The rain gave away to sunny skies for the opening night of races at the Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway Sunday afternoon. The thunder was happening on the track as three of the feature races had the fans on the edge of their seat. Countryside Chevrolet Buick GMC of Beaver Dam was the trophy sponsor for the evening. Alumni night presented fans with blasts from the past as many former drivers were on hand for the evening.

Grand Nationals took to the track first. Roger Lee took advantage of his front row starting spot and pulled out front followed by Jay Schaalma and the Richards brothers, Kenny and Jeff. The one and only caution came out on lap 7, tighting up the field. On the restart Lee held top spot with Kenny starting to close the gap within a car length as Jeff looked on. Lap 9 saw Kenny get high in turn 2 allowing Jeff to duck under him for second spot. The remaining laps was a race for runner up spot as the brothers staged a duel with some side by side racing and came down to the last lap. Lee took the checkered followed by Jeff, Kenny & Schaalma. Heat race winners were Lee & Kenny Richards.

Eighteen modifieds took the green flag for 20 laps of racing with Jeremy Christians leading from the pole followed by Tim Lemerande & Dan Roedl. Lemirande left the track on lap 5 as Ed Lemay & Matt Rechek started to work their way up to the front. At the halfway mark Christians has an eight car lead over Lemay as Rechek and Roedl battle door handle to door handle for the next few laps. Rechek solidly takes the 3rd spot on lap 13. Christians stayed out front to win followed by Lemay, Rechek & Roedl. Heat winners were Joel Crowbridge, Roedl & Joel Seegert.

The Late Models made their debut next on the Horsepower Half Mile. Mitch McGrath powered into the lead at the drop of the flag followed by Taylor Scheffler & Jeff Curtis. By lap 5 Justin Schmidt took the low line to race for 3rd spot and gets it the next time by. The halfway point saw McGrath still out front as Scheffler was starting to reel him in little by little, With 5 laps to go Scheffler pulls up tight on Mcgrath’s bumper to fight for top spot as McGrath holds his line. It was a race till the checkered fell with McGrath edging out Scheffler followed by Schmidt & Tim Buhler. Heat race winners were Buhler & Rob Krull.

The street stock feature saw Steve Ecker stay out front all 20 laps as the war raged on behind him between Aaron Falbe, Jason White & Chad Hummelmeier. Hummelmeier powered into 3rd spot on lap 3 using the low groove under White as young gun Jesse Krahn moved up to play. At the halfway mark Ecker had a nice lead as Hummelmeier took over 2nd and alumni driver Dan Miller rocketed up to 4th position. The remaining laps saw White putting pressure on Hummelmeier for runner up spot. With one lap to go they were bumper to bumper on the backstretch as White went into turn 3 hard and spinning, giving Hummelmeier the spot. Miller takes 3rd spot followed by Krahn. Heat winners were Ecker & Stuart White.

The last race of the evening didn’t let the fans adrenaline slow down. The sport mods took to the track as Bud Reidner took the early lead as Colten Van Hierden & Keith Schmitt are right on his tail. By lap 3 VanHierden pushes out to the front of the pack as Schmitt follows suit. Tracy Wassenberg & Jeff Schmuhl round out the top 5 as they tightly battle for positions. Lap 5 saw the first caution fly as Van Hierden stays out front followed by Wassenberg then Reidner. The next few laps saws side by side battles going on for spots 2 thru 5. With 5 laps to go the top runners are all in the game with some close racing being had. Van Hierden still holds the top spot as the final caution falls with debree on the track setting up a 5 lap shoot out. On the restart Schmitt surges into 2nd spot and takes to the high groove to battle for the lead. Schmitt keeps the pressure on VanHierden and on lap 19 again looks to the high side of the track as they race side by side. Schmitt gets out front on the final lap followed by Van Hierden, Reidner & Schmul. Heat Winners were Van Hierden & Schmidt.

The next race at the fairgrounds is Sunday June 7th with Vic’s Auto Sales & Service of Horicon hosting the night’s events.

