4/22/2024
Beaver Dam Raceway
First Ever Wisconsin Triple Crown a Massive Success
Beaver Dam, WI (April 22nd, 2023) - Even though cold temperatures tried to ruin the night, nothing could stop the red hot action of the first ever Wisconsin Triple Crown. Fans flocked to the stands to watch the stars and cars of the Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midgets, Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints, and WABAM Dirt Kings Late Model Tour. The show kicked off yet another season for one of Wisconsin’s premier dirt tracks, Beaver Dam Raceway.
79 made the trip to the track which opened the season for the Badger Midgets and IRA Sprints and stood as the second race for the Dirt Kings Tour. 30 sprint cars, 26 midgets, and 23 late models set up 24 races for the fans in the stands to enjoy their favorite racers and cars.
Brandon Waelti, Travis Arenz, and Nick Anvelink set quick time for their respective classes during thrilling qualifying sessions.
Parker Jones, Cody Weisensel, and Mitchell Davis would pick up heat wins with the Badger Midgets. The IRA Sprints heat races would go to Scotty Thiel, Jordan Goldesberry, and Jake Neuman. The Dirt Kings Tour would wrap up heat races with Mitch McGrath, Mike Mullen, and Nick Anvelink all taking home wins. The IRA Sprints would run 2 dashes, with Jake Neuman and Scotty Thiel taking those wins, with Clayton Rossmann picking up the win in the B-Main.
The Badger Midgets would take to the track first for their feature. A familiar name started on the pole, with 2-time Modified Track Champion Matt Rechek starting from the pole, while Mitchell Davis started alongside him. Racing would get off to a rough start with 2022 Legends Track Champion and last season Badger Midgets Rookie of the Year Parker Jones flipped violently down the back straightaway. Jones would be checked out by medical crews and racing would try and start again, but was quickly halted once again as 2016 Badger Midget Champion Brandon Waelti found himself upside down. Racing would resume and make it just past the halfway mark before Aaron Fiscus ran into mechanical trouble and was forced to come to a stop. Rechek would take the final green flag of the feature and run away with it, picking up his first-ever feature win at Beaver Dam in a midget.
“There’s no place I’d rather do it. I know everyone loves Sun Prairie down the road and I do too, but it means a lot more here than it does down there I know for me.” Rechek said in The Dump Bar and Grill Victory Lane post-race. Cody Weisensel would bring home his best-ever Badger Midget finish in second, with Aaron Muhle rounding out the podium, up nine spots from his starting spot. Brian Peterson recorded his best Badger Midget finish in 4th, also up nine spots, with Mitchell Davis rounding out the top five. Joel Willman brought home the hard-charger for the feature, up eleven spots to finish 13th. The Badger Midgets can be seen back in action May 10th, at Illinois’ Kankakee County Speedway, and will return to Beaver Dam Raceway June 29th.
The IRA Sprints lined up for the second feature with Jake Neuman and Scotty Thiel lining up next to each other on the front row. Green would fly with Thiel getting the jump on Neuman and taking the early lead before yellow flew for 2021 Rookie of the Year Kyle Schuett. Another caution would quickly fly for 2022 Rookie of the Year Jake Neuman, whose pirouette would've been a 10/10 in this summer’s upcoming Olympics but was rated a 0/10 by race control. The race got back underway and Thiel began his attempt to run away from the rest of the field, but he wouldn’t make it far as three separate incidents would bring out two yellows and one red flag. Thiel led the field back to green for the final time but was quickly reeled in by Fargo, North Dakota’s Tim Estenson, who found speed on the middle grove and shot past Thiel for the win.
“This one’s really, really special to me because I just lost my brother a couple months ago and this is a special day for the team.” An emotional Estenson responded after the race. Thiel finished 2nd with Jake Blackhurst behind in 3rd. Fourth would go to Mike Reinke and 5th to the feature’s hard-charger, Danny Schlafer. The IRA Sprints can be seen next on May 3rd at Ogilvie Raceway and return to Beaver Dam Raceway on June 29th as well.
The Dirt Kings Tour wrapped up the night for racing, with Mitch McGrath the pole sitter and Nick Anvelink to his outside. Racing would take a bit to get going as everyone continued to dust off the new season rust. Once the laps began to roll, McGrath would have two determined drivers behind keeping him on his toes. It would take a mid-race restart and a great start for Nick Anvelink to have a shot at the lead. The 6-time Dirt King Tour Champion powered around the outside of McGrath and into the lead. Anvelink would drive off into the night and pick up his first- ever Late Model win at Beaver Dam Raceway.
“I was losing about a car length and a half and I kinda just hail-married that last corner, and I'm like this is my only chance to really make up any time on these guys so I shoved her in there.” Anvelink said when asked about his pass for the lead. McGrath brought home a 2nd, with Brett Swedberg 3rd. Mike Mullen would finish the night 4th with Jayme Zidar 5th. Sawyer Specht would bring home a 12th-place finish and the hard-charger spot for the feature, up 10 spots. The Dirt Kings Tour will be back in action May 24th, at Outagamie Speedway.
After a fantastic night of racing, the excitement level for the first weekly show is off the charts, and fans won’t have to wait long, as the season is set to get underway April 23rd. Drivers of Street Stocks, Legends, IMCA Northern SportMods, IMCA Stock Cars, and IMCA Modifieds are all ready to hit the track and begin racing. Pits will open at 4pm with the grandstands opening at 4:30pm, racing will kick off at 6:30pm. Individual tickets will be $13, a carload of people will be $25, and a VIP table will be $50. Pit passes will cost $30 for an adult with $15 for children 12 and under. All minors who plan to be in the pits will need minor release forms signed prior to entry.
All information on future races and the upcoming season can be found on wismotorsports.net and the Beaver Dam Raceway Facebook page.
Article Credit: Zack Krueger
Submitted By: Zack Krueger
