Posted by Illiana Speedway on 8/29/2005, 11:08 am
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Illiana Speedway Aug. 27 By Tony Baranek SCHERERVILLE, Ind. - Keith Sterkowitz was absolutely snookered during his late-model heat race Saturday night at Illiana Speedway, when one car checked up in front of him and two others passed by on either side of him. He was snookered, just like a rookie. Of course, Sterkowitz IS a late-model rookie. In the 30-lap feature race, though, he made the rest of the field look like rank amateurs. Nobody, but nobody was able to get close to Sterkowitz and his No. 17, which led every lap. The win was the first in a late-model for Sterkowitz, who was a regular visitor to victory lane as a Mid-American driver. "Awesome. That was awesome," Sterkowitz said. "Unbelievable, really. I didn't know where the other guys were and I didn't care." The closest to Sterkowitz during the race was Joe O'Connor, who took second place away from Brian Muick on lap 8 and was able to get, at times, within three car-lengths. "But every time I'd gain on him a little bit he'd gain it right back," O'Connor said. "I was hoping I'd get to race with him. We've both come up through the ranks, there's nobody I'd rather battle with for a first win than him. I'm happy for him that he got one." O'Connor's second-place finish tied his own late-model career high. Points leader Pat Kelly, meanwhile, finished third, just a car-length ahead of Mike White. Fifth went to John Nutley, with Muick sixth. Limited late-model division points leader Richard Dawson prevailed in a terrific side-by-side duel with Andy Marchiniak to win the 25-lap feature by less than a car-length. Marchiniak had taken the lead from Craig Amptmeyer on lap 16 and was running a very good line ahead of Dawson when a yellow flag on lap 21 set up a four-lap dash to the finish. With one lap remaining, Dawson got underneath Marchiniak. Marchiniak was able to pull him in Turns 1 and 2, and as they roared out of Turn 4 looked ready to hit the gas again. Dawson, however, was strong on the bottom, and when Marchiniak bobbled slightly as they hit the front straightaway, the race was over. "I didn't see that (the bobble)," Dawson said. "I was focused straight ahead. I knew that off the corner whoever got on the gas first was going to win. There are two lanes here. You can run either way you want. I was just hoping it wouldn't turn out like last week." Dawson was a close second to Phil Splant in a special 40-lapper in that previous race. Third place in Saturday's main went to Splant. Amptmeyer was fourth, followed by Anthony Danta and Gary Holliner. Josh Nelms had a roller-coaster ride of a night end up aces when he won the 25-lap Mid-American feature, and No. 1 rival for the division title Jeff Cannon had an overheating problem and left the race with just a few laps remaining. Nelms wound up head-on into the wall after a tangle in a heat race, and it appeared that his No. 00 would be out of commission for the rest of the night. But a virtual task force of helpers - some of which were from competitors' teams, came to the rescue. "I thought it was over. Jeff Cannon came down into the pits to see how we were doing and asked if he could help, and I congratulated him on the championship," Nelms said. "That just shows the kind of person that Jeff is, him and his whole crew. We gauge ourselves against them. They're some of the best people out here. "We had about 30 people down there helping us. The Bill's Speed Shop crew, John Nutley's crew, Kevin Ramey and his team... there were countless numbers of people helping us get back out there. I've just got to thank them all." Nelms was running behind Cannon on lap 17 when water began to spray from an overflow hose on Cannon's car. They continued on, with Nelms eventually making a pass on the outside. On lap 22, a yellow flag was thrown and Cannon left the track. Only six points separated Nelms and Cannon going into the night. But with Nelms going on to capture the win and Cannon being credited with 10th, the gap will be much wider next week. "It just overheated. We're still trying to figure out why," a disappointed Cannon said afterward. "I kept yelling on the radio about what they (the crew) wanted me to do. It was either go for it or hurt the motor. I wanted to come in, because I didn't want to wreck anybody. "It's a bad feeling. The car was good." Nelms went on to beat Sterkowitz (who was doing double duty) by a fairly comfortable margin. Bill Neering was third, followed by John Fiorita, Little Sean Matthuis and Shawn Matthuis. Tom Gasik had to pass the leaders twice, but eventually prevailed in the 25-lap turbo stox main. The first time he passed Craig Coglianese, on lap 18, it was negated by a yellow flag. But on lap 20, he took both Coglianese and Ryan Moore and cruised home from there. Moore finished second, followed by Roger Rubino and Tom Prim. The pure stocks main event was captured by Shane Hildreth, ahead of Joel Kozlowski and Tim Cronin. SUMMARY Late-model 1st heat: 1. Mike Monroe, 2. Mike White, 3. Pat Kelly. 2nd heat: 1. Brian Muick, 2. Joe O'Connor, 3. Shawn Wiltjer. 30-lap feature: 1. Keith Sterkowitz, 2. O'Connor, 3. Kelly, 4. White, 5. John Nutley, 6. Muick. Limited late-model 1st heat: 1. Mike Marden, 2. Andy Marchiniak, 3. Joe Fadke. 2nd heat: 1. Timmy Stewart, 2. Kevin McCann, 3. Steven Brooks. 25-lap feature: 1. Richard Dawson, 2. Marchiniak, 3. Phil Splant, 4. Craig Amptmeyer, 5. Anthony Danta, 6. Gary Holliner. Mid-American 1st heat: 1. Keith Sterkowitz, 2. Jeff Cannon, 3. Shawn Matthuis. 2nd heat: 1. John Fiorita, 2. Dean Patterson, 3. John Marshall. 25-lap feature: 1. Josh Nelms, 2. Sterkowitz, 3. Bill Neering, 4. Fiorita, 5. Little Sean Matthuis, 6. Shawn Matthuis. Turbo stox 1st heat: 1. Tom Gasik, 2. Bill Serviss, 3. Roger Rubino. 2nd heat: 1. Steve Whitehead, 2. Mike Wienc, 3. Ryan Moore. 3rd heat: 1. Scott Schick, 2. Eddie Ligue, 3. Jeff Ogden. 25-lap feature: 1. Gasik, 2. Moore, 3. Rubino, 4. Tom Prim, 5. Serviss, 6. Craig Coglianese. Pure stocks 1st heat: 1. John Moore. 2nd heat: 1. Terry Taylor 3rd heat: 1. Donny Richardson. Semi-feature: 1. Dan Lindemulder. 15-lap feature: 1. Shane Hildreth, 2. Joel Kozlowski, 3. Tim Cronin, 4. Jim Merriman, 5. Daz Disasio.