by Chris Stepan

ARCADIA, WI (May 20, 2001) - The Fox Ridge Speedway continued its racing season this past Friday with Travis Krause becoming the first repeat winner in the history of the track in his # O1 Street Stock.

Krause shot from the outside of the front row into the lead at the drop of the green flag and extended his lead with each and every lap of the event to be unchallenged en route to his second consecutive Street Stock win at the speedway. Shawn Wehlage settled into second early on, but had to battle with Jeremy Sommer for the position as the race went on.

Danny Hanson was on the move as he used the high line to move into battle with Daryl Foegen for much of the race as Krause continued to dominate the event. These battles waged on as the laps wound down in the Street Stock main event and as the field was coming out of turn four for the checkered, a car got crossed up in front of everyone, making for a very exciting scramble to the line. Krause had crossed with no problem as Hanson darted by Foegen into second. Sommer was also to snag fourth away from Wehlage at the line.

Gary Wiersgalla and Mike Hesselink paced the field down to the green flag in the Super Stock main event with Wiersgalla getting a good jump and taking the lead down the front stretch, but Hesselink fought right back on the high side in turn one and race side by side for the lead down the back stretch.

Wiersgalla was able to hold off the challenge from Hesselink and took command, stretching his advantage to several car lengths as the race progressed. Jason Johnson was on the move early as he jumped up the high groove and proceeded to work to the outside of Dave Haberman for fourth early on.

A caution bunched up the field on lap 6, putting Hesselink right back on the rear bumper of Wiersgalla on the restart. Again on the start, Hesselink tried to find a way into the lead, but Wiersgalla was up to the challenge and staved off the fight and held onto the top spot. Johnson and Haberman reassumed their battle for position, as did Dan Arneson and Dennis Earney, while the leaders continued to duke it out up front.

Johnson continued to run strong on the high side as he blasted to the outside of Bob Fort for third on lap 7 as Arneson was also moving toward the front quickly and was up to challenge Haberman for fifth. John Doelle also found the high side to his liking as he came out of no where to begin to pressure Arneson, Earney and Haberman for position in the top five, while Hesselink remained within striking distance of Wiersgalla up front.

The caution flew again on lap 11, which broke up some good battles for the lead, but on the restart, the position swapping continued once again. Doelle, Haberman and Jerry Bloom set off after each other once again as did Johnson and Fort as the laps began to wind down.

The final caution flew on lap 17, when Quinn Arnoldy's # 76 burst into a huge ball of flames down the backstretch. When racing resumed, Wiersgalla pulled to a safe distance and picked up his first win of the season over Hesselink, who equaled a career best finish in second. Fort was able to hold off Johnson for third and Doelle rounded out the top five finishers.

The Modified main event was the final race of the night and saw newcomer Brandon Kallenbach take command at the start with Bill Bauers and Bruce Angst right behind in a battle for second. Also a quick battle that formed on the speedway between Rich Hauser, Mike Sorensen and Kerry Ledebuhr for fourth as both Todd and LeRoy Scharkey joined the mix as well.

After several cautions on laps 4 and 5, the race restarted with Sorensen taking to the outside line and sweeping by Kallenbach into the lead as LeRoy Scharkey and Hauser continued to duke it out for third. Moving up quickly from the back of the field was Steve Speltz. Speltz was up to battle with Dan Hesch for the fourth position as Sorensen continued to pull away from the field up front.

Kallenbach and Hesch began a scramble for the third spot and rode side by side for several laps until Hesch was able to steal the spot away in turn 2 as Speltz continued to move toward the front. Steve shot to the outside of Hesch for third in turn 1 on lap 13 and then tried the same move on Scharkey in turn 3 on the same circuit, but LeRoy was able to hold his position to the checkered.

As the laps wound down, Sorensen went on to pick up the win with Scharkey, Speltz, Hesch and Hauser rounding out the top five spots. The Late Models were not in competition tonight due to a low car count, but will return this Friday for a full program.

Regular race action resumes at Fox Ridge this Friday with action in the WISSOTA Late Models, Modifieds, WISSOTA Super Stocks and WISSOTA Street Stocks set to begin at 7:30. For more information check out the speedway's website at www.foxridgespeedway.com or call Dave at (608) 323-3396.

RESULTS

MODIFIEDS

Feature: Mike Sorensen, Leroy Scharkey, Steve Speltz, Dan Hesch, Rick Hauser, Hank Rollinger, Dave Wiersgalla, Bruce Angst, Ron Britain, Paul Hamernick

Heat 1: Brad Waits, Todd Scharkey, Kerry Ledebuhr, Hesch, Shane Wehrs

Heat 2: Scharkey, Angst, Hauser, Brandon Kallenbach, Rollinger

Heat 3: Sorensen, Troy Langowski, Mick Glenn, Bill Bauer, Hamernick

SUPER STOCKS

Feature: Gary Wiersgalla, Mike Hesselink, Bob Fort, Jason Johnson, John Doelle, Dan Arneson, Jerry Bloom, Kevin Glander, Bob Bautch, Ben Anderson

Heat 1: Wiersgalla, Josh Rodewald, Fort, Dave Haberman, Lyle Schlomer

Heat 2: Hesselink, Johnson, Quinn Arnoldy, Brian Fetting, Dan Nissalke

Heat 3: Arneson, Doelle, Bautch, Dennis Earney, Terry Timm

WISSOTA STREET STOCKS

Feature: Travis Krause, Danny Hanson, Daryl Foegen, Jeremy Sommer, Shaun Wehlage, Phil Wernert, Matt Theisen, Tom Hund, Josh Malchaski, Lee Hager

Heat 1: Krause, Sommer, Dennis Davis, Lester Beardsley, Hager

Heat 2: Foegen, Hund, Hanson, Theisen, Malchaski

Heat 3: Wehlage, Wernert, Darran Jonsgaard, Tony Sass, David Nastvold