By: Paul Reichert
October 11, 2020
The final day of the 51st Oktoberfest Race Weekend at the La Crosse Speedway is always filled with a lot of drama and excitement. The big 200 lap main event for the ARCA Midwest Tour features many of the top Super Late Model competitors from across the midwest, plus even a NASCAR star or two from our neck of the woods. All of them vying for one of the most prestigious titles on the racing circuit in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin racing great Rich Bickle, Jr. tried to catch Ty Majeski in the late going, but Majeski had checked out on the field to drive away with his third Oktoberfest title.
Chad Butz charged to the front at the start of the 200 lap ARCA Midwest Tour finale. Yellow flew for the first time on lap five when Matt Henderson lost it coming out of turn four. On the restart, Jason Weinkauf powered around Butz on the outside to move into the top spot. Mondeik surged past Weinkauf coming out of turn two to take over the lead on lap 15. Derek Kraus and Bobby Kendall looped it in turn four on lap 19 to bring another caution period. Mondeik and Andrew Morrissey continued their battle over the top spot at they began to separate themselves from the field. After patiently waiting for the right time to make his move, Morrissey dove low on Mondeik entering turn one on lap 79 to take command of the race. Ty Majeski lined up alongside of Morrissey for the restart after a lap 81 competition caution and surged by him on the outside to lead the field on lap 86. Majeski maintained about a half of a straighaway lead on Morrissey as the leaders received the crossed flags. Caution made another appearance on lap 122 when Billy Mohn’s slowing car came to a stop in front of the pit entrance at the end of the back straight. After pit stops took place, Johnny Sauter shot past Skylar Holzhausen to take over the number one spot on the restart. Contact between Sauter and Majeski on lap 141 nearly caused a calamity in turn two, but everyone was able to continue on with Holzhausen taking back second.
Holzhausen fell back to fourth on lap 152 as both Majeski and Andrew Morrissey shot past him on the outside. Majeski and Morrissey stuck right close behind Sauter before Morrissey used the outside line to charge past Majeski in turn three on lap 160 and move into the runner up spot. Now Morrissey was ready to turn up the wick on Sauter for the lead. Unfortunately, Morrissey turned the wick up too much as he made contact with Sauter in turn four and spun him out with 36 laps to go. Fredrickson now was in charge on field on the restart with Majeski hot on his trail. Majeski found an opening on the inside of Fredrickson in turn three on lap 174 to take control of the race. Rich Bickle, Jr. surged under Fredrickson to move into second with ten laps to go. Would Bickle be able to track down Majeski and capture his first Oktoberfest title in over 40 years? It was not to be as Majeski had build up a full straightaway lead to claim his third Oktoberfest championship and the $6,300 bonus from accepting the Ultimate Challenge. The championship contenders ran right together with Casey Johnson in 7th and Gabe Sommers in 8th. That result would net Johnson his second straight ARCA Midwest Tour title.
Derek Doerr drove past Carter Christenson to take the early lead in the 25 lap CWRA Late Model feature. Doerr would be persued for several laps by point leader Jeff Weinfurter. Weinfurter was sent spinning down the back straight by Jesse Bernhagen on lap seven. Doerr got very sideways in turn four causing the front runners to take evasive action. Greg Back made the best move into the lead on lap eight. Colin Reffner was slowly catching Back as we reached the halfway point of the race. Tony Leis caught the lead duo on lap 15, and the fight for the top spot was on. Back got loose coming out of turn two with five laps to go as Reffner and Leis both zoomed by Back. Leis tried to close the gap on Reffner even working through the lap traffic late in the race. Reffner maintained a six car length lead to add another victory to his famous racing family’s legacy. Weinfurter struggled to a seventh place finish, while John Beale took third and that finish would give ‘The Real Deal’ the CWRA Stars to Legends Tour championship.