More information about local racing on the Horsepower Half Mile at http://www.dodgecountyspeedwaywi.com/

Story by Pegi Erdmann, Photos by Leader Photography

IMCA Modified – A-Main
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 2 99X Jeremy Christians Horicon , Wi 40
2 6 13 Ed Lemay Beaver Dam, Wi 39
3 9 5R Matt Rechek Beaver Dam, Wi 38
4 3 33X Dan Roedl Beaver Dam, Wi 37
5 10 4S Joel Seegert Sheboygan , Wi 36
6 8 10S Jay Schraufnagel Juneau , Wi 35
7 11 43T Kevin Tilleman Cambria , Wi 34
8 17 33H Kelly Brown Beaver Dam, Wi 33
9 7 16 David Schoenberger Beaver Dam, Wi 32
10 5 28C Joel Crowbridge Burlington , Wi 31
11 13 27 Frank Firari Juneau , Wi 30
12 1 68 Dan Jung Iron Ridge, Wi 29
13 12 21F Nick Firari Reeseville , Wi 28
14 16 24M Aaron Muhle Beaver Dam, Wi 27
15 4 5X Tim Lemirande Middleton , Wi 26
16 18 95 Jeff Bodendorfer Jr Waterford , Wi 25
17 15 0 Scottie Hatton Clyman , Wi 24
18 14 15S Don Scheffler Milwaukee , Wi 23
IMCA Sport Modified – A-Main
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 1 49 Keith Schmitt Beaver Dam, Wi 40
2 3 66C Colten Van Hierden Beaver Dam, Wi 39
3 2 4D Bud Riedner Waunakee , Wi 38
4 10 11S Jeff Schmuhl Fall River, Wi 37
5 5 103 Brekken Kleinschmidt North Fond, Wi 36
6 6 30 Tracy Wassenberg Shawano , Wi 35
7 12 19M Bob Mann Juneau , Wi 34
8 4 25P Nathan Persha Horicon , Wi 33
9 9 45 Raymon Keyser Beaver Dam, Wi 32
10 7 17S Mike Schmuhl Rio , Wi 31
11 11 14H Robbie Holst Jr. Beaver Dam, Wi 30
12 8 11X Jon Schultz Waunakee , Wi 29
13 13 20 Brandon Schmitt Beaver Dam, Wi 28
DCSA Late Model – A-Main
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 3 74M Mitch Mcgrath Waukesha , Wi 40
2 4 10S Taylor Scheffler Waukesha , Wi 39
3 8 97 Justin Schmidt Cleveland , Wi 38
4 5 7B Tim Buhler Glenbeulah , Wi 37
5 1 11 Jeff Curtis Shawano , Wi 36
6 6 74 Joe Mcgrath Waukesha , Wi 35
7 9 54 Mike Fryer Freeport , Il 34
8 7 29 Rob Krull Navarino , Wi 33
9 2 11R Larry Richards Montello , Wi 32
10 10 08C Marcus Cox Waupun , Wi 31
Street Stock – A-Main
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 1 12E Steve Ecker Montello , Wi 40
2 11 33H Chad Hummelmeier Beaver Dam, Wi 39
3 8 5 Dan Miller Watertown , Wi 38
4 7 55K Jesse Krahn Beaver Dam, Wi 37
5 2 87 Aaron Falbe Beaver Dam, Wi 36
6 6 68 68russ Davison Horicon , Wi 35
7 4 3 Jason White Randolph , Wi 34
8 10 99 Phillip Wuesthoff Beaver Dam, Wi 33
9 5 77H Michael Held Hustisford , Wi 32
10 9 76H Jeremy Hallmeyer Randolph , Wi 31
11 3 88 Stuart White Randolph , Wi 30
Grand National – A-Main
Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Points
1 2 10 Roger Lee Wind Lake, Wi 40
2 4 11R Larry Richards Montello , Wi 39
3 9 9R Kenny Richards Montello , Wi 38
4 1 29X Jay Schaalma Juneau , Wi 37
5 3 7A Todd Ascherien Beaver Dam, Wi 36
6 5 27S John Stanton Reeseville , Wi 35
7 8 81N Zach Axlen Germantown , Wi 34
8 7 1K Ron Koenig Fox Lake, Wi 33
9 6 44 Ben Konen Richfield , Wi 32
10 10 10R Larry Richards Montello , Wi DNS
DCSA Jeff Schmuhl IMCA Sport Mod

IMCA Northern Sport Mod driver Jeff Schmuhl tackles the Horsepower Half Mile Speedway