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GROVE
CREEK RACEWAY
GROVE CITY, MINNESOTA
TRACK
SIZE: 3/8
MILE SEMI BANKED DIRT OVAL & 1/8 MILE ASPHALT DRAGSTRIP
RACE
DAYS:
SATURDAY NIGHTS (OVAL):
WISSOTA MODIFIEDS, SUPER STOCKS, MIDWEST
MODIFIEDS, MODIFIED FOURS, STREET STOCKS & PURE STOCKS; EVERY OTHER
FRIDAY, SATURDAY OR SUNDAY (DS): NHRA
ET BRACKETS, STREET DRAGS T&T
PHONE: 320-593-2898
OR 612-280-7301
WEBSITE: WWW.GROVECREEK.COM
DIRECTIONS:
1.1
MILES EAST OF SR 4 IN GROVE CITY ON US 12, THEN SOUTH
7/9/05 - Grove Creek
results/story
Grove Creek Readying for
Another Exciting Summer
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MINNESOTA RACE TRACKS
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7/9/05 - Grove Creek
results/story
By Tom Berg
GROVE CITY, Minn. - 7-9-05 - Just a few feet was all that decided the Wissota
Modified and Wissota Super Stock features Saturday night at the Grove Creek
Raceway.
The two races were part of an exciting program of racing at the 3/8-mile dirt
oval.
Curt Newburg of Cosmos held off a charging Larry Zeller of Plymouth to win the
Wissota Modified feature, while Jim Martinson of Cokato edged Jason Vejtruba to
win the Wissota Super Stock feature.
Greg Thell of Foley outlasted Dustin Johanneck to win the Wissota Midwest
Modified feature. Ryan Buer won his second Wissota Street Stock feature, while
Dean Larson broke Matt Halls' four-night winning streak by winning the Wissota
Mod 4 feature.
Brandon Schultz won a wild Creek Stock feature after two drivers were
disqualified.
Saturday's program was sponsored by K95.3 FM and Discount Grain Systems, and
featured the popular kids' bike races.
Newburg won an action-packed Wissota Modified feature.
Newburg led early before being overtaken by Ryan Canon of Clearwater in the
Wissota Modified feature.
Zeller worked into the top three and began to pressure Newburg. Andy Gordon, who
had won the previous two features in the class, was also on the move after
starting 12th.
Canon's string of bad luck at Grove Creek continued when he dropped out.
That put Newburg back in front, Zeller in second and Gordon fourth.
Meanwhile, a hard-fought battle for fourth was taking place between Tony Proell
of Sartell, Kent Willms of Willmar and Ryan Olson of Plymouth.
After a restart, Newburg was turned around in turn four. Gordon was charged with
the yellow, moving Proell into the top three.
Proell got by Zeller on a restart with five laps left, as did Nieland.
Zeller moved back towards the front, taking second away from Proell and then
setting his sights on Newburg.
Zeller caught Newburg, setting up a thrilling finish. Newburg held on by a few
feet for his first win of the 2005 season. Zeller settled for second, followed
by Proell, Nieland and Olson.
Martinson won his third consecutive Wissota Super Stock feature in a wild
finish.
Chris Groth of Plymouth took the lead from the pole, with Zach Schultz of Grove
City giving chase. Vejtruba, the Lake Lillian driver, settled into third, while
Chad Halstrom of Isanti, Justin Pogones of Elk River and Martinson battled for
fourth.
Schultz put heavy pressure on Groth, and made his move to the lead. The two
drivers traded paint as they battled for the lead.
Meanwhile, Vejtruba was closing in fast on the top two. Martinson moved into
fourth, while Halstrom and Pogones battled for fifth.
With three laps left, Schultz, who was leading, spun in turn four to bring out
the caution. Schultz dropped out of the race at that point, as did Groth, moving
Vejtruba to the lead and Martinson into second.
Vejtruba led after the restart, with Martinson making a late charge.
Martinson, using the low line, made a run at Vejtruba on the final lap. The two
drivers were side by side entering the final corner and it was a drag race to
the finish.
The two made contact coming down the final stretch, bringing the fans to their
feet. Martinson edged Vejtruba at the line by inches for the win.
Halstrom came home a season-best third, with Pogones and Kyle Schmidt of Foley
rounding out the top five.
Thell won an action-packed Wissota Midwest Modified feature.
Charlie Hilluka of Elk River took the early lead, with Dustin Johanneck of
Litchfield in second and Corey Koenig of Sauk Rapids in third. Soon, Thell began
pressuring Koenig for third.
