ARCADIA, Wis. (June 14, 2002) - Bruce Angst's wait is over. The Winona modified driver picked up his first feature of the season Friday night at the Fox Ridge Speedway. The 26 car field got off to a rather dubious start. Three times the green flag dropped, and three times the yellow slowed the action.

A single file restart put things in order, and veteran Karl Fenske led the first five laps. On lap six, Fenske got into the backstretch wall and made a miraculous save. Kerry Ledebuhr seized the moment and grabbed the lead. Bruce Angst made his charge to the front on lap nine when he passed Ledebuhr coming out of turn four. Angst was riding the cushion and moved out to a five car lead.

Bob Timm had moved into fourth by lap eight, but his night ended when he cut a tire on lap nine.At the halfway mark, Angst led Ledebuhr, Fenske, and Eric Pember. Wayne Engen and Les Duellman were on the move from their back row starting positions and were now running in the top ten.

A lap 18 caution for the stalled car of Gary Doelle negated Angst's lead. The cars ran another lap and the yellow waved again for Jonah Daffinson. On the restart, Ledebuhr dove to the bottom, Angst powered off the top side and drove away. The remaining five laps saw Pember, Fenske, Engen, and Duellman swap positions on every lap. Angst beat Ledebuhr, Fenske, Engen and point leader Pember across the line. Duellman lost his power steering and was relegated to sixth.

"We got a new car this year, and we've been messing with the set-up every week trying to get better," said Angst. "We've been racing at Deer Creek and (car builder) Todd Klees races there, and he has really helped us. Tonight, we finally got it hooked up."

An early week trip to Rice Lake, Wis. paid off handsomely for Gary Wiersgalla.

Wiersgalla notched his second win of the season in the super stock main event.

Wiersgalla blasted out of his outside front row starting position beating Jason Johnson to turn one. The Fountian City driver moved out to a comfortable margin as Johnson and Mark Teske battled for second.

Wiersgalla's lead evaporated when Robbie Bunkleman dropped out on lap nine. The caution flew and Wiersgalla's big lead vanished. Teske drove around Johnson on the restart and began his pursuit of Wiersgalla. Wiersgalla was dialed into the top groove, while Teske searched for a faster line. Teske starting gaining with two laps to go, but ran out of time as Wiersgalla crossed the finish line four car lengths in front. Johnson finished third, Jon Duffy fourth, and Mike Hesselink fifth.

"I've got to give a lot of credit to my engine builder Dave Adams. We took the motor up there on Monday and picked it up on Wednesday. We put it back in that night,"said Wiersgalla. Wiersgalla burned a couple of pistons during last week's race. "At the end I kept looking around to see if Teske or Johnson was gaining. I had to tell myself to take it easy and not overdrive the car. I was really shocked at how fast the car was. The new motor program has really helped us a bunch."

Rookie Steve Isenberg (The Beast from the East) benefited from Bob Timm's misfortune to pick up his second late model feature win of the season. Timm outgunned Brad Waits at the start of the main and quickly raced off to a big lead. Doom struck on lap nine, when a shock broke on Timm's mount. The yellow slowed the field as Timm's car left on the hook.

Eric Pember inherited the top spot with Isenberg in tow. Isenberg dove to the the bottom as Pember ran the middle groove. Isenberg's Mastersbilt chassis hugged the low groove and he beat Pember racing out of turn two. The two drivers battled down the back chute and through turns three and four. Isenberg took over the top spot for good at the flagstand. Veteran Tom Nesbitt and Waits were engaged in a good battle for third. Nesbitt made his way to third on lap 16. Isenberg was followed across the stripe by Pember, Nesbitt, Waits, and Scott Cramer who started 12th.

"I was really surprised that Eric went to the top. Usually he likes to stay on the bottom.

The car was just starting to come in when the yellow came out," said Isenberg. "I'm not sure we could have caught Bob, the car was starting to hook up when he went out. Right now, I'm just really happy," said the soft-spoken Isenberg.

Chris Oertel's return trip to the speedway resulted in a street stock win for the Marshfield, Wis. youngster. Oertel outdualed Dan Gullickson and Danny Hanson in the 15 lap feature. Oertel jumped out to early lead while Gullickson and Hanson fought it out for runner-up duties. Gullickson passed for second on lap nine and one lap later the yellow flew when Brandon Baker lost a wheel.

The last five laps were a wild shootout as Gullickson pulled along side Oertel and the duo raced that way to the finish. Hanson tailed Gullickson looking for an opening. Oertel used the topline to beat Gullickson off the corner. Gullickson and Hanson swapped paint down the front straight with Gullickson gaining the edge for second.

