MWSS Reigns in Dousman By Silvio Roberre DOUSMAN, WI - On August 3-4, the Midwest Sprint Series visited the Badger Kart Club in Dousman, WI for Round Four of the five race 2002 tour. Temperatures in the 80's and 90's were simmered down by the ever-present Wisconsin winds, as racers did not have the humidity of South Bend or Springfield to deal with. Saturday was a clear day with only picturesque clouds in the sky. The twelve kart PMO Kart Services Yamaha Sr. Sportsman SSX class was the first group to take on the 6/10-mile road course. Third place starter Ryan Stewart passed John Barnard for the lead in turn one of the final lap, allowing the KRT pilot to clear the chaos that ensued behind. Leading down to the finish line, John Zartarian, John Barnard, and Chris Shearburn tangled going into the sweeper, allowing Blake Kilby to take the second position with Corey Reeves in third. Zartarian picked up the fourth spot with Shearburn fifth. Kevin Nelson was on rails all day in the UEMSI Yamaha Heavy division. The Grafton, WI #1 pilot managed to maneuver his Switch Motorsports powered KartsLtd.com Margay across the finish line 2.283 seconds ahead of the .38 Special of "Nitro" Nick Wagner. Brian Julien captured the third spot, with Kyle Burrow and Curt Hoegner rounding out the top five. The PMW Precision Metal Works HPV Lite field was a walkover for New Berlin, WI native Jayson Eschrich. After gaining pole in qualifying, the #83 KRT driver cleaned house in the pre-final before taking the final by 4.857 seconds. Corey Reeves picked up the second spot, with Cale Wyse bringing his PMW/Adkins Speed Center/Haase Mach 5 home in the third spot. John Barnard slipped from second to the fourth slot with Tony Loniewski fifth. On a high note, this was the first HPV Lite race this season where all of the karts that started the final managed to finish. Matt O'Leary took the lead in the final lap of the Creative Karting Briggs Jr. Sportsman #2 Heavy class, as he and fellow leader Chris Rauguth diced for nine laps until O'Leary gained the upper hand when it mattered most. Rauguth finished in the second position with Justin Kaat, Ben Bacon, and Derek Kozak following him across the line. The Briggs and Stratton Briggs Jr. Sportsman I Medium class was a tight battle the whole race, as Barry Hartwell claimed the top spot with Zach Bowden right behind in second. Once again, and for the fourth race in a row, Ryan Cassity topped the Image Motorsports Briggs Lite field. Steve Kilsdonk beat Bryan Vought to the line for the second position, while Matt Duncombe nearly lost the fourth position to Heidi Olsen at the finish line. The same thing could be said for the Cassity Racing Briggs Heavy division, as Kelen James swept his fourth race win of the season. Mitch Gibson tagged along in the second position as he passed eventual third place runner Chad Kruger early in the running. Shane Wright was left to pick up the fourth spot, with John Kaat, Jr. in fifth. Tommy Mayr picked up the win in the Coello Racing ICA class as the Franklin Motorsports/PCR driver out sailed the Margay/DAP of Matt Krechel to the line by 6.479 seconds. Mark Sobczyk was the runaway winner of the C.M. Sobczyk Trucking US 820 Jr. class as he took the lead in turn four from Mike Wittenburg and never looked back. Adam Brimmer captured the second position with Wittenburg and Mike Breimer rounding out the field. The Racer-Pix.com HPV Jr. Sportsman class was won by Jordan Johnson as his #32 Woltjer Racing Engines powered Intense Karting Tonykart crossed the line 4.16 seconds ahead of runner-up Ronny Graham. Jacob Little picked up the third position with Tim Megenbier and Josh Nevels rounding out the class in fourth. Doug Boyer returned to his winning ways in the Kartsale.com Yamaha Jr. SSX class. The High Rev powered KRT pilot inched away from the field lap after lap, eventually taking the fifteen-lap win by 6.737 seconds over Doug Della. Tony Jump was comfortably safe in the third spot, while Andrew Bealer and Peter Kielar rounded