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Illiana Motor Speedway 2008 Race Reports & Press Releases
Race Reports Dates In White - Press Release Dates In Red Click Link To Read
7211 U.S. 30
Schererville, IN.
Track Phone 219-322-5311
Located 2 1/2 Miles East of US 41 or 5 Miles West of I-65 on U.S. 30
Saturday Night Racing
Late Model
Limited Late Model
Turbo Stox
Pure Stox
Legends
Pits Open: 3:00 P.M.
Stands Open: 4:00 P.M.
Qualifying: 5:30 P.M.
First Race: 7:00 P.M.
SCHERERVILLE, Ind. (Aug. 30) - While the late-model points chase at the ASA-sanctioned Illiana Speedway took some twists and turns Saturday night, Josh Nelms was pointed straight ahead.
The former Mid-American champion flexed his muscles against the top division drivers, capturing the 25-lap main event.
Nelms took the lead from Andy Marchiniak on lap five, and stayed there the rest of the way. He was never able to pull away from the field, but did maintain a relatively comfortable lead and beat Marchiniak to the finish line by 0.688 seconds.
"Andy's a great competitor," Nelms said. "We raced all the year together in the U.S. Pro series and we put on some good side-by-side battles. I knew I had to get by him and start to stretch out the lead. I knew the fast guys would be coming."
The late-model title chase, meanwhile, took some dramatic turns.
Four-time track titlist Mike White, who had just lost the points lead a week earlier to Jeff Cannon, appeared in big trouble when he spun on lap three and had to go to the back of the pack.
But shortly after the restart Cannon, who was running sixth at the time, suddenly had his No. 33 seize up. He left the track. The problem was a blown motor. He was done for the night.
White then came from the back of the pack in his Ray Wroblewski-owned No. 14, and moved all the way up to fourth place. Just a lap from the finish, he and third-running Jerry Sharp had contact.
Sharp's No. 18 went slightly sideways on the back straightaway, and had he spun out both drivers would likely have been sent to the back of the pack for the restart. Sharp was able to straighten out, though, and he and White finished third and fourth.
Mike Monroe, who was third in points coming into the night, crossed the line in fifth.
White now has 898 points, while Monroe has 867 and Cannon 865. The final night of points is next Saturday.
Sean Murphy, who is a regular on the U.S. Pro and ASA circuits, mastered the field in the limited late-model feature.
Murphy, an Evanston native, passed Doug Hayes on lap 15, and went on to beat A.J. D'Ambrose by 0.240 seconds.
"We just decided to stay local this weekend," Murphy said. "It was hustle to the last minute. Last weekend I ran at the Milwaukee Mile and just came out here with my Milwaukee Mile setup.
"I just started tweaking it until I got it right. So it was kind of like a completely new different package I had on this thing for tonight, so I was kind of lucky."
D'Ambrose survived a gruelling battle near the front with Anthony Danta, John Senerchia and John Nutley. They finished in that order from second through fifth.
Mark Ross Jr., was the king of the turbo stox, taking the top spot away from from Billy Jarrells on lap 17, and holding on for the final eight circuits to beat Scott Gardner to the finish line by 0.538 seconds.
"I got lucky," Ross said. "I got a good starting spot. I got out there early and tried not to look back. I ran as fast as I could."
Jarrells finished third ahead of a charging Bill Serviss.
Alex Arelano had a big night in the Legends division, winning both the heat race and the feature event. Arelano bested Mickey Kudlicki and Ben Fidone in the main.
In the pure stocks class, it was Mike Lindemulder outracing Tim Cronin and Steve Wells in the 'A' main. Chris Bogash outran Michael Young in the 'B' feature.
Summary
Late-model
Qualifying: 1. Jerry Sharp (19.691), 2. Jeff Cannon (19.751), 3. Mike White (19.987), 4. Mike Monroe (20.030), 5. Chris Cooling (20.058), 6. Jack Kalwasinski (20.063), 7. Josh Nelms (20.124), 8. Andy Marchiniak (20.132), 9. Bobby Gash (20.136), 10. Earl Counter (20.154), 11. Chuck MacTrinder (20.242), 12. Marc Hankosky (20.384), 13. Doug Hayes (20.432), 14. Len Nowosel (20.453), 15. Vincent Merry (20.485), 16. Dean Patterson (20.671), 17. Richard (20.788) 18. Don Sabatino (20.885).
1st heat: 1. White, 2. Nelms, 3. Cooling, 4. Sharp, 5. Monroe, 6. Counter, 7. Marchiniak, 8. Cannon, 9. Kalwasinski, 10. Gash.
