By: Ashley Iwanski
(West Salem, WI – October 3, 2014) Dan Fredrickson captured back-to-back Dick Trickle 99 Super Late Model features after winning an intense three-segment battle with Nick Murgic during the second night of the 45th Annual Oktoberfest Race Weekend at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway.
Murgic and Fredrickson were tied with six points each entering the third and final 33-lap segment as a near-capacity crowd rose to its feet on a chilly but wild and exciting night of racing at the famed West Salem track.
It was a tight race until the halfway point of the third segment when Murgic started to fade back into the field. Once Murgic lost speed, both Fredrickson and Dalton Zehr, who finished second overall, were able to get past him.
Only three points separated Fredrickson (13 points) from Murgic (16) in the final feature standings. Zehr finished second with 14 points as the driver with the least amount of points was the victor.
Murgic slammed the door on Fredrickson to win the first segment of the Dick Trickle 99, a wildly popular three-segment race named after the late Dick Trickle, a Wisconsin short-track racing legend.
Murgic quickly grabbed the lead but two early cautions, one for a Chris Weinkauf crash on the backstretch, and another for a Ty Majeski spin in Turn 2, brought Fredrickson side-by-side with the eventual segment winner.
Somehow Murgic managed to get a jump on Fredrickson after the last restart. Murgic was able to put just enough space between himself and hard-charging Fredrickson to hold on for the win.
Travis Sauter locked up the second segment of the Trickle 99 early, but behind him a battle raged. Murgic worked his way up through the field from a mid-pack starting position; following him was Ty Majeski, who came all the way up from the 22nd starting spot.
Murgic managed to get up to the third spot, but Majeski was advancing quickly in his rearview mirror. Majeski, who had to pull off the track in the first segment, weaved his way through the top five to end up with a second place finish. Hard-charger Dalton Zehr finished third. Murgic fell back to finish fifth.
Jason Weinkauf held off Casey Johnson and Mark Lamoreaux to win The Stubby Super Late Model feature. Weinkauf escaped with the lead as Johnson and Lamoreaux were involved in a heated battle for the second spot. Johnson was able to overpower Lamoreaux to take the position.
Corey Jankowski flew past the competition to win the Super Late C-Feature. Jankowski got the fans fired up as he jumped out of his car and threw his arms in the air showing off his now-famous ‘Batman’ cape.
Dave Trute won the Great Northern Sportsmen feature, celebrating with burnouts on the front stretch. While Trute was enjoying an Oktoberfest victory Deven Schmidt was crowned the 2014 division champion.
Jason Thoma, the points leader entering the night, was caught up in a tangled mess with Jake Arneson on the front stretch after only six laps. Arneson was able to drive away, but Thoma’s night was over. His car was taken off the track on the hook of a wrecker, as it was nothing but a twisted heap of metal.
La Crosse Speedway’s 2014 Sportsmen champion Greg Scheck was also caught up in a wreck during a flurry of caution flags that infested the feature race, Scheck raced his way into the main event by winning the first Last Chance heat. Scheck announced he would retire from racing after finishing ninth in the Great Northern feature.
Brain Hesselberg, another La Crosse Speedway weekly Sportsmen driver, grabbed his first Oktoberfest victory after winning the second qualifying heat for the Great Northern Sportsmen. Justin Mullikin also scored his first Oktoberfest win in the second Last Chance race.
Blake Brown won the Midwest Truck Series feature followed by Chester Ace.
Saturday’s Oktoberfest lineup includes the Big-8 Late Models, Mid-American Stock Cars, Midwest Dash Cars and ARCA Midwest Tour preliminaries. For more information please call the Speedway office at (608) 786-1525 or visit www.lacrossespeedway.com.
LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway is a proud NASCAR Hometrack, part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series – www.hometracks.nascar.com.
LA CROSSE FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY
Super Late Models – Dick Trickle 99
Kwik Trip 99 Feature (24 Cars) — 1, Dan Fredrickson, Lutherville, Minn.; 2, Dalton Zehr, unknown; 3, Nick Murgic, Rosemount, Minn.; 4, Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor; 5, Griffin McGrath, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; 6, Travis Sauter, Necedah; 7, Nick Panitzke, Saul Centre, Minn.; 8, Jacob Goede, Carver, Minn.; 9, Dan Lensing, Poplar Grove, Ill.; 10, Dennis Prunty, Knowles; 11, Ty Majeski, Seymour; 13, Brad Keith, West Bend; 14, Erik Darnell, Park City, Ill.; 15, Tim Schendel, Sparta; 16, Derek Lemke, Shakopee, Minn.; 17, Colin Reffner, Wisconsin Rapids; 18, Jeremy Miller, Rockton, Ill.; 19, Andy Jones, Park City, Ill.; 20, Bryan Syer-Keske, Lakeville, Minn.; 21, Jonathan Eilen, Hampton, Minn.; 22, Jeremy Lepak, Ringle; 23, Chris Weinkauf, Merrill; 24, Cardell Potter, Camp Douglas.
