Angell Park IRA/Badger Results and Stories

Tim Shaffer 5/18/25

Angell Park Speedway
Sun Prairie, WI

Dahlke Memorial

IRA
Badger Midgets

31 sprint cars
31 midgets

IRA

Scotty Thiel (20th car out to time) set quick time at 12.078 seconds, ahead of Bill Balog (22nd car out), Scott Neitzel (27th), Jake Neuman (15th), Blake Nimee (31st), Tim Shaffer (12th), Max Guilford (21st), Jake Blackhurst (16th) and Danny Schlafer (24th). Corbin Gurley had engine troubles and didn’t get a time in.

Heat one (started): 1. 25-Danny Schlafer[1]; 2. 17GP-Tim Shaffer[2]; 3. 3N-Jake Neuman[3]; 4. 51-Scotty Thiel[4]; 5. 9K-Kyle Schuett[6]; 6. 25T-Travis Arenz[5] / 7. 4-Alex Pokorski[7]; 8. 10V-Matt VanderVere[9]; 9. GR8-Will Gerrits[8]; DNS - 99-Tyler Brabant

8-lap heats took the top six into the feature. The track is usually narrow at Angell Park early in the night, with not much passing in the heats. Tonight was no different for the sprints.

Heat two (started): 1. 16C-Max Guilford[2]; 2. 16TH-Kevin Newton[1]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[4]; 4. 85J-Logan Julien[5]; 5. 34-Sterling Cling[3]; 6. 09-Clayton Rossmann[8] / 7. 21H-TJ Haddy[7]; 8. 33-Scott Broty[9]; 9. 24-Scott Conger[10]; 10. 9-Tommy Colburn[6]

Colburn spun before a lap got in and exited early. Newton got the jump early, but Guilford slid in front of Newton at the halfway point to take the lead and the win.

Heat three (started): 1. 96-Jake Blackhurst[2]; 2. 5D-Zach Daum[1]; 3. 79-Blake Nimee[3]; 4. 2W-Scott Neitzel[4]; 5. 1K-Kelby Watt[5]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[8] / 7. 3B-Shelby Bosie[7]; 8. 4K-Kris Spitz[9]; 9. 6-Bill Rose[6]; 10. 7F-Lance Fassbender[10]; 11. 12-Corbin Gurley[11]

The lead five went single-file the distance. Goldesberry grabbed the final transfer from Bosie on lap two.

Dash one (started): 1. 17GP-Tim Shaffer[2]; 2. 25-Danny Schlafer[1]; 3. 51-Scotty Thiel[4]; 4. 34-Sterling Cling[3]; 5. 16C-Max Guilford[5]

The 4-lapper set up the inside of the first five rows of the feature.

Dash two (started): 1. 79-Blake Nimee[1]; 2. 3N-Jake Neuman[2]; 3. 2W-Scott Neitzel[3]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog[5]; 5. 96-Jake Blackhurst[4]

Dash two set up the outside of the first five rows of the feature. Balog grabbed fourth right away and knocked on the door for third, but ran out of time.

B main (started): 1. 4-Alex Pokorski[2]; 2. 3B-Shelby Bosie[4]; 3. 6-Bill Rose[1]; 4. 10V-Matt VanderVere[5]; 5. GR8-Will Gerrits[8]; 6. 33-Scott Broty[6] / 7. 21H-TJ Haddy[3]; 8. 12-Corbin Gurley[12]; 9. 4K-Kris Spitz[7]; 10. 99-Tyler Brabant[10]; 11. 7F-Lance Fassbender[11]; 12. 24-Scott Conger[9]; 13. (DNS) 9-Tommy Colburn

The 12-lapper took the top six to the A main. Pokorski led the distance. Bosie took second from Rose on lap four. Gerrits claimed fifth from Haddy on lap five and Broty followed him into the final transfer spot on the next lap.