In the 25 lap ‘Cratetoberfest’ 602 feature, Eric Campbell shot past Kenny Joosten at the start to take the lead. Bryan Syer-Keske lost it in turn one and hit the wall hard on lap two. As Campbell began to slowly edge away from Nathan Ballard, Ty Majeski began to enter the picture. Majeski drove around Pete Moore for third on lap five, and motored his way past Ballard for second a lap later. After a yellow for debris on lap nine, Campbell was able to pull away from Majeski on the restart. Moore would power his way under Majeski for second on lap 11. Jason Stark would also dive low on Majeski a lap later to stake his claim to third. Stark would get closer to Campbell as he drove around Moore on the outside lane to pick up second with ten laps to go. Stark began to close ground on Campbell even after they worked their way through lap traffic. Even with a little bump coming to the white flag, Campbell stood his ground on the low side and claimed the victory. Despite getting tangled up with Tim Sargent at the end of the race, veteran racer Pete Moore was the lucky winner of the new 602 crate motor thanks to Campbell.
Lloyd Wilkinson bolted to the early race lead in the 15 lap Vintage feature. Wilkinson tried to open up his lead, but Johnny Robinson II led a pack of four drivers closing down on the leader. Wilkinson ran wide in turn four on lap nine, allowing Robinson to take over the lead. Jim Kulseth was at the back of the lead pack but was ready to go after the lead. Kulseth shot past Randy Humfeld on the outside for third on lap nine, then powered his way by Robert Fitzpatrick for second with four laps to go. Kulseth quickly closed up on Robinson and dove to his inside with two laps to go to surge into the lead. Kulseth’s fast red Mustang pulled away to capture his second Oktoberfest victory. Robinson tagged the outside wall and took a slide to the inside wall on the final lap, but was doing just fine.
In the 15 lap Super Vintage feature, Larry Bolster’s years of experience at LaCrosse got him the lead a lap into the race. It was a battle of the Dick Trickle cars behind Bolster as Todd Korish and Rich Bickle, Jr. fought tooth and nail over second. First Bickle got around Korish for second on lap four, but two laps later Korish powered his way back around Bickle. Bolster began to deal with a left front tire rubbing. That allowed both Korish and Bickle to close on the leader and make the race even more exciting. Bolster’s tire rub was causing a loose condition, which allowed Bickle to shoot past Bolster into the lead with three laps to go. Bolster would not let Bickle get away that easily over the final laps. As they came upon the lapped car of Darrell Paasch, Bolster stuck to the outside lane and surged ahead of Bickle to take the biggest win of his career.
The La Crosse Speedway wants to thanks all the drivers and their race teams, as well as the fans, our track staff and volunteers who helped make the 51st Oktoberfest Race Weekend the last big racing get together that it always is. We also want to say a big thank you to everybody for helping make the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series season one of the more memorable seasons on record. For more information about the La Crosse Speedway, please call the office at 608-786-1525 or visit our web site at lacrossespeedway.com. La Crosse Speedway is proud to be a NASCAR Hometrack, part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
