2005lasalle.htm

Miller is the "Thriller" at Illinois Valley 50 at LaSalle

By: Betty Glynn

LaSalle, IL - Darren "The Thriller" Miller claimed the first ever WORLD Dirt Racing League PolyDome Late Model Series sanctioned race at LaSalle Speedway on Sunday night. The Chadwick, IL driver was on top of his game when he showed up for the season finale and drove off with the $5,000 top prize.

When the green dropped, Miller took advantage of his front row outside start and powered into the lead over the pole sitter, Wisconsin’s Eric Pember. Miller, dubbed "The Thriller" by his fans and Pember charged around the high banked super ring at record speeds and started putting the competition a lap down by the end of the fourth lap on the circuit.

The action was just heating up when Wisconsin’s George Scheffler found himself out of control and spun during Lap 12. Trying to return to the track from the infield he charged into the machine of LaSalle’s Mike Glynn and then into Bloomington’s Jason Feger who ended his journey slamming hard into the front stretch concrete barrier.

On the restart, another caution halted the pace as Iowa’s Dave Eckrich stopped with a flat. Shortly after the green was granted, Pember took off on command as Jimmy Mars also of Wisconsin and Miller traveled three wide with him until Miller used the low line to grab the lead back on Lap 17.

Once in power, Miller cruised through the clay for the last half of the event as if he was walking on thin air. Dodging lapped traffic became too easy as he found himself lapping the same cars multiple times.

While Miller and Mars were traveling around from a front start, another Wisconsin driver was making his mark. Kerry Hansen started with a mere two cars behind him on the grid but managed to stay focused and headed straight to the front of the field.

For many it was believed that Hansen was a lap down when in reality he was driving fast forward and into an impressive third place finish.

Miller was the only driver hailing out of Illinois in the top eleven finishers while the badger state boasted three drivers in the top ten.

Crossing the line after Miller, was Mars who had won at the speedway in his last visit early in the season. Hansen took third ahead of Iowa’s Chad Simpson, Pember, John Anderson of Nebraska, Minnesota’s Justin Fegers, Brady Smith of Wisconsin, Kyle Berck of Nebraska, Dave Eckrich, Missouri’s Chris Smyser, Tonica’s Eric Dauber, Marseilles John Provenzano, Benseville’s Frank Reaber, Jim Letizia of Wisconsin, and Bill Koons of Nebraska as the last competitors finishing.

Drivers not finishing the race were Glynn in seventeenth over, Jay Fiene of West Chicago, current WDRL points leader Denny Eckrich of Iowa, Kirkland’s TJ Markham, Brian Harris of Iowa, Tony Izzo Jr. of Utica, Feger and Scheffler.

A passing points system is used to determine starting positions throughout the nights preliminary events. Quite simply a luck of the draw, or click of the mouse, in this case is based quite clearly on luck.

Normally, the Late Model drivers for the regular shows at LaSalle Speedway earn their positions based on timed qualifications but in the WDRL Series they hold qualifier races based on their draw at registration.

There is a set number of points distributed for the finishing position and additional points if a driver passes any cars on his way to the finish.

To clarify questions regarding the format the following excerpt was posted by Tom Lathen the Director of Marketing and Media for the WDRL Series.

"The system is pretty simple. As I mentioned throughout the night last evening, the drivers, first of all, receive points for where they finish their qualifier - 59 for first place, 55 for second place, 51 for third place, and so on. Additionally, each driver receives 1.76 points for every position advanced during the qualifying race. The top 18 locked up positions in the feature race, with the top eight being inverted for the pole dash. nothing becomes official until the results are placed into the computer in the WDRL trailer and the report is generated."

In early action, Dave Eckhrich won the first qualifier race over Chad Simpson, Denny Eckrich, and George Scheffler. Justin Fegers won the second with Eric Dauber, John Provenzano and Jim Letizia trailing. The third qualifier event was taken by Jimmy Mars as Eric Pember, Frank Reaber and Kyle Berck followed. The final qualifier race was collected by Chris Smyser in front of Darren Miller, Mike Glynn and Brian Harris.

Pember won the pole dash race.

Oglesby’s Nick Sell charged his way from fifth to win the Street Stock’s final special of the season.

Fifteen drivers were on hand to compete for the $500 feature race. Immediately after green Tom Otrembiak took control as Steve Dimmick, John Peterson and Chuck Provenzano fell in line behind him.

