A Pair of Jasons, Vandekamp and Gross, Top CLS WoO Night Features
New Richmond, WI (7-11-10)
By: Greg Parent
As the support classes for the World of Outlaws sprint car show on Sunday evening July 11, the Midwest Modifieds and Winged Modifieds were on hand to do battle on a very heavy, fast racing surface. During the latter afternoon hours, three different rain showers hit the speedway forcing track officials to delay the program in order to get the track run in. Starting with hot laps around eight o'clock, it was readily apparent that the track would be lightning fast. As the evening wore on, Jason Vandekamp drove to his first feature win of the season in the Midwest Modified division when race leaders Bob Smith and Josh Bazey ran into difficulty seven laps into the race. In the Winged Modified main event, it was a battle of attrition. Jason Gross passed Jason Schill on lap two and never looked back on his way to his first victory since he won the mod opener at CLS back in April.
A solid field of 22 Midwest Modifieds lined up for 20 racing laps around the high-banked 3/8 mile oval. Josh Bazey and Bob Smith brought the field to the green. Track point leader Smith grabbed the early lead, but the race was under caution with just one lap in when Jason Miller slowed in turn two and eventually exited the track. Smith maintained a narrow lead over Bazey when the race went back to green. With six laps in, Craig Rabenberg made contact with the front stretch wall exiting turn four and rode the hook to the pits. On the restart, Vince Corbin and Eric Herbison made contact in turn two with Herbison's car sliding up into the wall. Herbison was done while Corbin tagged the tail.
Bazey challenged Smith for the top spot on the next restart. One lap later, Bazey went high to pass Smith down the front stretch. Contact between the two leaders sent Smith sliding sideways into turn one. The call went against Smith, so Bazey became the new leader. That did not last long though, as on the restart contact between Bazey and the second place car of Tony Schill saw Bazey spin sideways in turn two and collect Jason Vandekamp and Tim Swanson. Bazey exited the track with a flat tire and broken wheel, ending his night and bid for the win. Schill led the next lap, but one lap later Vandekamp blasted by for the lead.
As the race finally settled down to some green flag racing, Bryan Siercks worked his way to second on lap twelve. A couple laps later, Vandekamp began working lapped traffic. Tony Schill and Dave Mass swapped the third spot on a couple of occasions before Mass got it for good on lap 17. Suddenly Bob Smith reappeared in the top five with three to go, having come from the tail following his lap seven incident. Smith moved past Schill for fourth one lap later and reeled in Mass. Coming down for the white flag, Smith raced past Mass for third, but a spin by Cole Neisius right in front of them saw Smith slam hard into the side of Neisius' car. Both cars were out of the race, thus ending an incredible charge from the back by Smith. This set the stage for a two lap dash to the checkers. Jason Vandekamp went on to record his first CLS win of the 2010 season. Bryan Siercks turned in his best performance so far with a fine second place effort. Dave Mass, 17th starter Jason Haugerud, and Tony Schill completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten finishers were A. J. Roschen, Vince Corbin, Nate Fisk, Tim Swanson, and Tom Smart. Mass, Eric Herbison and Smith won the heats.
A field of 16 Winged Modifieds signed in with twelve of the cars sporting wings while four others raced without wings. When it came time for their feature, the heavy track had already claimed three cars. Jason Schill and Justin Schill, both in non-winged mods, paced the 13 car starting field. Jason Schill sped to the early lead ahead of Jason Gross. A spin by Justin Schill with one lap in brought out the first of three yellows. On the restart, Gross raced by Schill for the lead. One lap later, Rick Kobs got by Schill for second while Mike Kelley Jr raced to fourth. Kelley then moved under Schill on the next lap and pulled up on Kobs. Kelley was by Kobs for second on lap five. Shawn Phillips broke a driveshaft with six laps in, so the race was under caution again. On the restart, Kelley spun in turn one and was clipped by Dave Lear. Both cars required wrecker assistance.
With the field practically pared in half already, the race would then run fourteen laps nonstop to the finish. Jason Gross held a comfortable lead throughout the remainder of the race to score the win. Rick Kobs held off a charging Adam Hensel for second. Jason Schill, Jeff Doriott and Jeremy Gross completed the top six, as those were the only cars left running after 20 laps. Justin Schill, Dave Lear, Mike Kelley Jr, and Dave Siercks rounded out the top ten. Heat race wins went to Jason Gross and Kelley. Late model driver Adam Hensel was making his first-ever winged modified start in Les Duellman's car, and he got the hang of it rather quickly with a solid third place run.
Following the midwest mod and winged mod feature races, the World of Outlaws sprint cars ran their 30 lap main event. Elk River, Minnesota's Craig Dollansky scored his second career CLS WoO win when he led the entire distance from green to checkers. Jason Meyers, Sammy Swindell, Jason Sides, Paul McMahan, Jac Haudenschild, Kerry Madsen, Lucas Wolfe, Steve Kinser and Tim Kaeding completed the top ten cars. It was a popular victory, as Dollansky had many fans, friends and family on hand to watch.
Racing action returns to the Cedar Lake Speedway on Saturday night July 17 with a full program of the NASCAR Late Model, Modified, Pro Stock, and Midwest Modified divisions scheduled. For more information, please visit our website at www.cedarlakespeedway.com or call 1-866-4CLS-FUN. See you at the track where action is the attraction!
