Some surprises, some not at Badger By Mike 'Speed' Weaver DOUSMAN, WI - Cooler temperatures greeted racers on Sunday May 4th as yet another low-pressure system hit Wisconsin. Even those who practiced on Saturday had to make plenty of adjustments in order to cope with the new cooler weather. These types of radical weather changes tend to favor the veterans who knew enough to adjust for it. This proved to be true as quite a number of veteran drivers won their features continuing their no-loss streak in 2003. Mike Fuchs in Yamaha Heavy once again crushed the field winning by over four seconds. Fuchs is a past champion and has not yet lost a feature this season. Mike Landeck Jr. has accomplished the same in Briggs Heavy. Landeck has won every feature and this week added to his winning streak by beating 2nd place Joe Schaffer by over 6 seconds. Steve Mente also won again in Sr. Sportsman Heavy. However, this week he had pressure from Howie Hanisch who shadowed his every move. However, Mente would drive a flawless race, not allowing Hanisch any opportunity to get by. In Briggs Jr. Sportsman, last year's Most Improved Driver winner Tommy Anderson demonstrated why he won the prestigious award. He led from flag-to-flag in the feature, but not without competition. Steven Wirtz was all over Anderson the entire race. But Anderson was able to hold him off and take the checkers for the win. The big surprise of the day came in HPV Sr. when the field entered turn 3 on the first lap. The leader Jesse Schwabe got turned sideways and collected 2nd place Mike Mueller. This led to a 6-kart pile-up as karts came barreling in two-by-two. Scott Kalish was the only kart in the first 3 rows to miss the melee and it proved to be the winning move. When Kalish crossed the start-finish line for lap 1, he was already twenty kart-lengths in front of 2nd place Dan Mussa. John Skowron was also able to miss the ìbig oneî and ended up in third about 10 kart lengths behind Mussa. When the checkers finally flew, thatís how they finished ñ Kalish, Mussa and Skowron. In 125cc Shifter, 2002 champion Alex Schuerrell seemed to be off to another big win. He jumped to a huge lead on lap 1 over Brian Julien. However, on lap 3, Schuerrell began having motor problems forcing him to retire. This allowed Julien to take the lead and never look back. Julien kept pressing and continued to pull away from 2nd place Chris Alby and 3rd place Randy Reichardt. By the time the checkered flag flew, Julien would win his first 125cc feature by over 20 kart lengths over Alby and Reichardt. One of the better races of the day occurred in the Sr. Sportsman Lite feature. Mark Jung jumped out to an early lead. Regan Vehring and Matt Cota both started near the tail-end of the field due to a heat-race crash. But they quickly made their way through the field. Cota got by Vehring for 2nd with 2 laps to go and set his sites on Jung. As they both came through the last corner, Cota was almost close enough to strike, but just couldnít get Jung who drove flawlessly out of the last turn. They raced to the checkers with Jung taking the win. For more stories, pictures and information on racing at Badger Raceway check out the Badger Kart Clubís website at www.badgerkartclub.com. Results (May 4, 2003): 2 Cycle Jr. Sportsman: 1.) TJ Koyen, 2.) Ryan Schwister, 3.) Joey Adler Yamaha Heavy: 1.) Mike Fuchs, 2.) Terry Thomas, 3.) Mark Wozniak Briggs Heavy: 1.) Mike Landeck, 2.) Joe Schaffer, 3.) Tom Schroeder Briggs Jr. Sport: 1.) Tommy Anderson, 2.) Steven Wirtz, 3.) Jimmy Cline Jr Briggs Lite: 1.) Alex Stauber, 2.) Brian Weber, 3.) Heidi Olsen Jr Can: 1.) Jessica Brannam, 2.) Biance Schrieber, 3.) Jacob Eggeneier Briggs Animal Sr.: 1.) Erick Heling, 2.) David Koeferl, 3.) James Wilhelm Yamaha Lite: Bye Week Briggs Animal Jr.: 1.) Kelsey Bauer, 2.) Caitlin Tannis, 3.) Danny Corcoran HPV Sr.: 1.) Scott Kalish, 2.) Dn Mussa, 3.) John Skowron HPV Jr.: 1.) Nick Gillette, 2.) Zack Emmons, 3.) TJ Nevels Jr. SSX Can: 1.) Joe Brenner, 2.) Shelley Krzewskinski, 3.) Spencer Polacek 80cc Shifter Jr.: 1.) Josh Lane, 2.) Ronny Graham 125cc Shifter: 1.) Brian Julien, 2.) Chris Alby, 3.) Randy Reichardt Sr. Sportsman Lite: 1.) Mark Jung, 2.) Matt Cota, 3.) Regan Vehring Sr. Sportsman Heavy: 1.) Steve Mente, 2.) Howard Hanisch, 3.) Jeff Selz Jr. Briggs: 1.) Derek Crane, 2.) Grant Hoffmeister, 3.) Garret Wescott HPV Jr.: 1.) Zack Emmons, 2.) Nick Gillette, 3.) TJ Nevels