9/6/08
Cedar Lake Speedway
New Richmond, WI
IRA
Jerry Richert Memorial
34 cars
Mark Dobmeier (30th car out to time) was a tick off the track record in time trials at 10.925 seconds. Gary DeWall (6th car out) was second quick, followed by Travis Whitney (25th), Dusty Zomer (33rd), Brooke Tatnell (10th), Billy Hafemann (1st), Davey Heskin (3rd), Scotty Neitzel (9th), Kaley Gharst (31st) and Scott Winters (23rd). Leigh Thomas failed to get a time in.
Heat one (started): 1. Bronson Maeschen 96x (2) 2. Gharst 81 (4) 3. Billy Balog 17 (3) 4. Tatnell 5x (5) / 5. Dobmeier 13 (6) 6. Kim Mock 1m (1) 7. Donny Goeden 11 (8) 8. Russel Borland 23 (7) 9. Duane Olson 16x (9)
Maeschen led the entire 10-lap distance in his first appearance at the 3/8 mile oval. Gharst, IRA points leader Balog and Tatnell worked their way by Mock for transfers, while Dobmeier missed the cut by one.
Heat two (started): 1. Jerry Richert Jr. 63 (2) 2. Winters 23w (4) 3. John Sernett 91 (3) 4. Troy Manteufel K9 (1) / 5. Hafemann 2B (5) 6. DeWall 16 (6) 7. Brian Kristan 5 (7) 8. Steve Meyer 85m (8) 9. Leigh Thomas 29 (9)
Richert Jr. pulled away from the pack and won by more than a straightaway. Winters got by Sernett after a good battle with two laps to go.
Heat three (started): 1. Joe Symoens 96 (1) 2. Mike Reinke 02 (4) 3. Ryan Irwin 49 (3) 4. Whitney 9 (6) / 5. Andy Hunt 9A (2) 6. Bill Wirth 53w (5) 7. Joseph Kouba 55 (8) DNS – Heskin 56
Heskin was pushed to the pits with a fuel leak before the heat went green. Symoens led flag to flag, while Reinke and Whitney picked their way up into transfer spots. Reinke grabbed second on the last go-around.
Heat four (started): 1. Justin Zimmerman 7K (2) 2. Neitzel 2w (5) 3. Zomer 5z (6) 4. Scott Uttech 3K (1) / 5. Scott Biertzer 4B (3) 6. Brad Barickman 34 (4) 7. Bill Warren 95 (7) 8. Dave Uttech 68 (8)
S. Uttech took the early lead, but Zimmerman powered under him on lap five. Neitzel was the car on the move, while Zomer took third from S. Uttech with two to go.
Dash for Cash (started): 1. Tatnell (1) 2. Whitney (4) 3. Zomer (2) 4. DeWall (3) 5. Heskin (5) 6. Hafemann (6) DNS – Dobmeier
Tatnell led the distance in a race paying $500 sponsored by Loucks and Associates. The dash played no role in the A main starting order.
B main (started): 1. Hafemann (1) 2. Heskin (4) 3. Barickman (5) 4. DeWall (2) 5. Goeden (11) 6. Biertzer (6) / 7. Kristan (10) … DNS – Dobmeier
A broken lifter ended Dobmeier’s night early. Hafemann led the duration of the 15 lapper, with plenty of action behind him. Heskin battled with DeWall and Barickman for several laps before sliding into second. DeWall was as far back as sixth before moving back up to fourth on the last lap. At the line, 4th through 7th were almost too close to call in the non-stop entertaining event. Goeden came on the last half of the race and surged from 11th to 5th.
A main (started): 1. Tatnell (2) 2. Neitzel (1) 3. Whitney (4) 4. Balog (16) 5. Winters (9) 6. Zomer (3) 7. Zimmerman (6) 8. Maeschen (8) 9. Richert Jr. (7) 10. DeWall (11) 11. Biertzer (19) 12. Gharst (10) 13. Goeden (22) 14. Barickman (15) … 19. Reinke (14) 20. Hafemann (12) 21. Heskin (13) 22. Symoens (8)
Tatnell led throughout the 25 lap distance (shortened from 30), making his take on the night well over $4000. Heskin got upside down before a lap could be completed, did his best to straighten the wing, and restarted. Symoens made contact with another car and broke his front end on the next try. He was done. One underway, the race went three laps before an Irwin spin. At the time, Tatnell led Neitzel, Whitney, Zomer and Zimmerman. While the top three remained the same, plenty was going on behind them for the next 13 laps. Maeschen worked his way by Zimmerman for fifth and then Zomer for fourth. Balog followed suit from the 16th starting spot. On lap 16, Maeschen spun while trying to get by Whitney for third. He would go to the back and roar to eighth in 9 laps. Tatnell led Neitzel, Whitney, Balog and Winters back to green flag racing. The top five were unchanged the rest of the way, with one more stoppage, a flip by Reinke, who won the previous two Richert Memorials, while running 8th on lap 19. He was unhurt. Gharst spun out of seventh in turn four on the last lap, and settled for the last position on the lead lap (12th).Balog was the hard-charger. Many contingencies were handed out throughout the evening.