By Justin Zoch
It’s typical to see Sprint Cars parade around the track four wide before dropping the green but when the IRA Sprints visited the Oshkosh Speedzone on Friday night, they went four wide, for the lead, deep into the feature event. Mike Reinke escaped the thrilling frontstretch maneuver with the lead and went on to score his second series victory of the 2010 season.
The initial start of the 30-lap feature event was red-flagged when Scott Biertzer got sideways and several cars were collected while trying to avoid him. Russel Borland, Travis Whitney and Matt Vandervere were all eliminated before a lap was turned. Once the race got underway, Tommy Sexton Jr. shot out to the lead from the pole position and set a blistering pace through the lapped cars. Meanwhile, Donny Goeden, Scott Neitzel and Mike Reinke were waging quite a war for the second position.
On lap 17, the yellow was displayed for a spin by seventh-running Nick Alden. Shortly after the restart, the leaders were approaching the lapped car of Wayne Modjeski on the frontstretch and briefly went four wide just past the flagstand. From bottom to top, Sexton, Modjeski, Reinke and Goeden all squeezed wing to wing into turn one. Reinke escaped with the lead and never looked back en route to the win. Goeden held on for second over Sexton Jr. Meanwhile, lost in the intrigue near the front, Billy Balog maintained his streak of top-five finishes by charging from 17th to fourth when he nipped by Scott Neitzel in the closing laps.
John Haeni set quick time for the field of 28 cars while Goeden, Alden and Sexton were heat race winners. Dave Uttech scored the Behling Racing Products B-main.
30 Lap A-Feature
1. Mike Reinke (4), 2. Donny Goeden (6), 3. Tommy Sexton Jr. (1), 4. Billy Balog (17), 5. Scott Neitzel (5), 6. Kris Spitz (11), 7. Mike Kertscher (9), 8. Billy Warren (7), 9. John Haeni (10), 10. Scott Biertzer (3), 11. Scott Young (16), 12. Scott Uttech (22), 13. Bill Wirth (21), 14. Phillip Mock (13), 15. Dave Uttech (12), 16. Ty Bartz (15) 17. Wayne Modjeski (8), 18. Johnny Fahl (19), 19. Nick Alden (2) (DNF), 20. Matt Vandervere (14) (DNF), 21. Travis Whitney (18) (DNF), 22. Russel Borland (20) (DNF)
Behling Racing Products B-main
1. D. Uttech, 2. Spitz, 3. Whitney, 4. Fahl, 5. Borland, 6. Wirth, 7. S. Uttech / 8. Bill Hafemann, 9. Andy Hunt, 10. Jeremy Schultz, 11. KenJay Fiedler, 12. Brandon Thone, 13. Michael Emme
Weld Racing Heat 1: Goeden, 2. Vandervere, 3. Reinke, 4. Haeni, 5. Kertscher / 6. S. Uttech, 7. Borland, 8. Wirth, 9. Whitney (DNF), 10. Emme (DNF)
Lane Autmotive Heat 2: 1. Alden, 2. Bartz, 3. Neitzel, 4. Biertzer, 5. Modjeski / 6. Spitz, 7. Hafemann, 8. Hunt, 9. Fiedler
DMI/King Racing Products Heat 3: 1. Sexton Jr., 2. Mock, 3. Balog, 4. Young, 5. Warren / 6. Fahl, 7. D. Uttech, 8. Schultz, 9. Thone (DNF)