BENNETT OUTLASTS GRIESBACH FOR SECOND FRRC WIN OF SEASON

KAUKAUNA, Wis. (July 21, 2022) – Braison Bennett continued to put the world of Super Late Model racing on notice Thursday night when he picked up his second Fox River Racing Club win of the season in the 35-lap feature at Wisconsin International Raceway.

Bennett secured the lead on lap 12 and held off some final charges from Grant Griesbach to cruise to the win.

“He was pretty fast,” Bennett said of Griesbach’s challenges.  “I had to change up my line a little bit. The car wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely fast tonight.”

The race got off to an adventurous start as front row starters Michael Anthony and Nick Van were involved in an incident exiting turn four on lap two.  Several cars were left scrambling behind, but no major incidents took place in the wake of the incident. Anthony suffered damage, bringing his race to an unfortunate early ending.

The restart left the field in the hands of Taylor Vandermoss and Randy Schuler. Vandermoss was able to outgun Schuler after a pair of laps and brought Bennett and Griesbach along into Second and Third by lap six.  Bennett started putting pressure on Vandermoss and gained the inside line on lap 11.  After a lap of side-by-side racing, he was able to grab the top spot.  Griesbach followed quickly into Second.

As the laps started to click away, Bennett built a strong advantage over Griesbach who was left to deal with the remainder of the Top Five. Sawyer Effertz made several challenges while sitting in Third, but had to worry about fast qualifier Dalton Zehr, Jeff VanOudenhoven, and Bobby Kendall.  A yellow with nine laps remaining then stacked the field.

Griesbach joined Bennett in the front row and kept right with him for the first few laps after the restart. Eventually Bennett inched away from Griesbach, who would look to mount one final challenge, but came up short.  Behind the lead duo VanOudenhoven maneuvered his way to Third with three laps to go, Bobby Kendall slid behind him on the way to a Fourth Place finish, and Zehr rounded out the Top Five.

RANDERSON TOPS LATE MODEL MAIN

Although the race was cut due to time constraints, Chase Randerson left no doubt that he was the strongest Late Model on Thursday night. After setting fast time earlier in the evening, Randerson wrestled the lead away from Nate Van Wychen on lap nine and went on to take his first win of the season.

The lead was exchanged several times in the first six laps.  Van Wychen eventually took the top spot on a lap six restart as something let go on Nathan Brantmeier’s machine the following lap, bringing a red flag for a cleanup. On the restart Van Wychen and Randerson squared off.

Randerson and Van Wychen raced furiously for the top spot, making contact in turn four on the way back to the line for lap nine. The contact appeared to cut the left rear tire of Van Wychen, who then spun entering turn one.

On the single-file restart Randerson ran away from the rest of the pack. Early-race leader Brady Baldry settled into Second, Bryan Monday survived the attrition in front of him to move to Third, Brian Henry was Fourth and JJ Vanderloop was behind him in Fifth. A final caution on lap 12 then brought the time limit and the end of the race. At this point Randerson was well ahead of the field and the rest of the Top Five were frozen into their spots for the finishing order.

CASAVANT SHINES AGAIN IN SUPER STOCKS

After several weeks of being plagued by bad luck, Andy Casavant found his way back to Victory Lane in the 20-lap Super Stock feature.  Casavant surged past early-race leader Shane Krueger on a lap-eight restart to grab the top spot and never look back.

In the opening laps Casavant, Cody Vanderloop, and Trevor Howard were charging through the field.  The racing within the Top Five was action-packed, but ended with Cody Vanderloop overshooting turn three on lap eight. It appeared either at tire went down or something broke on the machine on that lap which caused the incident.

On the following restart Casavant was able to grab the lead from the outside lane. He started to build his lead as both Ed and Trevor Howard challenged Krueger.  At the halfway point Trevor Howard and Krueger made contact exiting turn four. Although Krueger spun, Howard tapped out via the gentleman’s agreement, giving Krueger his spot back.

Casavant again jumped away on the restart and set sail for the win. Ed Howard finished Second, Kruger was Third, Mitch Meyerhofer finished Fourth, and Trevor Howard recovered to finish Fifth.

WAUTIER CLAIMS FIFTH WIN IN SPORT TRUCKS

Bobby Wautier continued to flex his muscle in the Wisconsin Sport Truck division, claiming his fifth 20-lap feature win of the season. Wautier and Cody Vanderloop separated themselves from the field after moving to the top two spots early in the race.  Although Vanderloop held close, he could not get within striking distance of Wautier.

Landon Braatz grabbed the lead on lap two and looked to distance himself from the field.  However, Wautier and Vanderloop sliced their way through the Top Five in the first five laps. On lap eight Wautier took the lead and Vanderloop followed one lap later.

The lead duo then set a blistering pace, leaving Braatz to deal with Jason VanHandel for Third. The only incident saw Braatz spin while racing with VanHandel for Third. However, he continued on, losing just a couple of spots.  Wautier and Vanderloop finished out the race by lapping the field up to Fourth position. Only VandHandel and Kylee Vandermoss remained on the lead lap. Braatz was able to recover to finish Fifth.

KLEIN COLLECTS ANOTHER SIZZLIN’ 4 WIN

Gavin Klein has proven to show good speed all season long in the Sizzlin’ 4 division. He was able to put together another strong race and captured his second 20-lap feature win of the season.

Dan Thompson led the early portions of the race as some of the quicker qualified cars tried to work their way through the field – including Klein and point leader Justin Fickel.

After a lap five caution that included Issac Therrien and Mitch Opsahl, Klein and Fickel closed in on Thompson.  After another restart on lap 8 both would move past Thompson and start to separate themselves in the battle for the lead.

A final restart with six laps to go saw Klein again get away from Fickel. Although Fickel held close, he was unable to challenge. Thompson finished Third, Ricky Kaufert was Fourth, and Tom Schweitzer was Fifth.

BANGART BREAKS THROUGH IN FIGURE 8S

Shaun Bangart had bad luck take a Figure 8 feature win away from him a couple weeks ago. This week, however, he could not be denied a trip to Victory Lane.

Bangart grabbed the lead early in the 13-lap feature, held off the late advances of Ethan Beattie and avoided a spun lapped car as the checkered flag fell.  Bangart was congratulated by his fellow Figure 8 racers in Victory Lane. Beattie was Second, and Russ Lorbiecki finished Third.

DEIDRICH RULES THE ROVAL

Drew Deidrich survived another wild night in the Rockin’ Roval division to pick up the win.  Deidrich stormed to the lead early and outlasted a high attrition rate to take the win.

NEXT WEEK…

Werner Electric presents next week’s Fox River Racing Club Thursday Night Thunder action at Wisconsin International Raceway. The Super Late Models, Late Models, Super Stocks, ¼-Mile Late Models, Wisconsin Sport Trucks, Sizzlin’ 4s, and Figure 8s are all on the card. Racing begins at 6:30pm.