Johanneck passed Hilluka for the lead, with Thell moving into third. Thell then
set his sights on Johanneck, while Koenig and Hilluka continued to battle for
third.
Brandon Nelson of New London was having a solid run in fifth.
Thell used the high line to get around Johanneck for the lead late.
Johanneck stayed close and looked for an opening, but Thell stayed steady on his
way to the win. Johanneck settled for second, followed by Koenig, Hilluka and
Nelson. Thell became the sixth different driver in six nights to win a Midwest
Modified feature, joining Koenig, Hilluka, Johanneck, Matt Weisman and George
Sniesek.
Buer took the lead early from his pole position in the Wissota Street Stock
feature and was never challenged, on his way to his second win of the season at
Grove Creek.
Frank Zeuli of Hutchinson ran a strong second for much of the race. The best
battle on the track came for third between Scott Huston of Benson and Tim Juven
of Delano.
The car on the move was Jay Hedtke of Grove City, who started 15th but moved
into the top seven. He worked his way to sixth and began to pressure Allen
Gessell of Big Lake for fifth.
Buer won by a comfortable margin, with Juven taking second. Juven got by Huston
on the final lap for third, while Gessell held off a charging Hedtke for fifth.
Larson was his second Wissota Mod 4 feature of the year.
The veteran from Pennock took the lead early. First-time visitor Shayne Laske of
Moorhead quickly moved into second.
Halls, who had won four straight features, dropped out with mechanical trouble.
A fierce battle for third was taking place between Jesse Yarmon of Paynesville
and Jamie Flickinger of Becker.
A pair of national point contenders - Nick Egge of Kandiyohi and Justin
Bjorklund of Sacred Heart - dropped out with mechanical trouble.
Laske stayed close to Larson but Larson was too strong as he took the win. Laske
was second, followed by Yarmon, Flickinger and George Simmens of Roberts, Wis.
Discount Grain Systems provided added incentive for the Creek Stocks.
Discount Grain Systems provided an extra $600 to the purse - with a unusual
twist. The driver who finished third would get an extra $300 (in addition to
regular payout), while the driver who finished fourth would get an extra $200.
The driver who finished fifth also would receive an extra $100.
The race turned into a battle of attrition. The top two point cars - Justin
Litzau of Lake Lillian and Justin Gatewood of Atwater - both dropped out with
mechanical trouble.
Jeremy Chastek of Grove City assumed the lead, with Jason Goedker of St. Cloud
running second. Charlie Shiek of Gilman was also in the top five. Goedker
dropped out with a flat tire.
Chastek had a commanding lead over Brandon Schultz of Grove City late. Greg
Forcier of Buffalo Lake was third, with Charlie Shiek in fourth and Pat Shiek in
fifth.
That's the order the drivers crossed the line.
However, after technical inspections, Chastek and Charlie Shiek were
disqualified, giving the win to Brandon Schultz. Greg Forcier was second and Pat
Shiek third.
Shiek received the extra $300 for taking third. Kevin Krueger of Litchfield,
making his first appearance of the 2005 season, did not finish but was awarded
fourth after the disqualifications - and earned the extra $200 as a result. Chad
Koenig of Sauk Rapids also did not finish but was awarded fifth and received the
extra $100.
Racing resumes at Grove Creek's dirt oval July 23 with DARE night. The program
will feature the annual Wissota coloring contest. The program will be sponsored
by Bumper-to-Bumper of Litchfield.
