For the second year in a row Danny Rosencrans, Gary Lee and I took advantage of an absolutely gorgeous late September day and made the long drive for a Sunday over to the LaSalle Speedway for the annual running of the Bill Waite Jr. Memorial Classic. Of course it was not just the weather that drew us in, it was the three division lineup featuring the 410 c.i. Winged Sprint Cars co-sanctioned by the IRA and MOWA, the UMP Late Models and new this year the Wisconsin Wingless Sprints that makes this event almost irresistible to attend. Add in the fact that our good friend Jack Donlan has the grill going when we arrive and well, how much more perfect can it get?
The September sun obviously had an effect on track preparations as in hot laps the tires were already squalling and there was no cushion up top so two hours later, once qualifying was completed for the Winged Sprints and the Late Models a round of farming was definitely needed to make this a race rather than a parade.
Heat races and B-Mains would set the field in all three classes and the non-wing Sprints would be first up for what was announced as a twenty-five lap main event. Alan Hafford and Craig Campton would start from the front row and when the green flag waved it was a scramble for the low line around the quarter-mile with Hafford getting there first and the rest of the field settled into line as well creeping around the berm rather than using the wide racing surface. Fifth-starting Dennis Spitz tried the middle early on and after losing several positions he too fell into line on the bottom.
As the leaders started to close in on the back of the field I noticed that the crossed flags had been given to the field on lap ten indicating that this was actually a twenty lap race and just before Hafford had to make a decision as to how he would handle traffic the caution would wave on lap thirteen when Travis Mahoney stopped in turn one with front end damage.
On the restart one driver decided to go to the top rather than putt-putting around the bottom and when Jordan Mattson started to pick off positions lap by lap it was surprising that nobody else joined him on the top shelf. Mattson was thirteenth on the restart and after five laps he had moved to fourth and was gaining ground on the lead trio of Hafford, Campton and Mitchell Davis. As the white flag waved Mattson was now ready to challenge and had this actually been a twenty-five lap race he would have likely been a hero to the the large crowd, but he would still be a crowd favorite for taking the chance and finishing fourth as Hafford scored the win. Third-starting Rod Colburn completed the top five.
There would be no creeping around the bottom for the Winged Sprints as the high line would be the favored groove allowing for plenty of exciting slide job action throughout their thirty lap main event. Parker Price-Miller would snare the lead from the pole position and his Indy Race Parts teammate Gio Scelzi would quickly move to second after starting in sixth. As those two drivers ran away the racing behind them was intense often going three-wide as drivers were criss-crossing and dive bombing each other on both ends making for quite a show. Both of the fourth row starters, Kerry Madsen and Tony Stewart were making their way to the front but when Stewart changed lanes on the back stretch on lap seven, a fast closing Madsen had no place to go and the contact sent Madsen sideways at the entrance of turn three. The first two cars were able to miss him, but a fast closing Mike Reinke could not and, after clipping Madsen, Reinke would get upside down and into the turn three wall. Thankfully the contact was not more direct and both drivers were able get out of their damaged cars without injury.
On the restart Scelzi would throw a slider at "The Law Firm" in turn one, but Price-Miller would calmly execute the crossover in turn two and maintain the lead down the back stretch. Scotty Thiel would make his way into the third spot, but he could not keep pace with the lead duo who had to be making the lapped traffic feel like they were seeing double in their nearly identical looking #71 cars as first Price-Miller would slide you on one end before Scelzi would do the same on the other. Scelzi appeared to be closing back in on the leader in traffic only to have the caution wave with four laps remaining when Paul Nienheiser spun in turn four.
Stewart was now up to third after getting by Thiel, but with clear track ahead and only four quick circuits remaining around the LaSalle quarter-mile this one ended less than a minute later with Parker Price-Miller the winner over Gio Scelzi, Tony Stewart and Scotty Thiel while Brandon Wimmer who had started fourteenth edged out Bill Balog for fifth.
It was a challenging night for the point leaders in both series as the MOWA leader Jacob Patton got upside down in his heat race, returned to start tenth in the B-Main but came up short of qualifying for the feature after finishing seventh. The IRA point leader going into the weekend, Jake Blackhurst was leading his heat race only to have the last place car spin and slide up the track in front of him. Blackhurst though was able to win the B-Main and start 21st on the grid for the feature where he raced his way up to ninth at the checkers, but that may not have been enough to prevent Scotty Thiel from taking over the top spot in the standings with only two full point shows remaining next weekend at the Plymouth Dirt Track on the Sheboygan County Fairgrounds. The IRA will also be a part of the Sprint Mania event at the Fairbury American Legion Speedway on October 6th and 7th, but those two nights are for Show-Up points only.
The Late Models would close out the evening and after setting quick time in qualifying, starting on the pole of the first heat race and winning to earn the pole position of the forty lap feature, Brian Shirley would complete the UMP version of a clean sweep where you don't have to pass anybody for position the entire night to win the $5,000 top prize. Chris Simpson started second and chased him the entire distance that saw only one caution flag wave for a Paul Parker spin on lap two, but even in traffic Simpson could never get close enough to mount a challenge as he settled for runner-up pay. Billy Drake started third and finished third while Allen Weisser was the man on the move coming from tenth to finish fourth ahead of the fourth-starting Jason Feger.
With the quick moving Late Model main the remainder of the large crowd now headed for the parking lot at 11:15 to make their way home and as we started our long drive we contemplated whether or not we can do this again on a Sunday night next September. We all agreed that we love the event, but it is almost too much of a good thing for a Sunday night this far from home. Perhaps the 410's and the Late Models would be enough?
Looking to the week ahead plans call for a trip to suburban St. Louis on Thursday night for the opener of the 14th Annual Summit Modified Mania at the Tri-City Speedway and then on Friday and Saturday we will be at 34 Raceway west of Burlington as the Sprint Invaders headline the first "Fall Haul". Not only is there good purse money on the line with $2,000 going to the winner on Friday night and $3,400-to-win on Saturday night, both Matt Rogerson and Nick Eastin have been working hard to line up lap sponsors to further sweeten the pot for Saturday's finale. Watch for details this week. For our part, Positively Racing will present $100 to one of Friday's non-qualifiers in a random drawing hoping to make it a little easier to regroup and come back for a better night on Saturday.
Hope to see you there on the Back Stretch!
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