Warner returns to Victory Lane

Jankowski finishes second to claim 2007 title.

By Bob Blaschke
DRP Media

Refusing to give up the point, Friendship's Brian Warner held off Tomah's Corey Jankowski over the final 19 laps to earn his second O'Brion Agency Super Stock Feature win of 2007.

Jankowski's second-place finish secured his second career Dells' title and his fourth overall (La Crosse and Tomah). Coming into the Great Lakes Components' season championships, Jankowski held a nine-point edge over New Lisbon's David Trute, who finished the 30-lap Feature third. The first-year Super Stock racer would finish second in the season-long points chase, 15 markers behind Jankowski.

With Jankowski starting the 17-car field eighth (alongside Trute), under DRP's championship night format, all the Tomah racer needed to do was finish no further than four spots back of Trute.

If DRP fans learned anything about Jankowski in 2007, it was that Jankowski would never be content to run a safe race. He wanted the win as bad as the O'Brion Agency title.

Luckily for the DRP fans and the points leaders, disaster was avoided before the field even went green. In fact the yellow and red flag both flew before the race ever began.

The yellow first flew as the field took its warm-up laps. Sitting in the front row, Mauston's Dale Schultz looped his blaze orange No. 31 in front of the field on the front stretch. Luckily the title chasers managed to avoid Schultz and the warm-up session resumed.

To the obvious displeasure of the safety crew the warm-up session ended when Tony DeVito's engine expired running down the front stretch spreading fluid all the way up to the turn one wall where the No. 15 came to it's final resting spot, (though it was suggested to DeVito that he takes and buries the car elsewhere).

DeVito's car was towed off by Blystone's and the 30-lap Feature finally rolled green. Jankowski immediately dropped down below Trute as though he just planned to stay glued to the rear bumper of the blue No. 2T.

Yellow flew again on lap three for a single-car spin. The restart showed pole sitter 'Diamond' Jim Bates (Wisconsin Dells) pacing Hillsboro's Brad Muller, Warner, Trute and Jankowski.

Things got dicey on lap seven as Jankowski, Muller and Trute took it three-wide into turn three. Amazingly the trio came though unscathed. Four laps later, Warner and Jankowski moved past Bates into first and second.

After riding behind Warner for a few laps, Jankowski ventured to the one place that could have cost him a championship - the outside. Twice already in 2007, Jankowski saw wins go away as he rode the outside lane to disaster.

This night would not be the third. Though he did edge Warner once, on lap 19 at the start-finish line, he could not make the pass and Warner was not going to just move over for Jankowski.

With three laps to go, the two were still battling side-by-side as Trute raced behind in third, needing the leaders to bring out a caution, for him to have any shot at the 2007 title as the final laps ticked away.

The yellow did not fly again as Warner won his second Feature of 2007. Jankowski crossed the line next in front of Trute, to win his second career Dells Super Stock title.

Rounding out the top five was Bates and Mauston's Travis Hancock. Baraboo's Phil Smith won the 10-lap qualifier, while Bates crossed the six-lap warm-up Dash first.

O'Brion Agency Super Stocks
Sept. 8, 2007

30-lap Feature: Warner, Jankowski, Trute, Bates, Hancock, Muller, Hohl, Hakala, Zuch, Dedrich, Olson, Pfister, Smith, Luck, Swanson, Goodell, Schultz, DeVito; Qualifier 1: Smith, Olson, Zuch, Pfister, Luck, Dedrich, Goodell, DeVito; Dash: Bates, Schultz, Muller, Warner, Hancock, Hohl, Swanson, Hakala, Trute, Jankowski.

Final Top 10

1 31J Corey Jankowski 605
2 2T Dave Trute 590
3 2W Brian Warner 528
4 62H Travis Hancock 516
5 85H Mark Hohl 432
6 93M Brad Muller 402
7 31S Dale Schultz 374
8 34B Jim Bates 354
9 42H Brian Hakala 340
10 26S Dave Swanson 311

Lichtfeld adds season-best seventh win

Leaving nothing to chance, Portage racer locks up his first DRP championship with win number seven.

Entering the Great Lakes Components' season championship night at the Dells Raceway Park, Portage's Mike Lichtfeld was the owner of a slim six-point lead over Grand Marsh's Ron Grabarski.

With the starting grid based on a roll of the dice and an inverted top 10, Mike Lichtfeld started the 30-lap Feature ninth. Ron Grabarski sat on the outside of the fourth row, with Prairie du Sac's Brad Luck starting seventh.

The start to the race, saw Wisconsin Dells' Don Fassett and Pardeeville's Dennis Stilson tangle as the field approached turn three on their first circuit. Stilson the pole sitter made hard contact with the outside wall, and suffered damage to the back of his No. 7. Fassett suffered nose damage and was send to the pits to secure a flapping front nosepiece.

Stilson was allowed to stay out on the track, as his damaged truck lid was not considered a hazard. The lid that laid up and across the rear window of Stilson's car was enough of a hindrance to take him out of contention.

