Koeneke takes checkered flag on Speedway’s opening night

Big crowd for first night of weekly racing

WEST SALEM, Wis. (WKBT) — Mike Koeneke opened the 2014 season with a statement.

The Rockland, Wis. native won the NASCAR Late Models Feature Race on the first night of weekly racing at the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway.

“What a sweet win, what a way to start the season,” Koeneke said in a press release. “With new tires on and the way my son (Kyle) had the car set-up, I felt I could put this car anywhere on the track that I wanted to.”

Koeneke started the race mid-pack as Bill Niles and Todd Korish battled for the lead in the early stages of the race. Niles grabbed the lead two laps after the green flag waved and stayed there for eight laps until Korish chased him down, pushing his car past him.

Korish, a former track champion, held the top spot for only two laps before Koeneke came out of nowhere to take the lead. Koeneke, coming out of Turn 4 with a full head of steam, pulled alongside – then past – Korish as the two blew down the front straightaway.

Holmen native Todd Korish finished second, followed by Brad Powell (La Crosse), the fast-time qualfier. Cole Howland (La Crosse) finished fourth, and the defending season points champion, Steve Carlson (West Salem) finished fifth.

Complete Results:

Kwik Trip NASCAR Late Models

Pischke Motors 25 Feature (22 Cars) — 1, Mike Koeneke, Rockland; 2, Todd Korish, Holmen; 3, Brad Powell, La Crosse; 4, Cole Howland, La Crosse; 5, Steve Carlson, West Salem; 6, Adam Degenhardt, Coon Valley; 7, Shawn Pfaff, Sparta; 8, Harley Jankowski, Sparta; 9, Mike Carlson, West Salem; 10, Bill Niles, Holmen; 11, Branden Berg, Melrose; 12, Jack Litsheim, La Crosse; 13, Jerimy Wagner, Onalaska; 14, Steve Owen, Camp Douglas; 15, Curt Eckelberg, West Salem; 16, Jonathan Eckelberg, West Salem; 17, Carter Chistenson, West Salem; 18, Travis Christenson, La Crosse; 19, Nick Clements, West Salem; 20, Jimmy Summerfield, Rockland; 21, Todd Oliver, Bangor; 22, Justin Zmyewski, Houston, Minn.

Qualifying — 1, Brad Powell, 19.724 seconds, 99.549 MPH; 2, Steve Carlson, 19.755 secs, 99.393 MPH; 3, Mike Koeneke, 19.771 secs, 99.312 MPH; 4, Shawn Pfaff, 19.775 secs, 99.292 MPH; 5, Cole Howland, 19.897 secs, 98.683 MPH; 6, Mike Carlson; 7, Adam Degenhardt; 8, Todd Korish; 9, Harley Jankowski; 10, Bill Niles; 11, Nick Clements; 12, Jack Litsheim; 13, Branden Berg; 14, Jerimy Wagner; 15, Curt Eckelberg; 16, Travis Christenson; 17, Todd Oliver; 18, Carter Christenson; 19, Jonathan Eckelberg; 20, Steve Owen; 21, Justin Zmyewski.

Heat 1 — 1, Branden Berg; 2, Bill Niles; 3, Adam Degenhardt; 4, Todd Korish; 5, Jack Litsheim.

Heat 2 — 1, Jerimy Wagner; 2, Curt Eckelberg; 3, Steve Owen; 4, Jonathan Eckelberg; 5, Todd Oliver.

Fast Dash — 1, Cole Howland; 2, Mike Koeneke; 3, Shawn Pfaff; 4, Brad Powell; 5, Steve Carlson.

Coca-Cola Sportsmen

Pischke Motors 15 Feature (14 Cars) — 1, Greg Scheck, La Crosse; 2, Steve Bachman, West Salem; 3, Jamie Dummer, Tomah; 4, Nick Clements, West Salem; 5, Jimmy Gilster, West Salem; 6, Justin Mullikin, Holmen; 7, Jeff Thompson, La Crosse; 8, Brad Warthan, Sparta; 9, Brian Hesselberg, West Salem; 10, Tom Luethe, West Salem; 11, Justin Berg, Bangor; 12, Mandi Eckelberg, West Salem; 13, Andy Buhrow, Sparta; 14, Bill Martin, Madison.

