By Bill Blumer
Ten crisp one hundred dollar bills were dealt on the right rear of the #41 driven by Parker Jones Sunday night at Angell Park Speedway. It was his reward for defending the bounty out on him. It was the reigning Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Auto Racing Association champion’s seventh of eight feature wins with the club on the season and sixth straight.
ROD END SUPPLY QUALIFYING
Jones started his march toward a sweep by scoring the Rod End Supply Quick Time clocking in with a 14.856 lap. Todd Kluever was second with a 14.904.
AUTO METER HEAT-ONE
Kyle Koch jumped to the lead at the start of Auto Meter Heat-One over front row mate Jim Jones who made the tow from Indiana. As they charged to the first corner Nick Kilian was the first on the night to catch a pesky rut mid-way up the track. He jolted but gathered it up. Georgia’s Michael Magic soon took the runner-up position.
Magic was a hair behind Koch as they finished the third lap. Magic pulled ahead and now had Derek Doerr and Eric Blumer, the two final starters, on his tail. By the time they finished the next lap it was Doerr with Blumer in second. Doerr took the win by five lengths.
DAVE JONES HEAT-TWO
The Dave Jones Plumbing, HVAC, Fire Protection, Electrical Heat-Two immediately saw Kyle Stark get bit by the rut Kilian found earlier. Stark’s experience included a series of nose to tail flips. He landed on all fours and was moving right away. He later made the bell for the B-Main.
On the restart Aaron Fiscus took the early lead. Kluever who was running above Stark’s rut took a lap before he sped by Fiscus. A couple of laps later Tommy Colburn in the Sober Racing #31 came to a stop bringing out the yellow. He ended up on the hook. Kluever went on to the win with Brandon Waelti in second.
BEHLING RACING EQUIPMENT HEAT-THREE
It was a chaotic start to Behling Racing Equipment Heat-three with Brian Peterson coming out with the lead once things sorted out. Shortly after the third lap Adam Taylor, one of the contenders to take the $1,000 bounty placed on Jones, got by Peterson. By the time they got to lap-four Peterson had the lead again and now Jones was in the three-car mix.
Jones dove just a little lower than the other two to take the lead with a couple left and went on to another heat win followed by Taylor and Peterson.
The Hoosier Racing Tire Heat-Four and Madison Extinguisher Service Last Chance Qualifier were not raced.
HIGH PERFORMANCE LUBRICANTS B-MAIN
Seven of the ten cars in the High Performance Lubricants B-Main would make the Lyco Manufacturing A-Main. Among the cars in this race was Stark after his Harlan Kittleson crew repaired the damage from his flip.
Nick Kilian bolted from the pole and amassed a safe lead. Stark, after some three-wide battles, got clean air in front of himself and appeared to be testing the track in preparation for an A-Main charge. In just his second win in Badger, Kilian took the B-Main followed by Mike Stroik in a distant second.
THE BOUNTY RACE
A $1,000 bonus awaited the driver who could stop the streak of Jones. It was only right that if Jones won he received the loot. The stage was set with the Schoenfeld Headers Invert Draw seeing Jones put himself ninth out of 22 starters in the Lyco A-Main.
Luke Wackerlin and Trey Weishoff brought the field to the green. Having been told there would be no warnings, their start was not even at the cone in turn-four and it was aborted with Wackerlin and Weishoff being sent back a row putting Waelti and Taylor in the front.
Waelti led Taylor on the first lap, with Jones already in fifth. Most cars in the field found an upsetting bump or rut as they powered around despite a complete workover of the track before the B-Mains. After a couple of laps in, Peterson caught the reemerging rut in turn-one. He gathered himself but Mike Unger wasn’t so lucky and went for a hard tumble. Unger was out of the car in short order.
Waelti, Taylor and Kluever would lead them to the green. Jones was in fifth. Three battles ensued up front with Waelti and Taylor paired; Jones and Kluever side by side and Doerr and Wackerlin doing battle.