Taking over the point, Becky Grabarski would set the pace for the first 23 laps, as she looked to return to Victory Lane and hoped to some how help her brother, Ron win the 2007 Hillsboro Equipment title.

Also wanting to get to Victory Lane, was Lichtfeld, who following the Bandit Feature was positioned to become DRP's winningest driver for 2007. Working his way forward, Mike Lichtfeld quickly had the fourth spot, as the inside lane moved forward.

Lap 17, saw Lichtfeld move into second, as Becky Grabarski set the pace while brother Ron ran fifth. Lichtfeld's No. 44 and Becky Grabarski's No. 13 treated the DRP fans to five laps of side-by-side racing.

With six laps to go, Lichtfeld took the point and went on to his seventh Feature win of the season and career first, track championship. His final margin of victory was 20 points over Ron Grabarski. To celebrate, Lichtfeld tried his best Tony Stewart imitation, as the UW-Whitewater student attempted to scale the fence to celebrate his Pure Stock title.

Rounding out the top five in the division's final Feature of 2007, were Becky Grabarski, Brad Luck, Ron Grabarski, and Sauk Prairie's Kevin Gilding.

Finishing sixth in the finale was Mauston's Leo Schultz, who sold his No. 48 and announced his retirement from racing prior to the Feature. He finished his final season of racing, fourth in the Hillsboro Equipment points chase.

Baraboo's Cliff Christianson took the qualifier, while Stilson led all six laps of the warm up Dash.

Hillsboro Equipment Pure Stocks
Sept. 8, 2007

30-lap Feature: M Lichtfeld, B Grabarski, Luck, R Grabarski, Gilding, Schultz, Regnier, S Lichtfeld, Schrieber, Christianson, Stilson, Johnson, Arendsee, Ladika, Fassett, Tavenner, Cook, Brunk; Qualifier 1: Christianson, Regnier, Johnson, Schreiber, Ladika, Tavenner, Arendsee, Willman; Dash: Stilson, B Grabarski, Fassett, Gilding, R Grabarski, S Lichtfeld, Luck, M Lichtfeld, Cook, Schultz.

Final Top 10

1 44L Mike Lichtfeld 593
2 07G Ron Grabarski 573
3 67L Brad Luck 556
4 48S Leo Schultz 514
5 15G Kevin Gilding 474
6 13G Becky Grabarski 470
7 32L Steve Lichtfeld 466
8 8F Don Fassett 424
9 7S Dennis Stilson 376
10 05S Willy Schreiber 339

Clapper wins in first visit to DRP

Chad Rhinehart claims 2007 championship.

Dane's Mike Clapper, who visited DRP for the first time in 2007 to run the 15-lap season finale, went out and won the Two Rivers Signs Bandit Feature.

The teenage son of Schulz Automotive Limited Late Model racer, Kurt Clapper (winner of two DRP Features in 2007) Mike is a regular at Columbus and ventured over to the Dells for the Great Lakes Components' championships.

Entering the season finale, the 2007 title was firmly in the grips of Adams' Chad Rhinehart. Onalaska's Terry Lafleur needed a decent car count for any chance to leap over Rhinehart, who owned a 27-point advantage coming into the double-point championship race.

Lafleur had the car count he needed for a chance, but a lap-10 wiggle by Sean Knupp ended any chances Lafleur had of picking up his seventh win of the season and getting past Rhinehart in the standings.

Coming down the backstretch, Knupp was loose and turned sideways directly in front of Lafleur. It looked like Lafleur checked up in time to avoid Knupp, but he was sent to the rear for the restart.

With five laps to go, Sparta's David Treu Sr. led Reedsburg's Cody Gray and Clifton Sauey, Clapper, and Poynette's Ben Kreyer Jr. back to the green.

At the checkers it would be Clapper, Onalaska's Bob Armstrong, Treu, Gray, and Mauston's Wally Boehm.

Rhinehart did his part to protect his shot at the title as he drove a very patient race, to finish sixth and claim the 2007 division title.

Earlier in the night, non-point Heat wins went to Treu and Armstrong.

Two Rivers Signs Bandits
Sept. 8, 2007

15-lap Feature: Clapper, Armstrong, Treu, Gray, Boehm, Rhinehart, Vetrone, Lafleur, Sauey, Kreyer, Wurster, Davidson, Knupp, Kolpien; Heat 1: Treu, Vetrone, Clapper, Kreyer, Davidson, Knupp, Kolpein; Heat 2: Armstrong, Boehm, Rhinehart, Lafleur, Wurster, Gray, Sauey.

Final Top 10

1 18R Chad Rhinehart 531
2 9L Terry Lafleur 493
3 29A Bob Armstrong 459
4 14B Wally Boehm 412
5 24S Clifton Sauey* 276
6 28G Cody Gray* 271
7 31W Aaron Wurster 229
8 14T David Treu Sr 144
9 52K Todd Kolpien 121
10 81K Sean Knupp 64