Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Carlson doubles his pleasure
WEST SALEM — Steve Carlson, track champion — twice. Carlson, who won his seventh feature in nine starts Friday night at Hawkeye Downs to capture the track championship, made it two track championships in two nights when he won one 50-lap feature and finished third in the other to win the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway title.
“The competition is so tough out here,” Carlson said. “To win a feature out here isn’t easy. To win it (title) feels good.“
Carlson’s second consecutive track title at the Fairgrounds Speedway doesn’t mark the end of his season. Actually, far from it. The West Salem, Wis., man has a number of races scheduled, including stops at I-70 and Nashville, Tenn. And, of course, the Oktoberfest Race Weekend on Oct. 2-5.
Dutch Mill Trucking owner Tim Jacobs, who has fielded at least one Late Model team for four seasons at the Fairgrounds Speedway, won his fourth track championship — two with Kevin Nuttleman (2005, 2006), and two with Carlson (2007, 2008) — was just happy to celebrate another track championship.
“To come back and win another track championship here, I am extremely happy,” Jacobs said. “Steve has won his share of touring championships, but for him to come back home and show the fans here what he can do, that’s what has made it fun.“
Jacobs, who has fielded three Late Model teams the past two years, didn’t even want to think about the future. He wanted to enjoy the present.
“I don’t even want to think about next year,” he said he helped push Carlson’s car into Victory Lane for seemingly endless pictures. “We just want to enjoy this.“
Nuttleman, who pushed Carlson as hard as anyone all season and wound up with the same number of feature wins (5), had a rough finish to his 2008 season. Nuttleman was running in third place in the first feature when his car abruptly lost power on the back stretch on Lap 13. It turns out the fuel pump broke, and his first feature was done.
“He was hooked up, too,” Jacobs said.
In the second feature, Nuttleman was running in the top 10 — and moving up — when he and Brent Kirchner got together coming out of Turn 4. Kirchner spun, and Nuttleman was sent to the back of the field in accordance with track rules. Nuttleman wound up working his way back up to eighth place, which was enough to solidify his second-place points standings.
OH-SO-CLOSE: Brad Powell certainly earned the tough-luck award Saturday night. Powell, a 2001 track champion, led for 45 of the first 47 laps of the second 50-lap feature race. A yellow on Lap 47, however, likely cost him the checkered flag.
A three-car wreck involving Kurt Jankowski, Kirchner and Mike Carlson brought out a yellow flag, erasing Powell’s straightaway lead over Todd Korish. When the green flag came out on the restart, Powell was able to maintain his lead, but it would last for one lap as his car lost power in Turn 4 just two laps from the end.
Powell’s tough luck was good luck for Korish, who wound up earning his second feature win of the season.
WHOA, HOLD IT: The North Country Contractors Sportsman Division race, which will not crown its champion until the first night of the four-day Oktoberfest Race Weekend (Oct. 2), should be a wild finish. Larry Bolster, Jr., holds a three-point lead (717 to 714) over Jimmy Gilster, while Nick Clements is third at 701. Clements led the points for nearly the entire season until struggling a bit in the last two weeks.
MATT DOES IT AGAIN: Matt Inglett of La Crosse, who won his first North Country Contractors Sportsman Division feature race on July 26, steered his car into Victory Lane once again Saturday night when he won a Budweiser Dash.
NOT THE END: While the Kwik Trip Late Model Division track champion was crowned Saturday night, the North Country Contractors Sportsman, United Auto Supply Thunderstox and Feature’s Sports Bar & Grill Hornets divisions will not determine their track champion until the Oktoberfest Race Weekend, which is Oct. 2-3-4-5.
ADAM’S FASTEST: Adam Degenhardt, a one-time regular at the Fairgrounds Speedway who has raced at a number of different tracks in recent seasons, turned in the fastest lap in the Kwik Trip Late Model Division Saturday night. Degenhardt, of Coon Valley, stopped the clock at 19.843 seconds, or an average speed of 98.952 mph around the five-eighth’s mile asphalt track.
Brent Kirchner, who put together a strong season despite running 10-year-old car, was second (19.861 seconds, 98.862 mph), while points leader Steve Carlson was third (19.900, 98.668 seconds. Carlson finished with the most fast times of anyone in the division in 2008 with nine. The only other two drivers with multiple fast times this season were Emily Sue Steck (2) and Mike Carlson (2).
SPEEDY JIMMY: Jimmy Gilster, who is making a push for his first North Country Contractors Sportsman Division track title, earned the fast qualifying time in the division Saturday night. Gilster topped the 29-car field with a lap of 22.116 seconds, or an average speed of 88.782 mph. It was Gilster’s second fast time of the season.
Larry Bolster, Jr., had the second fastest time at 22.143 seconds, or 88.674 mph. Bolster has yet to earn a fast time this season, but has earned a feature win.
CAR COUNT: There were a total of 29 Kwik Trip Late Model cars which hit the track Saturday night, one of the higher car counts of the season in the division. There were also 29 North Country Contractors Sportsman Division drivers, and 31 United Auto Supply Thunderstox drivers for a total of 89 cars in what was the regular-season finale.
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