FRANCIS CREEK, Wis. — Luke Lemmens drove back to the pits after hot laps Wednesday night knowing he had a good shot at winning 141 Speedway’s King of the Creek special for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars.
After 50 laps of main event racing, he’d done just that.
“This has been a race that‘s probably eluded me for years. We’ve won a lot of races at 141, a lot of $1,000 to win races and two track championships, and we’ve finished in the top four, top five three or four times in this race,” the Green Bay driver said after outrunning Troy Jerovetz to the $10,000 checkers. “This race brings a lot of competition, guys like Benji LaCrosse and Mike Mullen, the best of the best, so this one is definitely one I’ve wanted for a long time.
“It’s a relief and absolutely amazing that we finally got it done.”
More than 80 of the best drivers in the division from Wisconsin, the Midwest and from as far away as New Mexico were entered in the seventh annual event.
Lemmens had run second in both his heats and ninth in the qualifying feature Tuesday at Francis Creek, then drew the eighth starting spot for the main event.
“I came in after hot laps and told my dad if we stayed clean, this is a $10,000 winning car and right from the green I knew we had a good car,” he said.
Lemmens steadily worked his way toward the front as eight cautions kept the field close. He passed drivers with a combined 200-plus career Stock Car wins in getting to the lead on lap 37 and then set sail.
Jerovetz, meanwhile, was making his own way forward from 15th starting.
“I saw the 01 (Jerovetz) on the board with probably 20 laps to go and knew he started deep in the field. I knew if I held the bottom and didn’t mess up on the corners I’d be good, because he wasn’t going to move me,” Lemmens said. “We have a lot of respect for each other. I knew he’d race me clean so all I had to do was focus on my race and not worry about who was around me.”
Jerovetz ended in second, with 12th starting Devin Snellenberger third and front row starters Mullen and Kenny Richards rounding out the top five.
“Not only was winning ten grand awesome, but being able to do it racing those guys was even better,” said Lemmens, who turned the ringer off on his phone, tossed it in the trailer and enjoyed a very long post-race moment in the pits with family and friends. “Just being around everybody then was amazing.”
The King of the Creek checkers were accompanied by an automatic starting berth in the B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational at the upcoming IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s.
“Being qualified for that is awesome, Lemmens said. “We’re excited to be in that race.”
The finish:
- Luke Lemmens; 2. Troy Jerovetz; 3. Devin Snellenberger; 4. Mike Mullen; 5. Kenny Richards; 6. Todd Augustian; 7. Aaron Stolp; 8. Shawn Havel; 9. Timothy Warner; 10. Kyle Resch; 11. Nick Buckarma; 12. Jamison MacDonald; 13. Cody Potter; 14. Jared Siefert; 15. Marcus Yarie; 16. Dave Bouche; 17. Zane DeVilbiss; 18. Benji LaCrosse; 19. Tyler Wilson; 20. Chase Parker; 21. Nathan Lauscher; 22. Robert Waechter Jr.; 23. Dean Maurer; 24. Trent Nolan.