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ASALMS/Oktoberfest 2009

Tuesday October 13, 2009

 

WEST SALEM, WI -- On a chilly Western Wisconsin Saturday night, the stars
of ‘America’s Premier Short Track Series’ saved some of their best for
last, contesting a thrilling curtain closer for the 2009 ASA Late Model
Series North Division season. On this night the hometown ace, Steve
Carlson, would make his usual move to the front. But also on this night,
Carlson would be challenged hard by his own cars handling, as well as
Minnesota’s Jacob Goede and teenage hot shoe Ross Kenseth.

However, when the dust settled on the ‘Oktoberfest 100,’ again “The King”
stood tall and claimed his 3rd ASALMS North Checkered Flag of the year.

Carlson started the evening strong, claiming the fastest lap in ARP Bodies
Time Trials with a lap of 19.223. Carlson would draw a ‘six’ on the pill
draw, inverting the first half-dozen cars for the 100 lap main event. This
would mean the aforementioned Ross Kenseth would draw the pole and lead
the 24 car field to the Green Flag.

Kenseth and front row mate Griffin McGrath would pace the field to the
line for the start of the race, and immediately, the battle began. Kenseth
and McGrath would battle side-by-side for the first few laps, with Kenseth
squeaking ahead by lap 3 and running away from the pack early. McGrath
would then fall into the clutches of Goede as the two would wage a battle
for second. By lap nine, Goede had taken over the runner-up spot.

At this same time, Carlson began his early climb from sixth spot. By lap
five, Carlson was into the Top 5. Next, Carlson would go after Series
point’s leader Chris Eggleston as well as McGrath. As the West Salem,
Wisconsin veteran continued his journey through the field, Goede began to
track down Kenseth for the top spot.

Goede cut Kenseth’s lead to five car lengths by lap 16 and got underneath
the two-time Series winner for the top spot on lap 22. After a furious
side-by-side race, Goede would jump to the top spot, dumping Kenseth into
the clutches of Carlson for second.

Carlson would claim the number two spot from Kenseth on lap 29, but would
then find the sledding tougher tracking down the leader Goede. For the
next 20-plus laps, Goede would slowly pull away from Carlson. The field
would bunch up however, on lap 56, when defending Series Champion Eddie
Hoffman would lose an engine, and spin in Turn One. As Hoffman sat
helplessly in the middle of the track, La Crosse Speedway Track Champion J
Herbst would run out of room on the speedway and collect Hoffman, also
sending Becca Kasten up the track and into the wall. The incident would
block the track and bring out the red flag. All drivers were ok.

When the race resumed, Carlson’s sick car suddenly hulked up, and the
savvy driver of the 66 would work Goede’s bumper on lap 58. On lap 63,
Carlson would complete the pass in Turn One and take the lead on lap 64.
Two laps later, Iowa’s Thor Anderson brought out the second caution of the
race, spinning in Turn Two. This gave Goede another chance at Carlson, but
it also gave Kenseth another shot at Goede for second.

After Goede scooted away from Kenseth on lap 72, he began to reel Carlson
back in. On lap 78, the lead battle resumed, and would wage on the rest of
the evening. Lap 88 would see the final caution flag of the night, and set
up a shootout to the finish, and the top three would not disappoint.
Carlson and Goede would go wheel-to-wheel to wheel over the final five
laps, with Kenseth closing to their back bumpers at the finish. And the
crowd stood and the checkered flag flew, Carlson would capture another win
at his home track, beating out Goede by only a half-car length.

Carlson said of his tussle with Goede, “Jacob is a great driver. You know,
he could have taken me out anytime there, and he didn’t do it.’ Carlson
also stated that, despite the win, he had to work very hard to make the
car work well down the stretch.

“I also told my crew, ‘please don’t ever make me work that hard again,’
said Carlson with a grin, “because in the beginning, that car worked real
good, but in the end, it was dying.”

Carlson continued, “On that red flag stop (on lap 56), we talked about
pitting and fixing the car. And I said ‘I don’t wanna start that far
back…lets just see if it comes to us.’ And for that little bit of run
there…it did come to us. But in the end…it wasn’t very good.”

Goede reflected on his runner up and battle with Carlson by saying, “Yeah,
that would of been huge to beat him (Carlson) at his home track. I gave it
all we had, but catching’ him and getting’ around him were two different
things here tonight. We’d like to of won, but we’ll take second to Steve
at this place.”