out the top five in the eighteen-kart field. The fourteen kart Horstman Mfg. Briggs Restricted Jr. class was a tight knit battle between Terry McDermott and B.J. Anderson leading down to the last few feet of the race. McDermott swept his #15 Coyote across the line a pinch ahead of Anderson to take the win. " I would like to thank Jace Reynolds of Rat Power Racing, Coyote Products, Fitchburg Plumbing, Blackhawk Tower, and my family," said McDermott after one of the closest races of the season in the junior divisions. On Sunday morning, the racing heavens opened up and decided to let the rainfall on the 6/10-mile road course. This would set the tone of the day as after the track was dried out, as someone decided to crank the humidity on broiling high. For the first time this season, someone actually gave Ryan Cassidy a scare on the racetrack, as Matt Krechel maneuvered his #1 Margay into the lead early on in the S&M Kart Supply Briggs Medium class. Krechel's lead lasted until two laps to go when Professor Cassity took his throne back in turn three. That was the end of that as Krechel slipped back to .577 sec. behind Cassity at the finish. Shane Wright picked up the bronzed in third while Mitch Gibson out-ran Bryan Vought for fourth. The Mark Coats Racing Yamaha Lite final saw Jayson Eschrich pull off a double for the weekend, as he was at the front when it mattered most after swapping the lead with Tony Loniewski lap after lap. The New Berlin, WI native was able to hold off Loniewski by .090 sec. over the line. " I must thank Greg Nelson from KartsLtd.com, Switch Motorsports, Nick Wagner, my father: the master mechanic, and finally Tony Loniewski for driving me hard and clean all weekend long and for keeping me on my toes," stated Eschrich. Derek Kozak picked up the win in the Pro Karting Kart Shop Briggs Jr. Sportsman II Lite class, as the #20 Gold Kart driver was able to cross the finish line .203 sec. ahead of Chris Rauguth to take the win. Matt O'Leary picked up the third spot with Ben Bacon and Joey Konrath making up the complexion of the top five. In the four races so far this season, there have been four different winners in the TMW Competition HPV Heavy category. Thus, the unexpected was once again expected as eleven karts lined up to take the green flag with the #00 BRM of Jacques Dresang and the #8 Margay of John Barnard leading the field. Dresang was able to get an early lead and never lost momentum, as he cleared Barnard by 1.989 sec. at the end of the fifteen laps. "I have to thank my parents for their effort, commitment, and overall generosity that they have given to our racing program this season," exclaimed Dresang "I also must thank Guy Schneider for the screaming HPV, Jamie and George Sieracki for the juicy fresh BRM chassis, Gary Schneider for all of his chassis insight, Greg Nelson and KartsLtd.com for all of his support, G-Force Racing Gear, Silkolene Lubricants, UEMSI, Utecht Tool, Solar Engineering, Shiddy Reeds, US Motorpower, Midwest Sales Associates Inc., Reeves Racing, The Melster Company, Unfair Advantage Racing.com, and finally TMW Competition for sponsoring such a fun class to compete in." Martin Keck's #6 BRM captured the third position, with the .38 Special of "Nitro" Nick Wagner right on his tail in fourth and Kelsi Guess rounding out the top five with her #11 Margay. Things went well for Lance Hancock in the Shiddy Reeds US 820 Sr. final as outside pole-sitter Dresang failed to start on the grid. From that point on, it was all Hancock as the #82 BRM/Profile/Blu II driver captured the win by 12.922 seconds clear of Sean Sullivan in second. Kyle Hancock claimed the third position while Matt Cudnohoske and Mike French rounded out the top five in the eight-kart field. More than $1000 was given away to the US 820 divisions for the weekend, as a part of US Motorpower's contingency program. This has been the case all season, so if you have an 820 lying around, you may want to make the trip to the final MWSS race of the season at Road