2014-15 Round 5

Turkey Trot - Inside Edge at South Shore Superspeedway - St. Francis, WI

Round 5 of 15

November 20, 2014

Kamikawa Takes The Turkey and the Points Lead

See the complete box score here.

(St. Francis, WI) -- It took until the 15th race of last season for Ev Kamikawa to collect his second win of the season, this year he wasted no time and scored his second and back-to-back win at the Turkey Trot at the Inside Edge at South Shore Superspeedway. Kamikawa took an early lead and never looked back as he opened up a lead on second place finisher Mike Lack, finally holding a nine lap gap at the checkers. It as Kamikawa's event record tying fifth win of the frozen turkey, but his first since 2000, when he dominated the early years of the race.

FAST FACTS

WHAT: Turkey Trot

WHERE: Inside Edge at South Shore Superspeedway, St. Francis, WI

WHEN: Thursday, November 7, 2013 7pm

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

2013 CHAMPION: Mike Fitzlaff

2013 POLESITTER: Mike Lack

TRACK LAYOUT: Infield Road Course

RACE LENGTH: 20 minutes

TRACK RECORDS: Qualifying – 2008 – Mark Walczak – 2.852

Race – 2012 – Dan Margetta – 315 laps

Margin of Victory – Smallest – 2012 – Dan Margetta – 1 section; Largest – 2008 – Mark Walczak – 48 laps

RACE ROUND: 6 of 16 in the 2013-2014 IndySlotCar Series

INSTANT REPLAY:

St. Francis, WI - Mike Fitzlaff scored his first win of the season at the Turkey Trot at the Inside Edge at South Shore Superspeedway. Fitzlaff held off a hard charging John Wiedemann who finished second, the two were the only survivors of the de-slot race, as their JMM Racing teammate, Mike Lack, dropped out earlier to finish third, and hometown favorite Dan Margetta rounded out the field to finish fourth.

It has been a disappointing season so far for the driver who ended last season with a win in the 500 and had high hopes for this season. After a best finish of sixth in the first four races, Fitzlaff's chances weren't looking good after qualifying last. Mike Lack scored the pole and the heats were setup by the qualifying results.

The night, and possibly the season, turned around for Fitzlaff as he stormed to the lead in the opening half of the first heat race. Teammate Wiedemann took over the lead midway through the second half and held on for the win as Fitzlaff slowed to preserve a berth to the finals as he was in danger of de-slotting out. The second heat race was won by Margetta with Lack finishing in second and transferring to the final.

Fitzlaff kicked back into high gear as the green flag flew in the final and quickly pulled out to a commanding lead. Teammates Lack and Wiedemann tried to keep pace with the leader as Margetta struggled with handling. Fitzlaff was able to continue his lead through the second half pit stop session. All drivers made it through pitstops relatively unscathed but Lack was served a penalty to drive with the opposite hand. Lack's penalty allowed Wiedemann to move past and secure the second position. A few laps later, Margetta spun off the track using up his last de-slot and ending his race, leaving the race to be decided by the JMM Racing team. Points leader Lack also used his last de-slot and finished third.

With time running low, Wiedemann picked up the pace and started to knock laps off of Fitzlaff's lead. Charging back to the lead lap with 13 seconds left Wiedemann tried to grab the lead away from Fitzlaff. A final spin in the tight 180 turn in the South Shore infield sealed the deal and Fitzlaff cruised to the win, a half lap ahead of Wiedemann.

With the victory, the tenth of his IndySlotCar career, Fitzlaff jumped to eighth in the standings. Lack's third place finish kept him in the series standings lead, twenty-eight points ahead of Wiedemann.

TURKEY TROT HISTORY (20 events, 1993 - Present)

Year Race Winner

1993 Phil Cianciola – Inside Edge at Edgewood Superspeedway

1994 Dave Austin

1995 John Shea

1996 Ev Kamikawa

1997 Ev Kamikawa

1998 Jim Kaehny

1999 Ev Kamikawa

2000 Ev Kamikawa

2001 Larry Rotter

2002 Jim Iverson

2003 Jim Iverson

2004 Phil Cianciola

2005 Mark Walczak – Inside Edge at South Shore Superspeedway

2006 Jim Iverson

2007 Mike Fitzlaff

2008 Mark Walczak

2009 Mark Walczak

2010 Mark Walczak

2011 Mark Walczak

2012 Dan Margetta

2013 Mike Fitzlaff

Most Wins: 5 – Mark Walczak; 4 – Ev Kamikawa; 3 – Jim Iverson; 2 – Phil Cianciola, Mike Fitzlaff

Top Stories

-Ev Kamikawa leapt to second in the Husarsbilt Cup standings with his first win of the season at the Duane Sweeney Memorial GP at Badger Raceway

-Mike Lack missed his first final of the season but maintains a seven point lead in the championship

Who’s Hot

-John Wiedemann has made the final in all four races so far this season

-Matt Hayek has won both races he has entered this season, the only multiple win driver this season

Stats Watch

-Ev Kamikawa breaks a three-way tie with series founder Phil Cianciola and Dan Margetta on the all-time wins list, with his victory at Badger, moving him alone to second with 37.

-Dean Strom’s pole position at his home track moves him into a three-way with Matt Hayek and Chad Sorce tie for 14^th place on the all-time pole positions list with 6.

-Strom also moved in to 13^th and 14^th in all-time Heat Wins and Finals appearances with a total of 26 and 36 respectively.

-Mike Fitzlaff moves into a 10^th place tie for all-time starts equaling John Baas with 135.

-John Wiedemann pulled even with John Shea for all-time starts with 99, good for 17^th place. JW is expected to become the 17^th driver in series history to make 100 IndySlotCar Series starts at the Turkey Trot.