GANZ AND FOSS COLLECT COMEBACK WINS DURING WEEK 3 ACTION AT MISSISSIPPI THUNDER SPEEDWAY!

May 13, 2011

By Tracy Hager
FOUNTAIN CITY, WI (May 13, 2011) – WISSOTA Street Stock driver Donny Ganz made a complete turnaround from last week’s last place in the feature to top dog as he grabbed his first winner’s sticker of the season at Mississippi Thunder Speedway. Keith Foss also turned the tables from last week to take in a clean sweep in the USRA Modifieds.

Ben Anderson topped the 19-car field of USRA B-Mods while Dennis Earney made it two for three in the WISSOTA Super Stock division.

The Jailhouse Saloon WISSOTA Street Stocks showed their speed and hot competition early on as Donny Ganz took a short lead over Richard Weir and Mike Knudtson. Fred Prudoehl and Shaun Mann shot up to the top five while Danny Richards charged hard into turn four and into Danny Hanson early on. A caution resulted which sent Hanson pitside and Richards to the rear of the field. Ganz assumed the point on the restart but it was short lived when the second caution flew for a scuffle of cars in turn two. Jane Keating turned to stay clear of the others cars, over corrected and her car made a sharp jump up but stayed rubberside down. Ganz again took the lead followed by Knudtson, Mann, Weir, and Prudoehl. With seven down, a tight pack of cars raced up front as Weir was shuffled back to seventh place. Mann managed to slip around Knudtson for second place behind Ganz as Prudoehl fought off the return of Richards into the top five. The top seven cars remained at an even pace for a brief time when Mann, Knudtson, and Prudoehl charged together in turn four which allowed Richards the chance to move to third place behind Ganz and Mann. Ganz continued his strong hold on the lead and made the happy trip to victory lane. Mann, Richards, and Prudoehl finished third, fourth, and fifth respectively while Knudtson nipped the hard-charging Ryan Henderson at the line for fifth by inches.

Jacob Bleess led the EngineStore.com USRA B-Mods for their feature event and was tailed by Ben Anderson and Shaun Walski. Erik Kanz and Brandon Hare raced for fourth as Troy Langowski moved into sixth followed by Alex Williamson. Walski dove into second place behind Bleess, but Anderson made a cut through to take the spot from Walski. With five laps down, Anderson snatched the lead from Bleess which left Bleess to fight off Walski and Kanz. A caution realigned the field with Anderson ahead of Bleess, Walski, Kanz, and Hare. Kanz made a grand surge into second place as Hare followed into third. It was short-lived as Hare took second place from Kanz. Walski and Langowski raced for fourth, and with nine laps down, Hare knocked on Anderson’s door for the lead. Hare took over the lead and left Anderson to chase him down. With 12 laps down, a caution for a car in the backstretch wall reset the field with Hare out front followed by Kanz, Anderson, Langowski, and Walski. Hare had to outrun the rest on the restart, and Anderson was able to get under Kanz for second place. Langowski made a charge to third, but then a three-way battle between Langowski, Troy Hovey, and Kanz ensued for the spot. A couple more cautions tossed in resulted in a single-file restart with 13 laps down. Anderson gained the lead over Hare as Langowski remained very strong and took over second place. Langowski was on a mission and began to fight for the lead with Anderson. The white flag flew, but a caution set up a green-white-checkered finish. Anderson made the most of it and took the win. Langowski was not far behind crossing in second followed by Hare, Broszeit, and Hovey.

The 16-car field of Winona Auto Sales WISSOTA Super Stock hit the track for their feature, and hit the track it was for Curt Hazelton in his first show at MTS. After some synchronized spinning in turn two, as cars avoided the spins, Hazelton appeared to overcorrect and flipped on his lid. Hazelton was reportedly uninjured as he headed to the pits on the hook. A complete restart set Kevin Hager and Gary Wiersgalla ahead of Darrel Hazelton and Jeff Brauer. Wiersgalla shot to the front while Hager and Hazelton kept right on Wiersgalla. At the end of the first lap, nearly four-wide racing ensued. Hazelton grabbed the lead from Wiersgalla as Kelly Anderson took over third from Hager. Cautions two and three were close together and on the restart, Hazelton continued to lead Anderson, Dennis Earney, Wiersgalla, and Ben Hillman. More four-wide racing resulted in Hillman jetting into third place behind Hazelton and Earney, but Earney did not stop at second as he used the high groove to take over the lead. Hillman moved under Hazelton for second while Anderson, Brauer, and Hager followed in spots four, five, and six. Earney continued in the lead, but Hillman gained considerably as Anderson and Hazelton raced each other for third place. Hillman swooped like a fighter jet behind Earney checking out his options to take the lead. On lap 17, Hillman made the charge under Earney for the lead. Anderson, Hazelton, and Brauer followed in the top five as the white flag flew. Earney made a dash back under Hillman for the lead as the two raced side by side. As Earney and Hillman rounded turn four, Earney gained less than half a car length on Hillman to take the win. Anderson, Hazelton, and Brauer rounded out the top five in a thrilling finish.

