by Chris Stepan

KASSON, Minn. (Sept. 30, 2001) - The Dodge County Speedway in Kasson, MN hosted its first post-season special event in quite some time on Sunday, September 30th with a near-record 121 cars in attendance on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon in Southern Minnesota.

After a first lap false start, the Street Stock feature was a great one. Dave Mass and Kevin Adams duked it out over the first part of the event until Mass was able to steal the lead away from Adams on the backstretch on lap 3 and began to pull away from the field a bit.

Adams settled into second and began to try to reel Mass back in until Adams' run came to an end with a breakdown just before the mid-point of the race. With Adams now out of the event, Jeff Brauer and Jim Phillips moved their battle for third to a battle for second, but Mass was running very well out front and was in no danger of losing the lead.

Kevin Hager and Jason Long were also in a great battle for position just behind the leaders. Hager and Long ran side-by-side for many laps, but with the race running non-stop and Mass bring so strong, Dave ran away from the field for the feature win. Brauer nipped Phillips at he line for second and Long did the same to Hager for fourth.

George Sniezek took the lead at the start of the Midwest Modified main event with Jeff Ringenburg, Jesse Frericks and Jade Anderson running in a three-wide battle for second early on. After several quick cautions bunched up the field again, Sniezek again took off into the lead with Anderson, Ringenburg, Nick Kramer and Chad Herman all in an amazing battle for second.

Ringenburg was running his patented high-line and was making good strides toward the front, while Herman, Kramer and now Jim Arnold were continuing to work the middle and low grooves around the speedway.

Ringenburg continued to work the high side, while Anderson came to life and began to challenge him for the runner-up spot, but Sniezek continued to show the way until a caution flew over the field at the mid-point of the event.

On the restart, Ringenburg moved back to the cushion and chased down Sniezek out front, making it a great side-by-side battle for the lead for the next 4 circuits. Ringenburg was strong on the outside and blew by into the lead, leaving Sniezek in second and never looking back.

Ringenburg ran away for his first DCS win of the season with Sniezek coming home in second. Herman busted out of the pack to come home in third with Scott Schmidt and Kramer rounding out the top five finishers.

Mark Teske and Don Eischens took off at the start of the Super Stock feature into first and second with Ryan Aho settling into third early on. Teske showed the way on lap one until a huge multi-car pileup occurred on lap 2, taking out the cars of Jon Duffy, Phil Kendrick, Bill Funk, Bill Stettner and Derek Bridley.

After the clean up was taken care of, Teske took back off into the lead with Eischens settling back into second. Aho and Danny Olinger were engaged in a good battle for third over the course of the next six circuits before Aho was able to slip by and set off after the leaders.

Eischens continued to search for a way by Teske into the lead and got a good run to the outside of Mark on lap 5, but was unable to complete the pass and settled back into second. Several other cautions bunched up the field again, but when racing resumed the action was as intense as it had been all race-long between Teske, Eischens and now Aho.

Eischens stole the lead away from Teske and set off into the lead while Aho and Teske began to slide-job each other for the runner-up spot in a very intense battle to stay within striking distance of Eischens out front. Teske was able to secure the runner-up spot again from Aho, but Mark was unable to mount a serious challenge on Eischens out front and was forced to settle for second. Joey Jensen came to life late in the event and also was able to slip by Aho into third just as the race was coming to a conclusion.

Eischens picked up the win ahead of Teske, Jensen, Aho and Mark Wytaske.

The unsanctioned Modified feature was the final event of the night and of the season with Dave Siercks taking the lead at the drop of the green flag.

Siercks took off from a great battle for second between Steve Wetzstein, Jay Ihrke, Dennis Hillson and Jay Poidinger. Poidinger got up into the concrete on the backstretch, ending his run and slowing the action on the track early on.

On the restart, Siercks again assumed the lead while Ihrke and Wetzstein were in a great battle for the runner-up spot until Wetzstein got a great run on the high side and shuffled Ihrke back into third. Wetzstein was not done yet as he took to the high side again and blasted by Siercks into the lead on lap 5.