The 16 year old Kenseth made it a three way race in the end, but the way
the Rookie of the Year runner up saw it…“We weren’t catching them as much
as they kind of fell to us. Steve and Jacob were the two best cars
tonight. I just gotta thank all my guys for giving me a great car tonight
and all year long.”

After Hoffman’s lap 56 wreck, the 2009 ASA Late Model Series North
Division Championship was decided, as Colorado’s Chris Eggleston clinched
the crown with his 4th place effort on the evening. Eggleston capped off a
phenomenal year for he and the West Bend, Wisconsin based 5K Motorsports
team.

Eggleston’s stat line reads like that of a Champion…2 Wins, including his
first ever at the George Appleton Memorial 125 at Grundy County (IL)
Speedway in May, and at Dixie Motor Speedway (MI) in August. Also Nine Top
10’s in Ten starts and also one fast time, that coming at La Crosse in
June, where he set the track record at a 19.159.

Unofficial Finish
66 Steve Carlson 100
72 Jacob Goede 100
25 Ross Kenseth 100
22 Chris Eggleston 100
71 Blake Brown 100
21 ISaak Owen 100
99 Jordon Sims 100
1 Russ Blakely 100
64 Griffith McGrath 100
4 Thor Anderson 99
0 Josh Nelms 99
29 - Joey KIng 99
31 Brent Brevak 98
35 - Joey Gase 98
81 Tanner Bohlen 97
125 Trent Snyder 95
63 Brad Plunkett 94
8 Eddie Hoffman 56
82 J Herbst 56
90 Rebecca Kasten 56
12 Jim Duchow 39
61 Bob Varney 32
025 Mark Kraus
2 Nick Lyons DNS

ARP Bodies Qualifying Times
1. 66 Steve Carlson 19.252
2. 72 Jacob Goede 19.300
3. 1 Russ Blakely 19.342
4. 22 Chris Eggleston 19.365
5. 64 Griffin McGrath 19.407
6. 25 Ross Kenseth 19.453
7. 12 Jim Duchow 19.461
8. 71 Blake Brown 19.485
9. 82. J. Herbst 19.497
10. 8 Eddie Hoffman 19.522
11. 125 Trent Snyder 19.570
12. 29 Joey King 19.609
13. 90 Rebecca Kasten 19.689
14. 31 Brent Brevak 19.703
15. 21 Isaak Owens 19.706
16. 0 Josh Nelms 19.754
17. 4 Thor Anderson 19.764
18.99 Jordon Sims 19.808
19. 35 Joey Gase 19.946
20. 025 Mark Kraus 20.034
21. 61 Bob Varney 20.180
22. 81 Tanner Bohlen 20.341
23. 63 Brad Plunkett 20.498
24. 2 Nick Lyons 20.803

Invert 6

EVENT LINE UP
Row #1
25 Ross Kenseth         64 – Griffin McGrath

Row #2
22 – Chris Eggleston    1 – Russ Blakely

Row #3
72 – Jacob Goede                66 – Steve Carlson

Row #4
12 – Jim Duchow         71 – Blake Brown

Row #5
82 – J. Herbst          8 – Eddie Hoffman

Row #6
125 – Trent Snyder      29 – Joey King

Row #7
90 – Rebecca Kasten     31 – Brent Brevak

Row #8
21 – Isaak Owen         0 – Josh Nelms

Row #9
4 – Thor Anderson       99- Jordon Sims

Row #10
35 – Joey Gase          025 – Mark Kraus

Row #11
61 – Bob Varney         81 – Tanner Bohlen

Row #12
63 – Brad Plunkett      2 – Nick Lyons


To find out more information about the ASA Late Model Series, be sure to
check out www.asalatemodels.com. There you will find updated point
standings, race results, and press releases about the drivers and teams of
the ASA Late Model Series. You can also check out
www.asalatemodelsnorth.com and www.asalatemodelssouth.com to find out more
information on the North and South divisions of the ASA Late Model Series.


The ASA Late Model Series is its own entity and not affiliated in any way
with ASA Racing, American Speed Association or the ASA Member Track
Program. The ASA Late Model Series is owned and operated by Ron and Sandy
Varney as it has been for the past six years and will be for years to
come.

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This report was provided by an outside PR source and posted by Beth Lunkenheimer.

 

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