2013-14 Round 11

Deckertring Grand Prix - Deckertring, Waukesha, WI

January 30, 2014

Round 11 of 16

2014 Deckertring Grand Prix

Margetta Scores First Win Of Season, Big Payday

Waukesha, WI -- Dan Margetta dominated the Deckertring Grand Prix Thursday night racing to the pole position and then holding off Husarsbilt Cup points leader Mike Lack to take the win and the $57 (thousand) Pole-to-Win fund. In front of a celebrity packed crowd, including Kitty Bo Peep, the president, Sergio and Amy Butler Margetta went off on a Richard Sherman style rant after the final that horrified sports fans across the country for the second time in a month.

From the moment practice started, it was clear that the race would come down to a battle between Cha-Ching Motorsports driver Margetta and the IndySlotCar series points leader Lack.

Sure enough in qualifying the top two drivers were Margetta and Lack with Margetta taking the pole with a run .146 seconds faster than Lack. Margetta's forty-first pole winning lap tied him with Mark Walczak for second place on the series all-time list.

Heat races were set based on the qualifying results meaning that Margetta and Lack would do battle again. The two exchanged the lead multiple times. Margetta fell back on the final lap when he got caught up in a lapped car's issues and Lack zoomed ahead to take the heat race win. Matt Hayek and John Wiedemann finished third and fourth. The second heat race was won by Ev Kamikawa followed by Mike Fitzlaff, Dean Strom and Mike Kristof.

Trash talking between the rivals escalated as the drivers lined up for the final and kept going throughout the race as Margetta and Lack took command. At the end of the first half Margetta led Lack by four laps with Kamikawa and Fitzlaff hanging on. Margetta hit the pits first and after a slow stop was penalized to drive with his opposite hand for ten laps. Lack was next and also had a slow stop but was able to escape a penalty and make up laps on the leader. Kamikawa also had a slow pit stop which allowed Fitzlaff, with a lightning quick eight second stop, take over third place. With the quick stop and a happier handling car, Fitzlaff pulled to within striking distance of the leaders. But Margetta proved too strong overall and held on to a one lap lead as he danced his way to the checkers, yelling at Lack over the course of the final laps. Lack held on to second, just one lap ahead of JMM Racing teammate Fitzlaff.

Margetta's thirty-sixth win ties him for second place all-time with Phil Cianciola and six victories away from Walczak the wins leader. Kamikawa also hit a milestone going over 50,000 laps in his IndySlotCar career.

With the pole and the win, Margetta captured $57,000 ISC bucks and threw them into the air in victory lane while exclaiming "Lack ain't nothin', I'm the best, why would they put up such a sorry racer to go against me?" Continuing his rant, Margetta predicted that Lack, who now has a seventy-nine point lead in the standings, would not win the championship this season. There are five races left and Margetta is on a streak of eight finals in a row, so it is possible that the brash talking racer could wrestle the championship away. Stay tuned.

Up next in two weeks is a race that could have a huge part in determining the 2013-14 IndySlotCar championship. The short and technical Quarry Heights Raceway in Wauwatosa is the site for the final de-slot race of the season, the Quarryfest De-slotmania. Five of nine drivers in this race last year crashed out including current second through fourth place drivers in the standings Wiedemann, Margetta and Strom. Lack did not run this race last year but he finished last when the series visited the track earlier this season. If the points race is going to be shaken up, it will happen at Quarry Heights.

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President To Visit Waukesha; Deckertring Grand Prix Thursday

Waukesha, WI -- Following his State of the Union Address Tuesday, the President of the United States appeared to be set to travel the country promoting his agenda but sources deep within the administration, really deep, suggest that the real reason for the trip Thursday is to be in Waukesha when Amy Butler makes her return to the IndySlotCar Series at the Deckertring. Some are even suggesting this would appear an opportunity for the President to get a selfie with the popular blond speedster, much like his visit with the Danish Prime Minister recently. Traffic and parking around the Deckertring was already expected to be challenging with the expected massive crowd after ticket sales skyrocketed upon the announcement of Butler's return, now the added complication of a Presidential motorcade will require fans to use patience as they try to get to the track Thursday.

