MORRIS, Illinois -- Ron Breese, Jr won the NASCAR Elite Divvision, International Truck and Engine Corporation Midwest Series All-Star 150, Sunday night at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Illinois. For Breese, the win was his first in the series since July 7, 1998.
“We just had a great car all day, from the time we rolled it out of the trailer,” said Breese. “We didn’t practice much because we didn’t want to mess it up.”
A late race caution set up a 10-lap shoot out to the checkers. Breese held off Steve Carlson in a spirited battle by .316-seconds.
Bud Pole fast qualifier, Jon Lemke, started 10th after the mandatory series invert. Lemke raced to a third place finish.
“After the first two races, this is like a win,” said Lemke who failed to finish the first two series events. “This track requires a lot of patience and that’s just what we tried to do.”
Ryan Hanson posted a career best fourth place finish with local favorite Eddie Hoffman rounding out the top five.
Breese started the 150-lap event from the fifth position and settled into that spot at the drop of the green behind Hanson, Brian Hoppe, Nathan Haseleu and Tim Schendel.
Haseleu flexed his muscle early, getting by Hoppe and Hanson after just 10 laps and assumed the lead.
Once out front Haseleu had clear sailing. Solo spins involving rookie driver Jeremy Lepak and fellow rookie Mark Voigt brought out two short yellows in the events first 40 laps.
Once back under way after the Voigt incident, Breese found himself in the third spot.
Haseleu rapped the front stretch wall, in an apparent harmless incident, while pacing the field. Haseleu’s miscue allowed Hoppe to close up and make a bid for the lead. In the tussle for the top spot, Hoppe’s right front wheel made contact with Haseleu’s left rear, again, apparently harmless. But in the two skirmishes, damage had been done to Haseleu’s Ford. Haseleu came to rest on the front stretch on lap 51 amid a shower of sparks from broken rear end suspension.
That gave Hoppe the lead and lined Breese up second with Lemke quickly advancing through the field to third with Hanson and Hoffman filling the top five.
Breese worked Hoppe over for nearly 30-laps before finally finding a way past the former series champion. Once out front Breese had clear sailing through a green-flag stretch that chewed up nearly half of the event.
After his second consecutive poor qualifying effort, Carlson started the event from the 15th position and very patiently work his way to the front of the field. Carlson moved into second position, by getting under Lemke, on lap 93.
The fifth and final caution of the event flew on lap 136 for an Erik Darnell and Pete Moore spin in turn one. That negated a nearly two-second Breese advantage and gave Carlson one final shot at the leader.
But Breese held strong to capture his third career series win at the track where he started his racing career 14 years earlier.
“I may have slowed up a tenth of a second there at the end, but I just wanted to make sure I protected the bottom,” said Breese.
“We got some new trick parts for the car that we put on at the Dells and all it did was make the thing slower,” said Carlson. “I took all that stuff off and went back to the basics and we’ve got a good car again. That was fun racing with Ron there those last few laps.”
With his win, Breese extended his championship point advantage to 17 markers over Carlson. Rookie Eric Fransen had another great run, finishing sixth in his first visit to the .33-mile Grundy County oval. Fransen now sits third in the championship chase.
The Midwest Series is back in action, June 7, with the autotrader.com 150 at Colorado National Speedway in Erie, Colorado.
Morris, Ill - Unofficial race results for the NASCAR Elite Division, Int'l Truck and Engine Midwest Series, Sunday afternoon, May 25, at Grundy County Speedway with start position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car make, money won and reason out:
1 (5) Ron Breese, Jr Dekalb, IL, Chevrolet 150 $3,520 running
2 (15) Steve Carlson West Salem, WI, Chevrolet 150 $3,725 running
3 (10) Jon Lemke Greenfield, MN, Chevrolet 150 $2,450 running
4 (2) Ryan Hanson Beloit, WI, Ford 150 $1,575 running
5 (8) Eddie Hoffman Wheaton, IL, Chevrolet 150 $1,575 running
6 (13) Eric Fransen* West Bend, WI, Chevrolet 150 $1,320 running
7 (1) Brian Hoppe Madison, WI, Chevrolet 150 $1,475 running
8 (4) Tim Schendel Sparta, WI, Chevrolet 150 $1,200 running
9 (9) Justin Diercks Davenport, IA, Chevrolet 150 $1,150 running
10 (7) Jeremy Lepak* Wausau, WI, Chevrolet 150 $945 running
11 (6) Johnny Sauter Necedah, WI, Ford 150 $700 running
12 (23) Pete Moore McFarland, WI, Chevrolet 149 $925 running
13 (21) Jeff Way Burlington, WI, Chevrolet 149 $870 running
14 (20) Bryan Roach Becker, MN, Chevrolet 149 $820 running
15 (19) Tim Rothe Appleton, WI, Chevrolet 149 $845 running
16 (26) Chad Barker Hubertus, WI, Chevrolet 149 $500 running
17 (11) Clint Bowyer* Emporia, KS, Chevrolet 149 $450 running
18 (16) Erik Darnell Beach Park, IL, Chevrolet 149 $670 running
19 (24) Chris Bires* Mauston, WI, Chevrolet 148 $450 running
20 (18) Kirby Kurth Wisconsin Rapids, WI, Pontiac 147 $450 running
21 (12) Les Ferris Northfield, MN, Chevrolet $720 running
22 (25) Mark Voigt* Marine, IL, Chevrolet 64 $670 brakes
23 (22) Biff George Oswego, IL, Chevrolet 60 $500 handling
24 (3) Nathan Haseleu Marshall, WI, Ford 51 $450 suspension
25 (14) Dave Finney Sycamore, IL, Chevrolet 46 $670 overheating
26 (17) Jamie Wallace Pell Lake, WI, Chevrolet 30 $450 overheating
*Denotes Victory Circle Chassis Rookie of the Year Contender
5 Cautions for 24 Laps
Lead Changes Among Drivers: 4 lead changes among 4 drivers
Brian Hoppe (grid); Ryan Hanson 1-9; Nathan Haseleu 10-50; Hoppe 51-77; Ron Breese, Jr 78-150
Time of Race: 47 minutes 17 seconds
Average Speed: 63.384 mph.
Margin of Victory: .316 seconds
Bud Pole Winner: Jon Lemke, K.C. Colors Chevrolet, 15.196 seconds (78.178 mph)
POWERade Power Move of the Race Award: Steve Carlson, Wilson Oil Company Chevrolet
15-Lap Last Chance Qualifier: 1) Tim Rothe; 2) Bryan Roach; 3) Jeff Way; 4) Biff George
Failed to Qualify: (3) A.J. Rhoads; Dave Bean; Dan Bedard
Next Race: Colorado National Speedway, Erie, Colorado, Saturday, June 7, 2003
