By Bryan Gapinski

Had the help of Felisha, Mr. Dull, Tom, Joe LaMarca, Kelcey Lemke, and Dwight, so we ended up doing “Double-Duty”. The way Dwight’s draws worked out, and the rest of the night, we actually had enough time to switch everything over; although it was not until the feature that we figured out enough with the IRS fuel settings to get anywhere though.

Hot Laps: After MUCH contemplation and discussion, we decided to attempt to start the car with the IRS set-up; but with BMARA tires in the “national” practice session (as it was the first group to go out and we had concern with the IRS fuel settings). Unfortunatly our double work was all for naught, as Mr. Dull and I had changed the cockpit located high speed fuel valve and neither of us tighten the hose connection to the top of the fuel pump. Under the parade laps my right foot was soaked with fuel. I tried to feel the thing out before pulling off, but decided nothing was worth a spark setting off that leak and pulled off. After switching back to the IRS tires, we quickly learned that our fuel settings were not what they should be.

BMARA Qualifying: Although there were some issues getting through three and four on the warm-up lap, I swear I ran about the best lap I could, as far as keeping the throttle down and all, but the time was still 15.6! I guess I will have to work on the correct line to actually go around?

IRS Qualifying: Mr. Dull continued to consult with Dwight and I; and adjusted the fuel system, but we were not making much progress. It was actually worse than we had run the last time with IRS (having only changed the Secondary then, instead of messing with the high speed; like this time). Was over a second slower than we were two weeks ago.

BMARA Heat: (From Bill Blumer: ... Jason Dull took the early lead in Badger’s first heat, from his starting spot on the front row. He could only hold on for a lap before Brandon Waelti grabbed the point. From there Waelti sailed while Dull had his hands full as Jerry Coons Jr. and Mike Hess worked him over, one going high, one low as they trio entered the third turn. The skill of all three prevailed, as they came though the battle unscathed.)…thanks Bill, actually not a whole lot of skill involved in my part, just got out of the way about the best I could…was in the middle of what was pretty close to a three wide sandwich and the champion drivers pulled away.

IRS Heat: Could tell right away the fuel settings were not correct, but figured I would take the green. I was surprised that as bad as the car was running, we were able to stick with the field. Noticed that Kurt Mayhew (who has swept every IRS feature at Sun Prairie, since we won in 2007) was also struggling to get through the field, so I stayed out. Although we managed to hang somewhat close, I was not able to gain any ground on the field. Still considered pulling off and getting a jump on the switch over to the BMARA qualifying race, but it was a shorter race than the regular heats and was over before I figured it would be!

Qualifying race:

BMARA B-main: Actually got to keep the car set-up the same (instead of switching to IRS)! Should have been able to run in the top three or even win the thing, but never got a good run going.

IRS Feature: Somehow we ranked mid-pack on the line-up (must have been due to the qualifying). Did not get off to that good of a start, and battled with Eddie Sauer’s “back-up” car steered by Tyler D . Made my way up towards the high side of the track and got the thing would up enough to gain some ground. Pavement specialist Freedie Tear and I battled pretty hard mid-race. Dwight had suggested I put the car up above the cushion and try to keep the tires spinning and I finally got a good rhythm going. Started gaining some ground on the front runners. Really think if the mentioned cautions had come out a lap later each time, we could have ran in the top three. Every time got around (or a run on), the car or two in front of me, the caution would come out (including when Scott Dunning and then spun out in turn one and two, basically right in front of me). Ended up moving up a spot or two, but Dave Olendorf got underneath me and took fourth towards the end of the race. Although I finally did time out one of the restarts correctly (took some effort with the fuel system and all), they shortened the race (due to the numerous cautions) and I was stuck in fifth. Although I was terribly frusturated with the small restrictors and subsequent fuel system issues (so I will never want to admit this to the IRS officials), but as we did make progress on it as the night went on, I will say that it does not get a whole lot better than battling for top positions on the high side (above the cushion) at Sun Prairie! Hopefully the hard working crew thought it was worth it too? Dwight, my dad, and I will continue to confer on fuel system settings and valves and hopefully next time the IRS is there, we can battle Kurt and Allen Gillis for the win.