By Lap 4, Sell was on the move and in third. Four laps later there was a four wide battle with Otrembiak, Dimmick and two lapped cars when contact ended Otrembiak’s lead. For the restart Dimmick now held the point but not for long as Sell charged after the green. One lap later he took over to take home the victory.

At the checkers, it was Dimmick in the second place with Bill Clemmons third, Provenzano fourth and Otrembiak came back for a fifth place finish. The finishing order for positions sixth through ten were John Peterson, Mike Hughes, Steve Schweimelein, Jeff Small and Doug Ray.

Twenty one Hornets showed up for the final support class. Geno Kalb won over Dave Roggy, Rob Hammitt, Karl Hayes, Justin Rutledge, Tim Faust, Kristina Brown, Jeff Anderson, David Knapp and Ryan Johnson.

First Qualifier Race: Dave Eckrich, Chad Simpson, Denny Eckrich, George Scheffler, Brady Smith, Jason Feger, Joe Burba, John Hampel, Scott Cramer, Jerry Pitts

Second Qualifier Race: Justin Fegers, Eric Dauber, John Provenzano, Jim Letitzia, TJ Markham, Kerry Hansen, Chris Simpson, David Tuft, John Anderson

Third Qualifier Race: Jimmy Mars, Eric Pember, Frank Reaber, Kyle Berck, Jay Fiene, Garrett Slager, Tom Markham, Rich Bell, Reno Markham

Fourth Qualifier Race: Chris Smyser, Darren Miller, Mike Glynn, Brian Harris, Tony Izzo Jr., Turk Letizia, Mike Provenzano, Bill Koons, Tim Lance

Pole Dash: Eric Pember, Darren Miller, Chad Simpson, Jimmy Mars, Justin Fegers, Dave Eckrich, Chris Smyser, Eric Dauber

Feature: Darren Miller (32D), Jimmy Mars (29), Kerry Hansen (25H), Eric Pember (90X), John Anderson (1K), Justin Fegers (F15), Brady Smith (2), Kyle Berck (14), Dave Eckrich (58), Chris Smyser (25S), Eric Dauber (22), John Provenzano (7), Frank Reaber (F7), Jim Letizia (D7), Bill Koons (0K), Mike Glynn (K9)-DNF, Jay Fiene (72)-DNF, Denny Eckrich (50)-DNF, TJ Markham (21M)-DNF, Brian Harris (21H)-DNF, Tony Izzo Jr. (21)-DNF, Jason Feger (25X)-DNF, George Scheffler (10S)-DNF

First Heat: Steve Dimmick, Chuck Provenzano, Bill Clemmons, Jay Mesachik

Second Heat: Tom Otrembiak, Nick Sell, John Peterson, Robert Schlappi

Feature: Nick Sell, Steve Dimmick, Bill Clemmons, Chuck Provenzano, Tom Otrembiak, John Peterson, Mike Hughes, Steve Schweimlein, Jeff Small, Doug Ray, Robert Schlappi, Mike Flanagan, Joe Jelinek, Barry Maricle, Jay Mesarchik

First Heat: Geno Kalb, Rob Hammitt, Tommy Cain, Scott Vanoppen

Second Heat: Tony Provenzano, Jeff Anderson, Dave Roggy, Karl Hayes

Feature: Geno Kalb, Dave Roggy, Rob Hammitt, Karl Hayes, Justin Rutledge, Tim Faust, Kristina Brown, Jeff Anderson, David Knapp, Ryan Johnson, John Schmidt, Scott Vanoppen, Jerrod Thomas, Rick Kuhn, Don Fox, Dustin Moine, Tony Provenzano, Tommy Cain, #5, #125, John Morehead

Dauber donates half of win to Katrina victims
Sept 3

By: Betty Glynn

LaSalle, IL - Tonica’s Eric Dauber showed what a virtuous champion he is on Saturday night at the LaSalle Speedway. After being crowned the Midwestern Late Model track champ and claiming the final race of the 2005 season Dauber finished at the top of his game in more ways then one.

Winning the coveted 100 lap race is an accomplishment all of its own but taking half of the $1,000 payday and donating it to the victims of the ravaged South was unmeasurable.

"I don’t race for the money," Dauber commented about his hobby. "Those people (Katrina victim) need the money more then I do, they have nothing left and here we are."

At the end of the Mautino sponsored event, Dauber’s evening was over with not one but two trophy’s in tow. The first trophy of the night was the MLM Track Championship one that stood nearly five feet tall the other held nearly as much meaning just in a smaller frame. Winning the long distance run of an additional seventy five laps is a feat all of its own.

