Weinfurter takes point lead with dominant performance at Golden Sands
Jeff Weinfurter of Wisconsin Rapids left no doubt who the man to beat was at Golden Sands Speedway Friday Aug. 10, as he won both 30-lap Features in the Central Wisconsin Racing Association (CWRA) Stars To Legends Tour to take the points lead with just two points races remaining.
The first 30-lap main, which consisted of a new tour-high 20 cars, started with Brian Henry of Omro and Jesse Pokszyk of Friendship on the front row.
Pokszyk moved to the front and led while drivers worked their way to the front from the 12-car inverted start. One of those was Weinfurter, who after starting 11th on the field, was already up to the fifth spot by the eighth lap.
Pokszyk continued to lead, with Monte Gress of Neillsville and Henry battling for second. Shortly after the two decided their battle, Weinfurter was right behind, taking over the second position with 15 laps remaining.
Weinfurter quickly closed on racing teammate Pokszyk and took the top spot with an inside pass on lap 20. While Weinfurter built a cushion, positions behind him were hotly contested and contact between Darek Gress of Neillsville and Henry resulted in a yellow flag waving period, which juggled the field for the restart.
No one could match the Weinfurter speed when the green flag waved with five laps remaining, however, and he cruised to the win. Pokszyk held on to second at the finish, and was followed by Monte Gress and Darren Jackson of Wisconsin Rapids, who had moved all the way up from 12th starting position, followed by Dave Neitzke of Eureka in his best run of the season, and Derek Doerr of Watertown.
The second 30-lap Feature event began with an 11-car inverted start, with Putch Bentley of Iron River, Mich., and Mike Sievers of Wisconsin Rapids on the front row.
Bentley took command, building a slight advantage over the field, when the caution waved for a Pokszyk spin. A couple more caution flags waved for minor spins, and when things finally got sorted out, Bentley again took the lead.
Bentley’s good run would be short lived, however, as he spun, relegating the upper Michigan driver to the rear of the field for the restart.
With green flag action resuming again, it was Weinfurter on the move from his 11th-starting spot, grabbing the first position with an inside pass of Monte Gress, who had led the previous three laps.
With 13 laps remaining, the rest of the field could only hope for a mechanical problem on Weinfurter’s car, as he led the rest of the way to claim the victory.
Jackson came up from the eighth position at the start and made it closer at the finish, but had to settle for second at the stripe. Following Weinfurter and Jackson at the end of 30 laps were Neitzke with another fine run, Rachel Kallas of Winneconne, Monte Gress and Derek Van Dreel of Wisconsin Rapids.
The wins were No. 3 and 4 on the year for Weinfurter, who moved into the points lead in the Stars to Legends Tour with 570 points over Jackson (522), Mark Mackesy of Wausau (517), Darek Gress (510), Kallas (422), Nitzke (419), Van Dreel (411), Monte Gress (395), Brian Henry (390) and Jesse Bernhagen of Stevens Point (382).
The Stars to Legends Tour will continue with the Dick Trickle Classic at Tomah-Sparta Speedway in Tomah Sunday afternoon, Sept. 16, with the finale at Marshfield Motor Speedway Sept. 28.
SUMMARY
30 lap Feature one 1.Jeff Weinfurter, Wis. Rapids, WI., 2. Jesse Pokszyk, Friendship, WI., 3. Monte Gress, Neillsville, WI., 4. Darren Jackson, Wis. Rapids, WI., 5. Dave Neitzke, Eureka, WI., 6. Derek Doerr, Watertown, WI., 7. Frank Nitzke, Berlin, WI., 8. Rachel Kallas, Winneconne, WI., 9. Derek Van Dreel, Wis. Rapids, WI., 10. Mike Sievers, Wis. Rapids, WI., 11. Putch Bentley, Iron River, MI., 12. Dakota Blakeslee, Wis. Rapids, WI., 13. Darek Gress, Neillsville, WI., 14. Greg Matthews, Wis. Rapids, WI., 15. Brett Breitenfeldt, Wausau, WI., 16. Brian Henry, Omro, WI., 17. Kirby Kurth, Wis. Rapids, WI., 18. Mark Mackesy, Wausau, WI., 19. Eric Wilhite, Athens, WI., 20. Braison Bennett, Neenah, WI.
30 lap Feature two 1.Weinfurter, 2. Jackson, 3. Neitzke, 4. Kallas, 5. M. Gress, 6. Van Dreel, 7. Bennett, 8. Henry, 9. Pokszyk, 10. Doerr, 11. Sievers, 12. Kurth, 13. Bentley, 14. Matthews, 15. Wilhite, 16. D. Gress, 17. Blakeslee, 18. Mackesy, 19. Breitenfeldt.
Time 1. Jackson.
CWRA Stars to Legends point standings as of 8/10/18
- Jeff Weinfurter 570
- Darren Jackson 522
- Mark Mackesy 517
- Darek Gress 510
- Rachel Kallas 422
- Frank Nitzke 419
- Derrick Van Dreel 411
- Monte Gress 395
- Brian Henry * 390
- Jesse Bernhagen* 382
- Mike Sievers 327
- Dave Neitzke 303
- Greg Matthews * 262
- Dakota Blakeslee 221
- Jesse Pokszyk 206
- Tod Stenson 109
- Kirby Kurth 104
- Jack Greenwood 100
- Eric Wilhite 94
- Joey Pontbriand 92
- Dan Lindsley 88
- Jim Sauter Jr. 82
- Derek Doerr 70
- Brock Heinrich 62
- Chad Devine 62
- Braison Bennett 56
- Putch Bentley 56
- Mark Schultz* 55
- Brett Breitenfeldt 46
* Denotes “Rookie of the year” Candidates