A-main: Thanks to Mike Hess and the track officials, we actually did get a ten minute clock and then some, to switch the car over. However, I will mention, I forgot to remove dirt “debris” I felt underneath the throttle pedal, acquired from my escapedes in the rough stuff during the IRS race. Sounds like a good excuse, but I did notice after all was said and done (can’t believe it stayed there during 23 laps of the “national” feature), that there was a pretty good hard dirt clump between the pedal and the floor pan. Anyway, got off to a decent start and thought we might have been ok. Tried to take what I experienced from the IRS race and run the top. Ended up packing the RR full of mud-AGAIN, after an intense battle with 2009 RoY Courtney Erfurth, who was running the bottom. Conceding the position, I went back to the bottom to play huggy pole, as the RR was shaking badly under full power. Meanwhile, the front runners made their way around to lap me, although I do wonder – maybe with not so much ease?

From Bill Blumer: Fans had the pleasure of monitoring two streaks this week at Angell Park Speedway, as Brad Loyet and Kurt Mayhew each had a string of feature wins to defend. Loyet had won the last four Badger Midget Auto Racing Association mains at the Speedway, while Mayhew, also a Badger regular, had poached the last five events from the Illini Racing Series there. The race was sponsored by Mid-State Equipment, the Sun Prairie Tourism Commission and Pepsi of Madison who provided many kids in attendance with big Pepsi water bottles...Jason Dull took the early lead in Badger’s first heat, from his starting spot on the front row. He could only hold on for a lap before Brandon Waelti grabbed the point. From there Waelti sailed while Dull had his hands full as Jerry Coons Jr. and Mike Hess worked him over, one going high, one low as they trio entered the third turn. The skill of all three prevailed, as they came though the battle unscathed. Coons then set his sights on Waelti and throughout the race gave the Sun Prairie native a few looks, but Waelti, running a car from the Fiscus stable, took the win...The second heat saw Scott Hatton lead early and often as he took the checkers. Behind him was an interesting battle as Aaron Fiscus was busy fighting off Brad Kuhn who was in a new car. The two went at it for seven laps when Fiscus bobbled on the cushion and Kuhn slid by him. Kuhn later advised that the new car was a combination of parts laying around his shop and the shop of owner John Jones. In the last heat, Loyet and Chad DeSelle battled hard for the first two laps, as DeSelle had the lead and Loyet wanted it. After one failed slidejob in turn-one, Loyet tried a second time and succeeded, sort of. Unable to pull up once he committed, Loyet slid into DeSelle on that latter effort. DeSelle did a great job maintaining control of the car, but lost a ton of momentum. Loyet got by and went on to the win, while DeSelle was able to maintain the runner up spot. Loyet was a bit sheepish about his win during the Victory Lane interview with Dennis Thompson and he did apologize for the contact. (Chad made up for it by doing me dirty in the feature - JD) ... The IRS main was off to a good start as they went two and three wide throughout the field. Here, Mayhew started on the outside of the third row with Teer next to him and Gillis behind him. But from the front row, for the first five laps, Scott Dunning lead the way. Meanwhile, Mayhew was working traffic, first trying the cushion, then running the rail. It was the low side that gave him the bite to eventually pass Dunning. Gillis, lurking in fourth, was also trying to find his groove. At the half-way point Gillis gained second, but was a half a straight behind Mayhew. On lap 12 they were bunched due to a caution, giving Gillis the break he needed and a chance at the $300 bounty placed on Mayhew. When they restarted, Mayhew gave Gillis openings, but Gillis could not capitalize as he tried any grooved not currently occupied by Mayhew. Mayhew then survived another yellow and kept his record intact ahead of Gillis, Eric Nitz, Dave Ohlendorf and Dull...Waelti started on the outside-pole for the Badger main and quickly took to the lead. He looked strong, but a restart on the fifth lap saw Hatton slide under him to take the point, only to have Waelti battle right back and regain the advantage. On lap-seven Waelti jumped the cushion a bit in the second turn, but kept going and stayed ahead of Hatton. But it turned into a drag race down the back chute and having lost the momentum earlier, Waelti gave way to Hatton via a slider in three and four. From here it looked like smooth sailing for Hatton, as he surged toward a half-straightaway advantage over Coons, with that same measure back to Mike Hess who had Kuhn on dogging him. A caution with two to go bunched the field and put Coons on Hatton’s tail with two lappers back to Kuhn and Hess. Hatton got a good start, but Coons had enough in him for one effort as they came to the white flag. Hatton, in the Huston Solution car was too tough to solve and the record books will show it was Hatton who broke Loyet’s streak. Behind Coons for third it was Kuhn, then Hess, Waelti and Hines. Merillat Cabinets bring fans the Mid-Season 25 this week at Angell Park. It will also mark the annual Badger reunion.

