The ILS visited Night 2 of the inaugural Fall Classic at Wilmot Raceway. Mike Neau set quick time of the night while John Kirk picked up Allstar Performance Heat 1 and Mark Heinert grabbed Rod End Supply Heat 2. The 6 car feature invert saw Mark Heinert lead the field to green only to spin in front of the field in turn 4 on the opening lap. Heinert would tag the tail and a complete restart would see Brian Strane Jr pull to an early lead with Nick Petska in tow. That would be short lived however as Strane would encounter mechanical issues again while leading and pull off on lap 9, handing the lead over to Petska. Heinert, who worked his way back up to P6 would also retire to the infield shortly thereafter. The race would stay green for 22 of the 25 laps until a late spin in T4 bunched the field back up for a 3 lap shootout. In the end it would be Petska bringing home his 2nd win of the season from the 5th starting spot, followed by rookie Chad Stouthamer, and teammate Mike Neau in 3rd. Tim Brannam would bring home the Weld Racing Hard Charger at +5. The misfortunes for Strane and Heinert allowed Petska to capitalize as the series heads to Plymouth on Saturday, September 28th for the series finalie during the Wisconsin Sprint Car Championships as the IRA 410, Wisconsin wingLESS, and MSA 360’s will all be in attendance – all crowning champions that night. Heinert takes a 6 point lead over Strane Jr. and a 15 point lead over Petska into the finale.
Victory Lane Photo Credit: Charlie Lancour
9/20/2024 at Wilmot Raceway
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 18-Nick Petska[5]; 2. 5S-Chad Stouthamer[3]; 3. 16-Mike Neau[6]; 4. 9-John Kirk[2]; 5. 17-Jordan Funderburk[7]; 6. 74-Tim Brannam[11]; 7. 13-Tucker Richards[9]; 8. 01-Ron Brannam[13]; 9. 23-Dominick Swierad[12]; 10. (DNF) 55H-Mark Heinert[1]; 11. (DNF) 22S-Brian Strane Jr[4]; 12. (DNF) 63-Jacob Irwin[8]; 13. (DNF) 74M-Max Brannam[10]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 9-John Kirk[2]; 2. 22S-Brian Strane Jr[3]; 3. 16-Mike Neau[4]; 4. 74-Tim Brannam[6]; 5. 17-Jordan Funderburk[1]; 6. 13-Tucker Richards[5]; 7. 01-Ron Brannam[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55H-Mark Heinert[2]; 2. 18-Nick Petska[4]; 3. 5S-Chad Stouthamer[3]; 4. 63-Jacob Irwin[1]; 5. 74M-Max Brannam[5]; 6. 23-Dominick Swierad[6]
Qualifying 1: 1. 16-Mike Neau, 00:14.410[13]; 2. 18-Nick Petska, 00:14.597[5]; 3. 22S-Brian Strane Jr, 00:14.730[12]; 4. 5S-Chad Stouthamer, 00:14.941[10]; 5. 9-John Kirk, 00:14.978[2]; 6. 55H-Mark Heinert, 00:15.007[7]; 7. 17-Jordan Funderburk, 00:15.175[9]; 8. 63-Jacob Irwin, 00:15.265[4]; 9. 13-Tucker Richards, 00:15.272[8]; 10. 74M-Max Brannam, 00:15.282[3]; 11. 74-Tim Brannam, 00:15.302[6]; 12. 23-Dominick Swierad, 00:15.612[11]; 13. 01-Ron Brannam, 00:15.759[1]