Once out front, Wetzstein took off like a rocket into the night, leaving a great battle for second between Ihrke and Siercks. Ihrke took the second spot away from Siercks while Tommy Myer and Bob Timm were also in a great battle for fourth, just behind the leaders. Ihrke settled into second on lap 8 and began to try to track down Wetzstein out front. The break that Ihrke needed occurred on lap 9 when the caution flag flew over the speedway, bunching up the field and eliminating the lead that Wetzstein had built up.

On the restart, Ihrke dove to the inside of Wetzstein for the lead and the duo began to put on a thrilling duel for the top spot, which lasted for the remainder of the event. Another awesome battle was occurring for third between Myer, Timm, Siercks, Todd Scharkey and Brad Waits. This battle was heating up as the five drivers were trying hard to get toward the front.

Myer broke out of the pack first and set off after the battle for the lead, which was still waging on between Ihrke and Wetzstein.

Ihrke gave it his best and tried all that he could do to steal the lead and the win, but Wetzstein was just too strong and picked up the hard-earned win over Ihrke, Myer, Timm and Waits.

Overall, the 2001 season was a great one at the Dodge County Speedway.

Fitzpatrick Promotions would like to thank all of the drivers, fans, sponsors and employees for everything this season and everyone looks forward to the 2002 season.

RESULTS

IMCA MODIFIEDS

Feature: Steve Wetzstein, Jay Ihrke, Tommy Myer, Bob Timm, Brad Waits, Todd Scharkey, Dave Siercks, Leroy Scharkey, Mike Hernke, Troy Langowski

Heat 1: Siercks, Darwyn Karau, Jay Poidinger, Mike Isder, Bob Saterdalen

Heat 2: Myer, Wetzstein, Mike Sorensen, James Parker, Denny Barwald

Heat 3: Timm, Dennis Hillson, Hernke, L. Scharkey, Pete Grondvold

Heat 4: Ihrke, Todd Klees, Waits, Langowski, Mike Rumsey

B-feature: T. Scharkey, Nathan Kilwine, Ron Houdek, Dan Fagerlind,

WISSOTA SUPER STOCKS

Feature: Don Eischens, Mark Teske, Joey Jensen, Ryan Aho, Mark Wytaske,

Danny Olinger, Kelly Anderson, Chris Klinger, Kevin Hager, Dave Haberman

Heat 1: Olinger, Bill Stettner, Haberman, Bill Funk, Jon Duffy

Heat 2: Scott Schmidt, Aho, Brad Bannitt, Hager, Mike Eckdahl

Heat 3: Teske, Eischens, Jason Johnson, Jensen, Anderson

WISSOTA MIDWEST MODIFIEDS

Feature: Jeff Ringenburg, George Sniezek, Chad Herman, Scott Schmidt, Nick Kramer, Matt Stark, Greg Pfiefer, Harland Morehart, Durk Hagen, Ron Skalicky, Pete Hinnenkamp

Heat 1: Sniezek, Schmidt, Jerry Young, Pfiefer, Hagen

Heat 2: Herman, Jade Anderson, Stark, Hinnenkamp, Dane Schultz

Heat 3: Ringenburg, Jesse Frericks, Roger Bentzen, Skalicky, Harland Morehart Jr.

Heat 4: Jim Arnold, Morehart, Kramer, Mark Anderson, Darren Thomas

B-feature: Matt Madsen, Scott Olson, Gary Wilde, Morey Johnson, Scott Grondvold

WISSOTA STREET STOCKS

Feature: Dave Mass, Jeff Brauer, Jim Phillips, Jason Long, Kevin Hager, Scott Paulson, Mike Loomis, Tony Sass, Jimmy Randall, Lee Skerjuvm

Heat 1: Mass, Kevin Adams, Hager, Randall, Rex Welch

Heat 2: Jim Williams, Chad Finckbone, Nathan Finley, Tony Schaner, Tom Hund

Heat 3: Paulson, Brauer, Sass, Mike Jans, Alan Oljenbruns

Heat 4: Long, Loomis, Phillips, Skerjuvm, Nelson