With the first two days of this Independence Day weekend being less than great in the weather department, Sunday was a nice change of pace. With news of the bounty being placed on Mayhew, everyone was driving their hardest. As usual the Fireman's Angell Park Speedway was well prepared and provided two solid racing grooves for the night. Giving an opportunity for a lot of side by side racing and plenty of passing. We had a great turnout of cars and I'm sure the fans loved every moment of the feature.

In the first ADM Realty heat we saw the fast qualifier, Allen Gillis, move up to the front in a hurry. While Mayhew got stuck in traffic as drivers mid-pack were running side by side for position. A first time racer with the IRS, Pat Jones, brought out his 29 car and held off the field for the second position. Mayhew would eventually fight his way up to third in the closing laps. But Gillis would drive away from the field to win followed by Pat Jones, Kurt Mayhew, Freddie Teer, Ken Drangmeister, Richard Drangmeister, Scott Dunning, Eric Nitz, and Jason Dull.

In the second Spencery Jewelry heat we saw two brothers going at it for the win. Loran Critchett would jump out to an early lead but would be challenged by his brother Lamont. Meanwhile in the pack the 2 of Dave Ohlendorf would end up in the middle of a three wide move going into turn one and would lose it in the slick and spin, tipping over on the left rear. After the restart Lamont would start putting distance on the field running the cushion until it got the best of him and got into the outside wall. Loran would end up with the lead again and he never looked back, taking the win in the second heat. He was followed by Charlie Holt, Tyler Deschaine, Lamont Crithcett, Dan George, Dave Ohlendorf, Scott Koerner, Eddie Sauer, and Doug Orseske.

In the Heroes West IRS Feature we saw Allen Gillis and Kurt Mayhew try to get through traffic as fast as possible and get an edge on the other. Meanwhile up front Eric Nitz and Scott Dunning would go wheel to wheel trying to take the top spot for an number of laps. After fixing the car from the heat Lamont Critchett ran into more bad luck in the feature when he got into the wall again, but boy was he driving that thing on the edge. After the caution brought the field even closer together, Kurt Mayhew found there wasn't much he could do with the two front runners for a couple of laps. Eventually Mayhew would gain the top spot but Gillis wasn't far behind. A caution came out and brought Mayhew and Gillis closer together everyone knew it was going to get interesting. After the restart Gillis would show himself on the bottom a few times but Mayhew could carry the momentum down the straights and hold him off. Scott Dunning would spin while running third and bring out the caution. On the final restart Mayhew would put a couple car lengths between him and Gillis, but Gillis started running him down. On the last turn of the last lap Mayhew would try to take his line away by choosing to run the bottom. Gillis immediatly ran up to the cushion to try and make a desperate last chance move. But Mayhew would drift up off four and get drilled in the back by Gillis. Mayhew would use that extra bit of momentum to drive accross the line in first, taking the win and the watch. He was followed closely by Allen Gillis, Eric Nitz would hold on for third, Dave Ohlendorf would come back from his flip in the heat to a fourth place finish, Jason Dull would capture fifth, Charlie holt got sixth, Loran Critchett in seventh, Doug Orseske in eigth, Ken Drangmeister in ninth, Richard Drangmeister in tenth, Scott Dunning in eleventh, Freddie Teer in thirteenth, Dan George in fourteenth, Scott Koerner in fifthteenth, Lamont Critchett in sixteenth, Pat Jones in seventeenth, and Tyler Deschaine in eighteenth.

We'll have to wait and see who can eventually take down Mayhew. Our next scheduled race will be up at the Prairie on the 9th of August. Hope to see everyone there!

Written by Ben Gillis