Posted by Illiana Speedway on 7/4/2005, 12:43 pm
Board Administrator

Illiana speedway July 2 By Tony Baranek SCHERERVILLE, Ind. - Headaches. Heartaches. Pocketbook aches. Illiana Speedway competitor Jack Kalwasinski has known those feelings many times over after wrecks and mechanical failures during the first half of the season. But Saturday night, after capturing his first victory of 2005 in the limited late-model portion of the sixth annual "Molenaar Classic Night," all was finally right in the world for the 31-year-old Dyer, Ind., native. "All the extra-long nights working on trying it put back together ... this is like a big reward," Kalwasinski said. "We weren't the best car, but we got the right spots, finally, to get through traffic where we were." In the race, dedicated to the memory of former speedway owners Harry and Signe Molenaar, Kalwasinski beat Anthony Danta to the finish line by a scant 0.063 seconds. It was a close finish that didn't seem possible on lap 12. At the time, Danta was trying to take the lead in Turn 3 from leader Keith McCann. Kalwasinski was running in fourth behind Joe Fadke. Danta, on the low side, spun his No. 9 car to the infield. Track officials ruled that it was self-caused, and sent Danta to the back of the pack. Danta didn't quite see it that way. "I was inside that guy (McCann) and he ran me into the grass," Danta said. "I tried to give him as much room as I could, and I ended up going to the back." Back up front, Fadke took the lead from McCann, but was soon pressured by Kalwasinski. When Kalwasinski moved into the top spot on lap 21, Danta had already climbed back into sixth place. As the laps ticked by, Danta picked his way to the front. He took second away from Fadke on lap 28, and was within two car-lengths of Kalwasinski when a yellow flag came out just four laps from the finish. "Anthony has the car to beat," Kalwasinski said. "He was fast and we've been searching. My guys didn't say anything about him coming until he passed the 15 car (Fadke). "I thought for sure he was going to get me when the yellow came out. I did everything I could, almost like qualifying when it's no-holds-barred. You can't run like that forever, but you can run like that for a few laps." Four laps were enough for Kalwasinski, but just barely. After falling back a couple of car-lengths on the restart, Danta made a last-lap charge and was alongside the leader as they roared out of Turn 4 for the checkered flag. "I knew I had a good car, but man it was awesome tonight," Danta said. "On that restart ... a couple of weeks ago I got into Jack in the middle of 1 and 2 at the end of a race and I was making sure I didn't do it again. "It was good, hard racing. We raced as hard as we could, and I'm happy for him. It was a good race." Third place in the special-length event went to Richard Dawson, with Andy Marchiniak, Craig Amptmeyer and Phil Splant following. In the late-model portion of the program, points leader Pat Kelly bided his time during the early portion of the 30-lap event before blowing the field away and capturing his fourth victory. Kelly ran among a logjam of cars up front that included Mike Monroe, Joe O'Connor and Bobby Gash. The big break in the race occurred on lap 19, when Gash spun in Turn 1 while trying to take the lead away from O'Connor. It was ruled that Gash was the sole cause of the spin and he was sent to the back alone, but he begged to differ afterward regarding the officials' decision. "He (O'Connor) hit me in the right door bar and spun me out," Gash said. "He said his car pushed up in the corner and he needed to turn left. He got me in the door. I can't figure why they didn't put us both in the back, but that's fine. I'll chalk it up and come back next week." O'Connor was re-installed as the leader. That lasted all of one lap, when Kelly eased by in Turn 3. It was a runaway from there. O'Connor, however, continued to run a strong race and finished second. Third went to Keith Sterkowitz, ahead of Monroe, Jeremy Spoonmoore and Gash. In the Mid-American main, Jeff Cannon held off a persistent challenge from points leader Josh Nelms to capture his third victory of the season. Neering checked in third, followed by John Senerchia, Little Sean Matthuis and Darrell Sills. Tommy Prim nabbed the 25-lap turbo stox feature, making the pass on leader Roger Rubino just two laps from the finish. Rubino, driving his classic 1970s Chevelle, paced the field from laps 11 through 23, before his No. 24 slipped up high in Turn 3 and allowed Prim to sneak by. The last lap saw a jumble up front, with Eddie Wolf claiming second place ahead of Tom Gasik, Bill Serviss, Rubino and Ryan Moore. SUMMARY Late-model Heat: 1. Pat Kelly, 2. Mike Monroe, 3. Joe O'Connor. 30-lap feature: 1. Kelly, 2. O'Connor, 3. Keith Sterkowitz, 4. Monroe, 5. Jeremy Spoonmore, 6. Bobby Gash. Limited late-model 1st heat: 1. Andy Marchiniak, 2. Richard Dawson, 3. Anthony Danta. 2nd heat: 1. Craig Amptmeyer, 2. J.J. Peyton, 3. Mike Richardson. 35-lap feature: 1. Jack Kalwasinski, 2. Danta, 3. Dawson, 4. Marchiniak, 5. Amptmeyer, 6. Phil Splant. Mid-American Heat: 1. Jeff Cannon, 2. John Senerchia, 3. Little Sean Matthuis. 25-lap feature: 1. Cannon, 2. Josh Nelms, 3. Bill Neering, 4. Senerchia, 5. Matthuis, 6. Darrell Sills. Turbo stox 1st heat: 1. Billy Jarrells, 2. Bill Serviss, 3. Roger Rubino. 2nd heat: 1. Tony Meier, 2. Steve Whitehead, 3. Pete Kamp. 3rd heat: 1. Mike Wienc, 2. Michael Lynch Sr., 3. Jeff Ogden. 25-lap feature: 1. Tommy Prim, 2. Eddie Wolf, 3. Tom Gasik, 4. Serviss, 5. Rubino, 6. Ryan Moore. Pure stocks 1st heat: 1. Robert Rohweder 2nd heat: 1. Paul Barnes 3rd heat: 1. Tim Cronin Double-O race: 1. Frank Goncher Semi-feature: 1. Matt Arvia 15-lap feature: 1. Dan Diasio