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NAMARS Midgets: Wolverine Nationals Now Tony Elliott Nationals

13 July 1998

By LES MESZAROS

KOKOMO, IN -- Tony Elliott, of Kokomo, IN, was unstoppable in the Wolverine Nationals, as he was 4 for 4 winning 4 features in three days as he won every feature he started. He even won the 6-lap dash to determine the starting order for the first 8 cars in the 50-lap main event. Elliott was driving the very potent Denny Lamers owned Stealth/Brayton. The Wolverine Nationals are promoted by the Painter Motorsports Group and co-sanctioned by the NAMARS, BMARA and MARA midget organizations.

Elliott shot into the lead at the start and Rick Treadway was right behind. Elliott rode the cushion while most of the rest of the competitors clung to the inside of the track. Treadway lost second to Dan Boorse lap 8. Flipping cars and cautions kept putting Boorse on the rear bumper of Elliott but each time the race restarted Elliott pulled away. The longer the green flag stayed out the bigger the lead Elliott would build up over Boorse.

Treadway held on to third until lap 34 when he spun and handed third to Aaron Fiscus. The last 16 laps were caution free as it was Elliott by a wide margin over Boorse, Fiscus, Don Lehmann and Randy Koch.

NAMARS rookie point leader Matt Westfall was named rookie of the Wolverine Nationals by the Painter Motorsports Group. Matt, from Ludlow Falls, OH, started 26th in the fifty lap feature and finished 16th for a very impressive performance.

Twelve lap C-Main victories went to Bryce Collings and Collin Shipman. The top four finishers from each C-Main started at the rear of the two 15 lap B-Mains. The top seven finishers in the B-Mains started in positions 9 to 22 in the 50 lap A-Main. Winning the B-Mains were Don Lehmann and Kevin Doty. In the last chance race for cars finishing in positions 8 to 12 in the B-Mains the top 4 cars filled in positions 23 to 26 in the A-Main. Winning the last chance race was Kevin Olson.

The summary:

C-Mains (12 laps): 1. Bryce Collings, A.J. Davis, Jason Setser, Bruce Donaldson, Jerry Nemire, Jeff Hampton, Mike Roselli, Dave Camfield, Kevin Newton, J.D.Turner, Kenny Brown, Kevin Besecker, Gordy Ward, A.J. Fike. 2. Collin Shipman, Ed Carpenter, Dennis Miller, Barry Walkup, Jim Sawyer, Chad Davenport, Wayne Chinn, Boyd Calvert.

B-Mains: (15 laps): 1. Don Lehmann, Nick Fornoro, Kevin Koch, Marty Davis, Keith Rauch, Bruce Donaldson, Ray Bull, Kevin Olson, Jeff Flesher, Bill Berg, Matt Westfall, Doug Schenck, Roger Miller, John Jones, A.J. Felker, A.J. Davis, A.J. Smith, J.J. Yeley, Bryce Collings, Jason Setser. 2. Kevin Doty, Ryan Hergott, Dean Billings, Bryon Walters, Luke Icke, Roger Corrigan, John Lucas, Andy Pierce, Tracy Hines, Jimmie Davies, Clay Klepper, Randy Fiscus, Chris Maxson, Ed Carpenter, Dennis Miller, Barry Walkup, Scott Hatton, Collin Shipman, Rich Camfield, Scooter Ellis.

Last Chance Race (10 laps): Olson, Hines, Flesher, Westfall, Pierce, Klepper, Davies, Fiscus, Berg, Schenck.

Dash (6 laps): Elliott, Coons, Treadway, Boorse, Knepper, Clarke, Fiscus, Koch.