2nd heat: 1. Patterson, 2. Hayes, 3. Ruckh, 4. Merry, 5. Hankosky, 6. Sabatino, 7. MacTrinder, 8. Nowosel.
25-lap feature: 1. Nelms, 2. Marchiniak, 3. Sharp, 4. White, 5. Monroe, 6. Cooling, 7. Kalwasinski, 8. Hayes, 9. Counter, 10. Merry, 11. Ruckh, 12. Patterson, 13. Hankosky, 14. Sabatino, 15. Cannon.
Limited late-model
Qualifying: 1. Anthony Danta (20.147), 2. Tony D'Ambrose (20.217), 3. John Nutley (20.251), 4. Tyler Middleton (20.361), 5. John Senerchia (20.451), 6. Bobby Gash (20.557), 7. Joe Fadke (20.571), 8. Sean Murphy (20.741), 9. Rita Fields (20.773), 10. Doug Hayes (20.773), 11. Kevin Moenck (20.811), 12. Keith Joy (20.922), 13. Darrel Sills (20.979), 14. Kevin Offdenkamp (21.089), 15. Joe Balser (21.170), 16. Mark Ross Jr. (21.191), 17. Brad Plunket (21.287), 18. Bobbie Jean Wall (21.582), 19. Dennis Lyp (21.916).
1st heat: 1. Gash, 2. Senerchia, 3. Danta, 4. Fadke, 5. D'Ambrose, 6. Nutley, 7. Hayes, 8. Fields, 9. Middleton.
2nd heat: 1. Sills, 2. Moenck, 3. Lyp, 4. Murphy, 5. Plunket, 6, Offdenkamp, 7. Balser, 8. Ross, 9. Wall, 10. Joy.
25-lap feature: 1. Murphy, 2. D'Ambrose, 3. Danta, 4. Senerchia, 5. Nutley, 6. Hayes, 7. Fields, 8. Gash, 9. Middleton, 10. Fadke, 11. Moenck, 12. Lyp, 13. Sills, 14. Balser, 15. Plunket, 16. Ross, 17. Offdenkamp, 18. Wall, 19. Joy.
Turbo stox
Qualifying: 1. Scott Gardner (17.972), 2. Craig Coglianese (17.996), 3. Bobbie Jean Wall (17.996), 4. Brian Kucaba (18.002), 5. Tony Meier (18.084), 6. Tony Neering (18.095), 7. Jerry Barnett (18.111), 8. Pat Ligue (18.140), 9. Bill Serviss (18.198), 10. Billy Jarrells (18.199), 11. Jacob McKown (18.211), 12, Mark Ross Jr. (18.291), 13. Chris Woodall (18.346), 14. Tom Prim (18.523), 15. Ed Hast (18.528), 16. Ed Ligue (18.598), 17. John Finley (18.598), 18. Bobby Blood (18.603), 19. Crystalyn Sehr (19.687).
1st heat: 1. Jarrells, 2. P. Ligue, 3. Serviss, 4. Kucaba, 5. Neering, 6. Gardner, 7. Coglianese, 8. Barnett, 9. Meier, 10. Wall.
2nd heat: 1. Ross, 2. Woodall, 3. Prim, 4. McKown, 5. Finley, 6. Hast, 7. Sehr, DQ. E. Ligue, DQ. Blood.
25-lap feature: 1. Ross, 2. Gardner, 3. Jarrells, 4. Serviss, 5. E. Ligue, 6. Neering, 7. Barnett, 8. Wall, 9. Prim, 10. Woodall, 11. Blood, 12. Hast, 13. Sehr, 14. P. Ligue, 15. Meier, 16. Coglianese, 17. Kucaba, 18. Finley, 19. McKown.
Legends
1st heat: 1. Alex Arelano, 2. Chris King, 3. Scott Pool, 4. Ryan Moore, 5. Ben Fidone, 6. Mickey Kudlicki, 7. Mark Van Drunen, 8. Pat Tourville, 9. Jim Uteg, 10. Paul Barnes.
Feature: 1. Arelano, 2. Kudlicki, 3. Fidone, 4. Moore, 5. King, 6. Van Drunen, 7. Pool, 8. Uteg, 9. Tourville, 10. Barnes.
Pure stocks
1st heat: 1. Dee Warren. 2nd heat: 1. Mike Jucius. 3rd heat: 1. Brian Midkiff.
'B' feature: 1 Chris Bogash, 2. Michael Young, 3. Doug Schapp, 4. Bobby Henderson, 5. Joe Moeglin.
'A' feature: 1. Mike Lindemulder, 2. Tim Cronin, 3. Steve Wells, 4. Bob Rohweder, 5. Casey Martin.
Illiana Speedway Race Results 8-30-08 Now Updated Every Week
