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Raidart Thrills Crowd at Badger 40

28 AutoMeter Wisconsin wingLESS teams pulled into the pit area at Wilmot Raceway to compete as part of the World of Outlaws Badger 40 event. As the support class for the high profile event, the series utilized a different then normal format, locking the top 10 drivers in points into the feature. Drivers outside the top 10 would race in 1 of 2 qualifiers taking 5 cars each into the A. The final 4 spots would be determined by a b main.

The first qualifying race saw Randy Stanford take the early lead, piloting his black and white numbered 29 machine. He would lead until past the halfway point when Natalie Klemko was able to work her way past Stanford and into the lead. Natalie however was unable to pick up the win, as Dennis Spitz used a last lap pass on Klemko to take the win. Klemko would cross the line in second followed by Randy Stanford and Vince Bartolotta. Paul Shaffer would also punch his ticket to the feature, finishing in fifth.

The second qualifying race saw possibly the most exciting move of the race happen when on lap 1 Tommy Colburn got crossed up, and hit the inside berm in turn 3, this sent him sideways and into a series of rolls, but amazingly Colburn landed right side up and with the car still under power. The red flag had already waved though and Colburn took his machine pit side to look it over. Jordan Paulsen would take the lead once the race went back green, Paulsen would battle with Charles Spoonmore for the top spot, but as the checkered flag waved it was Paulsen victorious and Spoonmore in second. James Walldan brought his bright orange 77 home in third followed by Nick Petska and Shawn Swim.

B main action was next up, with the final four A main spots up for grabs, George Gaertner Jr would claim the B main victory over eigth starting Tommy Colburn, rebounding from his heat race incident. Tom Eller would finish in third and Jim Wehrman behind the wheel of the 94 machine would grab the final starting spot in the A main.

The A main had the packed crowd at Wilmot on their feet. Allen Hafford took the early race lead, but all eyes were on the white number 23z car piloted by Zach Raidart. Raidart already having claimed two victories on the season at Wilmot had established himself a contender and he quickly moved from his fourth starting spot to second and was on Hafford’s rear bumper. Raidart appeared to have the faster car but Allen Hafford would not make it easy on the young Gurnee, Illinois driver. The pair battled for much of the race, each time Raidart seemed to have built up the momentum needed to finally get by the Hopf Farms 38 car, a caution would fly. Finally with only about a quarter of the race left, Raidart was able to work past Hafford and cruise to victory. As Zach Raidart emerged from the top of his car, the crowd at Wilmot gave him a standing ovation for the show he had just treated them to. Derek Crane would finish in the second position over Hafford. Tim Cox would bring his Meyer Flyer home in the fourth spot, and Chris Dodd in the Bumper to Bumper of Paddock Lake supported entry finished in fifth.

A Feature 1 20 laps | 00:25:24.028

1. 23Z-Zach Raidart, 25:24.028[4]; 2. 19K-Derek Crane, 25:26.596[3]; 3. 38-Allen Hafford, 25:27.529[2]; 4. 40-Tim Cox, 25:27.619[10]; 5. 01-Chris Dodd, 25:27.758[7]; 6. 91-Jimmy Sivia, 25:28.216[1]; 7. 41-Dennis Spitz, 25:29.198[11]; 8. 21Z-Ryan Zielski, 25:29.792[6]; 9. 70-Chris Klemko, 25:30.104[5]; 10. 4-Jordan Paulsen, 25:30.202[12]; 11. 50-Rusty Egan, 25:31.111[9]; 12. 9-Greg Olsen, 25:33.099[8]; 13. 6B-Vince Bartolotta, 25:33.741[17]; 14. 89-George Gaertner Jr, 25:34.651[21]; 15. 51-Charles Spoonmore, 25:35.233[14]; 16. 18-Nick Petska, 25:35.461[18]; 17. 20-Natalie Klemko, 25:36.888[13]; 18. 12-Shawn Swim, 25:37.531[20]; 19. 2-Tommy Colburn, 25:43.265[22]; 20. 00-Paul Shaffer, 25:20.642[19]; 21. 29-Randy Stanford, 25:25.394[15]; 22. 94-Jim Wehrman, 25:27.370[24]; 23. 29OG-Tom Eller, 25:32.657[23]; 24. (DNF) 77-James Walldan, 04:36.681[16]
   B Feature 1 8 laps | 00:10:46.186
2. 89-George Gaertner Jr, 10:46.186[3]; 2. 2-Tommy Colburn, 10:48.773[8]; 3. 29OG-Tom Eller, 10:50.148[2]; 4. 94-Jim Wehrman, 10:51.562[6]; 5. 39-William Huck, 10:52.051[7]; 6. (DNF) 22-Greg Alt, 02:46.285[1]; 7. (DNF) 1-Scott Uttech, 02:47.179[4]; 8. (DNF) 61-Zach Hansen, 02:47.475[5]
   Qualifying 1 10 laps | 00:05:46
3. 41-Dennis Spitz, 00:15.688[2]; 2. 20-Natalie Klemko, 00:15.930[3]; 3. 29-Randy Stanford, 00:15.930[1]; 4. 6B-Vince Bartolotta, 00:15.930[4]; 5. 00-Paul Shaffer, 00:15.930[7]; 6. 89-George Gaertner Jr, 00:15.930[8]; 7. 22-Greg Alt, 00:15.930[5]; 8. 94-Jim Wehrman, 00:15.930[9]; 9. 39-William Huck, 00:15.930[6]
   Qualifying 2 10 laps | 00:08:22
4. 4-Jordan Paulsen, [1]; 2. 51-Charles Spoonmore, [2]; 3. 77-James Walldan, [3]; 4. 18-Nick Petska, [6]; 5. 12-Shawn Swim, [4]; 6. 1-Scott Uttech, [9]; 7. 29OG-Tom Eller, [5]; 8. 61-Zach Hansen, [7]; 9. 2-Tommy Colburn, [8]

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