Van Wychen holds off Schroeder for Win

By: Sandy Shultz
July 2, 2009

(KAUKAUNA, WI) Nate Van Wychen drove the wheels of his car on Thursday night, holding off Mark Schroeder to take the win on Stockbridge Engineering night at Wisconsin International Raceway. Van Wychen returned to action this week after being involved in a crash earlier this season. He started the race from the third position, challenging early leader Pete Vandermolen Jr. for the lead on lap thirteen. Van Wychen drove inside Vandermolen on the back stetch, racing side by side through turns three and four before overtaking him on the front stretch. Schroeder followed right behind Van Wychen, shuffling Vandermolen to the third position. Fast-qualifier Jeff Van Oudenhoven started eleventh and had worked his way up to the fifth position by this time. Van Oudenhoven passed Tom Gee Jr. a couple laps later and closed in on Vandermolen. As Van Wychen and Schroeder pulled away, Van Oudenhoven passed Vandermolen with ten laps to go. Schroeder closed in on Van Wychen as the laps were winding down and was starting to feel pressure from Van Oudenhoven, who had closed the gap. Van Wychen was able to hold off Schroeder to win his first feature of the season. Van Oudenhoven finished third, followed by Lowell Bennett in fourth and Vandermolen finished fifth. Van Oudenhoven continues to lead the point standings by 49 points over Bennett.

Kris Kelly of Norway, Michigan was the fast qualifier and won the 20-lap limited late model feature. Kelly started the race from eleventh position. Jessie Van Roy took the early lead while Kelly worked his way through the field. A caution on lap seven slowed the field and brought on a double file restart. Kelly had worked his way to the sixth position, restarting outside of row three. On the restart, Van Roy held the lead, followed by Tanner Bohlen and Jesse Oudenhoven. Kelly passed Oudenhoven two laps later to advance to fourth position, and set his sights on Gary Natrop. Kelly battled with Natrop for three laps, before overtaking him on lap thirteen. Two laps later the caution flag came out again as Natrop went spinning into turn one, collecting Jim Duchow who crashed into the soft wall. Following some extensive cleanup, the race resumed with six laps to go. Van Roy held the lead, followed by Kelly, Oudenhoven and Bohlen. With two laps to go, Kelly moved to the outside of Van Roy in turn two and the two ran side-by-side through turn four, as Kelly vaulted to the lead. Kelly went on to win his third feature of the season. Van Roy and Bohlen made contact in turn three, which allowed Oudenhoven to finished second, followed by Randy Van Roy, Keith Romenesko and Andrew Kluck. Kelly holds a 58 point lead over Duchow in the point standings.

Ron Magdanz won his second sport truck feature of the season. Magdanz started the 20-lap race from twelfth position and worked his way to the fifth by lap seven. Magdanz was in third position when the leaders, Donald Jaloszynski and Jacob Boldig got together on the backstetch. Magdanz inherited the lead, with just four laps remaining. Magdanz held off Reagan May, Dan Vixmer, Taylor Vandermoss and Jason Plutz. Magdanz holds a 25 point lead over Vixmer in the championship standings.

In Super Stock action, Denny Crass led most of the race as he battled with Corey Manders and Sawyer Effertz . Caution slowed the field on lap twelve, brining on a double file restart. Effertz led a lap before Crass resumed the lead. Andy Casavant battled with Crass for the win, but Crass crossed the finish line first. Manders finished third followed by Todd Baumann and Effertz. Baumann holds a 13-point lead over Dylan Wenzel in the point standings.

Bill Bruehl won the first Sizzling 4 feature of the evening. Bruehl took the lead on lap seven from Ben Meyerhofer, holding him off to win the 15-lap race. Meyerhofer finished second, followed by Dave Wacek, Cody Kippenhan, and Tom Schweitzer. In the second Sizzling 4 feature, Tim Richter took home the checkered flag. Ricther took the lead on lap four from Roger Braun and won the caution-shortened eleven lap feature event. Schweitzer finished second, followed by Braun, Bruehl, and Andy Wiese. Richter leads Schweitzer by 18 points on the championship standings.

Dan Gracyalny won the 15-lap Figure Eight feature. Gracyalny passed Mike Meyerhofer Jr. on lap three to take the lead and never looked back. Jared Baughman finished second, followed by Meyerhofer Jr., Terry Van Roy, and Willy Van Camp. Baughman is the point leader by 20 points over Van Roy.

Join us next week for a full night of racing, sponsored by NAPA Auto Parts.
 

The next FRRC event is July 9th 2009