Posted by Illiana Speedway on 8/1/2005, 3:50 pm
Board Administrator

Illiana Speedway July 30 By Tony Baranek SCHERERVILLE, Ind. - Pat Kelly was running very, very fast when he took over second place with 12 laps remaining in Saturday night's late-model feature at Illiana Speedway. But he wasn't very confident about catching leader Mike White. In fact, he was very, very pessimistic. An eight car-length deficit will do that to you. "No, there was no way," Kelly said later. "Mike was way out there, and he's way too strong just to run down. There was no way at that point in a 30-lap race." The yellow flag, however, can be a great equalizer. It fell with 10 laps left. Kelly seized the opportunity to restart right on White's bumper. With six laps remaining he made his move, and left the field behind. The victory was the sixth of the season for the late-model points leader, who is taking aim on his second track title. "I told these guys (on his crew) this was going to be a tough race," Kelly said. "The cautions went in our favor, and we were able to get by him.'' Kelly started well back in the field, but moved up quickly and showed some early power by passing Dave Weltmeyer. But he was shuffled back when they encountered slower traffic, and had to repass Weltmeyer later on. White, meanwhile, was basically running away with the race after taking the top spot away from Joe O'Connor on lap 10. "I thought we were sitting pretty good there," White said. "The car was great. But after that restart, things started happening. I'll be darned if it was loose in, and we haven't had that happen all year." White was still fast, though, and it led to a tremendous side-by-side battle for second place with Weltmeyer over the final five laps. White used the high side to nose out Weltmeyer by less than a car-length. Fourth went to Bobby Gash, with O'Connor and Keith Sterkowitz following. Michael Marden, making a comeback in 2005 after suffering serious injuries in a wreck last year, won his first limited-late model feature and the second Illiana feature of his career with a very strong run. "I had hoped for it. I prayed for it," Marden said. "This is unbelievable. It's great to be back. Bill's Speed Shop put this together for us. It was hooked up great. Unbelievable." Marden took the lead from Andy Marchiniak on lap five, and was never challenged. Mike Richardson finished second, followed by Jack Kalwasinski, Marchiniak, Joe Fadke and Gary Holiner. In the Mid-American class, Jeff Cannon took the lead from Bill Neering on lap 19 and cruised from there to the feature victory. Neering and points leader Josh Nelms, running second and third at the time, wound up in a lap 22 altercation and had to go to the back of the pack for the restart. That opened the door for Johnny Senerchia to move up into the runnerup spot and claim a second-place finish. Third went to John Fiorita, ahead of Shawn Matthuis, Scott Rueschenberg and Dean Patterson. Four disqualifications jumbled the finishing order of the turbo stox main event, but the winner on the track, Steve Prim, and the runnerup, Ryan Moore, were both legal in the post-race inspection. It was Prim's first career victory. Third place in the turbo feature went to Bill Serviss, with Billy Jarrells fourth, Roger Rubino fifth and Brian Kucaba sixth. Donnie Richardson prevailed in the pure stocks feature over Shane Hildreth and Derrick Ball. SUMMARY Late-model 1st heat: 1. Joe O'Connor, 2. Mike White, 3. Pat Kelly. 2nd heat: 1. Brian Muick, 2. Mike Monroe, 3. Mark Fredette. 30-lap feature: 1. Kelly, 2. White, 3. Dave Weltmeyer, 4. Bobby Gash, 5. O'Connor, 6. Keith Sterkowitz. Limited late-model 1st heat: 1. Andy Marchiniak, 2. Keith Parker, 3. Mike Richardson. 2nd heat: 1. Craig Amptmeyer, 2. J.J. Peyton, 3. Tim Stewart. 25-lap feature: 1. Mike Marden, 2. Richardson, 3. Jack Kalwasinski, 4. Marchiniak, 5. Joe Fadke, 6. Gary Holiner. Mid-American 1st heat: 1. Josh Nelms, 2. Jeff Cannon, 3. Shawn Matthuis. 2nd heat: 1. John Marshall, 2. Frank Dignam, 3. Darrell Sills. 25-lap feature: 1. Cannon, 2. Johnny Senerchia, 3. John Fiorita, 4. Matthuis, 5. Scott Rueschenberg, 6. Dean Patterson. Turbo stox 1st heat: 1. Billy Jarrells, 2. Tommy Prim, 3. Ryan Moore. 2nd heat: 1. Brian Kucaba, 2. Mike Wienc, 3. Pat O'Rourke. 25-lap feature: 1. Steve Prim, 2. Moore, 3. Bill Serviss, 4. Jarrells, 5. Roger Rubino, 6. Kucaba. Pure stocks 1st heat: 1. Joe Moeglin, 2. Mike Trnka, 3. Jason Lange. 2nd heat: 1. Robert Howe, 2. Mike Jucius, 3. Matt Arvia. 3rd heat: 1. Helen Nester, 2. Tim Cronin, 3. Mike Lindemulder. Semi: 1. Donnie Richardson. 15-lap feature: 1. Richardson, 2. Shane Hildreth, 3. Derrick Ball, 4. Dave Jacobs, 5. Nester.