in on the Bloomington driver with 10 laps remaining.  With Roach well out in the front of the rest, Walen was within 5 car lengths of Lamerauex with 6 laps to go, closed the distance down to 2 lengths with 4 laps remaining, and then pulling in right on his bumper in the final two laps.  It was Roach with a huge victory, and Lamereaux taking second just ahead of Walen who crossed the stripe for a close third.   Keske finished the race in fourth.

The Mini Stock feature run began with Tyler Thorpe of Blommington taking an early lead over Minneapolis driver Joel Johnston, who started along side at the green flag.   Tom Sibila of Chaska quickly moved around Johnston for second, and then tried outside the leader with 18 laps remaining.  Jay Heitz of Chaska powered around to take third on the next lap, and was able to follow Sibila as he made his pass for the lead 2 laps later.  The leaders were already passing slower cars with 11 laps remaining, as both Sibila and Heitz were able to use the lapped traffic to build their lead.  However, the big lead was short lived as a caution regrouped the field of drivers when Shakopee racer Troy Buetow came to a stop at the high side of turn three.  Lane choice placed Heitz and Sibila along side each other, and when racing resumed Sibila moved to the lead with the Heitz machine just to his outside.  Sibila was able to lock in the lead on the final two laps, capturing the win, and leaving Heitz with a close second place finish.  Thorpe took third in an exciting feature run.

The Bomber division must have been watching the Mini Stocks closely, as their feature run followed a similar path to the checkers.  It was Tim Hollen of Richfield who took the early lead over polesitter Kyle Campbell of Belle Plaine, as Shakopee driver Mike Stoer followed to second place in the opening laps.  With 17 laps to go, Hastings driver Monty Knoll moved to third as both Hollen and Stoer began to extend their lead.  Other drivers began to work their way through traffic, and with 13 laps remaining, Knoll was left trying to hold off both Eric Prindle of Ramsey and Minnetonka's Ryan Varner in a 3-way race for third place.  As the leaders were moving into slower traffic with 11 laps to go, Varner was able to pull along  side Knoll, finally making the pass to third with 7 laps remaining.  Time and laps ran out for the Minnetonka driver however, as Hollen claimed another feature victory at the checkers, followed in second by Stoer, and Varner settling for a third place finish.

Coming up next at Raceway Park, the Twisted Koncept car show rolls in for a two-day event on Saturday, August 4 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from 8 a.m.-1 p.m.  Then the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series returns to the banked paved oval on Sunday, August 5, starting at 6 pm, featuring a 20-lap Short Tracker feature and a special Cars For Courage media celebrity race in the popular Raceway Park Track Cars. Come join us and cheer on your favorite Twin City media and Minnesota sports celebrities as they race in support of Courage Center and Cars For Courage.

For more information, call the Raceway Park hotline at 952/445-2257, and check the Internet for the latest schedule of upcoming events at www.goracewaypark.com