Posted by Illiana Speedway on 5/9/2005, 12:07 pm
Board Administrator

Kelly Returns to Victory Lane By: Tony Baranek Schererville, IN (May 7, 2005) - Former track champion Pat Kelly ended a two-year dry spell Saturday night at Illiana Speedway, capturing the 30-lap feature race in high-flying fashion. It was the high groove, actually, that Kelly used to take the lead from Mike White on lap 16, and go on to score a four car-length victory. "I had a good-handling car," Kelly said. "It's a little more work getting up there and trusting your competitors, but Mike (White) gave me a lane upthere. I just race with a good group of guys, and that makes it even more fun to come here and race." Kelly came from the seventh starting position. Up front, Bobby Gash took the early lead for the third week in a row, and held it until White worked his way past him on lap 8 and took Kelly with him. White tried his best to keep his No. 00 at the point, but after a few tentative looks down low Kelly went to the high side. White didn't offer much resistence. "After I saw the qualifying lap he (Kelly) put in... I mean, he went a (19.)63. We haven't seen anything like that since the Bettenhausen last year," said White, a three-time Illiana champion in his own right. "So he really picked it up. We had a car that was just OK. We're getting better, but he made a big improvement. "He's a heck of a race car driver. He kind of killed us, didn't he?" White continued with a chuckle. "We'll give it a try next week." Gash, meanwhile, turned in one of his best efforts in some time, finishing third. "Yeah, we're finally getting things right," Gash said. "We're having a great year so far. They (his crew) were telling me what was behind me, but I had to focus on what was in front of me and race the race track. "Other than that, we had a great night. Maybe now I can get my car painted for next week." What was behind Gash? A lot of frustrated drivers. Back in fourth and fifth, late-model rookie Keith Sterkowitz and veteran racer Robbie Pyle waged a side-by-side battle that went on from lap 7 until the finish. Sterkowitz manned the high side, while Pyle stuck his No. 12 down low. Neither were able to clear each other enough to establish a definitive edge. This made things very difficult for the duo of Dave Weltmeyer and Eddie Hoffman, who were rendered more or less spectators while Sterkowitz and Pyle stayed in their side-by-side alignment. Both resisted the temptation to force the issue. In the end, Sterkowitz nosed out Pyle by a half a car-length for fourth place. Weltmeyer finished sixth in the jumble, and Hoffman a very uncharacteristic seventh. "They (Sterkowitz and Pyle) weren't going anywhere, so what are you gonna do?" Hoffman said. "Sometimes you've just got to chalk it up and bring it (the car) home in one piece. I can't remember the last time we were further back than fifth or so." Weltmeyer was a bit more pointed in his comments, and just a little bit perplexed that Pyle couldn't dispense of the rookie Sterkowitz. "Very frustrating," Weltmeyer said. "When the guy on the bottom (Pyle) was making no forward progress, if he was any kind of racer he'd let the rest of us go. I know down the road sometime the shoe is going to be on the other foot. And if he lays a bumper on me, it ain't gonna be pretty. Because I never laid a bumper on the guy." In the Mid-American division, Jeff Cannon took the lead from Craig Amptmeyer on lap 9 and held off Josh Nelms at the finish to capture the win. Third went to Bill Neering, followed by Pat Broenneke, Amptmeyer and Kevin Moenck. Anthony Danta made the move of the night in the limited late-model feature, passing Andy Marchiniak on the final lap to take home the win. Marchiniak had set the pace since inheriting the lead when Danta and race leader Keith McCann collided on lap 8. But a lapped car he encountered just after the white flag was waved caused Marchiniak to lose his rhythm, and Danta seized the opportunity. Third place went to Gary Holliner, with Joe Fadke, Mike Marden and Richard Dawson following. Tommy Prim put on a power show in the turbo stox main event, taking the lead from Chris Woodall on lap 10, and cruising from there. Eddie Wolf finished second, followed by Ryan Moore, Tom Gasik, Woodall and Billy Jarrells. Summary of Results (May 7) Late-model 1st heat: 1. John Nutley, 2. Bobby Gash, 3. Keith Sterkowitz. 2nd heat: 1. Brian Muick, 2. Mike Monroe, 3. Jamie Artelt. 30-lap feature: 1. Pat Kelly, 2. Mike White, 3. Gash, 4. Sterkowitz, 5. Robbie Pyle, 6. Dave Weltmeyer. Mid-American 1st heat: 1. Jeff Cannon, 2. John Senerchia, 3. Bill Neering. 2nd heat: 1. Sean Matthuis, 2. John Fiorita, 3. Jeff Dillingham. 25-lap feature: 1. Cannon, 2. Josh Nelms, 3. Neering, 4. Pat Broenneke, 5. Amptmeyer, 6. Moenck. Limited late-model 1st heat: 1. Richard Dawson, 2. Jack Kalwasinski, 3. Joe Fadke. 2nd heat: 1. Westin Griffith Jr., 2. Mike Stewart, 3. Gary Holliner. 25-lap feature: 1. Anthony Danta, 2. Marchiniak, 3. Holliner, 4. Fadke, 5. Mike Marden, 6. Dawson. Turbo stox 1st heat: 1. Ryan Moore, 2. Eddie Wolf, 3. Bill Serviss. 2nd heat: 1. Dennis Lyp, 2. Al Powell, 3. Pat O'Rourke. 3rd heat: 1. Brian Kucaba, 2. Jeremy Cole, 3. Jeff Ogden. 25-lap feature: 1. Tommy Prim, 2. Wolf, 3. Moore, 4. Tom Gasik, 5. Chris Woodall, 6. Billy Jarrells. Pure Stocks 1st heat: Ben Kamp 2nd heat: Mike Jucius 3rd heat: Matt Arvia 12-lap feature: 1. Dave Jacobs, 2. Mark Ross Jr., 3. Shane Hildreth, 4. Kevin Reitman, 5. Kamp