Posted by Madison Speedway on 9/13/2004, 10:01 am
Board Administrator

Press Release: Madison International Speedway by John Wells September 11, 2004 Oregon WI- Kluever Victorious in Trackside Charities 100 It was Tribute to America Night at Madison International Speedway as the ASA Late Model touring series came to town to take on Wisconsin�s Fastest Half-Mile. In a caution filled event that came down to a thrilling finish, Todd Kluever of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, was able to hold off Dan Lensing of Rockford, Illinois, to win the Trackside Charities 100 for the ASA Late Models. Gary Cerny of Janesville, Wisconsin won the Midwest Truck Series feature. It was an all-Wisconsin front row that paced the field to the green flag in the ASA Late Model Trackside Charities 100 with Kluever and Travis Dassow of West Bend leading the way. A multi-car incident on the backstretch on the first lap brought out the red flag and sent Troy Hintzsche of Malta, Illinois, and Shawn Whitney of Saginaw, Michigan, to the pits and an early night. After a complete restart it was Dassow grabbing the early advantage over Kluever followed by Doug Mahlik of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Bobby Stremme of South Bend, Indiana. Two laps later Bobby Wilberg of Orfordville, Wisconsin, was the car on the move as he took over the fifth position. On lap six Kluever pulled to the inside of Dassow and made the pass for the lead. The caution flag waved again on lap seven for debris on the backstretch. Following the restart Kluever was able to increase his advantage over Dassow to three car lengths until the caution flag came out for a spin on lap thirteen. On the restart Wilberg got by Stremme for fourth and one lap later picked off Mahlik for third. On lap seventeen fast qualifier Dan Lensing passed Mahlik for fifth with the caution coming out one lap later for a backstretch spin. Madison, Wisconsin�s, Chad Wood moved into the sixth position on lap nineteen when he passed Mahlik on the backstretch. The race stayed green for one more lap when the fifth caution of the evening would come out on lap twenty for a spin in turn one. Kluever extended his advantage over the field to seven car lengths while Wilberg and Dassow battled one another for second. On lap twenty-four the caution flag came out once again for a spin deep in the field. On lap twenty-five a major incident occurred on the front stretch which caused the car of Waterloo, Iowa�s Brad Osborn to roll over and slide down the front stretch on its roof and hit the wall in turn one and start on fire. Osborn was able to safely get out of his car, but he was transported to a local hospital for observation. Once again Kluever continued to distance himself from the field after the restart. On lap twenty-nine Wilberg overtook Dassow for second with Stremme able to do the same one lap later. Andrew Morrisey of DeForest, Wisconsin, moved up to battle Wood for the sixth position and eventually passed him on lap thirty six. Meanwhile Kluever continued to build his lead to ten car lengths. On lap thirty-nine Lensing was able to pass Stremme for third and started to hunt down Wilberg. On lap forty three Lensing was able to get by Wilberg on the inside and move to second. The race remained caution free until lap fifty-eight when Dan True of Dowagiac, Michigan, made contact with the turn three wall and rolled over bringing out the third red flag of the night. True was uninjured. However, the caution took away the sizeable lead Kluever had built up over Lensing and the rest of the field. Kluever continued to lead after the green flag waved again but Lensing was not about to let him get away. Lensing kept right on Kluever�s bumper until the caution came out on lap sixty three for a car that had slowed. Another restart was quickly followed by another caution one lap later for debris on the track. The field was not even able to get back to the green on the next restart when several cars collected in turn four. On lap sixty six Lensing started to look to the inside to get by Kluever, but the Sun Prairie driver was able to hold him off. Morrisey was able to break into the top five on lap sixty-eight when he passed Dassow. .Meanwhile