Rubenzer dominates in Sr. Sportsman Lite at Badger Raceway By Mike Weaver DOUSMAN, WI - Finally, after two wash-outs, the Badger Kart Club was able to start the racing season off with week three of the BKC Bridgestone Tire Championship Points Series. This past weekend's beautiful temperatures and bright sunshine were welcomed by all the karters. The day didn't start off too well as during Sunday morning practice, Scott Adler was injured in a crash. Another kart had spun in front of Adler and with no place to go, he struck the other kart and tipped over. Adler was taken to the hospital and was diagnosed with a broken shoulder. Hopefully the rookie will be able to recover quickly and get back to racing. As it was the first true race weekend of the season, there were plenty of mishaps and crashes as the racers worked on scraping through the rust. However, by the feature races, everyone seemed to have their heads screwed on right and there were very little incidents. In Sr. Sportsman Lite, Jill Rubenzer dominated all day long. Although Erin Cechal was in her tracks most of the day, Cechal could not get past the flawless Rubenzer. In the feature race, Rubenzer would win with Jon Ellingham getting by Cechal for 2nd. This was Rubenzer's first feature win and their crew was very excited when she pulled off the track. In the 125cc Shifter feature, the start was marred by a red flag when Scott Rubenzer, Jill's father, catapulted up and over the rear wheel of another kart on the standing start. The kart did a 360 and came down hard. A number of karts were involved and the track was blocked so officials threw the red flag and restarted the race. Fortunately, there were no injuries in the incident. In the restart, Randy Reichardt got a great jump over pole-sitter Mark Vielgut. Reichardt led lap one, but Vielgut was just too fast and he grabbed the first spot on lap two. Colin Predith also made it past Reichardt and began hounding Veilgut for the lead. On lap four, Predith made it past Vielgut and led until a last-lap pass by Vielgut would take it away. At the checkers, it was Mark Vielgut, Colin Predith and Randy Reichardt. In Yamaha Lite, Charlene Jung led wire-to-wire. Last year's Sr. Sportsman Lite champ Mark Heinert moved up to Yamaha Lite for 2002 and was all over Jung in both Heat 2 and the feature race. But Jung ran a perfect race keeping Heinert at bay. Jung's husband Mark would come home in 3rd place. The Sr. Sportsman Heavy feature saw some of the best racing of the day. Steve Mente and Kory King both had great starts as King led lap one. On lap two, rookie Bob Jeziorski snuck in past Mente and he held the 2nd position for an entire lap. On lap 3, Jeziorski slid high in the toe of "The Boot" and Mente got in under him to retake 2nd place. Then Mente began reeling in King who had been allowed to slip away. On the last lap, Mente executed a perfect lap and was in position to pass King, but just couldn't get past him on the way to the checkers. RACE RESULTS (May 5, 2002): 2-cycle Jr. Sportsman I: 1.) Travis Kosik, 2.) Forrest Biersach, 3.) Jessica Brannam Yamaha Lite: 1.) Charlene Jung, 2.) Mark Heinert, 3.) Mark Jung Briggs Jr. Stock: 1.) Shelley Krzewinski, 2.) Marc Dunbar, 3.) Tony Alho Jr. Yamaha Heavy: 1.) Mike Fuchs, 2.) Andy Braun, 3.) Mark Baier Sr. Sportsman Lite: 1.) Jill Rubenzer, 2.) Jon Ellingham, 3.) Erin Cechal SSX Can: 1.) Jeff Funk Jr., 2.) Chris Nelson, 3.) Tyler Wojtal Sr. Sportsman: 1.) Kory King, 2.) Steve Mente, 3.) Bob Jeziorski Expert: 1.) Regan Vehring Briggs Lite: 1.) Garret Goth, 2.) David Storm, 3.) Tom Schroeder Jr. Briggs: 1.) Eric Schumacher, 2.) Joe Graf, 3.) Andrew Hintt Briggs Animal Jr.: 1.) Kasi Graff, 2.) Jeff Funk Jr., 3.) Mike Gahagan HPV Jr.: 1.) Zack Emmons, 2.) Ronny Graham, 3.) Bryce Dunn 125cc Shifter: 1.) Mark Vielgut, 2.) Colin Predith, 3.) Randy Reichard HPV Heavy: 1.) Tony Mancuso, 2.) Nicole Baier, 3.) Dennis Borchardt Briggs Animal Sr.: 1.) Bret Graff, 2.) Tom Schroeder, 3.) David Koeferl Briggs Heavy: 1.) Mike Landeck Jr., 2.) Derrick Quella, 3.) Rachel Neitzel Briggs Jr. Sportsman: 1.) Grant Hoffmeister, 2.) Cody Weber, 3.) Tommy Anderson