Feature (25 laps) (Finishing position, starting position, name, hometown): 1. (1) Tony Elliott, Kokomo, IN; 2. (4) Dan Boorse, Whitefish Bay, WI; 3. (7) Aaron Fiscus, Madison, WI; 4. (9) Don Lehmann, Springfield, IL; 5. (8) Randy Koch, Madison, WI; 6. (5) Steve Knepper, Belleville, IL; 7. (10) Kevin Doty, Milan, IL; 8. (13) Kevin Koch, Cottage Grove, WI; 9. (11) Nick Fornoro, Stroudsburg, PA; 10. (2) Jerry Coons, Tuscon, AZ; 11. (25) Jeff Flesher, Gridly, IL; 12. (18) Luke Icke, Littleton, CO; 13. (17) Keith Rauch, Edgewater, CO; 14. (22) Kevin Olsen, Rockford, IL; 15. (16) Bryon Walters, Beaverdam, WI; 16. (26) Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH; 17. (19) Bruce Donaldson; St. Charles, MO; 18. (3) Rick Treadway, Indianapolis, IN; 19. (12) Ryan Hergott, Hebron, NE; 20. (15) Marty Davis, Racine, WI; 21. (22) John Lucas, Lebanon, IN; 22. Tracy Hines, New Castle, IN; 23. (20) Roger Corrigan, Loves Park, IL; 24. (6) Adam Clarke, New Castle, Australia; 25. (14) Dean Billings, Greenfield, WI; 26. (21) Ray Bull, Bloomsburg, PA.

July 9, 1998
TONY ELLIOTT DOMINATE IN SECOND MIDGET PRELIMINARY

By LES MESZAROS

KOKOMO, IN -- On Thursday night it was Tony Elliott, of Kokomo, IN, winning the second preliminary race for the Wolverine Nationals. Elliott was dominant in the 25-lap feature in the second round of qualifying for the Nationals at the Evans Kokomo Speedway. Elliott was driving the Denny Lamers owned Stealth/Brayton to conquer the 38 midgets in the pits. The first four finishers in the feature automatically transferred to the 50-lap Nationals on Friday night. The Wolverine Nationals are promoted by the Painter Motorsports Group and co-sanctioned by the NAMARS, BMARA and MARA midget organizations.

Elliott shot into the lead at the drop of the green and in just 3 laps had opened up a big lead over second running Randy Koch. While Elliott was hiding from the rest of the field Koch and Steve Knepper were at each other for second and third. On lap 10 Jerry Coons all the way from 17th starting position pulled up to fourth and started challenging Knepper. It took Coons only 3 laps before he charged past Knepper and set his sights on Koch. Coons and Koch slugged it out the next 5 laps before Coons roared past Koch on the inside of the front stretch. Although he still had 8 laps to go after Elliott he never found him as Elliott came home the winner over Coons, Koch, Knepper and J.J. Yeley.

The field of midgets was so strong that despite only one yellow flag not a single car was lapped.

Heat race winners were Randy Koch, Jeff Flesher, Tony Elliott and Kevin Koch. Jerry Coons won the B-Main feature. No time trials were held and heat race starting positions were determined by a drawing.

The summary:

First Heat (10 laps): Randy Koch, John Jones, Randy Fiscus, A.J. Felker, Andy Pierce, Barry Walkup, Matt Sandy, Rick Mueller.

Second Heat (10 laps): Jeff Flesher, J.J. Yeley, Roger Corrigan, Kevin Doty, Keith Rauch, Quinn McCabe, Tray House, Mike Roselli, Kenny Brown, Dick Osborn.

Third Heat (10 laps): Tony Elliott, Ryan Hergott, Scott Hatton, Chris Maxson, Bill Berg, Jerry Nemire, Dave Darland, J.D. Turner.

Fourth Heat (10 laps): Kevin Koch, Steve Knepper, Doug Schenck, Scooter Ellis, Jim Sawyer, Wayne Chinn, A.J. Fike, Kevin Newton, Bruce Donaldson, Jr., Boyd Calvert.

Semi-feature (15 laps): Coons, Rauch, Berg, Pierce, Nemire, Walkup, Turner, Sandy, Brown, House, Donaldson, McCabe, Roselli, Sawyer, Fike, Chinn, Newton.

Feature (25 laps) (Finishing position, starting position, name, hometown): 1. (3) Tony Elliott, Kokomo, IN; 2. (17) Jerry Coons, Tuscon, AZ; 3. (1) Randy Koch, Madison, WI; 4. (2) Steve Knepper, Belleville, IL; 5. (3) J.J. Yeley, Phoenix, AZ; 6. (14) Kevin Doty, Milan, IL; 7. (5) Kevin Koch, Cottage Grove, WI; 8. (7) Ryan Hergott, Hebron, NE; 9. (19) Bill Berg, Arlington, WI; 10. (10) Roger Corrigan, Loves Park, IL; 11. (17) Keith Rauch, Edgewater, CO; 12. (9) Randy Fiscus, Monoa, WI; 13. (12) Doug Schenck, Madison, WI; 14. (15) Chris Maxon, McHenry, IL; 15. (6) Jeff Flesher, Gridly, IL; 16. (20) Andy Pierce, Avon, IN; 17. (8) John Jones; Blue Mounds, WI; 18. (16) Scooter Ellis, Seattle, WA; 19. (13) A.J. Felker, Jeffersonville, IN; 20. (11) Scott Hatton, Roscoe, IL.

