Dells Raceway Park was the place to celebrate the July 4th holiday with both the pits and the stands filled to near capacity. The Wisconsin Challenge Series Super Late Models headlined the show with their annual North American Cup sponsored by 3D Construction & Great Lakes Components. A huge fireworks display by Thundercat Fireworks brought the evening to a close.
Thousands of fans watched as Chris Weinkauf worked his way from the 10th starting spot to an impressionable win. Thirty-nine cars were on hand for the traditional event at the Dells. Once again Steve Holzhausen would be the fastest qualifier. That makes two fast times for Steve this year out of three races earning him the all important five bonus points for each fast time.
In the Limited Late Model division Andrew Kulka set fast time for the third time this season with a 14.304. Steve Lichtfeld, Bernie Fritz, and Tony Hahn raced their way into Victory Lane during their heat races. Steve Lichtfeld started strong and quickly led the way during the majority of the race followed by Nick Nolden. However, a late caution on lap 35 took Lichtfeld and Nolden out of the lead, and opened the door for rookie Derek Childs to move into first. He had his work cut out for him holding off the 2008 season champion, Mike Ehde, for the last five laps to get his first feature win at Dells Raceway Park.
Mike Lichtfeld of Portage has been unstoppable this season, and Saturday night he proved that again. For the 7th time this season he qualified first with a lap time of 14.772. Starting at the rear of the heat race he worked his way through the field to take the lead by lap 8 of the 10-lap heat race, claiming the checkered flag. Dale Schultz, started on the pole, for the 20 lap Super Stock feature event, and held off the pack for the first 13 laps. For the first half of the race, Lichtfeld steadily moved through the field and cruised past Schultz to claim the lead in lap 14. Mike visited victory lane for the second time in the evening and claimed the feature trophy, followed by a thank you to his crew and sponsors for putting his car back together within a week.
In the Pure Stock division, Daron Fish set fast qualifying time with a 16.163. During the heat races Durand Larsen and Bill Zeman took home the checkered flags. Ben Monday started the race on the pole and leaped ahead of the competition. However a late caution narrowed his lead and allowed Daron Fish to make his move and pass Monday in the last lap.
Brian Warner was the Bandit Fast Qualifier for the night. Heat race winners were Gary Stark and Ken Scott. Phil Malouf visited Victory Lane for the first time this season during the Bandit feature.
This article was posted to the website on July 6th, 2009