Wissota Modified Feature - Curt Newburg, Larry Zeller, Tony Proell, Chad Nieland,
Ryan Olson, Wade Hanson, Andy Gordon, Kent Willms, Curly Williams, Matt
Anderson
Heat 1 - Ryan Canon, Zeller, Olson
Heat 2 - Nieland, Willms, Proell
Wissota Super Stock Feature - Jim Martinson, Jason Vejtruba, Chad Halstrom,
Justin Pogones, Kyle Schmidt, Justin Hedtke, Josh Anderson, Mike Christenson
Heat 1 - Vejtruba, Zach Schultz, Christenson
Heat 2 - Martinson, Halstrom, Chris Groth
Wissota Midwest Modified Feature - Greg Thell, Dustin Johanneck, Corey Koenig,
Charlie Hilluka, Brandon Nelson, Jesse Trebil, Ray Hoberg, Doug Frederick,
George Sniesek, Brian Murphy
Heat 1 - Zach Schultz, Hilluka, Murphy
Heat 2 - Koenig, B. Nelson, Thell
Heat 3 - Frederick, A.J. Forcier, Hoberg
Heat 4 - Johanneck, Jason Wendlandt, Trebil
B-feature - Sniesek, Matt Weisman, Jim Nystrom, Chris Zenner
Wissota Street Stock Feature - Ryan Buer, Frank Zeuli, Tim Juven, Scott Huston,
Allen Gessell, Jay Hedtke, Mark Voigt, Kevin Schmidt, Steve Bemboom, Amanda
Milbrandt
Heat 1 - Huston, Gessell, Zeuli
Heat 2 - Buer, Travis Forcier, Juven
Wissota Mod 4 Feature - Dean Larson, Shayne Laske, Jesse Yarmon, Jamie
Flickinger, George Simmens, Jeff Barth, Tyler Larson
Heat 1 - Laske, Yarmon, Matt Halls
Heat 2 - D. Larson, Justin Bjorklund, Flickinger
Creek Stock Feature - Brandon Schultz, Greg Forcier, Pat Shiek, Kevin Krueger,
Chad Koenig
Heat 1 - Tom Benesch, Forcier, Koenig
Heat 2 - Justin Litzau, Justin Gatewood, Jason Goedtke
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MINNESOTA RACE TRACKS
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Grove Creek Readying for
Another Exciting Summer
The 2005 racing season is fast approaching, and the Grove Creek Raceway near
Grove City, MN has another summer of racing action planned for fans and drivers.
The 2005 schedule will feature 12 shows, which will allow drivers to receive
full Wissota national point-fund money at the end of the season. The track is
cutting back on the number of shows during the summer in order to give drivers,
pit crews, fans and workers a break from the regular routine - a Saturday night
off to do nothing, get married, go camping or spend time with family. Susie
Johnson, promoter of Grove Creek says "a few nights off during the season
will help everyone keep the fun in racing and give everyone a chance to enjoy
the summer a bit".
With the oval taking a few nights off during the summer, it also gives the
Grove Creek dragstrip a chance to hold Saturday night shows for drivers and fans
to enjoy. Saturday night drags are scheduled for June 11, July 2, July 16, July
30, Aug. 6, Aug 20 and Sept. 10. Racing at the 3/8-mile dirt oval will be held
on a dozen Saturdays starting May 7 and concluding Sept. 3. Gates will open at 5
p.m. with racing to begin at 7 p.m.
A big change for 2005 will be the return of the Creek Stocks (by popular
demand) which ran at the track a few years ago. The Creek Stocks will replace
the Pure Stocks, which were dropped because of lower car counts. Wissota
Modifieds, Wissota Super Stocks, Wissota Midwest Modifieds, Wissota Street
Stocks and Wissota Mod 4s will be on the weekly show.
A test-and-tune date is set for Saturday, April 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The
season opener is set for Saturday, May 7. It's part of five straight racing
shows through June 4.
Included in that stretch is a kids' candy toss on May 14, a kids fun night on
May 21, a kids gold rush on May 28 and the popular Undy 500 June 4.
The track will take June 11 off, and return June 18 for a father's day special,
which will include a father-and-child egg toss.
The midseason championship is set for June 25. The track will take the July 4
weekend off, and resume July 9 with the LeTour De Creek, which features kids
bike races.
After taking July 16 off, the oval track resumes July 23 with D.A.R.E night. It
will take two nights off before coming back for the popular driver
autograph/frisbee toss night August 13.
The Vintage Cars are back Aug. 27, with the season finale taking place Sept. 3.
There is also work planned to get some new surface on the track as well as many
other things behind the scenes that help the show run smoothly. The popular
concession stand has added another item, as mini donuts will be solid this year.
The track's Web site is www.grovecreek.com. Drivers, pit crews and fans are
encouraged to check the site out for updates, standings, weekly recaps, etc.
Saturday, May 7 Season Opener
Saturday, May 14 Kids' Candy Toss
Saturday, May 21 Kids Fun Night
Saturday, May 28 Kids Gold Rush
Saturday, June 4 Undy 500
Saturday, June 18 Father's Day Special
Saturday, June 25 Midseason Championship
Saturday, July 9 LeTour De Creek - Kids Bike Races
Saturday, July 23 D.A.R.E Night, Kid's Coloring Contest
Saturday, Aug. 13 Driver Autograph/Frisbee Toss
Saturday, Aug. 27 Vintage Cars
Saturday, Sept. 3 Season Finale/Mechanics Race
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