September 1, 2024

18-YEAR-OLD MYERS SCORES INAUGURAL STURGEON BAY IRA OUTLAW SPRINT CAR WIN

by Joe Orsini

(Wenzel, Raidart score preliminary victories)

(STURGEON BAY, WI) Sept. 1 – As the calendar flipped from August to September so did the racing schedule at The Hill Raceway flip from points season to specials season.  A night after crowning the 2024 champions it was time to welcome the much anticipated Bumper to Bumper IRA 410 Sprint Cars and the Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Car Series to John Miles Park in Sturgeon Bay.  Both series proved to be well worth the wait as their features did not disappoint.

The Bumper to Bumper IRA 410 Outlaw Sprint Cars brought 21 of their cars and stars to The Hill Raceway and the methanol monsters lived up to their billing as one of the fastest classes on dirt.  Joel Myers shot to the lead early in the 30 lap A-main event and was able to survive multiple restarts and lap traffic to capture the inaugural win for the class at The Hill.  Scotty Thiel threatened to steal the show though with his improbable 2nd place finish.  Theil brought his #73 winged warrior home 2nd despite clipping an infield tractor tire in turn 3 during qualifying.  That setback would end up having him start in 11th for the feature event.  Scott Neitzel finished 3rd, Jake Blackhurst was 4th, and Danny Schlafer was 5th after setting fast time and a new track record of 12.250 seconds.

Full results and a race recap for the IRA Sprint cars can be found at:

https://www.irasprints.com

The Autometer Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Cars kicked off the night with a show for the ages.  Tim Cox jumped from the pole position to the early race lead but Eric Wilke tiptoed through the tulips on the top side to wrestle away the top spot.  Undeterred, Cox fought back on the bottom and briefly regained the top spot until the momentum of the higher groove proved too much and Wilke took back control of the race.  Meanwhile, while that pair fought at the front, Zach Raidart had climbed from 6th to 3rd before dispatching Cox to secure the runner up spot.  Raidart proceeded to pressure Wilke for the lead and the pair traded slide jobs and cross overs on opposite ends of the track before Raidart sealed the deal on lap 13.  It was smooth sailing for Raidart the rest of the way as he captured the inaugural division win.  Raidart also performed a clean sweep of the evening by nabbing a heat race win and setting the fast time of 15.632 seconds for the division.  Wilke settled for 2nd, Cox 3rd, John Fahl 4th, and Tyler Kuxhouse rounded out the top 5.

Full results and a race recap for the Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Cars can be found at:

https://www.wisconsinwingless.com

The Woody’s Signs Stock Car feature presented by Wave Point Marina and Resort started off with newly minted 2024 champ, Brett Wenzel, grabbing the lead at the drop of the green.  Wenzel continued to hold court at the halfway mark while Caden Lemieux, Jeremy Johnson, Shannon Guelette, and Josh Mroczkowski fell into line behind the leader.  When the checkers flew it was Wenzel holding on to grab the $1000 top prize courtesy of Wave Point Marina and Resort, Johnson moved to 2nd in the closing laps, Mroczkowski 3rd, Guelette 4th, and Junior Karcz completed the top 5.

The Hill Raceway is back in action Friday, September 6th for the first night of our two night fall special.  Racing on Friday will start at 6:30 and will feature the 4 Cylinders, Unified Dirt Street Stocks, Sport Mods, Stock Cars, and Grand Nationals.  The Saturday show will begin at 6:00 and will feature the 4 Cylinders, Unified Dirt Street Stocks, Sport Mods, and Stock Cars.  The Saturday program will close with a special “Bump and Run” race for enduro cars.  Any mid size or smaller car with a four point cage can compete in this hit and pass event.

