BEAVER DAM RACEWAY REPORT: July 20, 2013
By
Nicholas Dettmann
BEAVER
DAM, Wis. - Jeff Steenbergen's 5-for-5 streak to start the season in the sport
modified division was halted by the driver who won 11 in a row to start the
2011 season: Zeke Bishofberger.
The
2011 track champion got the jump on the field on a restart with three laps to
go to win the sport modified "A" main feature Saturday night at
Beaver Dam Raceway, ending Steenbergen's five-race win streak to start the 2013
season.
Even
for someone who's been in a position similar to Steenbergen's, Bishofberger had
enough of Steenbergen winning.
"Tonight
was just lucky because of the track conditions and started up front,"
Bishofberger said. "It was a good night."
"It's
always a goal: beat the best guy out here."
Up
until Saturday night, Steenbergen was that guy. But in that championship
season, Bishofberger was the guy to beat, as he came one race short of sweeping
the season. Aaron Muhle was the spoiler, winning the second-to-last race of the
2011 season. Bishofberger won the season finale to give him 12 victories in 13
races.
Steve
Schneider made his 2013 debut at Beaver Dam with a second-place finish.
Steenbergen wound up third.
"Zeke's
pretty strong competition," Steenbergen said. "I'm not surprised (he
won)."
Matthew
Rechek went on to take fourth and Travis Kleindl rounded out the top five.
Dating
back to the 2010 season, Steenbergen won 11 straight sport mod features he's
competed in at Beaver Dam. That streak is now over.
"I
don't feel bad about it," Steenbergen said. "It was going to happen
at some point."
During
Bishofberger's dominating run of 2011, there was talk of putting on a bounty on
him. If Steenbergen continued to win, the talk grew louder as to whether to do
the same. Bishofberger is glad no bounties were set.
"I
think they're all right, but you end up with a wrecked race car a lot of
times," Bishofberger said. "My dad, back in the day, had some
bounties put on him and he came home with a wrecked race car a couple
times."
"Bounties,"
he added. "There's pros and cons. I don't want to end up with a wrecked
race car."
The
car count was a bit lower in 2011, which Bishofberger believed took a little
bit of the excitement from winning 11 in a row. This year, that's not the case.
The competition has vastly improved and so has the car count.
"I
was just the class of the field ahead of everybody," he said. "But
it's still tough, though. You've got to avoid accidents, play it safe, have
things that don't break. There's more than just getting beat. There's beating
yourself and your car."
Brandon
Riedner led the opening two laps of the 20-lap feature. Bishofberger took the
lead on lap three.
Steenbergen
started the feature in ninth. He quickly made his way through the field, moving
into the top five by lap four. When the race's second yellow came out on lap
seven, Steenbergen was running fourth, more than four seconds behind
Bishofberger. Once back under green, Steenbergen moved into third place. There,
he caught up to Schneider, who is second in the sport mod points standings at
the Oshkosh Speedzone, didn't make it easy on Steenbergen.
Since
his championship season, Bishofberger has been a contender, but not a regular
at the track. In his last four sport mod starts of the 2012 season at Beaver
Dam, he won each of them. He five of his seven starts.
"I
wanted to go travel," he said. "My whole life I've been racing at one
track for points. Last year I just wanted to go around to different tracks and
have some fun."
He
estimated he won 10 of 20 races last year.
"It
was still a great year," Bishofberger said.
Since
Aug. 14, 2010, Bishofberger has won 18 of the 39 "A" mains at Beaver
Dam, almost half.
"I
don't know what it is about this place," he said. "I love flat race
tracks. I grew up on racing flat asphalt (tracks). I don't know what it is
about this place but for some reason it works for me. I believe I'm better at
Oshkosh where it's flat."
Bishofberger
and Steenbergen won the heat races as well.
The
points leaders in the street stock division all had troubles Saturday, with
four of the top-seven in the points finishing outside the top 12, including
Jesse Krahn, third in points going in, as he blew a motor during a heat race
and couldn't start the feature.
Points
leader Scott Riedner had to drop out of the race because of a flat tire while
running in the top five. He wound up 13th. Kyle Riedner, second in points,
finished 16th. Roger Frank, seventh in points, finished 14th, but was running
in top five early in the race before a flat tire forced him to pull of the
track.
Derek
Childs won the feature, while Brandon Riedner, the two-time defending track
champion, finished second in his first start of the season in the divison.
Aaron
Stolp took third, while Ethan Ross and Chad Hummelmeier rounded out the top
five.
Scott
Riedner, Kyle Riedner and Hummelmeier won the division's heat races.
Todd
Ascherien won a thrilling grand nationals "A" main, edging Kenny
Richards, the 2011 track champion, by 0.101 seconds at the start-finish line.
It was Ascherien's first "A" main victory of the season and first in
more than a year. He lost won the "A" main July 14, 2012.