The top six had broken away from the others and eventually they got single file with about four lengths between each. They approached a lapped car at the line and while it didn’t look like Waelti had skipped a beat, by the time they exited turn-two, Waelti had Taylor below him and Jones right behind the pair.
On the next circuit Jones got by Taylor and Waelti was ahead by four lengths again. On the next lap Jones went for the pass under Waelti in turn-two. Jones caught a rut and bounced into Waelti. Both sped on without further incident.
With 16 laps left the snake bit Taylor once more and his car came to rest on the grass in turn-one bringing out the yellow. Waelti, Jones, Doerr, Kluever and Wackerlin led the field on the restart. Waelti had a comfortable lead for the next ten laps. Jones got close once in that period but caught a back straight bump sending the rear end of his Work Truck Stuff Inc car twice bouncing high into the air. A couple of laps later Jones caught Waelti just before lappers were in play again. While still in the hunt, Waelti went high and slowed as he suffered a rear axle issue in his Club LaMark #3 bringing out the yellow once more.
The deck was shuffled when they came to the green with Jones ahead of Doerr, Kluever, Wackerlin and Miles Doherty now in the picture. It was immediate heartbreak for Doerr on the restart as he lost power due to a broken throttle cable. He was able to stay out of the way and get into the pits allowing the race to continue.
At lap-20 Jones had half a straightaway on Kluever. With three to go railbirds were noticing that Kluever was running faster laps than Jones per the MyRacePass app.
On the last lap Jones fishtailed coming out of two, Kluever closed the gap but he needed about two more lengths to go ahead of Jones as the checkers flew. It was another clean sweep for Jones. Wackerlin, Doherty and Boden, who gained ten spots on the night, rounded out the top-five.
In his Bank of Sun Prairie Victory Lane interview with announcer Eric Huenefeld, Jones was quick to apologize to Waelti for bouncing into him early in the race. He then received the $1,000 bounty cash on top of the check he’ll get from Badger. Huenefeld promptly suggested there may be a new $2,000 bounty in the works.
CONTINGENCIES
The recipients of the Last Place Bonus in Loving Memory of Addison Dahlke, Spankins Motorsports Bob Tattersall Hard Charger Award and Rod End Supply Hard Luck Award will be announced with the points update.
There was no Spankins Motorsports Rookie of the Race.
CONDITION UPDATES
Stark reported as of Monday morning he was fine.
Unger, who banged his knee and was limping a bit after the races advised Monday with a laugh, he’s, “Sore but ready to go get some money to pay for the damages,” on his car.
HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS
The Second Annual Badger Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame inductions were held earlier in the day at the Angell Park Pavilion. Bud and Kevin Doty, Hilbert Ermer, Father Dale Grubba, Scott Hatton, Bill Horstmeyer, Dwight Huston and Walter Whitehorse were honored. Tom Bigelow served as the keynote speaker. Look for a full article in the coming days.
Huenefeld highlighted the inductees to the crowd while the vintage cars raced around the track. It was particularly interesting to have the three children of Ermer: Lois, Hilbert Jr. (Butch) and Ralph on the track. Lois at age 93 drove her dad’s 1930’s era “Copper Kettle” midget while her brothers and a great grandson of Hilbert Ermer drove other family related vintage cars.
Also of note during the vintage exhibition, Chuck and Bill Bollig, both former Badger Officials, proudly drove their midget and sprint car respectively.
UP NEXT
The AFS Badger Midget Series will be in action next Saturday, July 19 at Sycamore Speedway.
