2008-09 Round 10

Franklinland 500 - Franklinland Speedway

Round 10 of 16

January 22, 2009

Race Information

Margetta Takes Franklinland 500

Skillfully handling the high banks and flat turns of Franklinland Speedway, Dan Margetta scored his first win in more than a year at the Franklinland 500, with Ev Kamikawa running a solid second and Margetta's BMW Racing teammate Amy Butler had a terrific night with a third place and second final of the season. With the win, Margetta makes a run at Mike Fitzlaff's third place in the championship points. Meanwhile, Husarsbilt Cup points leader Mark Walczak missed only his second final of the season, but still saw his lead in the point increase as Larry Rotter and Fitzlaff finished even further down the scoring chart.

FAST FACTS

The Franklinland 500

2008 CHAMPION: Mike Kristof

2008 POLESITTER: Dan Margetta

TRACK LAYOUT: Oval Superspeedway

RACE LENGTH: 500 Laps

TRACK RECORDS: Open Class Qualifying: Chris Spehert 24.445– Race: Jim Iverson 20:20.719– Fast Lap – Ev Kamikawa 1.695

Club Car Qualifying: Dan Margetta 31.922 – Race: Mike Kristof 25:53.898– Fast Lap – Mark Walczak 2.148

RACE ROUND: 10 of 16 in the 2008-2009 HO Champ Car World Series

INSTANT REPLAY:

Mike Kristof won the Lucky Bob's Challenge 500 Thursday night in a remarkable upset at Franklinland Speedway stunning the HO Champ Car World Series with the most unpredictable victory of the season. Hindsight's Kristof's triumph pushed the number of different victors to eight on the season after "The Matador" used the potent outside groove to hold off Mike Fitzlaff and Dean Strom at the checkered flag. The surprising victory was set up when the engine in John Shea's seemingly unbeatable Team Australia HO ride expired while holding a commanding lead just past the halfway mark, allowing Kristof to charge toward the win. Fitzlaff and Strom could only watch as Kristof's outside lane run proved to be too much and they settled for second and third respectively while Shea finished a disappointing fourth.

Chris Spehert, the winner of the first "500 Triple Crown" event held at the Mini-Mile ran a respectable heat race to finish in fifth place, just ahead of defending series champion Jim Iverson, who struggled with the inside lanes en route to sixth place. Ev Kamikawa edged Dan Margetta by two laps to claim the seventh slot while rookie Matt Hayek finished close behind in ninth, just a lap behind Margetta. Hometown hero, Andy Spehert rounded out the top ten in the largest field to take a green flag this season. Tom Spehert brought up the eleventh spot in the running order while Larry Rotter continued to struggle, finishing in twelfth place. Immediately after the race, Rotter rushed off to Mexico (with Jessica Simpson??) in an attempt to turn around his recent bad luck. Staying with the bad luck lines, Husarsbilt Cup point leader Mark Walczak also couldn't hook up in the inside lanes and suffered his worst finish of the season in thirteenth, just ahead of Amy Butler, who despite bringing up the tail of the field, managed to have the most fun on the night.

THE FRANKLINLAND 500 HISTORY (10 events, 1999 - Present)

Year Race Winner

1999 Dave Austin - Vernon Farms Superspeedway

2000 John Shea

2001 Dan Margetta

2002 Jim Kaehny

2003 Phil Cianciola

2004 Larry Rotter - Lucky Bob’s Raceway - Scorpion Track (counterclockwise)

2005 Dan Margetta - Lucky Bob's Raceway - M-T Track

2006 Larry Rotter - Lucky Bob's Raceway - Scorpion Track (clockwise)

2007 Jim Iverson - Franklinland Speedway

2008 Mike Kristof

2009 Dan Margetta

Top Stories

Mark Walczak collected his fifth win of the year at Raven Raceway, extending his points lead to 72 over Larry Rotter. 15 points separate Dan Margetta in 4th place and Mike Lace in 7th place. This year the club cars will have the super sticky wizard tires to help out the handling issues of the tighter inner lanes.

Stats Watch

The heat win by Dan Margetta was the 80th of his career good for 1st place all time

Mark Walczak tied for 9th place all time with his 37th career finals appearance

John Wiedemann moved into 29th all time on the laps completed list

John Wiedemann moved into 29th all time on the career starts list with 10 career starts

Mike Kristof is now 6th all time on the DNFs list with his 24th career DNF

Who’s Hot

Mark Walczak has won 5 of 9 races this year

Mark Walczak has appeared in 8 of the 9 finals this year

Larry Rotter has appeared in 6 of 9 finals this year

Dan Margetta has made the finals in the last four events

Ev Kamikawa has made the finals in the last two events he’s entered

Larry Rotter has made the finals in the last two events

Mike Kristof has had DNFs in the last two events