Qualifying —  1, Jimmy Gilster, 22.072 seconds, 88.959 MPH; 2, Brian Hesselberg, 22.098 secs, 88.854 MPH; 3, Steve Bachman, 22.145 secs, 88.666 MPH; 4, Bill Martin, 22.199 secs, 88.450 MPH; 5, Nick Clements, 22.256 secs, 88.223 MPH; 6, Greg Scheck; 7, Jamie Dummer; 8, Jeff Thompson; 9, Justin Mullikin; 10, Justin Berg; 11, Tom Luethe; 12, Brad Warthan; 13, Mandi Eckelberg; 14, Any Buhrow.

Heat 1 — 1, Jeff Thompson; 2, Justin Berg; 3, Jamie Dummer; 4, Brad Warthan; 5, Tom Luethe.

Dash — 1, Greg Scheck; 2, Nick Clements; 3, Brian Hesselberg; 4, Jimmy Gilster; 5, Steve Bachman.

United Auto Supply Thunderstox

Pischke Motors 15 Feature (13 cars) — 1, Andy Moore, Sparta; 2, Jason Bolster, Sparta; 3, Jordan Myers, Sparta; 4, Dakota Miller, Sparta; 5, Jason Schaller, La Crosse; 6, Thomas Farra, Cashton; 7, Jacinda Pfaff, Sparta; 8, Melissa Rusch, La Crosse; 9, Kayla Lockington, Mindoro; 10, Kayla Steinhoff, Rockland; 11, Ronald White, Camp Douglas; 12, Steve Rusch, Sparta; 13, JR Tourtellott.

Dash — 1, JR Tourtellott; 2, Jason Schaller; 3, Jordan Myers; 4, Jason Bolster; 5, Andy Moore.

Heat 1 — 1, Jason Bolster; 2, Jason Schaller; 3, JR Tourtellott; 4, Dakota Miller; 5, Steven Rusch.

Heat 2 — 1, Andy Moore; 2, Jacinda Pfaff; 3, Jordan Myers; 4, Thomas Farra; 5, Kayla Steinhoff.

ANTS Complete Pest Control Hornets

Pischke Motors 15 Feature (24 cars) — 1, Dan Rozek, Tomah; 2, Hunter Miller, West Salem; 3, Jeff Stumlin, Holmen; 4, Josh Viner, La Crosse; 5, Garrett Thicke, West Salem; 6, Mark Bornitz, Holmen; 7, Jeff Thompson, La Crosse; 8, Samantha Linnehan, Sparta; 9, Nate Towner, West Salem; 10, John Eron, St. Germain; 11, Kris Berg, Ettrick; 12, Patrick Thicke, West Salem; 13, Matthew Carpenter; 14, Brandon LeMoine; 15, John Piotrowski, Black River Falls; 16, Matthew Moore, Kendall; 17, Jake Schomers, La Crescent, Minn.; 18, Cam Dezelske, La Crosse; 19, Tim Murphy Sr., Warrens; 20, Hunter Nelson, Rushford, Minn.; 21, Jackson Broer, Coon Valley; 22, Kevin Thompson, Galesville; 23, Chris Swenson, Tomah; 24, Josh Brown, Cashton.

Semi-feature — 1, Cam Dezelske; 2, Hunter Nelson; 3, Jackson Broer; 4, Josh Brown; 5, Aaron Hopkins, Burnsville, Minn.

Heat 1 — 1, Nate Towner; 2, Jeff Thompson; 3, Garrett Thicke; 4, Josh Viner; 5, Hunter Miller.

Heat 2 — 1, Brandon LeMoine; 2, Jake Schomers; 3, Tim Murphy Sr.; 4, Kevin Thompson; 5, Samantha Linnehan.

Heat 3 — 1, Matthew Moore; 2, Jeff Stumlin; 3, Chris Swenson; 4, John Eron; 5, Dan Rozek.

Heat 4 — 1, Mark Bornitz; 2, Kris Berg; 3, Patrick Thicke; 4, Matthew Carpenter; 5, John Piotrowski.

Second Over Wins 1 — 1, Nate Towner; 2, Kris Berg; 3, Garrett Thicke; 4, Hunter Miller; 5, Aaron Hopkins.

Second Over Wins 1 — 1, Jeff Stumlin; 2, Matthew Carpenter; 3, Kris Heinz; 4, John Piotrowski; 5, Patrick Thicke.

Queen Bees

Pischke Motors 8 Feature (6 cars) — 1, Kim Eckelberg; 2, Susie Reinhartz; 3, Tina Gettinger; 4, Colleen Hundorf; 5, Ruth Inglett; 6, Angie Petrowski.

–Information from the La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway press release was used in this report.