A main (started): 1. 17GP-Tim Shaffer[1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog[8]; 3. 25-Danny Schlafer[3]; 4. 51-Scotty Thiel[5]; 5. 2W-Scott Neitzel[6]; 6. 3N-Jake Neuman[4]; 7. 79-Blake Nimee[2]; 8. 65-Jordan Goldesberry[18]; 9. 34-Sterling Cling[7]; 10. 85J-Logan Julien[13]; 11. 1K-Kelby Watt[14]; 12. 5D-Zach Daum[12]; 13. 96-Jake Blackhurst[10]; 14. 6-Bill Rose[20]; 15. 09-Clayton Rossmann[17]; 16. GR8-Will Gerrits[22]; 17. 10V-Matt VanderVere[21]; 18. 16C-Max Guilford[9]; 19. 9K-Kyle Schuett[15]; 20. 4-Alex Pokorski[19]; 21. 16TH-Kevin Newton[11]; 22. 25T-Travis Arenz[16]; 23. 33-Scott Broty[23]; 24. 3B-Shelby Bosie[24]

The 30-lap main event started with a mess. Newton and Arenz touched. Broty and Arenz got upside down. Newton retired. Watt, crew chief Jeff Woodruff and company completed a front end change in the work area. Pokorski and Gerrits also were involved, made repairs and restarted. Shaffer led Schlafer, Nimee, Neuman and Thiel early. Neuman got by Nimee for third, and Balog worked from eighth to fifth by lap four. Balog took fourth from Nimee on lap five. Schlafer worked by Shaffer to lead lap six. Balog used a slider in turn one on Neuman to claim third. Eleven laps in, Schuett flipped in turn one. He was uninjured. Guilford also retired with a punctured tail tank. The red negated a pass Balog had made of Shaffer for second. Balog quickly took second once the restart happened and took the lead at the halfway point with a low move in turn four. Neitzel started a move up and was fifth with 11 to go. Balog entered lapped traffic on lap 22, as Neitzel went from fifth to third. Shaffer recovered the third spot with seven to go before Vandervere got into the turn two wall. Everyone assumed Balog would win his 139th IRA feature, but Shaffer had other ideas. Shaffer put caution to the wind and slammed the high side, getting around Schlafer for second, and then picking off Balog with four to go. He pulled away from there, to win his first IRA feature since 2003 at Knoxville. In talking to Tim, he’s having fun for the first time in a long time driving sprint cars. Goldesberry was the hard-charger.

Parker Jones Badger Midgets

Over $30,000 in prize money was brought about by sponsors alone for the midget portion of the Dahlke Memorial.

Time Trials (Qualifying Order): 1. 41-Parker Jones, 00:14.802[14]; 2. 73W-Luke Wackerlin, 00:14.943[1]; 3. 20D-Derek Doerr, 00:15.085[6]; 4. 51-Zach Boden, 00:15.285[13]; 5. 5X-Adam Taylor, 00:15.356[7]; 6. 2-Kyle Stark, 00:15.437[22]; 7. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 00:15.470[2]; 8. 8D-Miles Doherty, 00:15.535[3]; 9. 22S-Brian Strane Jr, 00:15.689[9]; 10. 55-Todd Kluever, 00:15.820[28]; 11. 20-Cody Weisensel, 00:15.837[27]; 12. 53-Aaron Schuck, 00:15.866[15]; 13. 17N-Nick Kilian, 00:15.899[23]; 14. 7F-Aaron Fiscus, 00:15.916[29]; 15. 15C-RJ Corson, 00:15.936[25]; 16. 45-Trey Weishoff, 00:15.995[24]; 17. 68-Eric Blumer, 00:16.002[8]; 18. 57A-Matt Rechek, 00:16.049[12]; 19. 7-Brian Peterson, 00:16.061[10]; 20. 5K-Kevin Douglas, 00:16.451[26]; 21. 8-Jake Goeglein, 00:16.469[18]; 22. 29K-Mike Stroik, 00:16.478[19]; 23. 29-Harrison Kleven, 00:16.698[16]; 24. 59-Kyle Koch, 00:16.701[5]; 25. 67U-Mike Unger, 00:16.756[20]; 26. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 00:17.217[21]; 27. 81-Mike Gebhard, 00:18.144[11]; 28. (DNF) 17K-Nicholas Klein, 00:16.577[4]; 29. (DNS) 1W-Robby Wirth; 30. (DNS) 41J-John Jones; 31. (DNS) 55K-Colin Campbell

Heat one (started): 1. 57A-Matt Rechek[3]; 2. 15C-RJ Corson[4]; 3. 2-Kyle Stark[7]; 4. 20D-Derek Doerr[8]; 5. 53-Aaron Schuck[5] / 6. 22S-Brian Strane Jr[6]; 7. 8-Jake Goeglein[2]; 8. 59-Kyle Koch[1]; 9. 81-Mike Gebhard[9]; DNS - 1W-Robby Wirth

8-lap heats took the top five to the feature. Rechek led Corson throughout, but there was plenty of action behind them. Stark had moved from row four to fourth by lap two, and took third on lap three. Doerr also came from row four to fourth with two laps to go.