FAST FACTS

WHAT: Deckertring Grand Prix

WHERE: Waukesha, WI

WHEN: Thursday, January 30, 2014 7pm

U.S. TELEVISION SCHEDULE: MBC Slotcar Network, YouTube

2013 CHAMPION: John Wiedemann

2013 POLESITTER: John Wiedemann

TRACK LAYOUT: Natural Terrain Road Course

RACE LENGTH: 20 minutes

TRACK RECORDS: Qualifying – 2009 – Mark Walczak – 4.500

Race – 2010 – Mark Walczak – 229 laps

Margin of Victory – Closest – 2011 & 12 – Walczak & Mike Lack – 2 laps;

Largest – 2010 – Walczak – 19 laps

RACE ROUND: 11 of 16 in the 2013-2014 IndySlotCar Series

INSTANT REPLAY:

Waukesha, WI – John Wiedemann left Waukesha with all the points he could gather as well as the points lead after winning the IndySlotCar Series Deckertring Grand Prix.Racing on Valentine's Day for only the third time in series history, the twelfth round of the 2012-2013 season saw a light turnout but tight competition on the Deckertring's long straightaways and twisting turns through the woods. The series point’s leader heading into the race, Mark Walczak, chose to skip this race giving Wiedemann a shot to make up ground in the standings. Two groups took to the circuit in qualifying with Spehert Autosport driver Tom Spehert grabbing the provisional pole in group one. Dashing Spehert's hope to keep the spot, KVHO driver Wiedemann bested his time by just 75 thousandths of a second to grab his second pole of the season with a lap of 5.414 seconds.

Ev Kamikawa driving for Panther HO captured the first heat race with home track hero Mike Fitzlaff of KVHO in second just a lap behind, allowing both drivers to transfer to the feature. In the second heat, Wiedemann held off Dan Margetta to take the win, and both moved forward to the feature as well. Dean Strom never found a chassis that he liked and finished fifth on the night. Spehert and RJ Foyt racer Mike Kristof tied in heat race laps, so Spehert was sixth and Kristof seventh based on qualifying times.

Kamikawa took the lead in the feature race but the field held tight for the opening laps. Margetta, in the Butler-Margetta Motorsports machine, struggled and fell back a bit while Wiedemann chased down Kamikawa to battle for the lead. Fitzlaff also struggled with handling early but recovered to hang close within a couple laps of the leaders. Finishing out the first half of the race, Kamikawa pulled out to a lap lead after exchanging the point with Wiedemann a number of times.

Opening the second half of the feature, Kamikawa came in for an extended pit stop, allowing Wiedemann, who had a quick stop, to pull ahead to a couple lap lead. Those few laps were all that Wiedemann needed and he paced his way to the checkers, capturing his third victory of the year. Fitzlaff fought back to get back on the same lap as second place Kamikawa but ran out of time to finish third, a half lap behind.

After scoring the max points in qualifying, heat and feature race, Wiedemann moved into first place in the standings, passing Walczak who missed the event. Fitzlaff remains in third with TMWR driver Dean Strom and Kamikawa rounding out the top five in the Husarsbilt Cup championship race with four races remaining in the 2012-13 season.

DECKERTRING HISTORY (8 events, 2007 - Present)

Date Race Winner Event Name

3/1/2007 Mark Walczak Deckertring Grand Prix

3/13/2008 Ev Kamikawa Deckertring Grand Prix

3/5/2009 Mark Walczak Deckertring Grand Prix

3/18/2010 Mark Walczak Deckertring Grand Prix

3/17/2011 Mike Lack Deckertring Grand Prix

9/22/2011 Mark Walczak John Shea Memorial Deckertring Grand Prix

3/1/2012 Mike Lack Outpost Natural Foods Grand Prix

2/14/2013 John Wiedemann Deckertring Grand Prix

Most Wins – 4-Mark Walczak; 2-Mike Lack

Top Stories

--Amy Butler makes her return to the IndySlotCar Series in the #18 Cha-Ching Motorsports prepped Iparanga car.

--John Wiedemann returns to a track he ran the table at last season, taking pole, heat win and the checkers and coming off his second win of this season, taking a bite out of the huge lead his JMM Racing teammate has built up for the Husarsbilt Cup championship.

Who’s Hot

--Dan Margetta has made the final in the last seven straight races.

--Amy Butler

Stats Watch

--Mike Lack holds a 66 point lead in the Husarsbilt Cup championship, enough to miss an entire race and still hold the lead

--Ev Kamikawa’s appearance in the final at the Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix moved him to second ahead of series founder Phil Cianciola in the all-time Final appearances standings with 119. If Kamikawa turns 130 laps at the Deckertring Grand Prix he will surpass 50,000 career laps, a total only eclipsed by Dan Margetta.

--John Wiedemann’s win at Rapids moves him to 13th in all-time wins with 7 and he also passes Tom Spehert in Finals appearances for 13th place with 36.

--Corey Galbraith’s debut makes him the 45th driver to attempt to qualify for an IndySlotCar race and his 89 laps puts him 40th on the all-time lap list.