Last year the Izzo family of Illinois brought the Lucas Oil Late Model Series to the Oshkosh Speedzone Raceway for the first time. The event was a colossal success that included a huge crowd, good racing and outstanding fields of cars, particularly in the support class which was the IMCA Modifieds.
So it came as no surprise when the Oshkosh event returned to the schedule for 2016 with a follow up on Saturday at the Izzo's own track, LaSalle Speedway in northern Illinois. So the entire troop of the Lucas Oil Series rolled into Oshkosh on Friday night, interrupting what has been kind of a dark time for the race track. Not that they have been having issues with their racing; nothing could be further from the truth. While they have raced only twice so far this season due to rainouts, their crowds have been good, fields have been fine and I'm told the racing has been good.
The issues have come off the track as there have been stories of the desire by some to level the race track and instead put in a huge stage area for concerts. Accusations have been flying back and forth between the track promoters, the County and the independent group proposing to build the concert site. The latest news was a statement by the concert group who announced that their proposal to build a stage would be on County land but just West of the race track so they would not infringe on the track or its activities. Fingers have now been pointed toward the County as the source of the excavation idea and a meeting has been proposed between the three ententes to sort through the claims and get to the facts and hopefully, reach an agreement that will work for all parties.
The Oshkosh Speedzone is a first class facility that matches up favorably with any track in the Midwest and no less than an authority than Mike Ruefer, who was on hand to shoot pictures for the event, calls Oshkosh one of the rare Cadillac facilities in the Midwest. Everything about the whole facility is first class and the hope is that all parties can work things out so that racing can continue and the entire facility can be used to the satisfaction for all.
Back on the track, thirty eight Lucas Oil Late Models signed in to race, with a combination of Lucas regulars, local competitors and some Illinois UMP racers that made a jail break across the border on Friday. Also on hand were the IMCA Modifieds and the local Street Stocks. Big numbers were on hand in those classes with thirty Streets and forty six Modifieds signing in to race.
All the Lucas Oil regulars were on hand except Steve Francis who according to Lucas Oil announcer James Essex was back in Kentucky attending his daughter's high school graduation. Emergency points were granted to him and he is expected to return to the tour at LaSalle on Friday.
As is his mantra, Scott Bloomquist was firmly wrapped in the drama and controversy of the night. "Bloomer" is frequently the last car to pull into the pits and he seems to enjoy getting a dig at the competition by rolling in at the last second, uploading the car and then going out and whipping up on the field. But he was running late on Friday, even by his standards. The word was he was stuck in heavy Friday traffic in either Chicago or Milwaukee, both places one doesn't want to have to travel through quickly on a Friday. Or perhaps he was just on a roll at the craps table. We may never know.
In any event, he rolled into the pits just as the Late Models were lining up to qualify and Lucas does have some strict rules about this. Bloomquist didn't get his car unloaded in time to get a qualifying lap so he had to start on the tail of a ten car heat race with only four making the show.
He picked the wrong night to try and pull this off as the track was very narrow during the heats and passing very tough. The best he could do was seventh and then he did make the show through a B feature.
But again, the track was still pretty narrow for the feature and starting twenty first, the best he could muster was a sixteenth place finish. In fact, at one point he was briefly lapped by A.J. Diemel before other lapped traffic allowed Bloomquist to race back on the lead lap. For a driver fighting his way into a battle for the Lucas points lead, he picked the wrong night to be negligent on his racing duties.
It was a great night for A. J. Diemel and he probably couldn't have picked a better location to win his first Lucas Oil career feature. A.J. is orginally from eastern Wisconsin and was born and raised not far from the Oshkosh area. The Shawano Speedway was where he learned how to race and many of the fans at the track on this night remember him learning his racing skills on that half mile oval. He drove one of many cars supported by Mike Seubert back then and when Shawano ran both crate and spec Late Models, Diemel was "King of the Crates"and even contending for national honors a couple of times.
Diemel went to college at U.W. Stout in Menomonie and played football there. And A.J. was a big lineman, not some slight wide receiver. A couple of other well known grads of U.W. Stout include Jimmy and Chris Mars and that is where these three met up. After the Mars Brothers decided they were going to make their living building and repairing race cars and their shop got too busy for them to handle, they needed more help and Diemel was a logical choice to head up their shop and also race for them although A.J. does line up his own sponsors for the cars he drove.
So A.J. and his wife Meghan moved to the western part of the state and the rest, as they say, is history. A.J. brought his knowledge about the Rocket chassis to the organization but eventually they decided to focus on their own MB Customs and in recent years the Modified portion of the business has been off the charts in sales and repairs. Interestingly, Meghan is a free lance writer that has crafted articles for many publications and is now also the Editor of ALL THE DIRT RACING NEWS, the offical race paper for WISSOTA.
Diemel was fast from the start Friday, qualifying quickest in group B and then getting a big heat race win over Jonathan Davenport that secured the front row for the feature. Diemel took off like a shot on the green and built up nearly a straightaway advantage over the field as he worked through the middle of the track. Near the halfway point the track started to take rubber and Diemel started struggling to find the groove. Chris Simpson used this opportunity to close and he nearly got under Diemel a couple times as A.J. worked to find the low groove and deal with lapped traffic that he had caught.
However, he found his groove and maintained a small lead and the was helped when the lone yellow flew with thirty four laps complete.
On the green, A.J. once again pulled away to a sizable advantage, handled a couple laps cars near the end and drove on for the win which was hugely popular for the fans. Jared Landers, pole sitter Tim McCreadie and Brandon Sheppard completed the top five. It was not a classic race nor Oshkosh's best effort to be certain, but the race was a hit for the many fans cheering the home state driver on.
While the Late Model feature didn't scintillate, the support classes stepped up to the plate and provided two solid main events of their own. In fact, without doubt, the Modified feature was the race of the night. Twenty four cars went thirty laps, they were three wide on the white flag, two wide at the checkered, there was only one yellow flag and winner Benji LaCrosse, who edged out Marcus Yarie in a race so close I incorrectly identified the winner, came from twentieth for the win!
While the Late Models couldn't move up the track track, there were some in the Modifieds who were able to move to the high side of the track, LaCrosse primarily and he slowly but doggedly worked his way to the front. R.C. Whitwell got the jump on his car owner, Mike Wedelstadt and led most of the race but LaCrosse and Yarie, who started tenth, gradually caught him at the end when he started to slow. They split him on the back chute for the lead, and coming to the white flag they were side by side. Yarie seemed to have the slightest of leads coming out of the last corner but LaCrosse used to top side to gain just enough to score the win by the narrowest of margins, and make for one of the best races seen to date this year.
The Street Stocks did just about as well, with their twenty car field only triggering one yellow flag also. Winner Steve Ecker started twelfth and made the winning pass with only a couple laps to go. The Streets were legitimately three and four wide all during their race and that is why it was so disappointing to see that the Late Models could only run right on the hub. But that frequently happens with those wide and soft tires.
In any event, I don't think anyone went home upset that they didn't get their monies' worth. A huge crowd was on hand and all racing was completed before 10:30 p.m. This is an event and a track that everyone should make sure they see. Their weekly Friday night events pack the pit area as they have one of the biggest weekly Modified counts of any track in the Midwest along with some other excellent support classes including the Streets.
Thanks to the Izzo family for their assistance on this night. They really hit on a brilliant strategy when they brought this event to this track last year and they continue to mine the rewards of their sharp thinking. The "Valley" and southeastern Wisconsin are fertile racing grounds and if the good events are brought to the fans, they will support those events.
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