Posted by Kankakee Speedway on 7/18/2005, 4:51 pm
Board Administrator

KANKAKEE (IL) -- Maybe they don't have much need for a razor yet, but the three winners at the Kankakee Valley Motor Speedway Friday night certainly showed a need for speed. Their average age was just 20, but they looked like veterans in victory lane. The Open-Wheel Modifieds' $1,500 Osterhoff Fence Special attracted 35 competitors, but no one could top the 22-year-old Scott Bull. He battle early with Jason Lakey with Matt Bachman and racked one of the biggest paydays of his career. Wes Steidinger, also 22, outran early race leader Ryan Dauber to make his first trip to the Late Model feature winner's circle here this summer. And the youngest of the trio, 16-year-old Brett Peters, notched his first-ever feature win in the Street Stocks. In the Modified finale, Lakey grabbed the early edge and Bull didn't see the lead until lap three. Meanwhile, Bachman has his high-groove style on display and worked his way past Dan Hamstra and was taking aim at the leader. By lap 10, Bachman was nearly scraping the wall, but he grabbed the lead and Bull was left to battle with Hamstra. Two laps later Hamstra took second, but Bull stayed with his commitment to the low-side of the race track. "We put on tires that we thought would work on the low side," he said later. "I had to stay with it." Bull moved back into second at the half-way mark in the 30-lapper and then began the kind of see-saw battle with Bachman that defines the best aspects of dirt track racing. Each car was sliding hard into every corner: Bull was taking the shorter route, but Bachman was using his momentum to make up the difference. Bull retook the lead with 13 laps to go, but didn't make it a comfortable edge for another seven laps. Bachman eventually had to focus his attention on Hamstra, who temporarily grabbed second on nine laps to go. Bachman never really gave up on Bull, but he wasn't firmly in second until lap 24. In the Late Model feature, Dauber took charge at the first green flag, but Steidinger was clearly on the hunt. He moved past Matt Mataragas on lap five and the waited for the track to give him the advantage he needed. "We were just praying that the top would go away for (Dauber)," Steidinger said in victory lane. His team prepared his car to use the inside groove, and it was the faster route � as he proved on lap 15 when he took the lead. Steidinger made his pass shortly after racing resumed, following a yellow flag incident involving Ted Loomis and RJ Gall. The wreck ended Gall's outing; Loomis continued, but was not a threat to win his third feature in a row. Dauber held on for second, holding off third-place Joe Harlan. Garrett Slager ran a strong fourth and Frank Heckenast Jr. took a step closer to the points lead with a fifth-place finish. In the Street Stocks, Brett Peters saw his high school classmate Steve Dimmick win a feature last year and saw his step-dad Don Lutz win a main even earlier this month. Friday he found out just how it felt. Summaries: Late Model Division Fast Time: Ted Loomis � 14.350 seconds First Heat: 1. Mike Mataragas; 2. We Steidinger; 3. RJ Gall Second Heat: 1. Ryan Dauber; 2. Frank Heckenast Jr.; 3. Garrett Slager Third Heat: 1. Joe Harlan; 2. Kyle Roderick; 3. Bob Pohlman Semi-Feature: 1. Cary Matthew; 2. Dick Potts Feature: 1. Steidinger; 2. Dauber; 3. Harlan; 4. Slager; 5. Heckenast Open-Wheel Modifieds Fast Time: Chad Kinder � 15.481 First Heat: 1. Matt Bachman; 2. Scott Bull; 3. Kinder Second Heat: 1. Dan Hamstra; 2. Lance Dehm; 3. Bob Pohlman Third Heat: 1. Jason Lakey; 2. Rusty Pleasant; 3. Jason Hastings Fourth Heat: 1. Joel Funk; 2. Dave Porth; 3. Vince Cooper First Semi-Feature: 1. Tom Kroll; 2. Kevin Hastings Second Semi-Feature: 1. Nick Allen; 2. Travis Kohler Feature: 1. Bull; 2. Bachman; 3. Hamstra; 4. Funk; 5. Pohlman Street Stock Division First Heat: 1. Jay Hamilton; 2. Joe Hillman; 3. Mike Cavanaugh Second Heat: 1. Darren Kohler; 3. Steve Dimmick; 3. Jay Morris Third Heat: 1. Brett Peters; 2. Kevin Lenzen; 3. Tim Murray Semi-Feature: 1. Billy Wicker; 2. Tony Hemp Feature: 1. Peters; 2. Don McCarty; 3. Jay Morris; 4. Kohler; 5. Lenzen