Posted by Madison Speedway on 8/18/2005, 2:11 pm
Board Administrator

Madison International Speedway Press Release: Race Report Date: August 12, 2005 By: John Wells Wilberg Wins a Thriller in Swiss Colony 50: Storm, Cottam, and Kalbus Also Find Victory Lane to Their Liking A tremendous night of racing took place tonight at Madison International Speedway as part of Werner Electric Supply Night. When all was said and done, Bobby Wilberg, Jeff Storm, Charlie Cottam, and Jay Kalbus would be going home with the hardware thanks to their feature wins. Bobby Wilberg of Orfordville made a strong case for winning two track championships in one season when he picked up his third win of the season in the Swiss Colony 50 for the Weaver Auto Parts ASA Late Models. It was a less than stellar start for the twenty-two car field when the caution flag came out just as the cars took the initial green flag for an incident back in the field. After a second caution flag, Nick Hammer of Sun Prairie would eventually take the lead followed closely by Travis Sauter of Necedah. Just as Sauter was passing Hammer in turn four, the caution flag flew once again for a turn three incident behind the leaders. Hammer continued to lead after the restart but relinquished his lead on lap 8 when passed by Sauter. Two laps later Dave Feiler of Sun Prairie made his way by Hammer for second. Showing good speed back in the field were Nathan Haseleu of Pardeeville and Bobby Wilberg who were up to sixth and seventh respectively by lap 12. The yellow flag waved again for a spinning car in turn four. On lap 19 Haseleu passed Troy Hintzsche of Malta, Illinois, for fourth place with Wilberg in tow. Sauter continued to increase his lead over Feiler with Haseleu putting heavy pressure on Hammer for third and claiming the spot eventually on lap 24. One lap later it was points leader Wilberg moving up to fourth. On lap 31 Beloit’s Ryan Hanson cracked the top five when he passed Elwood, Illinois’ Dave Gentile Jr. Two laps later Haseleu slipped by Feiler for second but still had nearly a dozen car lengths between himself and the leader. Haseleu’s best would be the yellow flag which was prominently displayed on lap 39 for a turn four spin. Haseleu, who started eleventh, was not able to gain on Sauter after the restart, but he would have another chance one lap later after a front stretch spin. Sauter was able to hold off Haseleu until lap 43 when Haseleu tried to make an inside pass of Sauter going into turn one. Haseleu collected the leader sending Sauter hard into the wall and Haseleu limping to the pits. As a result of this incident, Feiler took over the top spot followed by Wilberg, Hanson, Saunders, and Hammer. Haseleu was able to return to the race, but his hopes of a track championship were quickly diminished. Feiler was only able to hold the top position for two laps before being passed by Wilberg on lap 45. Wilberg put some distance between himself and Feiler and the hard charging Hanson. There was no catching Wilberg as he raced to victory. Following Wilberg at the checkered flag was Hanson, Saunders, Feiler, and Zack Riddle of Brooklyn. “We spent a little extra time on the car this week…I think we’ve got it pretty close,” said a jubilant Wilberg from victory lane. Wilberg now has a 111 point advantage over Haseleu for the ASALM track championship. Nathan Oppliger of Oregon, Jason Tyler of Stoughton, and Jesse Saunders of Janesville won their respective heat races. Taking top honors in the semi-feature was Stoughton’s Scott Broughton. Setting fast time was Wilberg with a lap of 18.387 or 97.895 mph. “We didn’t have the best car tonight but we were good enough to win,” said Waterford’s Jeff Storm after winning the Werner Electric Supply 35 for the Bryden Motors Super Late Models. The twenty car feature was led to the green flag by Storm and Tod Kropf of Watertown. After three laps of side by side racing, Storm was able to get ahead of Kropf and take the lead. One lap later Indianford’s Kevin Tunks was up to second followed by Steve Rubeck of Cherry Valley, Illinois with the first caution of the race coming out one lap later for debris. Following the restart Storm continued to lead along with a pack of four cars who began to distance themselves from the rest of the field until the caution flag came out on lap 11 for a spin in turn two. Storm continued to hold off the field after the restart followed by Tunks, Rubeck, Dave Feiler of Sun Prairie, and Adam Shackelford of Belleville. Once again the caution flag would wave for a spin on lap 18. The race went green the rest of the way and nobody was able to catch the polesitter as Storm sailed to his first feature win of the 2005 season. Following Storm were Tunks, Rubeck, Feiler, and Shackelford. Recording heat wins were Shane Morrissey of Cuba City and Storm. Bobby Wilberg of Orfordville once again set fast time with a lap of 17.917 or 100.463 mph. Wilberg leads the point race by 189 over Storm with Rubeck six behind Storm for second. Charlie Cottam of Janesville took home the checkered flag for the third time in the 2005 season after winning the twenty lap feature for the Rockweiler Insulation Midwest Truck Series. The ten truck field was led to the line by Gary Cerny of Janesville and Bryan Pautsch of Sun Prairie with Pautsch going to the front. Unfortunately for Pautsch, trouble came early for the leader when he spun on lap six and suffered heavy front end damage. This moved Garrett Goth of Cottage Grove to the front who drifted up the track coming out of turn two on the restart which allowed Dann Barber to take advantage of the misfortune and break out to the lead. Nine laps later when it had looked like nobody would be able to catch Barber, Cottam found himself side by side with Barber for the lead. One lap later Cottam, the all-time win leader in the Midwest Truck Series, passed Barber on the inside for the top spot and held on for the final four laps and the victory. Following Cottam and Barber were Todd Schmitz of Verona, Fred Oswald of Lake Mills, and Tom Meyers of Loves Park, IL. Pautsch won the heat race with Cottam setting fast time with a lap of 19.464 or 92.48 mph. Barber has a 48 point advantage in the season points race over Cottam. Cottam now has thirty-five career truck series wins at MIS. Jay Kalbus of Watertown picked up his third feature win of the 2005 season by besting a field of ten Bryden Motors Area Sportsman cars. Cliff Rucks of Cottage Grove and Ryan Goldade of Stoughton started in the front row for the fifteen lap feature. Goldade vaulted to the early lead with Casey Burns of Janesville quickly moving up to second. Quickly up to challenge the leaders were Mark DePorter of Fort Atkinson and Kalbus. On lap 11 Kalbus dispatched Burns for the second spot and set his focus on Goldade. Goldade’s advantage over the field was rapidly disappearing as he was able to hold off Kalbus for the next two laps before the Watertown driver passed him on the outside for lead. Goldade would do everything he could to recapture the lead but he didn’t have enough to catch Kalbus. Goldade finished second followed by Burns, DePorter, and Scott Lawver of Roscoe, Illinois. Goldade was the winner in the Area Sportsman heat race with Kalbus setting fast time with a lap of 20.692 or 86.99 mph. DePorter sits atop the leader board for the points championship with a 903-886 advantage over Lawver. Racing continues on Friday night, August 19, with Star Packaging Night featuring action in the Weaver Auto Parts ASA Late Models, Bryden Motors Super Late Models, Bryden Motors Area Sportsman, and Rockweiler Insulation Midwest Truck Series. Only two point shows remain on the 2005 racing schedule at Wisconsin’s Track of Champions. Gates open at 4:30, hot laps at 4:45, qualifying at 6:30 with racing at 8:00.