WEST SALEM, Wis. – Derek Kraus and Ty Majeski headlined the list of winners on the opening night of Oktoberfest Race Weekend at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway Thursday.
Luke Fenhaus lead early in the going in the Super Late Model Futures race. He would be hounded for several laps by John DeAngelis Jr., but Fenhaus stood his ground and held onto the lead.
DeAngelis worked his way under Fenhaus to take over the lead on lap 11. The lead would be a back-and-forth battle over several laps between the two, even with a spin by Michael Sauter in turn four on lap 14.
With four laps to go, Fenahus and DeAngelis made contact down the front straight. Fenhaus went for a spin, and Kraus would assume the race lead. Kraus would have to battle with Nick Murgic in the closing laps, but the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West point leader held on to drive away with the victory.
Don Turner lead the first 10 laps of the 40-lap LaCrosse Late Model feature. Adam Degenhardt would motor past Turner to take over the lead on lap 11. Cole Howland found a gear and got around Degenhardt on lap 18 to be the new race leader.
Coming from deep in the field, Nick Panitzke powered his way around Howland just past halfway to assume the top spot. Brent Kirchner spun coming off of turn two to bring out the yellow with 15 laps to go.
The restart did not last long when Kirchner, Randy Humfeld and Ty Reedy made contact and ended up against the turn three wall. On the restart, Ty Majeski made his way through the field. Majeski caught and passed Panitzke with five to go and drove off with the 97th feature win of his career.
Panitzke’s runner-up finish and Steve Carlson’s fifth would give Panitzke the track championship by four points.
In the La Crosse Sportsman feature, Chris Weber drove around Taylor Dawson five laps into the 20-lap feature. Weber would have to endure a rash of yellow flags midway through the race, but they would not stop him from claiming his seventh win of the season. Weber also wrapped up the track championship and the Chase Championship.
Multi-time Hobby Stock champion Adam Moore took the lead halfway throught the Hobby Stock feature. Moore fought off Kaleb Hardy to capture the checkered flag first. Hardy fell short of his quest for a championship as Jason Bolster won with a fourth place effort.
In the Hornet feature, Troy Tuma took the lead early in the race and dealt with a barrage of caution periods. Tuma maintained his lead and held off Patrick Thicke to wind up in victory lane. Mark Bornitz would finish fifth, and that was good enough to lock up the track championship.
Dan Frye added an Oktoberfest Street Stock feature to his track championship at Tomah Sparta Speedway. Frye got around Al Bartels with five laps to go to score the win. Jake Schomers came home in fourth to wrap up the track championship.
Cory Kemkes used a lap car to slip past Glenn Bush Jr. midway through the Outlawz feature to win for the second straight year.
The grand finale of the night was the Double-O Race. Corey Jankowski’s late model and Dave Edwards’ modified battled over the top spot for much of the second half of the race. Edwards looped in turn two with three laps to go, allowing Jankowski to drive off with the win.