Qualifying — 1, Nick Murgic, 18.927 seconds, 103.741 MPH; 2, Andrew Morrissey, 18.964 secs, 103.538 MPH; 3, Dan Fredrickson, 18.992 secs, 103.386 MPH; 4, Nick Panitzke, 19.114 secs, 102.726 MPH; 5, Chris Weinkauf, 19.143 secs, 102.570 MPH; 6, Dan Lensing; 7, Skylar Holzhausen; 8, Cardell Potter; 9, Dalton Zehr; 10, Erik Darnell; 11, Travis Sauter; 12, Brad Keith; 13, Jacob Goede; 14, Dennis Prunty; 15, Derek Lemke; 16, Griffin McGrath; 17, Jonathan Eilen; 18, Ty Majeski; 19, Bryan Syer-Keske; 20, Nathan Haseleu; 21, Andy Jones; 22, Jeremy Lepak; 23, Mark Lamereaux; 24, Nick Barstad; 25, Tim Schendel; 26, Colin Reffner; 27, Brandon Hill; 28, Reagan May; 29, Casey Johnson; 30, Jeremy Miller; 31, Jason Weinkauf; 32, Mark Kraus; 33, Jimmy Dragich; 34, Claire Decker; 35, Ryan Hinner; 36, Cory Kemkes; 37, Dan Jung; 38, Eugene Gregorich Jr.; 39, Paul Paine; 40, Travis Volm; 41, Jim Sauter Jr.; 42, Clint Sillars; 43, Cole Anderson; 44, Don Turner; 45, Joel Theisen; 46, Kyle Hanson; 47, Natalie Decker; 48, Kelsey Bauer; 49, Corey Jankowski; 50, Bobby Wilberg; 51, Ryan Farrell; 52, Robby Bunkelman; 53, Harley Jankowski; 54, J. Herbst; 55, Justin Oertel; 56, Steve Apel; 57, Jerry Mueller; 58, Jon Lemke; 59, Ken Jacoby; 60, Louis Goss; 61, Jeff Nowak; 62, Jonathan Eckelberg; 63, Duke Long.
Last Chance 1 — 1, Colin Reffner; 2, Jonathan Eilen; 3, Mark Lamoreaux; 4, Casey Johnson; 5, Eugene Gregorich Jr.
Last Chance 2 — 1, Ty Majeski; 2, Jeremy Miller; 3, Andy Jones; 4, Paul Paine; 5, Brandon Hill.
Last Chance 3 — 1, Tim Schendel; 2, Bryan Syer-Keske; 3, Jason Weinkauf; 4, Reagen May; 5, Claire Decker.
The Stubby Feature — 1, Jason Weikauf, Merrill; 2, Casey Johnson, Stoughton; 3, Mark Lamoreaux, Bloomington, Minn.; 4, Claire Decker, Eagle River; 5, Reagan May, De Pere.
C-Feature — 1, Corey Jankowski, Tomah; 2, Justin Oertel, Lincolnshire, Ill.; 3, Ryan Farrell, New Berlin; 4, Don Turner, La Crosse; 5, Kyle Hanson, Le Soeur, Minn.
Great Northern Sportsmen
Kwik Trip 25 Feature (24 Cars) — 1, Dave Trute, New Lisbon; 2, Bill Prietzel, Richfield; 3, Steve Bachman, West Salem; 4, Devin Schmidt, Belle Plaine, Minn.; 5, Jeremy Wolff, Chaska, Minn.; 6, Bill Martin, Madison; 7, Tony Leis, Onalaska; 8, James Lindgren, Apple Valley, Minn.; 9, Greg Scheck, La Crosse; 10, Chris Weber, La Crosse; 11, Chad Smith, Machesney Park, Ill.; 12, Dusty Mann, Dundas, Minn.; 13, Kyle Genett, Auborndale; 14, Jamie Dummer, Tomah; 15, Michael Gilomen, Nerstrand, Minn.; 16, Justin Mullikin, Holmen; 17, Nick Clements, West Salem; 18, Jake Arneson, Taylor; 19, Rick Schermerhorn, Westby; 20, Kody Hubred, Cambridge; 21, Scott Luck, Prairie du Sac; 22, Brian Hesselberg, West Salem; 23, Jason Backus, Tomah; 24, Jason Thoma, Jefferson.