America. The Boyer Construction Formula Y Jr. class went to Caleb Loniewski after the #12 Tonykart driver out reached Tony Jump and Matt Byrne across the line by .1 sec. Doug Boyer picked up the fourth spot with Peter Kielar in fifth. Cale Wyse returned to the top spot in the Intense Imports Rotax Max class, as the Mach 5 driver cleared the field by 17.839 seconds. "First of all, I'd like to thank my mom and dad," said Wyse "Without the countless hours, dollars, and moral support that they give, none of this would be possible. I would also like to thank my sponsor, Precision Metal Works, as well as Kyle Adkins, Mark Coats, Mike Coombs, and my #1 fan, Sarah Eaton." Kevin Owen finished in the second position, with Rick DeHaan and Brian Stitle in third and fourth, respectfully. The Streeter Super Stands Yamaha Jr. SSX final was yet another touch and go battle between Tim Megenbier and Jordan Johnson. The two ran together all day, swapping the lead in both the final and pre-final many times. Johnson held the top spot when it mattered though, taking the win by .538 sec. over Megenbier. Jacob Little slotted into the third spot with Mark Krechel and Andrew Bealer following in fourth and fifth. Terry McDermott picked up where he left off in the Power by Karl Briggs Jr. Medium class, taking the win in the ten-lap event by 1.935 sec. over B.J. Anderson. Adam Brimmer cruised home in the third spot, with Kyle Gibson and R.J. Steiner rounding out the top five. The Kart Racing Technologies Spec 100 SBX final saw a tight battle brew between the #1 Switch powered Margay of Kevin Nelson, the #8 Adkins powered Margay of John Barnard, and the #43 High Rev Engineering powered KRT. Zartarian picked up the initial lead with Nelson in tow, but on lap nine, Nelson made his move to the front. He passes the Californian in turn four and was clear of the field until lap eleven, when the race was red flagged due to rain. Nelson was declared the winner with Barnard in second and Zartarian third. The KartsLtd.com HPV Jr. race was to be the last of the weekend, and the rain couldn't have come at a worse time. Drivers and teams were forced to run back to their pit areas to switch to their rain setups. Joe King and Caleb Loniewski lead the eleven kart field down to the green, and by the first turn Loniewski had already opened up a lead that would never be questioned. Daren Marcus worked his way up from the fifth spot to finish second with Doug Boyer following suit from seventh to third. Matt Byrne captured the fourth spot with Doug Della fifth. The weekend was one of the most eventful of the season as new winners, sharper competition, and point's battles continued to heat up. Look for more of the same and then some at the MWSS final even of the year which is to be held on the grounds of the Road America Briggs & Stratton Motorplex August 31 - September 2. Entry forms for this stellar event, point standings, and MWSS apparel can all be found at www.midwestsprint.com, the official website for the series that always has been and always will be Racing For the Racer. RESULTS: Day 1 - Saturday August 3, 2002 Briggs Lite (Sponsored by: Image Motorsports): 1.) Ryan Cassity, 2.) Steve Kilsdonk, 3.) Bryan Vought, 4.) Matt Duncombe, 5.) Heidi Olson, 6.) Scott Lohfink, 7.) Matt Bjornstad Yamaha Sr. Sportsman SSX (Super Can - Sponsored by: PMO Kart Services): 1.) Ryan Stewart, 2.) Blake Kilby, 3.) Corey Reeves, 4.) John Zartarian, 5.) Chris Shearburn, 6.) John Barnard, 7.) Michael Dittmer, 8.) Brandon Simms, 9.) Matt Cota, 10.) Joe Bennett, 11.) Dustin Kessinger, 12.) Allen Kapel HPV Lite (Sponsored by: Precision Metal Works): 1.) Jayson Eschrich, 2.) Corey Reeves, 3.) Cale Wyse, 4.) John Barnard, 5.) Tony Loniewski, 6.) Kelsi Guess, 7.) David Cox, 8.) Ryan Stewart, 9.) Chad Jump, 10.) Barney Hamann, 11.) Troy Titler, 12.) Martin Keck, 13.) Troy Hintzsche, 14.) Sean Sullivan, 15.) Steve Krock, 16.) Jeremy Struss, 17.) Tony Mancuso Briggs Jr. Sportsman II Heavy (Sponsored by: Creative Karting): 1.) Matt O'Leary, 