July 8, 1998
BOORSE TAKES THE FIRST ROUND OF WOLVERINE NATIONALS

By LES MESZAROS

KOKOMO, IN -- Dan Boorse of Whitefish, WI opened up the 3rd Annual Wolverine Nationals by winning the 25-lap midget feature Wednesday at the Evans Kokomo Speedway. Boorse lead almost the entire race as he put on a powerful performance. Boorse was driving the Don Boorse owned Stealth/Gaerte. The Wolverine Nationals are promoted by the Painter Motorsports Group and co-sanctioned by the NAMARS, BMARA, and MARA midget organizations.

As the green flag waved Clay Klepper jumped into the lead for the first 2 circuits. The caution waved for Kevin Olson stopping on the backstretch and when the raced resumed Boorse charged past Klepper to take over the lead. Boorse was now in control and started to open up a lead on second running Klepper. Boorse's lead was erased on lap 7 when second running Klepper rolled to a stop on the front stretch.

On the restart tenth starting Rick Treadway swept past Roger Miller and Aaron Fiscus and into second. Boorse, who won several preliminary events last year at the Wolverine Nationals, continued in command while Treadway tried to stay close enough to mount a challenge. Boorse was not to be denied as he lead the final 18 non-stop laps as he got to the checkered flag first over Treadway, Australian Adam Clarke who started 15th, Aaron Fiscus and Roger Miller. The top four finishers automatically transferred to the 50-lap headliner on Friday night.

No qualifications took place and heat race starting positions were determined by drawing. Heat race victories went to Ray Bull, Dan Boorse, Roger Miller and Tracy Hines. Marty Davis won the B-Main after flipping his car during hot laps. There were 32 midgets in the pits on opening night. In the first heat race, Jason Setser flipped his car and was done for the night with very heavy damage.

The summary:

First Heat (8 laps): Ray Bull, Rich Camfield, John Lucas, A.J. Smith, A.J. Davis, Kevin Besecker, Jason Setser, Matt Hardin.

Second Heat (8 laps): Dan Boorse, Clay Klepper, Rick Treadway, Jimmie Davies, Bryon Walters, Ed Carpenter, Dave Camfield, Gordy Ward.

Third Heat (8 laps): Roger Miller, Kevin Olsen, Don Lehmann, Adam Clarke, Marty Davis, Bryce Cowlings, Collin Shipman, Brad Weber.

Fourth Heat (8 laps): Tracy Hines, Aaron Fiscus, Dean Billings, Matt Westfall, Nick Fornoro, Luke Icke, Dennis Miller, Chad Davenport.

Semi-feature (15 laps): M. Davis, Walters, Icke, Fornoro, A.J. Davis, D. Miller, Cowlings, Shipman, Besecker, Davenport, Ward, Carpenter, D. Camfield, Hardin.

Feature (25 laps) (Finishing position, starting position, name, hometown): 1. (1) Dan Boorse, Whitefish Bay, WI; 2. (10) Rick Treadway, Indianapolis, IN; 3. (15) Adam clarke, New Castle, Australia; 4. (5) Aaron Fiscus, Madison, WI; 5. (3) Roger Miller, Milan, IL; 6. (19) Luke Icke, Littleton, CO; 7. (11) Don Lehmann, Springfield, IL; 8. (12) Dean Billings, Greenfield, WI; 9. (20) Nick Fornoro, Stroudsburg, PA; 10. (18) Bryon Walters, Beaverdam, WI; 11. (16) Marty Davis, Racine, WI; 12. (9) John Lucas, Lebanon, IN; 13. (4) Ray Bull, Bloomsburg, PA; 14. (14) Jimmie Davies, Oquawka, IL; 15. (16) Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH; 16. (7) Rich Camfield, Decatur, IL; 17. (13) A.J. Smith; Indianapolis, IN; 18. (2) Clay Klepper, Kokomo, IN; 19. (8) Kevin Olson, Rockford, IL; 20. (6) Tracy Hines, New Castle, IN.