Qualifying — 1, Dave Trute, 21.622 seconds, 90.810 MPH; 2, Kody Hubred, 21.839 secs, 89.908 MPH; 3, Rick Schermerhorn, 21.869 secs, 89.785 MPH; 4, Steve Bachman, 21.896 secs, 89.674 MPH; 5, Scott Luck, 22.016 secs, 89.185 MPH; 6, Devin Schmidt; 7, Nick Clements; 8, Jake Arneson; 9, Tony Leis; 10, Jason Thoma; 11, Chris Weber; 12, Bill Prietzel; 13, Jeremy Wolff; 14, Jason Backus; 15, Dillon Sellner; 16, Chris Skrede; 17, Brian Hesselberg; 18, Michael Gilomen; 19, Kevin Berg; 20, James Lindgren; 21, Eric Campbell; 22, Brad Warthan; 23, Justin Mullikin; 24, Brent Kane; 25, Jamie Dummer; 26, Dusty Mann; 27, Kyle Genett; 28, Bill Martin; 29, Gregory Borchardt; 30, Keith Paulsrud; 31, Greg Scheck; 32, Johnny Robinson; 33, Jason Dummer; 34, Jack Purcell; 35, Rick Johnson; 36, Chad Smith; 37, Tim Coley; 38, Jeff Thompson; 39, Mike Taylor; 40, Scott Ascher; 41, Jake Capek; 42, Matt Inglett; 43, Mark Challet; 44, Josh Fehrmann; 45, Jake Bemis; 46, Andy Buhrow.
Heat 1 — 1, Jeremy Wolff; 2, Bill Martin; 3, Greg Scheck; 4, Brad Warthan; 5, Jamie Dummer.
Heat 2 — 1, Brian Hesselberg; 2, James Lindgren; 3, Justin Mullikin; 4, Johnny Robinson; 5, Gregory Borchardt.
Heat 3 — 1, Michael Gilomen; 2, Chad Smith; 3, Kyle Genett; 4, Mike Taylor; 5, Eric Campbell.
Odd Dash — 1, Tony Leis; 2, Scott Luck; 3, Dave Trute; 4, Rick Schermerhorn; 5, Nick Clements.
Even Dash — 1, Devin Schmidt; 2, Jake Arneson; 3, Kody Hubred; 4, Bill Prietzel; 5, Jason Thoma.
Last Chance 1 — 1, Greg Scheck; 2, Kyle Genett; 3, Rick Johnson; 4, Jamie Dummer; 5, Johnny Robinson.
Last Chance 2 — 1, Justin Mullikin; 2, Jason Backus; 3, Jason Dummer; 4, Brad Warthan; 5, Mike Taylor.
Midwest Trucks
Kwik Trip 25 Feature (14 cars) — 1, Blake Brown, Franksville; 2, Chester Ace, Oregon; 3, Camden Murphy, Itasca; 4, Rick Corso, McHenry, Ill.; 5, John Beale, Verona; 6, Derrick Krause, unknown; 7, Chad Knause, Sun Prairie; 8, Mike Corvo, Park Ridge, Ill.; 9, Jerry Wood, Madison; 10, Ryan Finley, unknown; 11, unknown; 12, Shawn Lockington, Mindoro; 13, Tommy Pecaro, Markesan; 14, Jim Tate Jr., unknown.
Qualifying — 1, Derrick Krause, 20.599 seconds, 95.320 MPH; 2, John Beale, 20.756 secs, 94.599 MPH; 3, Camden Murphy, 20.898 secs, 93.956 MPH; 4, Tommy Pecaro, 20.906 secs, 93.920 MPH; 5, Jerry Wood, 21.102 secs, 93.048 MPH; 6, Chester Ace; 7, Mike Corvo; 8, Chad Knause; 9, Blake Brown; 10, Rick Corso; 11, Ryan Finley; 12, Shawn Lockington; 13, unknown; 14, Jim Tate Jr.
Heat 1 — 1, John Beale; 2, Rick Corso; 3, Chad Knause; 4, Chester Ace; 5, Tommy Pecaro.
Heat 2 — 1, Blake Brown; 2, Jerry Wood; 3, Derrick Krause; 4, Camden Murphy; 5, Mike Corvo.