In a big roar, the River City Manufacturing USRA Modified feature took off with Josh Mattick and Jay Ihrke out front. Ihrke appeared to be the dominating force early on as he took a big lead over Mattick, Shane Wehrs, and Keith Foss. Foss then shot under Wehrs into third while Josh Angst and Wehrs traded spots for fourth place. Ihrke gained a big lead quick, but just as quick he was reeled back in when a caution reset the field. Cautions breed cautions, and this race was no exception. Cautions two and three occurred quickly with only three laps down. A scuffle in turn one resulted in multiple DNFs and a lengthy clean up. After the cleanup was complete, Ihrke headed to another big lead over Foss and Wehrs. John Doelle and Angst raced for fourth place while Foss gained ground to race side by side with Ihrke for the lead. Wehrs wanted in on the action and charged into second place behind Foss. At the half-way mark of the race, Foss led the pack followed by Wehrs, Ihrke, and Angst. Josh Mattick regained his composure and climbed back into the top five to race with Doelle and then closed in on Angst for third place. Lucas Schott slowly crawled into sixth place behind Doelle. Foss turned it into two feature wins out of three nights at MTS. Wehrs placed a solid second in his first show at MTS this season followed by Angst, Josh Mattick, and Schott.

The IRA 410 Sprints, sponsored by Winona Radio and Budweiser, will make their first appearance at Mississippi Thunder on Friday, May 20th. WISSOTA Street Stocks, USRA B-Mods, and USRA Modifieds will join the racing action. Be sure to keep up on all that is happening at MTS and visit www.mississippithunder.com.

MAY 13TH - RESULTS

River City Manufacturing USRA Modifieds

Feature - Keith Foss, Shane Wehrs, Josh Angst, Josh Mattick, Lucas Schott, Ben Mattick, Jay Ihrke, Andy Bohnstengel, John Doelle, Steve Lavasseur, Ryan York, Randy Jonsgaard, Bob Timm, Hank Rollinger Jr., Jake Timm, Bob Fort, Mike Gibson, Ron Konkel, Thomas Brink, LeRoy Scharkey
Heat 1 - Ihrke, Bohnstengel, B. Timm, Rollinger, Gibson, Brink, Lavasseur
Heat 2 - York, Doelle, Angst, J. Mattick, J. Timm, Jonsgaard, Fort
Heat 3 - Foss, Konkel, Schott, Wehrs, B. Mattick, Scharkey

Winona Auto Sales WISSOTA Super Stocks

Feature - Dennis Earney, Ben Hillman, Kelly Anderson, Darrel Hazelton, Jeff Brauer, Tommy Richards, Kevin Hager, Bart Steffen, Josh Rodewald, Jay Oricchio, Gary Wiersgalla, Jon Duffy, Bob Fort, Lucas Plank, Shane Kisling, Curt Hazelton
Heat 1 - Kisling, Wiersgalla, Plank, Earney, Hillman, C. Hazelton, Fort, Richards
Heat 2 - Anderson, Brauer, Hager, D. Hazelton, Steffen, Duffy, Rodewald, Oricchio

The Engine Store.com USRA B Mods

Feature - Ben Anderson, Troy Langowski, Brandon Hare, Jimmy Broszeit, Troy Hovey, Greg Mattick, Nick Frion, Scott Demmer, Parker Hale, Tyler Creeley, Chad Kosidowski, Jacob Bleess, Alex Williamson, Brandon Reutzel, Matt Appel, Shaun Walski, Aaron Haggerty, Erik Kanz, Jack Baehman
Heat 1 - Kanz, Broszeit, Bleess, Williamson, Baehman, Appel, Mattick
Heat 2 - Walski, Anderson, Hovey, Creeley, Haggerty, Reutzel
Heat 3 - Hare, Demmer, Langowski, Frion, Hale, Kosidowski

Jailhouse Saloon WISSOTA Street Stocks

Feature - Donny Ganz, Shaun Mann, Danny Richards, Fred Prudoehl, Mike Knudtson, Ryan Henderson, Richard Weir, Jesse Lutz, Lee Hager, Lonnie Klonecki, Danny Hanson, Matt Wolfe, Nick Schwebach, Jane Keating
Heat 1 - Prudoehl, Knudtson, Henderson, Weir, Hager, Schwebach, Keating
Heat 2 - Richards, Hanson, Ganz, Mann, Wolfe, Lutz, Klonecki

Oak Ridge Fabrication 600 Mods

Feature - Jeff Matejka, Charlie McNally, Bill Baures, Don Werner, Joe Jasnoch, Curtis Luhmann, John Griffin, Bruce Schmitt, Nicholas Wagner, Brett LaDuke, Greg Wohletz, Rick Ziebell, Jeridiah Welti
Heat 1 - Matejka, Baures, Werner, McNally, Schmitt, Wagner, LaDuke
Heat 2 - Jasnoch, Griffin, Luhmann, Wohletz, Ziebell, Welti

Sunshine Sanitation A Mini Mods

Feature - Dylan Buckland, Mike Stevens, Spencer Ihrke, Jackson Hale, Alex Stevens, Jeridiah Welti
Heat 1 - Buckland, M. Stevens, Ihrke, A. Stevens, Hale, Welti

Sunshine Sanitation B Mini Mods

Feature - Matthew Stevens, Keagan Einck, Nate Becker, Devin Williamson, Jeremy Werner
Heat - Einck, Stevens, Williamson, Becker, Werner