By Gene Harmelink
On the last day of July, 2009, it was “Pete and Repeat Night” at the Tomahawk Speedway in Tomahawk, WI. Let’s talk about repeat first. There was a repeat winner in the Amsoil WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds with track point’s leader, Jason Zdroik, taking the win. In the Amsoil WISSOTA Street Stocks, John Kallas, track point’s leader, took the win, and in the Tomahawk Pure Stocks, track point’s leader, Chris Nylund, was the winner. The lone “pete” came in the only caution-free feature of the night and that was Phil Malouf, who took the win in his Four Cylinder Bandit.

John Johnson, Jr. and Dennis Mikkelson lined up on the front row to lead eleven Midwest Modifieds to the green for the start of the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature. This feature got off to a rocky start involving two cautions prior to the completion of the first lap. Once things got sorted out, Johnson took the early lead, but led for just one lap, when Jeff McDonald, who had started third, took the lead, with Mickey Nosser, who had started fourth, right behind him.

By mid-race, McDonald still was in the lead, but heat winner and track point’s leader, Jason Zdroik, had moved to second from sixth. Last week’s feature winner, Bruce Belland, ran third, after starting seventh, Scott Erickson ran fourth, after starting eighth, and heat winner, Wayne Dean, was fifth, after starting fifth. With one lap to go, McDonald hung onto the lead, but Zdroik was breathing down his neck. It was during the checkered flag lap that Zdroik made his move in turn four to snatch the victory and complete the sweep. Rounding out the top five were: McDonald, Belland, Erickson, and Nosser.

Jordan Kurtti and Keith Troutman led the field to the green for the start of the WISSOTA Street Stock feature. Kurtti led the first lap, but heat winner and track point’s leader, John Kallas, coming from fifth, shot to the lead by the end of lap two, with Troutman giving chase. Kurtti remained in the mix, running third, while Matt Troutman, who had started third, and Jeff Klopstein, Jr., who had started fourth, fought for the fourth spot.

Mid-race saw Kallas stretching his lead with the Troutman brothers battling for second. Kurtti ran fourth and Klopstien was mired in fifth. With two laps to go, Keith Troutman spun in turn four, while running second, and was sent to the back of the field. As the last lap was nearing completion all heck broke lose under the flag stand as multiple cars, fighting for position, got together. Klopstein was awarded second, with Hoogland, Kurtti, and Keith Troutman rounding out the top five. It was a clean sweep for Kallas, who once again proved to be the power of the field.

Tomahawk Pure Stock action saw fifteen Pures take the green with Tim Miller and Ryan Huff on the front row. Ryan Huff was the early leader, with Miller and Austyn Booth, who had started third, fighting for second. Huff continued to lead by mid-race, but heat winner and track point’s leader, Chris Nylund, had moved up to second, after starting fifth. With Huff and Nylund fighting for first, Wayne Eskola gave chase, after starting eighth.

With just one lap to go and Huff still in the lead, Nylund gave it a final push, after running second for twelve of the fifteen laps. As the cars rounded turn four, heading for the checkered flag, Nylund lunged ahead and went on the take the checkered, winning by less than a car length to complete a sweep for the night. Rounding out the top five were: Huff; Eskola; heat winner, Ken Schram, who had started seventh; and Ben Pitlik, who had started fourteenth.

The Tomahawk Bandits, thirteen cars strong, were led to the flag stand for the start of their feature by John Barlowski and Phil Malouf. Heat winner Malouf would lead the caution-free race from flag to flag, to complete a sweep, as the rest of the field was left to fight over the spoils. In the end it would be Malouf taking the win, with Barlowski settling for second. Michael Warga, who had started third, would finish third. Rounding out the top five were: Kasey Gross, who had started eighth and Richard Lietz, who had started tenth.

Racing resumes on Friday, August 7 when once again Tomahawk Speedway brings you racing excitement in the WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and Street Stock Divisions, as well as the Tomahawk Pure Stocks and Bandits. Hot laps are at 7:00 and racing begins at 7:30.

SUMMARY

Tomahawk Speedway, Tomahawk, WI

July 31, 2009

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds

20-Lap Feature: Jason Zdroik, Jeff McDonald, Bruce Belland, Scott Erickson, Mickey Nosser, Wayne Dean, John Johnson, Jr., Charley Jackson, Mark Kralicek, Dennis Mikkelson, Robert Laskowski, Jr.

Heat 1: Zdroik, Nosser, McDonald, Mikkelson, Laskowski, Jr., Jackson

Heat 2: Dean, Belland, Erickson, Johnson, Jr., Kralicek

WISSOTA Street Stocks

20-Lap Feature: John Kallas, Jeff Klopstein, Jr., Jeff Hoogland, Jordan Kurtti, Keith Troutman, Matt Troutman, Ron Van Dusen,

Heat: Kallas, Kurtti, M. Troutman, K. Troutman, Klopstein, Jr., Hoogland, Van Dusen, Kevin Maulson, Jr.

Tomahawk Pure Stocks

15-Lap Feature: Chris Nylund, Ryan Huff, Wayne Eskola, Ken Schram, Ben Pitlik, Tim Miller, Kevin Hartman, Duke Leu, Matt Smith, Heidi Karshbaum, Brian Edward, Alex Durand, Zachary Onsen, Austyn Booth, Travis Friske

Heat 1: Nylund, Miller, Edward, Hartman, Karshbaum, Smith, Onsen, Durand

Heat 2: Schram, Eskola, Huff, Booth, Leu, Friske, Pitlik

Tomahawk Four Cylinder Bandits

15-Lap Feature: Phil Malouf, John Barlowski, Mike Warga, Kasey Gross, Richard Lietz, Kurt Komarek, Marcus Dunbar, Rory Radtke, Jay Wilberding, Alex Knoebel, Dustin Smith, Brit Bromann, Nick Visser

Heat 1: Malouf, Dunbar, Warga, Komarek, Wilberding, Visser, Knoebel

Heat 2: Bromann, Gross, Smith, Barlowski, Lietz, Radtke