Rothe and Kelly win Triple Crown Finale
 

August 14, 2008

by: Sandy Shultz

(KAUKAUNA, WI) Tim Rothe of Little Chute led the final 18 laps of the Budweiser/WAPL/Kurz Electric Triple Crown 50-lap feature to win his second late model feature of the season. Rothe started the race in third position, challenging Lowell Bennett for the early lead. Rothe passed Bennett coming out of turn four on lap 8 to take the top position. Rothe’s only challenge of the race came from Eugene Gregorich Jr. who led lap 21, racing side-by-side with Rothe for the next several laps. Rothe grabbed the lead from Gregorich Jr. on lap 22 as the two continued to race side-by-side until Rothe cleared Gregorich Jr. on lap 24. Rothe never looked back, crossing the finish line 1.792 seconds ahead of Greg Haese, followed by Gregorich in third.

Current point leader and the night’s fast qualifier, Jeff Van Oudenhoven had a busy night, starting the feature from the 14th position. Van Oudenhoven gradually worked his way through the field, to sixth place by lap 16. The only caution of the race was on lap 21, when Kyle Calmes sustained damage in an incident in turn two. The restart allowed Van Oudenhoven to close in on Bennett and Terry Baldry. Van Oudenhoven passed Bennett on lap 23, but battled with Baldry for the next seven laps, before moving into fourth place. Van Oudenhoven holds a 90 point lead over Rothe in the point standings and won the Triple Crown Title.

Kris Kelly won the 27-lap limited late model feature, which was shortened from 30 laps following some lengthy cautions. Brandon Conrad started on the pole and had pulled out to a comfortable margin over second place Jeff Tisler. Kelly started the race from the eighth position working his way through the field and passed Tisler going into turn three on lap 11 to take second place. Kelly, taking advantage of the restart on lap 17 passed Conrad for the lead going into turn one. Kelly continued to lead until the caution came out on lap 19, when Jack Pankratz made contact with the turn four wall. Following some lengthy cleanup, the race continued, only to be stopped by another caution coming out on lap 19 for Gary Natrop who spun in the middle of the back straightaway. When racing resumed, Jim Duchow challenged Conrad for second spot, passing him in turn two. The caution flag waved again on lap 23, when Tisler spun coming out of turn four. On the restart, Kelly maintained the lead, followed by Duchow, Conrad, Todd Verhagen and Andrew Kluck. The finish would be the same, as the race ended under caution on lap 27, following another incident on the backstretch.

Duchow maintains a 17-point lead over Kelly with just two weeks remaining. Kelly won the Triple Crown Title by 3 points over Duchow.

Nick Boldt of Little Chute won the 25-lap Super Stock feature. Boldt led every lap to win his first feature of the season. Ed Howard, Travis Willing, George Schwalbach and Corey Manders completed the top five. Greg Hauser and Andy Casavant hold an eight point lead over Dylan Wenzel in the Championship standings. Wenzel won the Triple Crown Title by 15 points over George Schwalbach.

In Sport Truck action, Ron Magdanz inherited the lead from Jason Plutz on lap fifteen, when Plutz pulled off going into turn one. Magdanz battled with Jeff VanHandel for several laps, but was able to maintain the lead winning his second feature of the season. Magdanz is leading the point’s standings by 36 points over Dan Vixmer, with just two weeks to go.

In the Sizzling 4’s, Tim Ritcher led the final 14 laps to win his fourth feature of the season. Ritcher passed Scott Konrad on lap two to take the lead. Ritcher trails Scott Verboomen by 3 points in the Championship standings.

Terry Van Roy led the final three laps to win the Figure Eight feature. Jeff Wohlrabe and Jared Baughman are tied for first place in the Championship standings, leading by 10 points over Terry Van Roy.

Next week’s program is sponsored by MCL, don’t miss the action as the season-ending points battles heat up, with just two weeks remaining.