by Joe Verdegan and Chris Janda
(Francis Creek, WI) May 12– Oconto Falls rookie Eric “Chummy” Arneson led every lap and fought off a hard charging Kyle Frederick of Gillett to capture his first career modified feature at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek.

Our weekend of racing began with opening night at our hometown track of Luxemburg Speedway, where things got off to a good start as I drew a pretty decent number out of the draw bucket.

The track condition, however, was not good news to all drivers. Heavy rain during the week forced the officials to grade the entire track to offer a better racing surface. For the most part, it wasn't in the worst of shape, but the bumps and ruts combined with the heavy track made passing almost non-existent.

I started 3rd in my heat race, and battled for the lead at the drop of the green, but that start would be waved off. We set up again, and this time I didn't get a great jump like the previous start. The car was set up too tight for the conditions, and when I was pushed to the outside lane, I couldn't keep the car on the racing surface.

After falling off the backstretch, I recovered to pass a car to salvage a 7th place finish. I would start in the 4th row for the semi-feature, with the top 5 making the feature event. Again, the track did not allow for much passing, and I chose to pull off and save my car for Saturday night.

On Saturday at 141 Speedway, I started on the outside pole of the heat race, with the top 4 making the feature. We had a total of 42 sportmods sign in, so a high finish was really important. I took off and grabbed the early lead, pulling away from the rest of the field. Lapped traffic would play a huge factor in the race on lap 4, as I had to make a choice on where to try and pass the 2 cars in front of me.

The first car was down low, and the 2nd car was up high, so I tried to pass the first car up high. That proved to be the wrong choice, as that car darted to the outside of the track, right into my path. That would allow Eric Mahlik by me for the lead, and I had to do all I could to keep a transfer spot. More lapped traffic came into play on the white flag lap, but I hung onto the final transfer spot, finishing 4th.

(Francis Creek, WI) May 5– Neosho’s Mitch McGrath passed Fremont’s Mike Wedelstadt for the lead on lap seven and battled defending track champ Shawn Jerovetz in the final laps to capture the modified feature at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek on Stock’s Harley Davidson/21 Guns Saloon night.

(Francis Creek, WI) April 25 - After a week off due to the IRA sprint car special, modifieds, stock cars and Brian Peterson Builders Grand Nationals will return to action at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek Saturday, April 28 at 6 p.m.

by Team Media PR
This past Saturday, we towed back to 141 Speedway for their 2nd night of racing for the 2012 season. The show was a special for the Bumper to Bumper IRA outlaw sprint car series, and also included street stocks and sport 4s on the card.

Things didn’t last very long or end very well at all for us, as we only made it 1 lap around the speedway before the leader, Tyler Hackett, spun in front of me and the entire field. I was left with no place to go, and crashed the right front of my car into his driver side, then was clobbered in the left rear of the car.

The damage we sustained was far too much to continue for the heat race or for the rest of the night. The entire right side of the body was destroyed, and we also suffered a bent and cracked tail section, along with a bent front frame to add insult to injury.

We spent all Sunday morning and afternoon stripping the body and bending the welding the car back to where everything is supposed to be. Our plan now is to be back out on Friday for practice at Luxemburg Speedway, and possibly be back in action on Saturday at 141 Speedway.

Remember you can find Budzo Racing on the web at budzoracing.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/budzoracing, on YouTube at youtube.com/budzoracing and on Twitter at twitter.com/budzoracing.

Vetting, Koehler and Liegois sweep sportmods, street stock and sport four classes

by Joe Verdegan and Chris Janda
(FRANCIS CREEK, WI) April 21 – Defending Bumper to Bumper IRA Outlaw sprint car champion Billy Balog of Eau Claire led all 30 laps and sifted his way through lapped cars en route to the series season opening feature at 141 Speedway Saturday night.