| By Bruce Crowley Elko, NV…It
was the first event of Summit Raceway’s 23rd season, and was
called Founder’s Day, but by the end of the racing activities, it just might
be renamed as “Jennifer Fietzek Day”. The second generation driver,
competing in only her first full season of racing after running a limited
number of races last season, looked as if she was a 10-year master of the
quarter-mile bullrings. Jennifer, a Elko High School freshman who turned
15-years old recently, won her Gen-X heat race in a wire-to-wire
performance; and she was only just warming up, on her way to a convincing
‘clean sweep’. Next up the young lady was the Trophy Dash for the Gen-X
cars. She received the checkered flag from starter Lincoln Litchfield,
beating 14-year old Brian Bullock in the six-lap dash. The 10-lap feature
found Jennifer in the second row, but it didn’t take her long to take the
lead from Bullock; she was never headed after that. By winning all three
events, she more than likely became the youngest driver to put up a sweep
her at Summit. Her proud father Mike Fietzek, a two-time Modified Mini
champion, said that he had never accomplished that during his long racing
career. In the feature race, Fietzek beat Jack Hammond, who drove the car of
Shalynn Guthrie, who in turn was injured in her Modified Mini heat race, as
here car hit the turn four wall at high speed. Guthrie was able to drive her
car into the pit area from where the ambulance crew dispatched her down the
hill to the hospital. The medic at the hospital wanted to wait for the next
day or so to let her swollen arm go down to see if it was a fracture. By
Sunday night no other word had been received. In 2008, the 15-year old
Spring Creek lass was attempting to run both a Gen-X and a Modified Mini at
the raceway, but those plans might be on hold should she be unable to use
the arm.
In the IMCA Modified action, the Steensen brothers
were in a world all by themselves. Two of them won two of the three heats
races, and, if that were not enough, former three-time IMCA track champion
Corey Steensen took command of the feature race and would not give it up.
Corey took the checkered first in his heat and brother Scott did likewise in
another heat. Another brother, Bobby, finished third in his heat, and the
fourth one fished fourth behind Scott’s heat win. No Trophy Dash was run
that night for the IMCA drivers. On a night for records, the four Steensens
were running in the top four positions for six laps during the middle of the
feature before one spun in turn four and another experienced handling
problems. But the other two, Corey and Scott, were in mid-season form, but
it took Scott, another former track champ in the division, several laps to
pass veteran driver Jimmy Lester for the lead after several restarts. By the
seventh circuit, all four Steensens, Scott, Chris, Bobby, and Corey raced in
formation at the top of the leader board. Defending champion Wade Taylor,
Spring Creek, was pressing leaders with 10 to go, but had mechanical woes
that sidelined him, and finished eighth. Another former champion Ward
Amberson lasted only the initial lap before retiring from the feature.
Battle Mountain standout Randy Artz, who won last week at Winnemucca, was in
contention late in the race until he too was relegated to being a spectator.
It was all Corey after he raced the lead away from Scott during the 10th
go-around. James McCoy put in a great job finishing third to keep Bobby
Steensen from having the brothers sweep the top three positions. Lester was
fifth. Artz won the heat race that the Steensens didn’t win. For the second
year in as many seasons, hard luck veteran Dan Basanez had major engine
problems, and was unable to start the feature.
Elko’s John Levi won the 25-lap Pro Stock feature over
Terry Lister and Jay McLeod, after taking the lead from newcomer James
Ogden. Ogden was a force early on driving last year’s championship car, but
slipped to fourth at the final checkered. Levi won one of the two heat races
over Ogden, and Cody Maier, moving up from the Gen-X division, raced to the
win over Downtown Bobby Brown in the other heat. Although Levi won the
event, he was relegated to a surprising last place finish due to ‘illegal
safety issues’. Moving up to first place points was Lister, a Spring Creek
resident.
The Pure Stock class fielded only three cars for their
feature race, but former Pro Stock champion Bernie Sethaler and defending
Pure Stock champ Dustin Greenwood put on a good show, racing wheel- to-
wheel before Greenwood took control for the victory. The car also won the
earlier heat.
In the Modified Mini feature only three cars were able
to answer the bell for the green flag. Wells ace Steve Pruitt, running his
old car since his Modified car was not finished yet, raced to victory over
former champion Elko’s Mike Fietzek and Spring Creek’s Jack Hammond. For
Pruitt it was win number two on the evening, as he beat out Hammond in the
heat.
The next races at Summit Raceway will be Saturday
nights May 10 and May 24.
SUMMIT RACEWAY RESULTS SATURDAY NIGHT APRIL 26, 2008 1
OF 16
IMCA MODIFIEDS
Heat one: Corey Steensen, James McCoy, Kevin Nelson,
Ray Thompson, Dan Basanez
Heat two: Scott Steensen, Jimmy Lester, Wade Taylor,
Chris Steensen, Neil Wadford
Heat three: Randy Artz, Ward Amberson, Bobby Steensen,
Ken Smith, Ivan Neshem
Feature: Corey Steensen, Scott Steensen, James McCoy,
Bobby Steensen, Jimmy
Lester, Kevin Nelson, Ken Smith, Wade Taylor, Chris
Steensen, Randy Artz
Tracy Greenwood, Neil Wadford, Ivan Neshem, Ward
Amberson
Dan Basanez DNS
ECAR PRO STOCKS
Heat one: John Levi, James Ogden, Jay McLeod, Terry
Lister
Heat two: Cody Maier, Bobby Brown, Teri Kellum, Chris
Kellum
Feature: John Levi DQ, Terry Lister, Jay McLeod, James
Ogden, Bobby Brown
Cody Maier, Teri Kellum, Chris Kellum
ECAR MODIFIED MINIS
Heat: Steve Pruitt, Jack Hammond, Shalynn Guthrie,
Mike Fietzek, Andrea Fietzek
Feature: Steve Pruitt, Mike Fietzek, Jack Hammond,
Tanner Roche DNS,
Andrea Fietzek DNS
ECAR PURE STOCKS
Heat: Dustin Greenwood, Tanner Roche, Bernie Sethaler
Feature: Dustin Greenwood, Bernie Sethaler, Tanner
Roche
ECAR GEN-X
Heat: Jennifer Fietzek, Brian Bullock, Shalynn
Guthrie, Jenny Greenwood,
Jeff Tremain
Trophy Dash: Jennifer Fietzek, Brian Bullock, Jeff
Tremain, Shalynn Guthrie
Feature: Jennifer Fietzek, Jack Hammond, Jeff Tremain,
Brian Bullock, Jenny Greenwood
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