The NTB Halloween 250 - HO Road America - Franklin, WI

Round 5 of 16

October 29, 1998

KAEHNY REPEATS VICTORY AT ANNUAL HALLOWEEN RACE

-Has now won two in a row-

Franklin, WI (Oct. 29th, 1998) - Jim Kaehny did a little trick or treating early here at the new home of H.O. Road America in Franklin, Wisconsin and he came up with a sack full of treats. Kaehny piloted his Swift Ford Firestone-shod Frugal Homebrewer-sponsored car to a 9-lap victory in the NTB Halloween 250, defending his title from a year ago. He drove to victory after winning his lucky 13th pole of his career, tying a race record in qualifying. It was Kaehny's 14th career win, tying him for the all-time lead in that category in the series with Phil Cianciola and Dave Austin.

"The crew just did a great job with that car," he said. "We only had one little electrical glitch during the race and they fixed that up right away when I came into the pits." The win moved the New Berlin, WI native into second place in the standings, just four points behind leader Ev Kamikawa.                                                                                              •

Once again Kamikawa's Ferrari team had to endure a painfully long pit stop at the midway point of the race, replacing the black box that controls the electronics on the car. Despite that, he managed to hold off Cianciola for second place by just three laps. A defending series champion and a former winner of this race, Cianciola had his pit problems as well, but in his case it was driver error. "I came in too hot, locked the brakes and the car slid a little too far away from the fuel hose," he expla[ned. But Cianciola was still all smiles at the end of the night because he had won a private side bet with former partner John Baas, who had predicted a finish higher than Cianciola. The two agreed to race for each other's cars. Baas finished sixth. Asked afterward if he had any regrets about losing his car he said, "Not really. That was kind of fun and it's great for the sport to give the fans more to talk about."

Making his first Final Four in a while, Dave Austin struggled mightily with the handling setup on his MCI machine before pulling off the track voluntarily on lap 81. "This is ridiculous," Austin snorted after climbing from the cockpit early, "I was a danger to people out there so we just parked it. I'd rather go have a beer." Fourth place.

Phil Marich, the third driver on the Frugal Homebrewer team, set the track ablaze in qualifying but slipped a position in the race to fifth. Following Baas in sixth it was Dan Margetta in the Miller Lite ride complaining once again about not being able to buy any luck. The team found a bit of controversy in the heat race, when Margetta was given a black flag for failing to slow down for an area yellow after another car spun. Margetta immediately radioed to his crew, "I'm not stopping for that...l couldn't see anything because of a grandstand." Upon appeal the flag was rescinded and Margetta never did have to stop.

Chad Sorce, the points leader going into the race, dropped to fourth in the standings after a dismal Halloween effort of eighth place. Sorce may have been a bit distracted, driving despite the fact that his new son Alex had been sick for days.

After struggling with a lack of speed in qualifying, Tony Perkins found himself in a battle for ninth place with rookie driver Larry Rotter. The veteran Perkins' experience showed in a runoff, and he took the position and went on to win his first Consi race of the season. After making the trip all the way from Indianapolis again he said, "That was fun. There was some good racing in that Consi."

Rookie Rotter finished out of the points in tenth, but ahead of the struggling new Penske driver Pat Jarvis, who took eleventh in a field of twelve. At the back of the pack was rookie Mike Prelozni, who went from the penthouse to the outhouse at Halloween. He had a career-high third place finish two weeks earlier at the Deercross Indy Challenge.

Kaehny becomes the first repeat winner this season after five races. He also collected a 12 (thousand) dollar bonus for winning from the pole. His 96 laps tied a race record, but at 22.16, his winning time was more than two minutes off the record pace for the Halloween 250.

The series travels to New Berlin, Wisconsin next for the annual Hobby Town Turkey Trot at the Inside Edge track, which is the home testing base for Kaehny. However, Kamikawa has won that race the past two years.

RACE PREVIEW: THE NTB HALLOWEEN 250

0 WHAT: The 6th annual NTB Halloween 250

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

0 WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 29th 6:30 p.m.

0   DEFENDING CHAMPION:  Jim Kaehny

0   DEFENDING POLESITTER: Jim Kaehny

0 TRACK LAYOUT: Permanent road course

0   RACE LENGTH: 250 laps

0   RACE RECORDS: Qualifying-  96 laps  Phil Cianciola  1996

0   RACE #: 5 of 16

Race-        20.08     Dave Austin     1996

0   NEXT EVENT: The Hobby Town Turkey Trot

Thursday, Nov. 12th

The Inside Edge       New Berlin, WI

0 INSTANT REPLAY

Jim Kaehny won from the pole in a solid display of horsepower and handling. Ev Kamikawa hung close for much of the race, but by the end he said his tires were too used up to make a serious challenge and he finished a couple of laps back. Dan Margetta rounded out the podium in third place. Once again, not a single DNF on a track where there has never been one!

THE NTB HALLOWEEN 250 HISTORY

Year Race Winner Pole Winner

1993 JIM CHITEL JIM KAEHNY

1994 DAVE AUSTIN PHIL CIANCIOLA

1995 PHIL CIANCIOLA PHIL CIANCIOLA

1996 DAVE AUSTIN PHIL CIANCIOLA

1997 JIM KAEHNY JIM KAEHNY

Things to watch for this year...

After missing a couple of races early in the season, look for Dave Austin to be tougher than ever on his home road course. Jim Kaehny and Phil Cianciola are the only other two drivers to have won this race, so list them as automatic favorites. The darkhorse could be Dan Margetta, who always seems to run well at this track and gathered the only win of his career here in the 1995 Miller Lite 250.

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