By Bill Blumer Jr.
It was Drake Edwards taking home the $5,000 first prize in the fourth annual Dahlke Memorial on May 31, for the Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Auto Racing Association at Angell Park Speedway. The event commemorates the lives of BJ Dahlke and his daughter Addison. The pair were big supporters of Badger, who perished in a highway crash in 2022.
Some $35,000 was on the line in total and each A-Main starter took home at least $400. While the MSA Sprint Cars and Dirt King Late Models were on the card, the special purse was unique to the Badger program with most of the funds collected from the Badger Midget Series community. Twenty-seven cars with drivers from six states were in the midget pit area.
PRELIMINARY ACTION
Ohio’s Zach Wigal took Rod End Supply Fast Time. He was piloting the newly minted No. 1 for Parker Jones Racing symbolizing the historic feature run and championship Jones earned the year prior running under his familiar No. 41.
Spyder Akright led the field to the green in Auto Meter Heat-One. It was the first time he paced a race, as by rule he’d been relegated to the back of the pack in his first three evenings of racing due to his rookie status. His row mate Mike Unger got the jump when the green flag flew but it was Miles Doherty, from the eighth and last starting spot who had the lead when lap-one was done. The Iowa driver led all eight laps and finished six lengths ahead of RJ Corson.
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat-Two saw Matt Rechek take to the point from his front row starting spot. It only took Edwards two laps to take the lead. Meanwhile, a spirited battle for second through fifth was had between Rechek, Zach Boden, Luke Wackerlin and Adam Taylor. Their infighting allowed Edwards to amass a half a track lead for the win. The Arizona driver started on the outside of row-three.
Dave Collins Jr. paced the first lap of Behling Racing Equipment Heat-Three before Jake Dohner got by him to complete lap-two. Another entertaining battle, three cars wide, went on behind him. Wigal was able to break free from that pack and nipped Dohner at the line to lead lap-three after starting last. It was another race of big scrums behind the leader and Wigal sailed to an easy win.
LYCO MANUFACTURING A-MAIN
Wigal earned Schoenfeld Headers Invert Draw honors and with a six, he drew the best starting spot he could for the Lyco Manufacturing A-Main. Jace Sparks and Wackerlin led the field to the green and disaster was avoided early as Doherty caught the left rear of Wackerlin sending the front of Doherty’s No. 8 high into the air. He came down and kept going as did Wackerlin.
Reigning MARA champion Jace Sparks led the first four laps with Wigal and Edwards behind him. As they started the fifth circuit, second and third got a run and split Sparks coming out of turn-two with Edwards high and Wigal getting his grip from the bottom of the track. When it shook out down the backstretch Wigal had the advantage but Edwards nipped him at the line to lead the lap.
As they approached lap-eight Edwards was coming onto lapped traffic after enjoying a six-length lead. Meanwhile, Sparks was under pressure for third by Jake Neuman in the Bill Ecker entry. Shortly there after disaster struck for Wigal and the car went up in smoke on the frontstretch, coming to a rest under the flag stand. His day was done.
On the restart it was Edwards over Sparks, Neuman, Wackerlin and Brandon Waelti. Before the lap was complete Boden hopped the left front of Doherty as they exited turn-four and Boden flipped several times. He was out of the car in short order and appeared to be alright. At the time, Boden was leading both Badger and the Illinois-based Midget Auto Racing Association points.
This restart would be as the last, except Neuman was now absent from the field. With cars moving up accordingly, it brought Corson into the fifth spot. Edwards led them to the green at a reasonable pace but gassed it earlier than his last restart. By the time they got to the backstretch he was ahead by five lengths over Sparks.
On lap 13 Wackerlin moved into second over Sparks while Edwards still cruised. With nine laps left, in the 25 lap race, Edwards was again coming upon lapped traffic.
With five laps left Cody Weisensel, driving the Jones-Spray No. 5, expired while running seventh, bringing out the last caution. This restart would see Edwards ahead of Wackerlin, Sparks, Waelti and Corson. On the start Edwards was off in his own zip code again.
By several accounts the track was dusty and rough but it made for at least two good grooves. With four laps left Mitchell Davis went low while Doherty went high with Corson sandwiched in the middle as they bolted down the backstretch fighting for fifth.
Just when it looked like Edwards had it in the bag with a straightaway on Wackerlin, the caution flew once more with just three laps left giving Wackerlin one last shot.
This restart saw Edwards with his usual advantage of several lengths as he got to the start/finish line. But in the middle of turns one and two he caught the cushion allowing Wackerlin to get to his tail tank while Waelti dove underneath them both. Edwards recovered quickly and had another big advantage as they approached turn-three. Waelti and Wackerlin were side by side down the back chute for the runner up spot and a $1,000 difference at the pay window. The two were even all the way to turn-four when Wackerlin got more bite and put a comfortable distance on Waelti.
Edwards won by about ten lengths ahead of Wackerlin and Wackerlin was that far ahead of Waelti as they took the checkers. Edwards was the fourth different winner within Badger on the 2026 season. Chase McDermand, a former Badger champ scored his second win of the year as an owner with the AFS Badger Midget Series.
In his Bank of Sun Prairie Victory Lane interview with Badger announcer Eric Huenefeld, Edwards described the track as, “Cowboy up and technical.” He went on to thank his owner and crew. Edwards received the Lyco Manufacturing winner’s plaque from honorary trophy girl Charlotte Huenefeld.
NOTES
Mark Chisholm won the High Performance Lubricants B-Main.
Eric Blumer was the Bob Tattersall Spankins Motorsports Hard Charger passing nine cars and finishing in ninth.