2.) Chris Raugoth, 3.) Justin Kaat, 4.) Ben Bacon, 5.) Derek Kozak, 6.) Joey Konrath Briggs Restricted Jr. (Sponsored by: Horstman Manufacturing): 1.) Terry McDermott, 2.) BJ Anderson, 3.) Zack Riddle, 4.) Eric Akre, 5.) Kyle Gibson, 6.) Danny Corcoran, 7.) Adam Brimmer, 8.) RJ Steiner, 9.) Alex Pezzolla, 10.) Andrew Coulte, 11.) Matt Pewe, 12.) Mike Schumacher, 13.) Tim Goettsch, 14.) Jon Boldt Yamaha Jr. SSX (Super Can - Sponsored by: KartSale.com): 1.) Doug Boyer, 2.) Doug Della, 3.) Tony Jump, 4.) Andrew Bealer, 5.) Peter Kielar, 6.) Joe King, 7.) Caleb Loniewski, 8.) Chris Nelson, 9.) Chad Patch, 10.) Matt Byrne, 11.) Ben Roberts, 12.) Jay Andreuccetti, 13.) Tim Goetsch, 14.) Andrew Crepin, 15.) Jesse Schwabe, 16.) Joe Gynn, 17.) Tommy Nigro, 18.) Darin Marcus Briggs Heavy (Sponsored by: Cassity Racing): 1.) Kellen James, 2.) Mitchell Gibson, 3.) Chad Kruger, 4.) Shane Wright, 5.) John Kaat Jr., 6.) Aaron Scalissi, 7.) Mike Everson, 8.) Joe Schaffer, 9.) Jeff Dolian, 10.) Todd Hayes, 11.) Tom Ludgatis, 12.) Allen Kapel, 13.) Rod Colburn, 14.) Ken Paulson HPV Jr. Sportsman (Sponsored by: Racer-Pix.com): 1.) Jordan Johnson, 2.) Ronny Graham, 3.) Jacob Little, 4.) Tim Megenbier, 5.) Josh Nevels US 820 Jr. (Sponsored by: C.M. Sobczyk Trucking): 1.) Mark Sobczyk, 2.) Adam Brimmer, 3.) Mike Wittenburg, 4.) Mike Breemer Briggs Jr. Sportsman I Medium (Sponsored by: Briggs & Stratton Motorsports): 1.) Barry Hartwell, 2.) Zach Boden Yamaha Heavy (Sponsored by: U.E.M.S.I.): 1.) Kevin Nelson, 2.) Nick Wagner, 3.) Brian Julien, 4.) Kyle Burow, 5.) Curt Hoegner, 6.) Scott Paape, 7.) Jason Shively, 8.) Todd Martin, 9.) Jerry Lockrey, 10.) Jacques Dresang ICA (Sponsored by: Coello Racing): 1.) Tom Mayr, 2.) Matt Krechel Day 2 - Sunday August 4, 2002 Briggs Medium (Sponsored by: S&M Kart Supply): 1.) Ryan Cassity, 2.) Matt Krechel, 3.) Shane Wright, 4.) Mitchell Gibson, 5.) Bryan Vought, 6.) Steve Kilsdonk, 7.) Aron Scalissi, 8.) Todd Hayes, 9.) Matt Bjornster, 10.) Mike Everson Formula Y Jr. (Sponsored by: Boyer Construction): 1.) Caleb Loniewski, 2.) Tony Jump, 3.) Matt Byrne, 4.) Doug Boyer, 5.) Peter Kielar, 6.) Ben Roberts, 7.) Jay Andreucetti, 8.) Chad Patch, 9.) Zach Emmons, 10.) Darin Marcus, 11.) Andrew Bealer, 12.) Chris Nelson, 13.) Joe King Rotax Max (Sponsored by: Intense Karting): 1.) Cale Wyse, 2.) Kevin Owen, 3.) Rick DeHaan, 4.) Brian Stitle Yamaha Jr. Sportsman SSX (Sponsored by: Streeter SuperStands): 1.) Jordan Johnson, 2.) Tim Megenbier, 3.) Jacob Little, 4.) Mark Krechel, 5.) Andrew Bealer, 6.) Josh Nevels Briggs Jr. Medium (Sponsored by: Power by Karl): 1.) Terry McDermott, 2.) BJ Anderson, 3.) Adam Brimmer, 4.) Kyle Gibson, 5.) RJ Steiner, 6.) Eric Akre, 7.) Andrew Coulter, 8.) Jared Anders, 9.) Alex Pezzolla Spec 100 SBX (Sponsored by: Kart Racing Technologies): 1.) Kevin Nelson, 2.) John Barnard, 3.) John Zartarian HPV Jr. (Sponsored by: KartsLtd.com): 1.) Caleb Loniewski, 2.) Darin Marcus, 3.) Doug Boyer, 4.) Matt Byrne, 5.) Doug Della, 6.) Joe Gynn, 7.) Mike Wittenburg, 8.) Zach Emmons, 9.) Mark Sobczyk, 10.) Joe King, 11.) Zach Riddle Yamaha Lite (Sponsored by: Mark Coats Racing): 1.) Jayson Eschrich, 2.) Tony Loniewski, 3.) Kelsi Guess, 4.) Corey Reeves, 5.) Ryan Stewart, 6.) Mike Dittmer, 7.) Chris Cantagalio, 8.) David Cox Briggs Jr. Sportsman II Lite (Sponsored by: Pro Karting Kart Shop): 1.) Derek Kozak, 2.) Chris Rauguth, 3.) Matthew O'Leary, 4.) Ben Bacon, 5.) Joey Konrath HPV Heavy (Sponsored by: TMW Competition): 1.) Jacques Dresang, 2.) John Barnard, 3.) Martin Keck, 4.) Nick Wagner, 5.) Kelsi Guess, 6.) Chad Jump, 7.) Blake Kilby, 8.) Brian Julien, 9.) Stacy Kelly, 10). Jeremy Struss, 11.) Mike Mueller US 820 Sr. (Sponsored by: Shiddy Reeds): 1.) Lance Hancock, 2.) Sean Sullivan, 3.) Kyle Hancock, 4.) Matt Cudnoske, 5.) Mike French, 6.) Jeff Sobczyk, 7.) Eric Schutt, 8.) Jacques Dresang Kid Karts (Sponsored by: The Flatout Group): Scott Woekener, JT Lewis, Graham Schneider, Dillon Johnson, Mario Nigro, Tyler Nichelson, Eric Sutchliffe