Bumper to Bumper IRA 410 Sprint Cars 30 Lap Feature:

1. 19-Joel Myers Jr[2]; 2. 73-Scotty Thiel[11]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[3]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst[10]; 5. 25-Danny Schlafer[1]; 6. 87A-Austin Hartmann[9]; 7. 16C-Tylar Rankin[8]; 8. 79-Blake Nimee[17]; 9. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[7]; 10. 3N-Jake Neuman[5]

Dash 1:

1. 25-Danny Schlafer[2]; 2. 2W-Scott Neitzel[1]; 3. 3N-Jake Neuman[4]; 4. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[3]; 5. 87A-Austin Hartmann[5]

Dash 2:

1. 19-Joel Myers Jr[2]; 2. 12-Corbin Gurley[1]; 3. 25T-Travis Arenz[4]; 4. 16C-Tylar Rankin[3]; 5. (DNF) 96-Jake Blackhurst[5]

Heat 1:

1. 19-Joel Myers Jr[1]; 2. 12-Corbin Gurley[2]; 3. 73-Scotty Thiel[5]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel[3]; 5. 25-Danny Schlafer[4]

Heat 2:

1. 96-Jake Blackhurst[2]; 2. 25T-Travis Arenz[4]; 3. 3N-Jake Neuman[3]; 4. 85J-Logan Julien[1]; 5. 5-Zackary Sokol[5]

Heat 3:

1. 16C-Tylar Rankin[2]; 2. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[4]; 3. 87A-Austin Hartmann[3]; 4. 09-Clayton Rossmann[6]; 5. 68-Dave Uttech[1]

Autometer Wisconsin Wingless Sprint Cars 20 Lap Feature:

1. 23Z-Zach Raidart[6]; 2. 24-Eric Wilke[2]; 3. 40-Tim Cox[1]; 4. 0-John Fahl[4]; 5. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse[9]; 6. 38-Allen Hafford[7]; 7. 29J-Ralph Johnson[11]; 8. 7-Trinity Uttech[13]; 9. 57F-Tristan Furseth[15]; 10. 17-Bryce Andrews[8]

Heat 1:

1. 23Z-Zach Raidart[4]; 2. 70H-Tate Hensley[1]; 3. 38-Allen Hafford[2]; 4. 91-Jimmy Sivia[3]; 5. 57F-Tristan Furseth[6]

Heat 2:

1. 14Z-Ryan Zielski[4]; 2. 29J-Ralph Johnson[1]; 3. 99J-Seth Johnson[5]; 4. 24-Eric Wilke[3]; 5. 29OG-Tom Eller[6]

Heat 3:

1. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse[2]; 2. 0-John Fahl[4]; 3. 40-Tim Cox[3]; 4. 7-Trinity Uttech[1]; 5. 7D-Josh Davidson[5]

Wave Point Marina and Resort presents:  Woody’s Signs Stock Car 20 Lap Feature:

1. 0-Brett Wenzel[2]; 2. 92-Jeremy Johnson[7]; 3. 81X-Josh Mroczkowski[5]; 4. 111-Shanon Guelette[9]; 5. 36-Larry Karcz Jr[8]; 6. 40-Aaron Karcz[4]; 7. 3L-Caden Lemieux[1]; 8. 40C-Alex Crapser[14]; 9. 3-Bill Lemieux[6]; 10. 30-Zach Spangenberg[10]

Heat 1:

1. 3L-Caden Lemieux[6]; 2. 28V-Chad Vetting[1]; 3. 40-Aaron Karcz[8]; 4. 3-Bill Lemieux[5]; 5. 79-Paul Barribeau[2]

Heat 2:

1. 92-Jeremy Johnson[2]; 2. 36-Larry Karcz Jr[1]; 3. 18-Daniel Sell Jr[7]; 4. 111-Shanon Guelette[4]; 5. 40C-Alex Crapser[3]

Heat 3:

1. 0-Brett Wenzel[5]; 2. 52-Troy Muench[3]; 3. 81X-Josh Mroczkowski[6]; 4. 30-Zach Spangenberg[4]; 5. 19-Josh Tuttle[1]