Stremme was able to pass Wilberg for third on lap seventy eight while Kluever gradually increased his lead over Lensing. By lap eighty three Kluever had increased his advantage over Lensing to three car lengths. However, Lensing was not about to be denied as he pulled right up on Kluever�s bumper on lap eighty eight. Using lapped traffic to his advantage Kluever was able to increase his lead ever so slightly until lap ninety six when Lensing once again challenged for the top spot. With one lap to go Lensing pulled to the inside of Kluever with Kluever holding a slight advantage when the white flag flew and was able to hold off Lensing by .02 seconds and come home the winner of the Trackside Charities 100. Finishing third was ASA Late Model points leader Bobby Stremme, with Wilberg and Morrisey rounding out the top five. Completing the top ten were Wood, Jason Setser of Columbus, Indiana, Scott Baker of Tallmadge, Ohio, Travis Sauter of Necedah, Wisconsin, and Tony Rosebrugh of West Branch, Michigan. Two eight lap qualifying races were held for the ASA Late Models with Tony Rosebrugh of West Branch, Michigan and Bob Varney of Richmond, Michigan picking up victories. Fast qualifier was Rockford, Illinois, driver Dan Lensing with a lap of 18.362 (98.03 mph). Thirty-nine cars attempted to qualify for the thirty-two car Trackside Charities 100. The Rockweiler Insulation Midwest Truck Series was also in action with a thirty lap feature event. Gary Cerny of Janesville and Garrett Goth of Cottage Grove paced the field of ten trucks to the green flag. The field stayed side by side for the first three laps when Charlie Cottam of Janesville made contact with the backstretch wall thus bringing out the first caution. Goth grabbed the lead on the restart with Fred Oswald of Lake Mills moving up to second. On lap ten Sun Prairie�s John Wood passed Cerny for third and set his sights on the top two. A multi-car incident on lap fifteen collected the leader, Goth, along with Wood, Tom Meyers of Machesney Park, and Dann Barber of Oregon. Both Goth and Wood were forced to the pits for damage to their trucks and were unable to continue. When the field came to the green on the restart it was Cerny grabbing the top spot followed closely by Verona�s Todd Schmitz. The event�s third caution came out on lap nineteen for a spin in turn one. Cerny continued to maintain his lead over Schmitz following the restart and held the point until the fourth caution flag flew on lap twenty five for a spin. One lap later the yellow flag flew again when Meyers and Barber collected one another on the front stretch. On lap twenty nine Oswald was able to pass Schmitz for second but nobody would be able to catch Cerny who came home with .18 second victory. Fast qualifier was Wood with a lap of 19.374 (92.91 mph) Besides exciting racing action the fans were also treated to live music, skydivers, and a spectacular fireworks show all in honor of our military personnel, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and police officers. The evening was dedicated to the men and women who lost their lives on 9/11. Racing action continues on Saturday, September 18, when the Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series comes to town with their high-powered 410 winged sprint cars. Also in action will be the super late models who will have a one hundred lap feature that pays $3000 to win and $400 to start. ASA Late Models Fast Qualifier: Dan Lensing � Rockford, IL 18.362 (98.03 mph) Qualifying Race #1: Tony Rosebrugh- West Branch, MI Qualifying Race #2: Bob Varney- Richmond, MI Feature: (1-10) Kluever, Lensing, Stremme, Wilberg, Morrisey, Wood, Setser, Baker, Sauter, Rosebrugh (11-20) Jerry Freeman, Jason Tyler, Michael Grueneberg, Cory Podloski, Bill Tomlinson, Dan True, Travis Dassow, Tom Gille, Mike Beyer, Jack Smith (21-30) Mark Hartline, John Wood, Doug Mahlik, Scott Whetzel, Mike Satkowiak, Landon Cassill, Bob Varney, Dan Jung, Tommy Cook, Brad Osborn (31-32) Shawn Whitney, Troy Hintzsche Midwest Truck Series Fast Qualifier: John Wood- Sun Prairie 19.374 (92.91 mph) Feature: (1-10) Gary Cerny, Fred Oswald, Todd Schmitz, Dann Barber, Tom Meyers, Kyle Baufknecht, Bryon Pautsch, Garrett Goth, John Wood, Charlie Cottam