---

Midgets: Sportsman Midget Race Results

5 August 1998

A night race at Lake Geneva?

Aside from a few veteran Sportsman who have been a part of the club since it's inception in 92, most who showed up for the events on 2 August 1998 hadn't raced in a Lake Geneva Night Show ever before. The Sportsman were co-sanctioned with a number of different Racing Classes, including the Legends, Outlaws, Mini-Mods, Dwarfs and Sport Trucks. There was a total car count exceeding 75 with the Sportsman making up 18 of those.

Another difference in the racing at Lake Geneva on 2Aug98 was the inclusion of qualifications. When there is no qualifying, the Sportsman line up by points and those who show for an event. This is normally the case at Lake Geneva.

However, when the field was pushed off, and all were qualified, it was Susan Spencer #24 with a fast qualifying time of (17.326). Mike Hess #12 (17.396), Mick Billhorn #10 (17.466), Scotty Shilkuski #75 ( 17.473), Jon Anderson #37 (17.478) and Mike Aimaro#4a (17.491) rounded out the top six qualifiers. Results for the First Heat were: 1.#4a Aimaro; 2.#24 Spencer; 3.#37 JonAnderson; 4.#75 S.Shilkuski; 5.#10 Billhorn; 6.#12 Hess; 7.#20 Smrekar; 8.#58 Bettenhausen; 9.#18 Knippel. Results for the Second Heat were: 1.#14 Fifield; 2.#87 Rawlings; 3.#99 R.Peceniak; 4.#4d Daily; 5.#1 D.Ohlendorf; 6.#8 Romberg; 7.#44 Guimond; 8.#38 Guess.

After the heat races were finished, there was a lot of talk in the pits of the "dark spots" on the track. It was clearly a different type of racing at night, than what most of the Sportsman knew. There were a few tangles here and there in both the second heat and the feature race, but no one was hurt, and none of the cars were damaged very badly. When it came time to line up for the feature race, all eighteen cars made the show. The green flag fell and the race was on.

There were battles all throughout the field, with positions being battled for from first to last. Early in the race, Aimaro #4a, Fifield #14, Spencer #24, and Guess #38, gathered one another up coming into turn four and the cars were every which way and tangled. The wounded were pushed to the infield, with Fifield being the only car able to continue, and the restart green flag fell. The top seven positions were being worked for by a great many of the top runners in the Sportsman field. Everyone was at the edge of their seats and up on their feet each time the cars went into the corners two and three wide, changing positions and screaming around the track.

Although initially scheduled for 25 laps, the race was reduced to 20 in consideration of the time frames and accidents during the race.

Results for the Feature Race were: 1.#10 Billhorn; 2.#12 Hess; 3.#20 Smrekar; 4.#75 S.Shilkuski; 5.#58 Bettenhausen; 6.#99 R.Peceniak; 7.#14 Fifield; 8.#37 JonAnderson; 9.#87 Rawlings; 10.#4d Daily; 11.#18 Knippel; 12.#44 Guimond; 13.#1 D.Ohlendorf; 14.#8 Romberg; 15.#24 Spencer; 16.#4a Aimaro; 17.#88 Smith; 18.#38 Guess.

POINTS...CAR#....DRIVER
..1....2746.....24........Susan Spencer
..2....2698.....75........Scotty Shilkuski
..3....2549.....14........Jimmy Fifield
..4....2478.....58........Roger Bettenhausen
..5....2456.....37........Jon Anderson
..6....1970......2.........Mike Ohlendorf
..7....1958.....87........Dave Rawlings
..8....1835.....99........Rich Peceniak
..9....1711.....20........Dave Smrekar
10....1664......1.........David Ohlendorf
11....1641.....18........Joe Knippel
12....1555.....10........Mick Billhorn
13....1465.....91........Quinn McCabe
14....1376.....4d........Matt Daily
15....1375......5.........Sean Murphy
16....1300.....4a........Mike Aimaro
17....1217.....54........Tommy Shilkuski
18....1208.....43........Doug Orseske
19....1110.....36........Jimmy Anderson
20....1075.....12........Mike Hess
21......973......8.........Dick Bettenhausen
22......781.....77........Bob Kenning
23......551.....88........Mike Smith
24......515.....21........Bob Schreffler
25......510.....94........Dave Deheve
26......480.....44........Terry Guimond
27......385.....38........Bobby Guess
28......345......3.........Bill Hoffmeyer
29......200.....26........George Clark
30......136.....33........Dennis Peceniak
31......130......8.........Aaron Romberg
32......120.....16........Billy Shoemaker
33......100......8.........Jim Hines
34........20.....26........Bobby Brandom
35..........0.....11........Mark Schuck
36..........0.....25........Mike Mellhorn