2018-19 Round 5
Bridgestone Halloween Havoc - Quarry Heights Raceway - Wauwatosa, WI
October 25, 2018
Round 5 of 16
Kristof Shocks Halloween Havoc
(Wauwatosa, WI) -- The 2018-19 IndySlotCar season is shaping up as one full of surprises, the latest shocker: Mike Kristof wins for the first time in three and half years and on a road course for the first time in his career at the Bridgestone Halloween Havoc at Quarry Heights Raceway in Wauwatosa. This follows Tom Spehert winning the season opener, plus the fact that we are now going into the sixth race of the season without Mike Lack even coming close to victory lane yet.
Early on it looked like once again home cooking was going to take Matt Hayek to the front, with a record breaking qualifying run, his Alter Ego Racing teammate, Dean Strom, lined up right along side on the front row.
With the fast three grouped in the opening heat, pitching the AER boys against Team FYI's Dan Margetta, it soon became clear Hayek had put all his set up into qualifying as the car could not handle well enough, eventually crashing out early, sending many of the paying crowd home early. Eventually Strom took over and the #13 GoDaddy car would have to wait to see if Margetta's lap total would hold on to transfer to the final.
Mike Lack was looking to turn things around in a field that lacked the top two in points, his Angry Squirrel Speedsport teammate John Wiedemann and PenskeHO's Ev Kamikawa. While qualifying in the middle of the field, it looked like he would have an easy time moving on to the final, but Mike Kristof had other plans and took off to a solid lead through the first half over Lack's #1 SealMaster A.S.S. car and that other hometown hero, Alex Hayek. The second half was more of a struggle for Kristof, while Lack would take the heat win, Kristof would score enough laps to replace Margetta in the transfer spot, while Hayek would finish one spot ahead of his dad in sixth.
The final heat was a struggle for all three competitors, Steve Rist, unlike his final-four debut appearance at Lack Track was much more rookie like, with a tough run to ninth, Pete Dorn never looked settled and ended the night in eighth while Mike Fitzlaff was an example of the old axiom, someone had to win.
The final shaped up as a three way fight between Lack, Kristof and Strom because Fitzlaff would crash out just two laps into the 20 minute final. Strom took to the point early on with Kristof and Lack fighting it out for second. Strom would hold the lead at half way, with Kristof in second, and after equal nine-second pit stops, Strom continued to keep a one lap gap until a couple of spins would allow Kristof to catch up and with his #60 SiriusXM Michael Shank-It Racing Dallara-Honda handling perfectly, would pass Strom's #64 Manitowoc Dallara-Honda and eventually open up a comfortable two lap gap and hold on for his fourth career win and the first on a road course.
With Wiedemann and Kamikawa out of the field the Husarsbilt Cup points standings took quite a shake-up as Kristof jumps to second just one point behind Lack, whose third place, remarkably, is his best finish of the season. Wiedemann, sits just five markers behind his teammate despite missing the race, in third.
In two weeks, another of the classic events on the calendar, the Turkey Trot at the Infield Road Course at South Shore Superspeedway, where a Butterball awaits the winner.
Bridgestone Halloween Havoc Fast Facts
Race date: Thursday, Oct 25
Track: 2 mile Road Course in Wauwatosa, WI
Race distance: 20 minutes
Twitter: @indyslotcar
IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com
2017 race winner: Mike Lack (No. 1 Angry Squirrel Speedsport Dallara-Honda)
2017 P1 Award winner: Amy Butler (No. 63 Angry Squirrel Speedsport Dallara-Honda)
One-lap qualifying record: Dean Strom, 3.987 seconds, 2014 (Clockwise track direction)
Race record: John Wiedemann, 261 laps, 2015
YouTube Broadcast: IndySlotCar Channel
At-track schedule (all times local):
6:30 – Driver introductions
6:55 – Drivers Meeting/Chassis Distribution
7:00 – IndySlotCar Series Practice
7:20 – Qualifying for the P1 Award (group qualifying/ fastest single lap)
7:40 – Heat races
8:30 – Bridgestone Halloween Havoc (20 minutes)
Race Notes:
· Quarry Heights is excited to announce a new title sponsor for the Halloween Havoc…Bridgestone Tires!
· Ev Kamikawa’s 42nd victory at the Turtle Grand Prix moves him into second on the all-time wins list, just two shy of Dan Margetta’s record total.
· Mike Lack won this race for the first time in 2017
· Amy Butler scored her first P1 Award at this race last season, becoming the first female driver to start from the pole position in series history.
Halloween Havoc PRE-EVENT QUOTES:
Pete Dorn No. 5 Black/Atom Racing: We’re five races into the season and only one Pete-down?! Where’s Margetta?
Tom Spehert No. 28 Spehert Autosport: I’ll be happy to just sit out here and drink
Bill Black No. 6 Black/Atom Racing: What? We’re racing again?
HALLOWEEN HAVOC HISTORY (25 events, 1993 - Present)
Year Race Winner Event Name Track
10/28/93 Jim Chitel Miller Black Cat 250 Shrine Road Course
10/27/94 Dave Austin Happy Hobby Halloween 250 Shrine Road Course
10/27/95 Phil Cianciola Red Dog Halloween 250 HO Road America
10/31/96 Dave Austin Red Dog Halloween 250 HORA
10/30/97 Jim Kaehny Red Dog Halloween 250 HORA
10/29/98 Jim Kaehny NTB Halloween 250 HORA
10/21/99 Phil Marich Texaco-Havoline Halloween 250-HORA
10/31/00 Ev Kamikawa Miller Lite Halloween 250 HORA
10/31/01 Dan Margetta Miller Lite Halloween 250 HORA
10/24/02 Jim Kaehny Halloween 250 HORA
10/30/03 Larry Rotter Halloween 250 HORA
10/28/04 Dan Margetta McDonald’s Halloween 250 HORA
10/27/05 Ev Kamikawa McDonald’s Halloween 400 Road Wisconsin
11/4/06 Mark Walczak State Farm 400 Lake Country Motorplex
10/27/07 Dan Margetta State Farm Halloween 400 LCM
10/23/08 Mark Walczak Milwaukee Sporting Goods Halloween Havoc-Turtle Creek
11/5/09 Mark Walczak SportsClips Grand Prix Quarry Heights Raceway
10/28/10 John Weidemann SportsClips Halloween GP QHR
10/27/11 Dan Margetta Halloween Havoc QHR
10/25/12 Dan Margetta Halloween Havoc QHR
10/24/13 Mark Walczak Halloween Havoc QHR
12/4/14 Dean Strom Nightmare Before Christmas QHR
10/29/15 John Wiedemann Halloween Havoc QHR
10/27/16 John Wiedemann Halloween Havoc QHR
10/26/17 Mike Lack Halloween Havoc QHR
Most wins: Dan Margetta-5; Mark Walczak-4; John Wiedemann, Jim Kaehny – 3; Dave Austin, Ev Kamikawa - 2