CRSM Hard Luck Award went to Daltyn England.
Akright was the Spankins Motorsports Rookie of the Race.
The AFS Badger Midget Series would like to thank 1855 Saloon & Grill in Cottage Grove; and Bryan and Melissa Folz for their support in memory of Addison Dahlke.
Badger would also like to thank S&K Snowplowing Landscaping and Automotive for their beautiful stone work on the new Bank of Sun Prairie Victory Lane at Angell Park Speedway. Likewise they thank Fanaktive and The Dump Bar and Grill for their support of the Victory Lane effort.
Two groups were happy with the original date for the Dahlke Memorial being a rainout as Sparks and his adopted team of Sober Racing would have been a scratch due to mechanical issues had the race been run two weeks prior.
Miles Doherty was ready to forego his high school graduation ceremony to race instead. The early morning postponement of the May 17, opener allowed him to walk across the stage with his class.
Boden reported on Tuesday that we was a bit sore due to his flip but hoped to be back to normal in a few days. After the win the night prior, the DNF has relegated him to third in Badger points behind Waelti in first and Doherty in second.
Todd Kluever who suffered a nasty flip the night prior at Plymouth was at the Angell Park. He was interacting with fans and seemed in good spirits. The major cast on his right hand indicated he would be out of commission for an extended period.
UP NEXT
The AFS BMARA is proud to share the Angell Park Speedway stage with the famed World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series this Sunday, June 7. Please see the WoO and APS outlets for all official and the most current information. There is special ticketing for this event so don’t delay in checking it out.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
Lyco Manufacturing A – Feature (25 Laps): 1. 40X-Drake Edwards[5]; 2. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[2]; 3. 3W-Brandon Waelti[3]; 4. 31-Jace Sparks[1]; 5. 56-Mitchell Davis[11]; 6. 8D-Miles Doherty[4]; 7. 3-Adam Taylor[10]; 8. 15C-RJ Corson[9]; 9. 68-Eric Blumer[18]; 10. 56X-Mark Chisholm[16]; 11. 2-Jake Dohner[13]; 12. 45-Trey Weishoff[15]; 13. 57-Matt Rechek[14]; 14. 7-Brian Peterson[19]; 15. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[21]; 16. 67U-Mike Unger[17]; 17. 17-Nick Kilian[20]; 18. 59-Kyle Koch[22]; 19. 5X-Cody Weisensel[12]; 20. 1-Zach Wigal[6]; 21. 57R-Jake Neuman[7]; 22. 51-Zach Boden[8]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 56X-Mark Chisholm[2]; 2. 67U-Mike Unger[3]; 3. 68-Eric Blumer[4]; 4. 7-Brian Peterson[6]; 5. 17-Nick Kilian[5]; 6. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[7]; 7. 59-Kyle Koch[10]; 8. 29-Harrison Kleven[11]; 9. 1W-Robby Wirth[8]; 10. (DNS) 53A-Spyder Akright; 11. (DNS) 19E-Daltyn England
Auto Meter Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8D-Miles Doherty[8]; 2. 15C-RJ Corson[6]; 3. 45-Trey Weishoff[3]; 4. 56-Mitchell Davis[5]; 5. 31-Jace Sparks[7]; 6. 67U-Mike Unger[2]; 7. 7-Brian Peterson[4]; 8. 53A-Spyder Akright[1]
Hoosier Tire Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 40X-Drake Edwards[7]; 2. 51-Zach Boden[5]; 3. 3-Adam Taylor[4]; 4. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[6]; 5. 57-Matt Rechek[2]; 6. 56X-Mark Chisholm[3]; 7. 17-Nick Kilian[1]; 8. 1W-Robby Wirth[8]; 9. 29-Harrison Kleven[9]
Behlings Race Products Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Zach Wigal[8]; 2. 2-Jake Dohner[3]; 3. 57R-Jake Neuman[6]; 4. 3W-Brandon Waelti[7]; 5. 5X-Cody Weisensel[4]; 6. 19E-Daltyn England[5]; 7. 68-Eric Blumer[2]; 8. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[1]; 9. 59-Kyle Koch[9]
Rod End Supply Fast Time Qualifying (100 Laps): 1. 1-Zach Wigal, 15.169[14]; 2. 40X-Drake Edwards, 15.543[26]; 3. 8D-Miles Doherty, 15.597[16]; 4. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 15.647[13]; 5. 73W-Luke Wackerlin, 15.658[15]; 6. 31-Jace Sparks, 15.662[11]; 7. 57R-Jake Neuman, 15.667[23]; 8. 51-Zach Boden, 15.736[18]; 9. 15C-RJ Corson, 15.758[6]; 10. 19E-Daltyn England, 15.776[8]; 11. 3-Adam Taylor, 15.783[17]; 12. 56-Mitchell Davis, 15.992[22]; 13. 5X-Cody Weisensel, 16.130[1]; 14. 56X-Mark Chisholm, 16.167[9]; 15. 7-Brian Peterson, 16.207[5]; 16. 2-Jake Dohner, 16.230[12]; 17. 57-Matt Rechek, 16.232[2]; 18. 45-Trey Weishoff, 16.300[10]; 19. 68-Eric Blumer, 16.350[21]; 20. 17-Nick Kilian, 16.465[20]; 21. 67U-Mike Unger, 16.822[4]; 22. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 16.885[24]; 23. 1W-Robby Wirth, 16.907[19]; 24. 53A-Spyder Akright, 17.123[25]; 25. 59-Kyle Koch, 17.176[3]; 26. 29-Harrison Kleven, 17.226[7]; 27. (DNS) 20-Mike Hess