Twenty two divers were on hand for the special event sponsored by Mautino’s in honor of their one hundred years in business. Granville’s Darin Furar came out with the fastest qualifying lap with a time of 13.577.

Next up was the division’s dash race where Reno Markham led the chase of his family as brother TJ and cousin Ralph finished behind him. Furar finished fourth setting the top starters for the feature grid.

Dauber came out to win the first heat race over Tim Hamburg, Doug Newlin and Rob Piper. The second heat race went to James Muetze with Shane Hill, Johnny Heath and Jason Bogle finishing after him.

For the main event, Reno was on the pole with TJ next to him as Ralph and Furar filled row two. On row three Joe Adam held the inside with John Piccatto on the outside.

The full field struggled to get the first few laps in as the start was plagued with cautions even from the first turn of lap number one. Before one of the early laps could be scored, TJ stole the lead from Reno but fell back in behind for one of the restarts and couldn’t seem to repeat his pass.

During Lap 12, the front runners of Reno, TJ and Furar were flying through the corners nose to tail. Furar used the inside to battle TJ for second. One lap later he took the spot and started his hunt for Reno.

Eight laps later the action was stalled again as Hamburg stopped near the pit exitway signaling another yellow. Before the restart he was able to make his way back in action but getting restarted was not so easy for a few cars who were involved in a pile up in turn two.

Right after green flag racing got underway, Furar flew to the lead but his dream of the win ended when he broke forcing himself to go pitside. A lap later, the third place runner Steve Oeder succumbed to a broken ride and ended his strong run on the back of a tow truck.

It became apparent that running up front was not necessarily the place to be as Reno was full throttle and leading with Ralph now in second over Heath when he broke and narrowly missed a visit with the barrier wall. Just after the restart of Lap 73, Ralph was in command when contact was made with Heath and the two were stopped as Ralph was facing the wrong direction.

Now it was Hamburg who had made his way back up front sitting on the point while Dauber held second over Tony Coglianese. With nine laps to go, Hamburg’s luck ran out ending his run on the one of the infield tires.

Dauber found himself battling with the lapped machine of TJ, who was trying to get his lap back, while second place runner Reno was too far away for a showdown.

Dauber claimed the race that could easily be dubbed the Midwestern Marathon while the only remaining finishers were Reno in second over Piccatto, Coglianese, Rob Piper, Brian Ray, and Aaron Schmitt.

Tony Izzo Jr. made a triumphant return to victory circle in the borrowed Late Model of Keith Piano on Saturday night. In his fourth showing in the #21 car he claimed fast time, third in his heat and won the feature event.

The Utica driver ended Mike Glynn’s winning streak of four consecutive wins during the final night of regular action at the speedway.

Fourteen competitors comprised the starting grid with Bart Schwartz and Mike Provenzano on the front row over Izzo and Glynn in row two.

Just after the green dropped, a caution slowed a three wide battle between Schwartz, Izzo and Provenzano. It was apparent early that Izzo was on a mission for the win and moved to the lead from the outside line.

Caution came out again during Lap 3 involving Frank Reaber, Schwartz and Skip Martin all three had damage but Martin returned to the rear the others were out of contention. Two laps later another caution came out for yet another three car pile up.

Izzo held on to the lead as Glynn worked the bottom with Tom Markham in third.

With Izzo taking home the win a mere six cars remained in action looking more like a heat race then a feature event. Glynn trailed in second over Markham, Martin, Joe Burba, and Joe Partipilo.

Reaber and Schwartz each won the heat races.

Chuck Provenzano led the Street Stock feature race flag to flag for a complete sweep of the class. Twelve Street’s lined up for the feature and only one caution stopped their pace during Lap 7.

Robert Schlappi took second over Tom Legner, Jay Mesarchik, Nick Sell, Billy Clemmons, Mike Flanagan, Bryan Legner, Mike Hughes, Jeff Small, Joe Jelinek and John Peterson.

Provenzano claimed the first heat while Schlappi took the second.

