From Limaland, Mike Campbell Photo
The Elwer Fence Sprints saw Mike Dussel and Dennis Yoakam hold the coveted front row starting positions and they became engaged in a stirring battle that lasted for the opening 12 laps of the 25-lap showdown. Butch Schroeder and Tim Allison, the season’s two previous feature winners, were racing closely to Dussel and Yoakam, but staying out of trouble.
On lap 12, Dennis Yoakam became loose and put his machine sideways in turn two, triggering a caution period and sending Yoakam to the tail of the field. Mike Dussel maintained the lead on the restart very briefly, until Butch Schroeder blew past him on the high side. Schroeder was impressive in lapped traffic as he roared to the win over Tim Allison and Jared Horstman.
“Doug Niese and Todd Schroeder threw their wrenches on this thing and made it good,” said Schroeder to the Limaland grandstand crowd. “I just had to wait and bide my time for an opportunity as we were good on the topside.”
Butch Schroeder’s original plan for this season was to compete in NRA Sprint Invader races, but with his early season success at Limaland, he may elect to complete the full season at the track. “Pretty good chance, we will be here, probably,” said Schroeder, after his triumph.
Elwer Fence Sprints
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 11-Tim Allison; 2. 6N-Dain Naida; 3. 57-Mike Dunlap; 4. 24-Jermey Keegan; 5. 38-Aaron Smith; 6. 32M-Derek Hastings; 7. 2-Brent Gehr; 8. 35-Ron Blair; 9. 3G-Darren Long
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 28H-Hud Horton; 2. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 3. 2H-Dallas Hewitt; 4. 4J-Bob Gehr Jr.; 5. 1K-John Kettlewell; 6. 5W-Jeff Williams; 7. 4B-Andrew Bowsher; 8. 10-Pete Ischi; 9. 2M-Ethan Hoy
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. B20-Butch Schroeder; 2. 6-Mike Dussel; 3. 17-Jared Horstman; 4. 34-Luke Hall; 5. 18-Todd Heuerman; 6. 1W-Kent Wolters; 7. 10J-Jarrod Delong; 8. 6S-Jr Stewart
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 5W-Jeff Williams; 2. 1W-Kent Wolters; 3. 35-Ron Blair; 4. 6S-Jr Stewart; 5. 4B-Andrew Bowsher; 6. 32M-Derek Hastings; 7. 2-Brent Gehr; 8. 10-Pete Ischi; 9. 10J-Jarrod Delong; 10. 3G-Darren Long; 11. 2M-Ethan Hoy
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. B20-Butch Schroeder[4]; 2. 11-Tim Allison[6]; 3. 17-Jared Horstman[9]; 4. 34-Luke Hall[12]; 5. 57-Mike Dunlap[7]; 6. 28H-Hud Horton[5]; 7. 2H-Dallas Hewitt[8]; 8. 6N-Dain Naida[3]; 9. 6S-Jr Stewart[19]; 10. 5W-Jeff Williams[16]; 11. 18-Todd Heuerman[15]; 12. 1W-Kent Wolters[17]; 13. 38-Aaron Smith[13]; 14. 35-Ron Blair[18]; 15. 4J-Bob Gehr Jr.[11]; 16. 4B-Andrew Bowsher[20]; 17. 22D-Dennis Yoakam[2]; 18. 24-Jermey Keegan[10]; 19. 1K-John Kettlewell[14];. 6-Mike Dussel[1] DQ failed to scale