"I was really able use the momentum off the top side of the track," said Oertel. "I think he might have been a little quicker than I was, but I could get more bite out of the corner. I got to give him(Gullickson)credit, he really raced me clean and hard." Oertel was the seventh different driver to win a street stock feature at the speedway this season.

RESULTS

LATE MODELS

Feature

1. Steve Isenberg, Marshfield, Wis. 2. Eric Pember, Pittsville, Wis. 3. Tom Nesbitt, Thunder Bay, Ont. 4. Brad Waits, West Concord, Minn. 5. Scott Cramer, Random Lake, Wis. 6. Terry Casey, New London,Wis. 7. Mark Teske, Spring Valley, Minn. 8. Robbie Bunkleman, Abbottsford, Wis. 9. Larry Stockwell, Ellsworth, Wis. 10. Jeff Keeney, River Falls, Wis. 11. Troy Brand, Winona 12. Jeff Matejka, Winona 13. Bob Timm, Winona

Heats

1.Isenberg 2.Timm 3. Nesbitt

1.Pember 2. Waits 3. Stockwell

MODIFIEDS

Feature

1.Bruce Angst, Winona 2.Kerry Ledebuhr, Winona 3. Karl Fenske, Winona 4. Wayne Engen, Shell Lake, Wis. 5. Pember 6. Les Duellman, Winona 7. Steve Speltz, Fountain City, Wis. 8. Troy Langowski, Winona 9. Ron Britain, Winona 10. Luke Schilling, Granton, Wis. 11. John Doelle, Arcadia, Wis.12. Lance Mathees, Winona 13. Brian Albrecht, Winona 14.Larry Kallenbach, Altoona, Wis. 15.Jason Nordhagen, St. Paul, Minn. 16.Jonah Daffinson, Galesville, Wis. 17. Shane Wehrs, Bangor, Wis. 18. Dana Lerum, Pepin, Wis. 19. Gary Doelle, Arcadia, Wis. 20. Timm

Heats

1.Pember 2. Speltz 3. Ledebuhr

1.Timm 2. Fenske 3.Hauser

1.Angst 2. Glenn 3.Rollinger

SUPER STOCKS

Feature

1.Gary Wiersgalla, Fountain City 2. Teske 3. Jason Johnson, Ettrick, Wis. 4. Jon Duffy, Winona 5. Mike Hesselink, Deer Park, Wis. 6. Ben Anderson, Winona 7. Dan Nissalke, Winona 8.Brand 9. Quinn Arnoldy, Arcadia, Wis 10. Adam Stockhausen, Winona 11. Kelly Anderson, Hager City, Wis. 12.Kevin Glander, Pepin, Wis. 13. Dennis Earney, Waumandee, Wis. 14. Josh Rodewald, Lake City, Minn. 15. Brian Fetting, Cochrane, Wis 16. Kevin Hager, Kellogg, Minn. 17. Tim Williamson, Rushford, Minn. 18. Dan Arneson, Eleva, Wis. 19. Lyle Schlomer, Osseo, Wis. 20. Phil Kendrick, Winona

Heats

1. Johnson 2. Anderson 3. Rodewald

2. 1.Wiersgalla 2.Teske 3.Hesselink

3. 1.Duffy 2.Wytaske 3.Nissalke

STREET STOCKS

Feature

1.Chris Oertel, Marshfield, Wis 2. Dan Gullickson, Stacy, Minn. 3. Danny Hanson, Alma, Wis. 4. Jeremy Sommer, Lake City, Minn. 5. Travis Krause, Buffalo City, Wis. 6. Darryl Foegen, Cochrane, Wis 7.Jon Laumb, Rushford, Minn. 8. Jimmy Randall, Rice Lake, Wis 9.Tom Hund, Fountian City 10.Tom Brink, Winona 11. Dennis Davis, Fountain City, 12.Tony Sass, Fountain City, 13. Andy Bohnstengle, Winona 14. Lee Hager, Kellogg, Minn. 15. Mike Johnsgaard, Winona 16.Brad Dennis, Winona 17.Brandon Baker, Eau Claire, Wis 18.David Nastvold, Galesville, Wis. 19. Randy Bradford, Eau Claire, Wis. 20. Tony Foster, Kellogg, Minn.

B-feature

1. Hund 2.Prudoehl 3.Foster

Heats

1.1.Gullickson 2.Hanson 3.Nastvold

2.1.Krause 2.Dennis 3.Brust

3.1.Foegen 2.Laumb 3.Randall

4.1.Sommer 2.Oertel 3.Bradford