2003highland
 

September 27, 2003

   Highland Speedway held it’s last event for the 2003 season with a $5,000 to win race for the UMP Late Models. There were lots of cars in the pits, but Mother Natures had played tricks on the track and was trying to cause problems for this event. On Friday night, there was moisture falling in the area that dumped up to 2 inches on the track. On Saturday, she was threatening, but did not stop the program from getting in. The Friday night weather left the track in not so ideal condition and there were not good conditions for the racers. The track was rough, but fast.

   There were 28 cars in the UMP Late Model pits with 27 cars taking time trails. Kevin Weaver set the fast time at 12.756 and a new track record. He beat Mark Faust’s 2001 record of 12.993.

  In heat action, heat one went to Mark Faust over Kevin Weaver, Billy Faust, Justin Allgaier, Jason Setser and Rylan Dagg. In the second heat, Billy Drake took the win followed by Clay Bauman, Brad Loddeke, Matt Taylor, Frankie Martin, Tom Carson, and Len Garson. The third heat saw the victory go to Chad Zobrist with Rick Salter, Brian Shirley, Ron Sensel, Mark Gansmann, Dick Taylor, and Dan Jacober in tow. The final heat had Randy Korte take the win followed by Rodney Melvin, Shannon Babb, Michael Kloos, Jim Curry, and Vince Grondzki.

   The dash went to Drake over Korte, M. Faust, Zobrist, Weaver, Salter, Bauman, and Melvin. The semi sent Martin, Setser, Curry and Carson to the feature.

  The front row consisted of Drake and Korte. Korte jumped to the lead after a false start on the first attempt to start the 40-lap race. The second restarts sent Korte to the lead that he never gave up dissipate four caution periods.

  The first slow down came out on lap three for debris on the track. The running order was Korte, Drake, Zobrist, M. Faust, and Slater. Once the race restart, Korte continued to lead with Drake in pursuit. The pair were running the higher line on the track.

   Fifth running Salter caused the next slow down as he had a flat left rear tire and spun on the front straight. Salter was the first car out of the race. The running order was the same except now Weaver moved into the fifth spot.

  Cars started to drop out of the race like flies as 12^th starting Babb was the next car out as few laps after the restart when he ran over the inside burm in turn four. He decided not to continue for fear of doing more damage to the car.

   The next caution appeared on lap 8 for debris again on the track. The same running order restarted the race, as there was no lanes opening up for the cars to run and try to pass on.

  The final caution came out on lap 10 as Martin and Setser tangled on lap 10 sending Martin to the infield and out of the race.

  Korte had command of the race and was pulling away from Drake as the race went green to the checkered flag. Drake had second place in hand as third finishing Zobrist could not challenge him for second. Faust and Weaver raced one another through the later stages of the race with Faust getting fourth followed by Weaver to round out the top five.

   In the UMP Modified class, there were 24 cars on hand for the racing. In the first heat, Dave Thornton got the win over Roger Fohne, Matt Wiender, Brian Bielong, Todd Gailuis, Chris Smith, Doug McDougal, and Rick Weekly. In the second heat, Bobby Martintoni won with Mike Harrison, Ted Klause, Marty Smith, Kent Schoeck, Ed Lenhardt, Matt Verbeck, and Matt Koesterer in tow. In the third heat, Scott Sugg took the win followed by Steve Ellison, Mark Clary, Jim Werner, Matt Taylor, Doug Higginson, Blankenship and Roy Simmons. The dash went to Martintoni followed by Sugg, Thornton, Harrison, Ellison and Fohne. Harrison was moved back two spots for rough driving. The semi moved Clary, Higginson and McDougal to the feature.

   The front row of the 20-lap race consisted of Martintoni and Sugg. Martintoni took the lead, but could not hold it very long. This race was plagued by cautions that dragged the race on and on.

  The first caution came out after lap 1 for Bielong, when his car quit. The race restarted with Martintoni, Harrison, Sugg, Thornton, and Fohne in the top five.

  Harrison would take over the lead on lap 3 and never looked back though all the cautions that occurred.

  As in the Late Model feature, half of the starting cars fell out of the race. Harrison went on to win the last Modified feature of the season and was followed by Thornton, Werner, Martintoni and Taylor to complete the top five.