LaSalle Speedway Results

Qualifying: Tony Izzo Jr. 12.532

First Heat: Frank Reaber, Mike Provenzano, Mike Glynn, Travis Rokey

Second Heat: Bart Schwartz, Tom Markham, Tony Izzo Jr., Skip Martin

Feature: Tony Izzo Jr., Mike Glynn, Tom Markham, Skip Martin, Joe Burba, Joe Partipilo, Bill Clemmons, Jay Fiene, Mike Provenzano, Travis Rokey, John Clemmons, Bart Schwartz, Frank Reaber, Dan Thacker

Qualifying: Darin Furar 13.577

Dash: Reno Markham, TJ Markham, Ralph Markham, Darin Furar

First Heat: Eric Dauber, Tim Hamburg, Doug Newlin, Rob Piper

Second Heat: James Muetze, Shane Hill, Johnny Heath, Jason Bogle

Feature: Eric Dauber, Reno Markham, John Piccatto, Tony Coglianese, Rob Piper, Brian Ray, Aaron Schmitt, Robert Smeltzer, TJ Markham, Tim Hamburg, Johnny Heath, Ralph Markham, Doug Newlin, Shane Hill, Jerry Vance, Joe Adam, Steve Oeder, Darin Furar, James Muetze, Wally Forsythe, Mark Jilbert, Jason Bogle

First Heat: Chuck Provenzano, Tom Legner, Nick Sell, John Peterson

Second Heat: Robert Schlappi, Jay Mesarchik, Mike Flanagan, Mike Hughes

Feature: Chuck Provenzano, Robert Schlappi, Tom Legner, Jay Mesarchik, Nick Sell, Bill Clemmons, Mike Flanagan, Bryan Legner, Mike Hughes, Jeff Small, Joe Jelinek, John Peterson
 

Glynn’s Streak Continues; Markham Charges to Victory at LaSalle Speedway

By: Betty Glynn

LaSalle, IL - For Mike Glynn, racing is as synonymous with summer as Lil’ John Provenzano is to idols. As the summer comes to an end the LaSalle Speedway’s 2005 season is wrapping up but this year Glynn has achieved a sought after goal.

The Late Model driver hails out of LaSalle and has passed one of his favorite drivers through the years but never en route to victory lane where he first became a fan of Provenzano.

"At the end of the race, I went over to John and told him how good it felt to beat my idol," Glynn said of their conversation. "His response, with a smile, was don’t make a habit of it."

The camaraderie between drivers is quite common especially when you grow up with racing flowing deep in your veins and have drivers you aspire to beat.

The Marseilles veteran has earned many track championships with his competitive edge and if there were a gauge to measure smart driving Provenzano would rank up there.

"I have so much respect for John and always have."

For the 25 lap feature grid, it was Kirkland’s Tom Markham on the pole with Provenzano holding the outside position. West Chicago’s Jay Fiene was following on the second row inside with John’s son Mike as his partner. Tonica’s Ryan Dauber and Frank Reaber of Bensenville were on the grid in row three.

Shortly after the momentum picked up, contact between leaders Markham and Fiene ended with Fiene in the rear of the field for the restart.

Several restarts of Lap 2 kept slowing the pace. When the action finally got underway, Markham was at the point with Lil’ John on his tail. On the back stretch John made his move and took over the lead with Markham now holding off Glynn.

Glynn looked like he had Markham but the yellow put them back in single file. Just after the lights turned green, Glynn made his move around Markham and started his hunt for the leader. During Lap 7, Glynn moved to a higher line but another caution stopped the run and showed Provenzano where he was headed.

Two laps later, Glynn again took him on from the outside and the two battled back and forth for a couple of laps until Glynn pulled away.

Quite a few more cautions would bring the pack back together but each time Glynn and John were in their own zip code. Markham kept his solid run in third going the entire distance as Martin worked his way into fourth over Reaber and Mike Provenzano. Streator’s Dan Thacker followed in seventh.

At the checkers, it was Glynn collecting the trophy for the fourth time. John finished runner up as Markham narrowly held off Martin for third. Reaber was fifth ahead of Mike Provenzano, Thacker, Ritchie Bell, Keith Piano, Ed Williams and Gary Hunt.

During earlier action, brothers Ryan and Eric Dauber of Tonica each traveled the quickest laps in their divisions for the fast time honors. Ryan in super Lates while Eric held the best time in Midwestern Late qualifying.

For the first Late Model heat race, John beat his son Mike with Travis Rokey and Reaber trailing. Markham held back a convincing run by Fiene to win the second heat. Glynn finished third with Bell in fourth.

The Midwestern Late Model feature action was not entirely full throttle racing as the division has the potential to be. Under the glow of a full moon, it was quite apparent that sheet metal suppliers would need to be on speed dial for many of the machines when the final lap was completed.