RESULTS
ARCA Midwest Tour
Feature (200 Laps): 1. Ty Majeski, 2. Rich Bickle, Jr., 3. Andrew Morrissey, 4. Dan Fredrickson, 5. Justin Mondeik, 6. Skylar Holzhausen, 7. Casey Johnson, 8. Gabe Sommers, 9. Johnny Sauter, 10. Jonathan Eilen, 11. Dillon Hammond, 12. John DeAngelis, Jr., 13. Matt Henderson, 14. R.J. Braun, 15. Chad Butz, 16. Jason Weinkauf, 17. Austin Nason, 18. Ryan Farrell, 19. Derek Kraus, 20. Dean LaPointe, 21. Brady Bill, 22. Billy Mohn, 23. Paul Shafer, Jr., 24. Brent Kirchner, 25. Brock Heinrich, 26. Michael Ostdiek, 27. Jacob Goede, 28. Bobby Kendall
Last Chance Race (15 Laps): 1. Henderson, 2. Braun. 3. Mohn, 4. Kirchner, 5. LaPointe, 6. Bill, 7. Nason, 8. Brett Yackey, 9. Brad Tilton, 10. Harley Jankowski, 11. Andrew Brocker, 12. Henrich
Central Wisconsin Racing Association (CWRA) Late Models
Feature (25 Laps): 1. Colin Reffner, 2. Tony Leis, 3. Greg Back, 4. John Beale, 5. Kyle Genett, 6. Jesse Bernhagen, 7. Jeff Weinfurter, 8. Carter Christenson, 9. Allan Borntrager, 10. Derek Doerr, 11. Gary Krueger, 12. Monte Gress, 13. Putch Bentley, 14. Mike Sievers, 15. Greg Matthews, 16. Paul Paine, 17. Nick Roehl
Qualifying: 1. Reffner, 2. Leis, 3. Beale, 4. D. Jackson, 5. Paine, 6. Bernhagen, 7. Back, 8. Weinfurter, 9. Christenson, 10. Doerr, 11. Roehl, 12. M. Gress, 13. Bentley, 14. Krueger, 15. Matthews, 16. Sievers, 17. Borntrager (NO TIME)
‘Cratetoberfest’ 602 Challenge
Feature: 1. Eric Campbell, 2. Jason Stark, 3. Pete Moore, 4. Randy Sargent, 5. James Swan, 6. Tim Sargent, 7. Kody Hubred, 8. Keith Paulsrud, 9. Nathan Ballard, 10. James Storey, 11. Chase Hunter, 12. Dave Edwards, 13. Rick Coppernoll, 14. Bobby Frisch, 15. Jasec Holladay, 16. Kenny Joosten, 17. Taylor Dawson, 18. Bob Fort, 19. Ty Majeski, 20. Cody Houseweart, 21. Johnny Robinson II, 22. Trevor Robinson, 23. Bryan Syer-Keske, 24. Brady Bill, 25. Joe Prusak
Heat #1: 1. Ballard, 2. Arneson, 3. Houseweart, 4. Joosten, 5. J. Robinson II, 6. T. Robinson, 7. Dawson, 8. J. Prusak
Heat #2: 1. Frisch, 2. Edwards, 3. Hunter, 4. Campbell, 5. Moore, 6. Tom Carlson, 7. Paulsrud, 8. Coppernoll, 9. Holladay, 10. Fort
Heat #3: 1. R. Sargent, 2. Syer-Keske, 3. Storey, 4. Bill, 5. Hubred, 6. Majeski. 7. Swan, 8. Stark, 9. T. Sargent
Vintage
Feature: 1. Jim Kulseth, 2. Robert Fitzpatrick, 3. Randy Humfeld, 4. Lloyd Wilkinson, 5. Kenny Hutchins, 6. Trevor Robinson, 7. Roger Peterson, 8. Kenny Baum, 9. Dan Navrestad, 10. Justin Jessop, 11. Michael Breckenridge, 12. Ray Burrow, 13. Johnny Robinson II, 14. Jim Olson, 15. Paul Dolphe, 16. Max Prusak
Heat #1: 1. J. Robinson II, 2. Peterson, 3. Wilkinson, 4. Jessop, 5. Breckenridge, 6. Olson, 7. Burrow, 8. M. Prusak, 9. Ralph CottoneHeat #2: 1. T. Robinson, 2. Baum, 3. Navrestad, 4. Kulseth, 5. Humfeld, 6. Fitzpatrick, 7. Hutchins
Super Vintage
Feature: 1. Larry Bolster, 2. Rich Bickle, Jr., 3. Woody Poole, 4. Darrell Paasch, 5. Raymond Hardy, 6. Mark Challet, 7. Todd Korish, 8. Allen Sankey, 9. Cole ScholzeHeat #1: 1. Korish, 2. Bickle, Jr., 3. Bolster, 4. Paasch, 5. Challet, 6. Hardy, 7. Sankey, 8. Poole, 9. Scholze