Richards
had won the previous two features, and each of the top-three in points finished
the feature in the top four.
Jeffrey
Richards was third, Aaron Streblow was fourth and Donald Schumacher was fifth.
Streblow,
Schumacher and Kenny Richards won the division's heat races.
Joel
Wyttenbach won his first legends "A" main since July 7, 2012, when he
passed race leader Joe Johnson on the outside with two laps to go. Johnson
rebounded from back-to-back races where he finished outside the top 15 and lost
his points lead with a second-place finish.
Points
leader Michael Mueller finished third. Joseph Bongiorno was fourth and Kim
Clover was fifth.
Mueller
and Clover won the division's heat races.
In
the night's final event, the modifieds "A" main, Noah Schepp flipped
over during a big crash in Turn 2 of lap two. Dave Schoenberger spun in front
of a pack of cars. In a chain reaction, one car after another collided and when
Schepp crashed into a car, he flipped over and landed on the roof of his car.
The cars involved in the crash were Schepp, Schoenberger, Nicholas Woods, Ben
Godlewski and Don Scheffler, who went into the night tied for the points lead
with Jeremy Christians.
Scheffler
didn't return to the race and finished 12th.
Daniel
Roedl went on to win the feature, a race marred with six caution periods, and
only six cars finished the 20-lap feature out of 19 that started.
Daniel
Tafelski finished second, followed by Nicholas Firari, Dustin Jackson and
Jeffrey Schepp to complete the top five.
Schoenberger
and Christians won the heat races.
RESULTS
Street
Stocks
Heat
winners: Scott Riedner, Kyle Riedner, Chad Hummelmeier
Feature
- 1, Derek Childs; 2, Brandon Riedner; 3, Aaron Stolp; 4, Ethan Ross; 5, Chad
Hummelmeier; 6, Timothy Draheim; 7, Michael Heimann; 8, Karly Stadler; 9, Aaron
Falbe; 10, Stuart White; 11, Alexander Crapser; 12, David Kinjerski; 13, Scott
Riedner; 14, Roger Frank; 15, Kyle Neuman; 16, Kyle Riedner; 17, Alfred Nester;
18, Craig Lepple.
Legends
Heat
winners: Mike Mueller, Kim Clover
Feature
- 1, Joel Wyttenbach; 2, Joe Johnson; 3, Michael Mueller; 4, Joseph Bongiorno;
5, Kim Clover; 6, Christopher Flick; 7, Bille Lehmann; 8, James Bucher; 9, Eric
Barth; 10, Matthew Streekstra; 11, Johnny Kringas; 12, Francesca Hoch; 13,
Austin Wiese; 14, Mark Ritger; 15, Scott Wiegele; 16, Warren Ropp; 17, George
Giesen; 18, Nathan Chitko.
Sport
Modifieds
Heat
winners: Zeke Bishofberger, Jeff Steenbergen
Feature
- 1, Zeke Bishofberger; 2, Steve Schneider; 3, Jeff Steenbergen; 4, Matthew
Rechek; 5, Travis Kleindl; 6, Chad Martin; 7, Kevin Tillema; 8, Christopher
O'Leary; 9, Nickolas Heelein; 10, Gary Bauer; 11, Brandon Schmitt; 12, Matthew
Bedker; 13, Aaron Muhle; 14, Colten Van Hierden; 15, Jeff Schmuhl; 16, Michael
Sandholm; 17, Joel Wyttenbach.
Grand
Nationals
Heat
winners: Aaron Streblow, Don Schumacher, Kenny Richards
Feature
- 1, Todd Ascherien; 2, Kenny Richards; 3, Jeffrey Richards; 4, Aaron Streblow;
5, Donald Schumacher; 6, Thomas Moore; 7, Scott Hermersmann; 8, Timothy Vargo;
9, Craig Boettcher; 10, Daniel Schumacher; 11, Brian Vinney Jr.; 12, Will
Schumacher; 13, Kelly Brown; 14, Steven Wirtz; 15, Jay Schaalma; 16, John
Schultz III; 17, Keith Faber; 18, Terry Schoppenhorst; 19, Kodiak Wirtz; 20,
Charlie Sancinati (DQ).
Modifieds
Heat
winners: Dave Schoenberger, Jeremy Christians
Feature
- 1, Daniel Roedl; 2, Daniel Tafelski; 3, Nicholas Firari; 4, Dustin Jackson;
5, Jeffrey Schepp; 6, Jeremy Christians; 7, Dave Schoenberger; 8, David Jaeger;
9, Matthew Rechek; 10, Andrew Araco; 11, Dustin Smits; 12, Don Scheffler; 13,
Noah Schepp; 14, Ben Godlewski; 15, Nicholas Woods; 16, Brian Crapser; 17,
Michael Vogt; 18, Kevin Reed; 19, Scott Magsamen (DQ).
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