WEST SALEM — There were so many yellow flags that waved in the ASA Late Model North Oktoberfest Feature race Saturday night that some folks probably thought the sun was coming up. It only seemed to take that long.

What made a crowd estimated at nearly 5,000 stick around, however, was one of the best battles for first place in the history of the Oktoberfest Race Weekend. Wiley veteran Steve Carlson, who folks around the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway know very well, had his hands full — and then some — with a 16-year-old whiz kid named Brett Moffitt.
Remember that name.

Carlson and Moffitt were inches apart — or less — for much of the final 15 laps, and put on a show that had the crowd on its feet. Moffitt, in fact, stole the lead from Carlson six laps from the finish of what was slated to be a 100-lap race, but Carlson refused to give up.

Carlson took the lead back on Lap 95, and held off Moffitt for the feature victory in what was the most hotly contested race of the 39th annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend so far.

“You know what? Someday that boy is going to be good,” Carlson said. “He was good today. He’s tough.”

Carlson, who started in the ninth position, took the lead on Lap 19, and ran a blistering pace while leading the race. He got plenty of practice on re-starts as there were 14 — yes, 14 — caution flags in a wreck-filled race. On the eighth caution flag of the race, Carlson attempted to avoid a spinning car on the front stretch, and was tapped from behind by Moffitt. Carlson spun, but his car was undamaged and race officials ruled the caution had come out, and both Carlson and Moffitt retained their positions.

The two would battle it out until Lap 94 when Moffitt went to the high groove, got by Carlson for the lead, but simply couldn’t hold it on a groove that isn’t as sticky as the low one.

“I had a feeling Carlson was saving his stuff,” said Moffitt, who has raced in 30 events this year and 80 last year in his first season of stock car racing. “He (Carlson) is a great racer. I knew the guy I was battling for rookie of the year was a ways back, so I could take some chances.”

Carlson knew he still had a shot at the win even after Moffitt got by him.

“I wasn’t going to give up,” Carlson said.

His spotter, and car owner, Tim Jacobs of Sparta, wouldn’t let that happen, either. Jacobs has been a spotter for Carlson for years during Carlson’s touring series days, and knew what to say.

“I just got on him and cracked the whip and stayed cracking it as much as I could over the radio,” Jacobs said. “I kept telling him to dig deep and he was going to get the win. We knew it was going to be a battle. It was even more than we thought.”

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