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Sept. 13, 2003

   At the Highland Speedway, the season championship races for the UMP Late Models and UMP Modifieds went held Saturday night. But the challenge was to beat Mother Nature as weather was in the area and several other tracks had closed due to the conditions.

  In the UMP Late Model division, there were 19 cars on hand for the event. In the first heat, Dick Taylor took the win followed by Mark Faust, Mike Schulte, Aaron Kleine, Lenny Garson, Dan Jacoer, Brent Helmkamp and Ryan Reinaker. In the second heat, Rick Salter took a hard win over Tom Cason, Frankie Martin, Chad Zobrist, Dan Dondero, Vince Grondzki, Rick Johnson, Scott Geaschel and Joey Garson. In the dash, Salter got the win with Taylor, Carson, Martin, Faust, and Schulte in tow.

  The feature started with the first ten spots lined up by points. That put Martin and Carson on the front row. Carson jumped out to the early lead with Martin, Zobrist and Salter in pursuit.

  The first caution came out on lap three for debris on the track. The running order was Carson, Zobrist, Martin, Salter and Faust in the top five.

  The next caution came out a lap later for Kleine’s spin out in turn two. The running order stayed the same.

  Carson continued to lead the race as the battle was being fought behind him for the other spots.

  On lap nine, Faust and Zobrist got together in turn four with Faust being tagged as the cause for the incident. The running order was Carson, Martin, Salter, Zobrist and Kloos.

  As the racing continued, Carson continued to lead, but Salter was on the forward movement and took second from Martin. The next caution came out as Faust spun in turn two and was the only car involved.

  Carson continued to lead the race on the restart with Salter and Martin in pursuit. The next slowdown occurred on lap 15 as Grondzki spun in turn two, but Kleine was charged with the caution and sent to the back.

   After the restart with Carson still leading, one lap was put in the books and then third running Martin spun in turn two with Zobrist running over his right front and continued. The running order was Carson, Salter, Zobrist, Kloos, and Taylor.

  Things started to change in the front running cars. Salter bobbled and lost three places. Zobrist took the lead from Carson on lap 23 and went on for the win. Following Zobrist were Carson, Kloos, Taylor, and Salter in the top five.

   In the UMP Modified class, there were 8 cars in the pits. In the first heat, Jim Werner took the win over Mike Harrison, Ray Walsh, Chad Sellers, Steve Eillison, Matt Weidner, Dave Smith and Doug McDougal. In the second heat, Brian Bielong got the win followed by Dave Thornton, Dean Hoffman, Scott Sugg, Marty Smith, Roger Fohne, Chris Smith, Matt Verbeck and Bobby Martintoni. In the dash, Bielong got the win with Thornton, Harrison, Hoffman, Walsh and Werner in tow.

  Points for the first five rows, also, lined up the feature. Harrison ans Martintoni were on the front row. Harrison jumped to the lead and never looked back in a caution free 20-lap race.

  Seventh starting Bielong moved though the field to get second to be the only car to get into the top five from a starting position outside the first three rows. Following Bielong was Werner, Sugg and Martintoni to complete the top five in a good fast race. All cars completed the race.    

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August 9, 2003....Highland, IL

  At Highland Speedway, there were double features to be run after Mother Nature only allowed half the program to run last week.

  In the makeup feature for the UMP Late Models, there were 18 cars in the starting field, but racing was something else. First off, the start was anything but smooth. It took three tries to finally get the race going as spins and contact stopped to beginning of the race.

  On the front row were Frankie Martin and Mark Faust. Once the race finally got under way, Faust took the lead with Martin and Carson in tow. A combination of drivers and track conditions lead to several caution and lots of cars dropping out.

  The first caution came on lap three when Brad Shelly and Dan Jacober got together in turn three. The running order was Faust, Martin Carson, Matt Taylor (28) and Aaron Kleine.

  After the race tried to continue, the next yellow flag waved on lap 5 for Dean Reinacher’s spin in turn two. The top five was now Faust, Martin, Taylor, Carson and Kleine.

