Posted by Illiana Speedway on 5/23/2005, 12:55 am
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White Edges Out Kelly for Victory By: Tony Baranek Schererville, IN (May 21, 2005) - No driver worth his salt will ever stop working toward making his car better, and there isn't a harder worker at Illiana Speedway than Mike White. But the three-time champion was a pretty content guy following Saturday night's 30-lap late-model feature race. "All I know is I'm getting a lot of help," said the Monee speedster. "Everybody's working really hard and between everybody putting their heads together we've got something right now that's pretty good. "I just hope we can keep things going this way." White took the lead from Bobby Gash on lap eight, and went on to beat Pat Kelly to the finish line by 0.499 seconds. It was the first win of the year for White, who came into the night just 19 points behind division leader Kelly, and just one ahead of third-ranking Dave Weltmeyer. The early leader in the event was late-model rookie Keith Sterkowitz. He surrendered quickly to Gash, who is currently fourth in points and has led at least one lap of every feature run thus far in 2005. Gash stayed at the point for seven laps, before White took over and appeared to have second-running Weltmeyer well in control. That situation changed after a yellow flag on lap 22 tightened the field and gave Weltmeyer a chance to pull up on the leader's bumper. "A lot of things happen under a caution with tire pressure and things like that," White said. "It almost seemed like just before that yellow came out it got slippery as if somebody was dropping a little something.'' Weltmeyer, with Kelly behind him, was able to stay with White for a short while after the restart, but White eventually re-established himself as the dominant driver in the race. "Last week I could hardly stay with them," White said. "This time with them behind me, it was a matter of not making a mistake. This time it kind of went our way." The real drama at the finish was the race for second, with Kelly snatching it away from Weltmeyer on the final lap. Fourth went to Joe O'Connor, followed by Gash, Mike Monroe and Shawn Wiltjer. The limited late-model feature went to 15-year-old Chase Austin, a native of Kansas who was recently signed to a developmental contract by Rick Hendrick Enterprises. Austin didn't fare very well in his heat, but ran very well in the main event, taking the lead from Andy Marchiniak on lap nine and eventually beating Richard Dawson. "We were here Thursday (testing) and I kind of got the feel for the track," Austin said. "I knew they were going to be gunning for me tonight. I could feel them back there, but I was just trying to run my race and hold my line." Austin beat Dawson to the finish line by 0.412 seconds. Third went to Jack Kalwasinski, with Joe Fadke, Marchiniak and Anthony Danta following. In the Mid-American division, Josh Nelms continued his early-season dominance, beating Jeff Cannon by 1.076 seconds. Nelms took the lead from Bill Neering on lap 10 and was never headed. Cannon took second away from Neering on lap 14, while Dean Patterson, Craig Amptmeyer and Len Koprowski completed the top six. Eddie Wolf topped the turbo stox field despite a strong challenge from Tom Gasik. Wolf snatched the top spot away from Jeff Ogden on lap eight, with Gasik close in tow. The two ran that way to the finish. Bill Serviss was third, followed by Tommy Prim, Ryan Moore and Chris Woodall. Summary of Results (May 21) Late-Model 1st heat: 1. Robbie Pyle, 2. Dave Weltmeyer, 3. Pat Kelly. 2nd heat: 1. Mike Monroe, 2. Keith Sterkowitz, 3. Shawn Wiltjer. 30-lap feature: 1. Mike White, 2. Kelly, 3. Weltmeyer, 4. Joe O'Connor, 5. Bobby Gash, 6. Monroe. Limited late-model 1st heat: 1. Joe Fadke, 2. Andy Marchiniak, 3. Mike Marden. 2nd heat: 1. John Finley, 2. Westin Griffith Jr., 3. Mike Richardson. 25-lap feature: 1. Chase Austin, 2. Richard Dawson, 3. Jack Kalwasinski, 4. Fadke, 5. Marchiniak, 6. Anthony Danta. Mid-American 1st heat: 1. Josh Nelms, 2. Bill Neering, 3. Jeff Cannon. 2nd heat: 1. Len Koprowski, 2. Darrell Sills, 3. John Marshall. 25-lap feature: 1. Nelms, 2. Cannon, 3. Neering, 4. Dean Patterson, 5. Craig Amptmeyer, 6. Koprowski. Turbo stox 1st heat: 1. Brian Kucaba, 2. Roger Rubino, 3. Billy Jarrells. 2nd heat: 1. Pat O'Rourke, 2. Al Powell, 3. Mike Wienc. 25-lap feature: 1. Eddie Wolf, 2. Tom Gasik, 3. Bill Serviss, 4. Tommy Prim, 5. Ryan Moore, 6. Chris Woodall. Pure Stock 1st Heat: Armand Artuso 2nd Heat: Chad Van Vossen 3rd Heat: Jim Merriman Semi Feature: Mike Lindemulder 15 lap Feature: 1. Dave Jacobs, 2. Jason Parratt, 3. Frank Goncher, 4. Chris Sandberg, 5. Vince Van Vossen