Miller Lite 250 - HO Road America

March 4, 1999

Round 13 of 16

KAEHNY DOMINATES MILLER LITE 250 RACE

-Fourth win of season comes easi/y-

Franktin, WI (Mar. 4, 1999) - The official name of the race is the "Miller Lite 250", but the unofficial name could have been "The Jim Kaehny Show." And what a show it was. The veteran pilot of the Frugal Homebrewer­ Swift-Ford machine set a new track record during qualifying as he collected his fourth pole of the season. He went on to win his heat race, and then finished off his clean sweep with a 15-lap win in a Final Four that he never trailed in. Kaehny's fourth win of the season brought him to within three points of the PPPG Cup with three races remaining in the season. Every other driver had to admit, there was nothing they could do to catch the Kaehny steamroller here at H.0. Road America.

After the race Kaehny said, "J just want to thank (team owner) John Baas. After that crash in the last race I was so depressed, and he stuck by me and convinced me to hang in there. Everything was perfect tonight."

Dan Margetta, who has now finished second in the last two races, collected enough points to move ahead of Ev Kamikawa, who finished eighth, into third place in the standings. Margetta was 15 taps off the pace and said, "We weren't very close to Jim at all, he was just gone tonight."

Returning to the podium in third, Dave Austin too admitted, Kaehny was the man. "We had nothing for Jim tonight, but if you took him out of the mix it was a great race for the rest of the positions." He finished just one lap behind Margetta, and four laps better than fourth-place finisher, Chad Sorce.

Kaehny's performance was also one for the record books. His 98 laps is now the highest qualifying total ever scored at H.O. Road America, and his time of 21.10 for the 250-lap race was a record as well.

PPPG Cup points leader Phil Cianciola saw his lead in the standings dwindle to just three points thanks to a

fifth-place effort here. In his heat race, the Penske chassis found it tough going in the Yellow lane, and Cianciola missed his marks on back-to-back stop-and-go penalties twice in a row late in the race, giving the position to Margetta.

Phil Marich could have easily been fifth, since he actually tied Cianciola in heat race laps, but the position went to Cianciola in the tie breaker. Marich finished silCth, followed by John Baas in seventh and Kamikawa in eighth.

Before the race Kamikawa announced a new associate sponsorship deal, adding Red Dog Beer to the decals on a newly-styled Ferrari car. He also said this represented some form of a partnership with Miller products drivers Margetta (Miller Lite) and Sorce (Leinenkugel's), although after Kamikawa's struggle to eighth, Sorce commented, "Ev's only our partner when we want him to be."

Tom Spehert failed to grid but picked up a couple points for ninth. And rookie Larry Rotter, who made the Final Four in the previous race, could do no better than dead last here in tenth place.

With three races remaining in the 1998-1999 season, the next stop on the tour will be Vernon Farms Super Speedway on March 18th, for the Sears Craftsman Challenge, an open class event that will be run in the reverse direction from the other races held there.

RACE PREVIEW: THE MILLER LITE 250

0     WHAT: The 6th-annual Miller Lite 250

0     WHERE: H.O. Road America       Franklin, WI

0    WHEN: Thursday, Mar. 4th 6:30 p.m.

0  DEFENDING CHAMPION:  Dave Austin

0    DEFENDING POLESITTER: Dave Austin

0    TRACK LAYOUT: Permanent road course

0    RACE LENGTH: 250 laps

0    RACE RECORDS: Qualifying- 97 laps, Phil Cianciola, 1997

Race- 250 laps/21.18 Dave Austin, 1997

0   RACE#: 13 of 16

0    NEXT EVENT: The Sears Craftsman Challenge (Open Class) Thursday, Mar. 18th

Vernon Farms Super Speedway

0    INSTANT REPLAY

Dave Austin cleaned up, winning from the pole. It was his second win of last season, eight laps better than Phil Cianciola. Dan Margetta was on the podium in third, in the debut of his Miller Lite car. And Jim Kaehny's fourth-place finish gave him enough points to tie Cianciola for the PPPG Cup lead with three races remaining.

THE MILLER 250 HISTORY

Year

Race Winner

Pole Winner

1994

JOHN SHEA

PAT JARVIS

1995

DAN MARGETTA

DAVE AUSTIN

1996

JOHN SHEA

DAVE AUSTIN

1997

DAVE AUSTIN

PHIL CIANCIOLA

1998

DAVE AUSTIN

DAVE AUSTIN

Things to watch for this year...

Dave Austin will try to do what no driver has ever accomplished before in the series, and that's win the same race for three years in a row. He should be considered a favorite on his home track. Dan Margetta is still hot and in a great points battle. He is a former winner at this track.