  A few move laps were run before more action occurred. Coming out of turn four, Kleine got a little out of shape and was heading towards the wall. As he corrected, he caught Kerry Gaultney car and sent Gaultney into the front straight wall. Gaultney’s car was heavily damaged and done for the night. However, that was not the end of this incident, as Gaultney was upset with Kleine and he went after Kleine. This was added action on the track once Kleine came back around. Gaultney was asked to leave the speedway after his actions against Kleine.

  The running order was now Faust, Martin, Taylor and Carson. The racing resumed again, but due to the length of the race the laps were cut to 20 rather than 25. Faust continued to be the car to catch, but Taylor was using another groove and moving forward.

  The final caution came out for Kleine losing his drive shaft on lap 13. The action was not over as on the restart, Faust stopped on the track with transmission, rear end and drive shaft problems. This gave the lead to Taylor, who went on to take the checkered flag.

  Taylor was driving the 28 car for this victory. Martin, Steve Meyers, Carson and Dondero to round out the top five followed him. Ten of the starting cars did not complete the feature.

  In the UMP Modified makeup feature, the front row consisted of Brian Bielong and Bobby Martintoni. As did the Late Model race, this race could not get started as cars either spun or made contact. After four tries to get the race started, it was decided to start the race in single file. That got things going finally.

  Bielong got the jump in to the lead that he never gave up. The racing did not last too long as on lap 2, Kent Schoeck sup in turn three. The running order was Bielong, Martintoni, Sugg, Harrison and Taylor.

  Several laps were run before the top five order was altered. On lap seven Harrison made contact with Sugg coming out of turn four. Sugg had a left rear flat and was done, as was Harrison also out for the race. The running order now was Bielong, Martintoni, Taylor, Thornton, and Sellers.

  This feature was also shortened, as the normal 20-lap feature was now 15 laps. The final eight laps were run caution free and Bielong got the win over Martintoni, Taylor, Thornton and Seller.

   With 19 cars left to race, the regular night of racing took place. There were no time trails as the clock was broken the week before and had to be sent away for repairs. The heats were lined up by the draw.

   The first heat went to Michael Kloos over Randy Perkins, Steve Meyers, Tom Carson, Vince Grondzki, Dan Jacober, and Lenny Garson. The second heat saw the win go to Rick Standridge followed by Matt Taylor, Frankie Martin, Rick Salter, Rick Rhodes, and Brad Shelly. The third heat went to Mike Schulte followed by Aaron Kleine, Jim Morrison, Brent Kreke, Dan Dondero and Joe Garson. The dash saw the win go to Schulte over Taylor, Standridge, Perkins, Kloos and Kleine.

   The front row of Schulte and Taylor started the race, which continued to be 20 laps. Taylor jumped into the lead and never looked back. The race went green with no cautions.

  The racing was a lot better than the first feature as several cars made some good forward movement. 11^th starting Salter made some good moves to advance to second place. Ninth starting Morrison advanced to third. Pole starting Schulte finished fourth while eight starting Martin finished fifth.

  Drivers used top and bottom to race their way to the end. Only three cars dropped out of the race.

  In the UMP Modified class, there were 17 cars to compete. In the first heat, Jim Werner took the win followed by Bobby Martintoni, Roger Fohne, Steve Ellison, Mike Harrison, Chad Sellers, Matt Weidner, Dave Smith, and Kent Schoeck. In the second heat, Marty Smith took the victory followed by Dave Thornton, Scott Sugg, Matt Taylor, Todd Gailuis, Dave McDougal, Brian Bielong, and Mark Clary. In the dash, it was Smith with the win followed by Werner, Thornton, Martintoni, Sugg, and Fohne.

  The front row for the feature started with Smith and Werner. Werner took the lead and he never looked back.

  The race only lasted two laps before the first caution appeared for McDougal’s spin in turn one. The running order was Werner, Smith, Sugg, Taylor and Thornton. The race was not to be as it took two tries to get the race back under way as each time the restart was tried something happen to prevent the start.

  It was Werner’s race to lose as he continued to hold the lead. Smith and Sugg did all they could to get to the front.

  At the end of the 15-lap race it was Werner the winner. Following Werner was Sugg, Smith, Harrison and Martintoni to round out the top five.