The twenty-five lapper was more then many could bear as it became a score keepers nightmare. Maintaining positions was difficult as the yellows compounded with drivers leaving the competition only to return several laps following.

For the line up grid, it was Mick Miller sitting next to Brian Ray on the front row. Behind the two was Dan Thryselius and Mark Jilbert over Tony Coglianese and John Piccatto.

Miller wasted little time taking command as Thryselius moved low for second. The first two laps was much more then two circles around the highbanks as the sixteen car field just couldn’t get it together.

During Lap 14, hard contact was made after Ralph and Mick connected. Ralph and Darin Furar then hit hard with TJ Markham becoming a victim as well. Both Furar and TJ found themselves out of the running and pitside.

Mick led much of the event until Lap 18 when he and Jilbert traded paint and Miller left the track. At this juncture only nine cars were still present. For the restart, Jilbert now sat at the lead with Ralph, Eric, Streator’s Shane Hill and Coglianese following.

Ralph continued his hard charge and passed Jilbert on the backstretch.

Coming through the final turn Hill and Jilbert tangled with Jilbert sacrificing his front finish campaign.

Ralph ended the night looking like the evening had taken its toll on his sheet metal but he took home the top honors for the third time this season. Eric Dauber was second over Hill, Piccatto, Jilbert, Jack Benson, Miller, Ray, Vance, Dave Miller and Coglianese.

Mick and Hill each won the divisional heat contests.

Several complete restarts in the Midwestern Sportsman slowed the seven car field but once green Magnolia’s Scott Cimei took control and never looked back.

Cimei made a clean sweep in his quest for his fifth season victory.

Cimei outdistanced himself for the feature win as Jake Patterson followed in second ahead of Aaron Schmitt, Chuck Leason, and Ed Scarpardine.

Ottawa’s Al Gray won his fourth Stock feature in a row making the win his sixth thus far for the season. Sitting on the pole Gray had Oglesby’s Nick Sell on the outside starting spot.

Gray and Sell each earned their heat wins but tangled early in the feature race ending any chance for Sell to give him a run.

At the end of the race it was Gray with the win. Robert Schlappi took second place over Jake Cholke. Steve Lewis crossed the finish line in fourth but was later disqualified. After him was Jim Kirkpatrick, Joe Jelinek, Jeff Small, Mike Stewart, Jay Mesarchik and Mike Hughes.

Next Saturday night, a full program is on the schedule with the Sportsman Special topping the venue in their last night of activity. The Street Stock and Sportsman Champions will be honored as well.

LaSalle Speedway Results

Qualifying: Ryan Dauber 12.989

First Heat: Lil’ John Provenzano, Mike Provenzano, Travis Rokey, Frank Reaber

Second Heat: Tom Markham, Jay Fiene, Mike Glynn, Ritchie Bell

Feature: Mike Glynn, Lil’ John Provenzano, Tom Markham, Skip Martin, Frank Reaber, Mike Provenzano, Dan Thacker, Ritchie Bell, Keith Piano, Ed Williams, Gary Hunt, Joe Partipilo, Don Bell, Bart Schwartz, Tim Hamburg, Jay Fiene, Joe Burba, Travis Rokey, Ryan Dauber

Qualifying: Eric Dauber 13.590

First Heat: Mick Miller, Brian Ray, Dan Thryselius, James Muetze

Second Heat: Shane Hill, TJ Markham, Ralph Markham, Eric Dauber

Feature: Ralph Markham, Eric Dauber, Shane Hill, John Piccatto, Mark Jilbert, Jack Benson, Mick Miller, Brian Ray, Jerry Vance, Dave Miller, Tony Coglianese, James Muetze, TJ Markham, Darin Furar, Dan Thryselius, David Smith

First Heat: Scott Cimei, Aaron Schmitt, Jake Patterson, BJ Grabow

Feature: Scott Cimei, Jake Patterson, Aaron Schmitt, Chuck Leason, Ed Scarpardine, Rick Koltveit, BJ Grabow

First Heat: Al Gray, Tom Otrembiak, Jake Cholke, Robert Schlappi

Second Heat: Nick Sell, Mike Flanagan, Joe Jelinek, Bill Dauber

Feature: Al Gray, Robert Schlappi, Jake Cholke, Steve Lewis - DQ’d, Jim Kirkpatrick, Joe Jelinek, Jeff Small, Mike Stewart, Jay Mesarchick, Mike Hughes, Mike Flanagan, Nick Sell, Steve Schweimlein, Bill Dauber

August  13.... Rain