Posted by Illiana Speedway on 7/11/2005, 2:20 pm
Board Administrator

SCHERERVILLE, Ind. - Dave Weltmeyer has never looked better in winning a late-model feature race as he did Saturday night at Illiana Speedway. And the strange thing about it was... "I don't know how," the Dyer Flyer said after capturing his fourth victory of 2005. "The car didn't feel that good. But I was driving my butt off and pulling away from these guys. "I don't know. I guess we hit it better than the rest of them. I know we've got more work to do." It was a tale of two races. The first half featured an incredible battle at the front of the pack among leader Tim Fedewa, Mike White, Weltmeyer and Eddie Hoffman. Fedewa, who earlier in the day competed in a Busch Series race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, led from the outset. He survived for several laps running the high groove alongside Weltmeyer. It was during one of those laps that White, driving Mark Fredette's No. 52, was able to sneak underneath Weltmeyer and take over second place. White was able to make a pass for the lead on Fedewa on lap 11, but he didn't have it for long. "I was racing Fedewa a little bit and missed a corner," Weltmeyer said. "Mike had a clean line and got me. Then he got by Fedewa for me, and that worked out." Weltmeyer took the lead from White on lap 13 and cruised from there. White, Fedewa and Hoffman, meanwhile, battled for several laps for second place. Hoffman eventually got shuffled out by new contenders Bobby Gash and Pat Kelly. Fedewa, who was driving one of Hoffman's Lisa Thomas Salon cars, settled in for a third place finish, followed by Kelly, Joe O'Connor and Hoffman. "It was a great time, pretty cool," Fedewa said. "I hadn't been here in a year, and I was missing my marks. But hey, I came here to have fun. I like coming to the Midwest to run the short tracks because that's where I grew up at." Youngster Chase Austin earned his second limited late-model feature win of the season with a sterling 25-lap effort. The 15-year-old speedster took the lead from Andy Marchiniak on lap 19, and held off a persistent challenge from Richard Dawson to claim the win. "The team was great," Austin said. "We worked on it since we raced the CRA race here. The car turned good, the crew was great, it was just a great night overall." Austin beat Dawson by 1.185 seconds. Third went to Anthony Danta, followed by Marchiniak, Joe Fadke and Mike Marden. Josh Nelms turned the Mid-American feature into a power show, taking the lead from Johnny Senerchia and going on to beat Bill Neering by a whopping 4.659 seconds. Jeff Cannon, John Fiorita, Shawn Matthuis and Dean Patterson completed the top six. Bill Serviss scored a hard-earned win in the turbostox feature, dogging Tom Gasik for several laps before making the pass just two from the finish. Eddie Wolf was third, followed by Chris Woodall, Billy Jarrells and Pat O'Rourke. SUMMARY Late-model 1st heat: 1. Tim Fedewa, 2. Len Nowosel, 3. Pat Kelly. 2nd heat: 1. Mike Monroe, 2. Keith Sterkowitz, 3. Brian Muick. 30-lap feature: 1. Dave Weltmeyer, 2. Mike White, 3. Fedewa, 4. Kelly, 5. Joe O'Connor, 6. Eddie Hoffman. Limited late-model 1st heat: 1. Richard Dawson, 2. Anthony Danta, 3. Joe Fadke. 2nd heat: 1. John LaFreniere, 2. Gary Holliner, 3. J.J. Peyton. 25-lap feature: 1. Chase Austin, 2. Dawson, 3. Danta, 4. Andy Marchiniak, 5. Fadke, 6. Mike Marden. Mid-American 1st heat: 1. Josh Nelms, 2. Bill Neering, 3. Johnny Senerchia. 2nd heat: 1. Darrell Sills, 2. Jeff Dillingham, 3. John Shaddon. 25-lap feature: 1. Nelms, 2. Neering, 3. Jeff Cannon, 4. John Fiorita, 5. Shawn Matthuis, 6. Dean Patterson. Turbostox 1st heat: 1. Tom Gasik, 2. Mark Ross, 3. Brian Kucaba. 2nd heat: 1. Billy Jarrells, 2. Pat O'Rourke, 3. Steve Prim. 25-lap feature: 1. Bill Serviss, 2. Gasik, 3. Eddie Wolf, 4. Chris Woodall, 5. Jarrells, 6. Pat O'Rourke. Pure stocks 1st heat: 1. Kristi Odom 2nd heat: 1. Helen Nester 3rd heat: 1. Michael Lindemulder Semi: 1. Brian Dills 15-lap feature: 1. Tim Cronin, 2. Ryan Lagestee, 3. Dave Jacobs.