Race Reports and Photos of the Season 2006

September 11, 2006

Schneider snags last Late Model feature of the year at Raceway Park

By Corey Butler Jr.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. – Jason Schneider took the lead on lap 17 from Harm Alken and never looked back as he won the 30-lap Country Joe Homes Late Model season finale Sunday night at Raceway Park.

Schneider, who started third, paced behind pole-sitter Gary Petrash as Alken worked around Petrash on the outside line and brought fourth starting Donny Reuvers with him. Schneider was quick to follow and two laps later he moved under Reuvers for second. Reuvers spun one lap later bringing out the race’s first caution. Alken and Schneider battled side by side for the next 11 laps with two delays for cautions, but Schneider was finally able to move by on the high side around Alken on the 17^th circuit. Dean Cornelius moved to the outside of Alken five laps later and solidified himself in second on the 24^th circuit. Alken settled for third.

An early race tangle among Bryan Turtle, Ray Sandgren and Tim Lewis allowed Mark Hawes to take the lead and the eventual win in the Turtle’s Bar & Grill Hobby Stocks. Sandgren and Turtle were racing side by side for the lead, when Lewis, going into turn one, made contact with Sandgren sending him into Turtle and bringing out the caution as they both suffered cut tires and stalled. Lewis was regulated to the back and Hawes inherited the lead with Bill Woodworth moving to second and Lucas Grosinger to third. Hawes and Woodworth would maintain their positions for the remainder of the race with Grosinger succumbing to the No. 52 of Steve Marschall with eight laps to go for third place.

Paul Haeg took top honors in the Coca-Cola Short Tracker and capped off a great championship season. A lap two incident between the front duo of Charlie Pehrson and Mike Dimmick brought out the only caution and moved Eric Larson to the lead for the restart. Four laps following the restart, Haeg moved by Larson to take the lead and the eventual win. Matt Schaar was quick to follow and took second place from Larson. With two laps to go, Larson fell off the pace to allow the No. 44 of Terry Larson to move into third place at the finish.

It appeared that Eric Montour was on his way to the feature win in the Lupient Chevrolet of Belle Plaine Bombers, but a blown engine with three laps to go ended that feat for him and handed the win to Jason Michaud. Montour worked the outside line the entire race, passing Charity Schneider for third on the third lap and moved by Chevy Miller 10 laps later. With seven laps to go, Montour challenged his father Dave for the lead and took the lead on the next circuit. However, four laps later, Montour blew his motor entering turn three dropping fluid everywhere as Michaud just moved by the elder Montour. When racing resumed, Michaud paced the field to the finish as Dave Montour crossed the line second and Miller rounded out the top three.

In the first Miller Lite Figure 8 feature, Dennis Barta won his second feature of the year winning the 15-lap affair. Bob Hasert applied pressure to Barta late in the race, but the veteran was able to hold on for the win. Todd Wilson rounded out the top three and point leader Ricky Martin finished fourth. In the second Figure 8 feature, Troy Tuma made a late race pass of Louis Ansolabehere to claim the victory. Ansolabehere settled for second as Dave Nogle came home third.

Tyler Sjoman was the class of the field as the Great North Legends took the “Action Attraction” for 20 laps of intense racing action. Sjoman worked through the field and was in third place by the fifth circuit. One lap later, he worked by Kim Kraus and Todd Tracy to take the lead. Sjoman never looked back as he waited out two cautions and won by a comfortable margin. Tracy and Krause finished second and third, respectively.

Make sure to join us Saturday, Sept. 30, for the Miller Lite Enduro Race of Champions at 3 p.m. Also on tap is the World Famous Figure 8 Trailer Race, Powder Puff Races and 4 and 8-cylinder Enduro Action!