Heat two (started): 1. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[8]; 2. 20-Cody Weisensel[5]; 3. 5X-Adam Taylor[7]; 4. 8D-Miles Doherty[6]; 5. 7F-Aaron Fiscus[4] / 6. 5K-Kevin Douglas[2]; 7. 68-Eric Blumer[3]; 8. 29-Harrison Kleven[1]; 9. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[9]

Wackerlin was the show in this one, coming from eighth high on the cushion to inherit the lead from a spun Kleven on lap two. Collins Jr. caught the spun Kleven and also retired. Weisensel went from fourth to second at the halfway point, and Taylor methodically followed him to third with two laps to go. Fiscus gained the last transfer coming to the line.

Heat three (started): 1. 41-Parker Jones[8]; 2. 55-Todd Kluever[5]; 3. 51-Zach Boden[7]; 4. 45-Trey Weishoff[3]; 5. 3W-Brandon Waelti[6] / 6. 17N-Nick Kilian[4]; 7. 7-Brian Peterson[2]; 8. 67U-Mike Unger[9]; 9. 29K-Mike Stroik[1]

Jones was the mover here, going from fifth to third on lap three, Kluever took the lead from Weishoff on a lap four restart for a stopped Stroik. A lap later, Jones took second and then the lead. Boden was also a charger, gaining third from Weishoff at the white flag. Waelti gained the final transfer by lap four.

B main (started): 1. 22S-Brian Strane Jr[3]; 2. 17N-Nick Kilian[1]; 3. 68-Eric Blumer[5]; 4. 5K-Kevin Douglas[2]; 5. 8-Jake Goeglein[6]; 6. 29-Harrison Kleven[8]; 7. 59-Kyle Koch[9] / 8. 29K-Mike Stroik[10]; 9. 81-Mike Gebhard[11]; 10. 7-Brian Peterson[4]; 11. 67U-Mike Unger[7]; DNS - 40JR-Dave Collins Jr; 1W-Robby Wirth

The 12-lapper took the top seven to the A main. Kilian led Strane, Blumer, Peterson, Douglas, Unger and Goeglein early. Unger gained fifth from Douglas on lap two. On lap three, the fourth running Peterson spun and collected Unger, ending both their nights. Koch Stroik moved into transfer spots. Kleven was outside the bubble, but passed Stroik for the final transfer on lap five as Strane was passing Killian for the lead. Kleven would move up one more spot.

A main (started): 1. 41-Parker Jones[6]; 2. 3W-Brandon Waelti[7]; 3. 2-Kyle Stark[1]; 4. 20D-Derek Doerr[4]; 5. 20-Cody Weisensel[10]; 6. 22S-Brian Strane Jr[16]; 7. 53-Aaron Schuck[11]; 8. 51-Zach Boden[3]; 9. 68-Eric Blumer[18]; 10. 7F-Aaron Fiscus[12]; 11. 5K-Kevin Douglas[19]; 12. 8D-Miles Doherty[8]; 13. 29-Harrison Kleven[21]; 14. 59-Kyle Koch[22]; 15. 73W-Luke Wackerlin[5]; 16. 15C-RJ Corson[13]; 17. 45-Trey Weishoff[14]; 18. 8-Jake Goeglein[20]; 19. 5X-Adam Taylor[2]; 20. 55-Todd Kluever[9]; 21. 57A-Matt Rechek[15]; 22. 17N-Nick Kilian[17]

The 25-lapper saw Stark leading Doerr, Boden, Jones and Taylor early. Waelti quickly moved into the top five, and then took fourth on lap three, and third from Doerr  on lap four. Jones was surging as well, and took the lead on lap five. Recheck brought the first caution when he stopped eight laps in. On the restart, fifth running Kluever went up in smoke. Waelti gained second from Stark on the restart, as they began engaging back and forth for the second spot. Wackerlin began recreating his charge in his heat race at that point, gaining fifth from Doerr on lap 14, and then advancing as far as third on lap 16 before Goeglein bright out the yellow and exited with eight laps to go. The restart saw Jones leading Stark, Wackerlin, Waelti and Doerr back to green. Waelti regained third and Doerr fourth, as Wackerlin faded at that oint, before exiting while running sixth during a red flag period for a flipped Weishoff with five to go. At that point, a woodchuck ran on the track, was forced back to the pits and had a throng of about twenty trying to catch it. Meanwhile, on the track, Jones could not be caught, but Waelti did pass Stark in a good race to gain second. Strane was the hard-charger.