by Andrew Schaller
COLUMBUS, WI (Friday, August 21, 2009) On Dick Moore Memorial night, Watertown's Andy Wendt took control late in the caution filled 50 lap Late Model main event to claim the victory. Jerry Eckhardt and Roger Behlke paced the field to green with Eckhardt leading lap one at the stripe. Caution waved after the opening lap pitting Eckhardt as the leader with Behlke directly behind in second and Pete Moore flanked to his outside for the restart. As the green returned, Moore charged to the outside of Eckhart entering turn one. Moore pulled even as the duo battled side by side for the lead. On lap seven, Moore and Eckhardt made contact sending Moore spinning to the infield and bringing out the caution. Both drivers were forced to restart in the rear handing the lead to Behlke with Kelsey Bauer in second and Don Gaserude to her outside. Bauer and Gaserude remained side by side for second while Behlke showed the way. Bauer claimed sole possession of second on lap 11 bringing Rob Retallick along for third and Jerry Auby for fourth. Caution waved once again on lap 18 slowing the field. This time point leader Randy Breunig moved alongside Bauer for second on the restart. Breunig charged to the outside of Behlke as they resumed racing. The pair raced door to door until Breunig slipped back alongside Bauer once again on lap 25. Bauer moved out to second with Retallick in tow. The pair of drivers made contact to bring out the fourth caution period. After another quick caution, Wendt took his turn to challenge for the lead, pulling to the outside of Behlke. Wendt took control of the point on lap 33 and immediately began to pull away. Yet another caution erased Wendt's advantage. But Wendt drove away from the pack once again as he cruised to the checkers for the win. Rounding out the top five were Gaserude, Behlke, Breunig and Dean Schultz.

Waunakee's Brandon Riedner motored to the front of the pack and laid claim to the 30 lap Sportsman feature. Andy Raley grabbed the initial lead from fellow front row starter Bobbi Bishofberger. Mike Winters followed under Bishofberger to second and began to pressure Raley for the top spot. Winters followed in his tracks as he sized Raley up. On lap eight, Winters tried the high side only to fall back in line a lap later. On lap 10, Winters got a run to the inside as the duo made heavy contact. Winters emerged with the lead as Raley fell to the runner up spot. Riedner sliced his way up to battle for second with Raley, driving to the outside on lap 16. Riedner took the spot away just as Winters slowed to avoid lapped traffic. Riedner blew by down the backstretch to take command dropping Winters to second. The caution waved on lap 22 for a melee in turn two, bunching up the pack with only eight laps to go. Riedner stayed strong out front as the green returned and he cruised to the checkers for the win. Mike Winters was second followed by Kevin Anderson, Dan Gosda and Gary Winters.

Waterloo's Dustin Ward captured the 25 lap Hobby Stock feature after dominated each lap. Ben Monday and Jim Tate made up row one at the start. As they came to stripe to complete lap one, they made contact and slowed allowing Ward to fire past into the lead. Ward pulled out to a large lead and rode it to the finish to take the win. Rounding out the top five were Brandon Johnson, Kyle Riedner, Tate and Monday.

Tony Chase of Columbus claimed the Thunder Stock feature win. Scottie Hatton and Brad Warthan led the pack to green with Warthan moving out front down the backstretch. Chase moved up to challenge Warthan on lap four bringing Kale Peterman along for third. On lap 13, Chase got to the inside of Warthan and took the position for himself. Peterman followed a couple laps later and set his sights on Chase. Peterman continued to apply heavy pressure to the leader. But Chase saw the checkers first for the win followed by Peterman, Warthan, Robinson and Reiny Scherbarth.

Fort Atkinson's Jeff LeFave captured the 18 lap Bandit feature event. Mike Held and Michelle Heimann paced the field to the drop of the green with Held taking the early lead out of turn two. Nick Schmidt followed into second as they bunched up behind and brought out the caution. On the restart, LeFave dove to the inside of Schmidt to grabbed second with Phil Wuesthoff in tow for third. LeFave closed the gap on Held and began to look for a way around the leader on lap five. Caution number two waved on lap six, closing up the field for the restart. LeFave went back to work on Held as the green returned. Entering turn one, Held became very loose allowing LeFave to fire past into the lead. Wuesthoff followed into second with Jeremy Monday third and Dan Birkett fourth. Monday made his way past Wuesthoff into second and set his sights on the leader. Ed Klug joined the party at the front as the top five began to break away. As the laps ticked down, Wuesthoff tried to mount a challenge on the outside of Monday. Wuesthoff pulled even with LeFave with only two laps remaining. But LeFave managed to hold him off to see the checkers first followed by Monday, Wuesthoff, Klug and Birkett.

In wild and crazy Back Up action, it was Matt Wachuta taking the win in the 8 lap event. Dustin Von Allmen took control as the green waved over the field. Wachuta moved to second with Andy Ward third. Wachuta caught the leader on lap five and drove by to the point as he pulled away from the pack. Wachuta saw the checkers first for the win followed by George Wachuta and Von Allmen.

Next Friday, August 28, is a full program in all divisions as well as a visit from the MiniMods. Also, residents of Lowell, Randolph and Cambria receive $2 off general admission. Time trials begin at 6:30 with racing at 8pm. Please visit www.columbus151.com for more information.