2013-14 Round 3
West Bend Grand Prix - Lack Track, West Bend, WI
Round 3 of 16
September 28, 2013
Wiedemann Wrecks Records In West Bend
West Bend, WI – John Wiedemann scored a dominating win in the third annual West Bend Grand Prix at the Lack Track, the third race of the 2013/14 IndySlotCar Series season, breaking records along the way.
With a short field of competitors making the trip north to West Bend, the point standings were in for a change. Two of the top five drivers in the points after the first two races were missing from the lineup adding to the shakeup.
Wiedemann captured the pole with a track record run of 3.971 seconds in qualifying on the short technical road course. JMM teammate Mike Lack qualified second with Dungeons and Dragons Racing's Matt Hayek continuing to show speed in short track qualifying by laying down the third fastest time.
A new rule this season is that after qualifying heat races would be set up by qualifying results or by random. For this first time, the lineup was not random and the four fastest qualifiers were pitted against each other in the first heat race with the ability for only two to move on to the feature. Wiedemann took control of the heat race early with Hayek following closely throughout the race. When the checkered flag flew, Wiedemann and Hayek gained entry into the feature race and JMM Racing teammates Lack and Fitzlaff did not gain entry into the feature field.
The second heat race was won by Ev Kamikawa who easily outdistanced the field. Dean Strom captured the final spot in the feature race holding off D&D Racing's Mike Kristof for a second place finsh.
Wiedemann and Hayek separated themselves from the field early in the feature and quickly put laps between themselves and Kamikawa and Strom. While the first half of the twenty minute timed race rolled on, Wiedemann was able to move ahead of Hayek by a lap but couldn't increase the gap beyond that. During pitstops at the start of the second half all drivers were able to get in and out of the pits without incident. Hayek spun off the track following his pitstop and gave up more ground to Wiedemann while serving a penalty for the incident. That gap was all that Wiedemann needed as he cruised to the sixth win of his IndySlotCar career with a race record 243 laps. Penske HO racer Kamikawa made a valiant effort to catch Hayek in the second half but had to settle for third. Strom, who struggled with handling issues, finished fourth in the Karen Carpenter Racing ride.
A maximum point day by Wiedemann allowed him to jump up to second place in points behind Lack. Strom also gained ground in the championship chase, moving up two spots to third. Kamikawa is fourth in points, one point behind Strom. One more point back is a tie for fifth between teammates Hayek and Kristof.
The series heads to Little Las Vegas in two weeks for the Slots A Fun 400 at the Stardust Speedway.
FAST FACTS
WHAT: West Bend Grand Prix
WHERE: Lack Track, West Bend, WI
WHEN: Saturday, September 28, 2013 11am
TELEVISION SCHEDULE: MBC Slotcar Network, YouTube
WEB: indyslotcar.com, FACEBOOK and TWITTER
2012 CHAMPION: Mike Lack
2012 POLESITTER: Mike Lack
TRACK LAYOUT: Natural Terrain Road Course
RACE LENGTH: 20 minutes
TRACK RECORDS: Qualifying – 2012 – Mike Lack – 4.021
Race – 2011/2012 – Ev Kamikawa/Mike Lack – 235 laps
Margin Of Victory – 2012 – Mike Lack – 1/2 laps
RACE ROUND: 3 of 16 in the 2013-2014 IndySlotCar Series
INSTANT REPLAY:
Running a partial schedule this season, Mike Lack proved he still is a contender after capturing the pole and then winning the West Bend Grand Prix IndySlotCar Series race on Saturday afternoon. Lack hit the track early in the qualifying session and laid down a lap on his home track that no one could match. KVHO teammates John Wiedemann and Mike Fitzlaff qualified second and fourth with points leader Mark Walczak running the third fastest lap.
Dan Margetta,returning from a 2 race lay-off due to a concussion, showed a lot of speed in the first heat race on the short twisty road course and took the win over Fitzlaff and Dean Strom. Lack dominated the second heat race with Ev Kamikawa finishing second and leading the battle for the final feature transfer spot. For the second week in a row, Mike Kristof flew off the track and crashed out of the heat race. Walczak and Wiedemann raced hard for the victory in the third heat race until handling problems plagued Walczak allowing Wiedemann to pull away with the victory. Walczak was unable to pass Kamikawa for the transfer spot and the points leader had to settle with fifth place for the event.The feature race started with Lack taking the lead and leaving the rest of the field to battle for second place. Kamikawa and Wiedemann traded off the second place position while Margetta struggled with keeping his quick racecar on the track. At the mid-point break, Lack held a big lead with Kamikawa in second place followed by Wiedemann and Margetta. Lack's pitstop was a struggle and left many wondering if he would suffer the death-card that plagued him a couple seasons ago. Back on the track and following the completion of pitstops by the rest of the field, Lack still maintained the lead but now it was only a couple of laps over Wiedemann. Wiedemann was able to make up the laps but once he took the lead away from Lack, the battle was on. The two teammates ran side by side in the final minutes of the race. Swapping the lead, of only a few car lengths, the race was on for the win. Two laps prior to the finish, Wiedemann spun coming off the backstraight and Lack was able to pull away to take the checkers. Kamikawa and Margetta finished third and fourth.The win was Lack's eighth career victory in the series, tying him with teammate Fitzlaff for eleventh in the all-time IndySlotCar Series standings.
LACK TRACK HISTORY (2 events, 2011 - Present)
Date Race Winner Event Name
10/8/2011* Ev Kamikawa West Bend Grand Prix
10/13/2012 Mike Lack West Bend Grand Prix
Top Stories
--Mike Lack has run away with the first two rounds of the season and is returning to his home track where he held off his teammate John Wiedemann for the win last year.
Who’s Hot
--Mike Lack has won the first two rounds of the season
--Mark Walczak has finished 2nd and 3rd in the first two races, the only other driver besides Lack to make both finals
Stats Watch
--Mike Lack moved into 10th in all time wins with his 10th win last race
--Mark Walczak broke a tie with Dan Margetta with the pole at Badger to move into 2nd all time pole positions with 41
--Mike Lack’s 75th career start moves him into 21st all-time
--Mark Walczak moved in to the top 10 in all time DNFs with his crash at Badger, his 23rd
--Matt Hayek moved into the top 20 in DNFs with his 12th wipe out at Badger
--Dean Strom had just his 7th DNF in 88 starts, giving him one of the lowest ratios of DNFs to starts in series history