FULL UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Lyco Manufacturing A – Feature (25 Laps): 1. 41-Parker Jones[9]; 2. 55-Todd Kluever[6]; 3. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[1]; 4. 8D-Miles Doherty[8]; 5. 51-Zach Boden[15]; 6. 20-Cody Weisensel[11]; 7. 45-Trey Weishoff[2]; 8. 5M-Michael Magic[12]; 9. 2-Kyle Stark[19]; 10. 17N-Nick Kilian[16]; 11. 29-Harrison Kleven[22]; 12. 7-Brian Peterson[10]; 13. 29K-Mike Stroik[17]; 14. 7F-Aaron Fiscus[13]; 15. 59-Kyle Koch[14]; 16. (DNF) 3W-Brandon Waelti[3]; 17. (DNF) 20D-Derek Doerr[5]; 18. (DNF) 5K-Jeremy Douglas[20]; 19. (DNF) 5X-Adam Taylor[4]; 20. (DNF) 68-Eric Blumer[7]; 21. (DNF) 67U-Mike Unger[21]; 22. (DNS) 31-Tommy Colburn
High Performance Lubricants B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 17N-Nick Kilian[3]; 2. 29K-Mike Stroik[2]; 3. 31-Tommy Colburn[8]; 4. 2-Kyle Stark[10]; 5. 5K-Jeremy Douglas[7]; 6. 67U-Mike Unger[9]; 7. 29-Harrison Kleven[4]; 8. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[5]; 9. 97-Jim Jones[6]; 10. (DNS) 8-Jake Goeglein; 11. (DNS) 57-Matt Rechek
Auto Meter Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20D-Derek Doerr[8]; 2. 68-Eric Blumer[6]; 3. 5M-Michael Magic[3]; 4. 45-Trey Weishoff[7]; 5. 59-Kyle Koch[2]; 6. 17N-Nick Kilian[4]; 7. 97-Jim Jones[1]; 8. (DNS) 3-Will Gerrits
Dave Jones Plumbing HVAC Electrical Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Todd Kluever[8]; 2. 3W-Brandon Waelti[7]; 3. 51-Zach Boden[9]; 4. 7F-Aaron Fiscus[2]; 5. 20-Cody Weisensel[4]; 6. 29K-Mike Stroik[3]; 7. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[1]; 8. (DNF) 31-Tommy Colburn[5]; 9. (DNF) 2-Kyle Stark[6]
Behlings Race Products Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 41-Parker Jones[8]; 2. 5X-Adam Taylor[7]; 3. 7-Brian Peterson[4]; 4. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[6]; 5. 8D-Miles Doherty[5]; 6. 57-Matt Rechek[9]; 7. 29-Harrison Kleven[1]; 8. 5K-Jeremy Douglas[3]; 9. 67U-Mike Unger[2]
Rod End Supply Fast Time Qualifying (100 Laps): 1. 41-Parker Jones, 00:14.856[1]; 2. 55-Todd Kluever, 00:14.904[20]; 3. 20D-Derek Doerr, 00:14.956[14]; 4. 5X-Adam Taylor, 00:15.144[26]; 5. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 00:15.221[5]; 6. 45-Trey Weishoff, 00:15.259[7]; 7. 73W-Luke Wackerlin, 00:15.270[25]; 8. 2-Kyle Stark, 00:15.277[11]; 9. 68-Eric Blumer, 00:15.307[27]; 10. 8D-Miles Doherty, 00:15.444[23]; 11. 31-Tommy Colburn, 00:15.455[15]; 12. 3-Will Gerrits, 00:15.462[10]; 13. 7-Brian Peterson, 00:15.668[9]; 14. 20-Cody Weisensel, 00:15.709[18]; 15. 17N-Nick Kilian, 00:15.770[12]; 16. 5K-Jeremy Douglas, 00:15.795[8]; 17. 29K-Mike Stroik, 00:15.875[2]; 18. 5M-Michael Magic, 00:16.140[13]; 19. 67U-Mike Unger, 00:16.151[6]; 20. 7F-Aaron Fiscus, 00:16.180[19]; 21. 59-Kyle Koch, 00:16.749[3]; 22. 29-Harrison Kleven, 00:16.768[21]; 23. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 00:16.918[24]; 24. 97-Jim Jones, 00:17.307[17]; 25. (DNF) 51-Zach Boden, 00:17.307[22]; 26. (DNF) 57-Matt Rechek, 00:17.307[16]; 27. (DNS) 8-Jake Goeglein; 28. (DNS) 20R-Randy Doerr; 29. (DNS) 7T-Donnie Gentry; 30. (DNS) 41J-John Jones; 31. (DNS) 55K-Colin Campbell