2020-21 Round 10

Raven 250 - Raven Raceway - Milwaukee, WI

January 21, 2021

Round 10 of 15

Dorn Gets Homemade First Career Victory

Milwaukee, WI - For Pete Dorn, the fifth time hosting the IndySlotCar Series Raven 250 was the charm as he was able to break through and score his first victory in the series.

Dorn is the 12^th different winner in the Raven 250’s in the 22 times the race has been run and becomes the 29th driver to score a win in the IndySlotCar Series. Every driver currently running in the series has at least one victory in their stats. With six races left to contend in the 2020-21 season, eight drivers have wins, just two shy of the series record.

The night started out great for Dorn and his Black Atom Racing teammate Bill Black. Black scored the pole with a 4.026 second lap, just missing setting a track record by hundredths. Dorn showed the team was ready for the challengers with a third place qualifying run at 4.118 seconds with the most recent race winner Mike Lack taking the second place after a 4.049 second lap.

Heat races were setup randomly and Steve Rist, Dan Margetta and Mike Kristof took to the track to open the racing portion of the night. Margetta led early, often and at the end to punch his ticket to the final. Kristof made a charge to take the win but fell four laps short.

Next on the track were Ev Kamikawa, pole sitter Black and Dean Strom. Black did not disappoint after his pole run and kept the speed up to take the win by two laps over Strom.

The final heat was a precursor to the final setting up the battle between Lack and Dorn with John Wiedemann filling up the third lane on the track. Lack and Dorn battled all the way throughout the race with Dorn hanging on to a one lap advantage at the halfway break. But, Lack would come back and return to the lead lap but at the checkers, Dorn held on to the heat win. Lack captured the “transfer spot” to make his sixth final using that route this season.

The battle continued in the final with Lack and Dorn quickly distancing themselves from Black and Margetta to settle the Raven 250 between themselves. The close battle had Lack leading at halfway by two laps over the hometown favorite. But the second half was all Dorn as he was able to find his pace and erase the deficit and take over the top spot. Acting like he has been there before, Dorn wasn’t flustered by racing the point leader and a driver with 45 career wins as he cruised to the finish with a four lap cushion. Margetta took third place, relegating Black to fourth.

Lack stretched out his point lead to thirteen points over Strom with Wiedemann another 26 points back in third. Black maintains fourth in the standings, fourteen points out of third. Rist maintains fifth and Dorn, with his victory, jumps to sixth in the standings.

Up next is round 11 of 15 and the series is going to Jackson to mess around the Black Track. The high banked circuit was conquered by Margetta last season in a close battle with Rist. The Jackson 500 never fails to produce excitement and controversy, so the drivers have that to look forward to.

Raven 250 Fast Facts

Race date: Thursday, Jan 21

Track: 2.5 mile Natural Terrain Road Course in Milwaukee, WI

Race distance: 250 laps

Twitter: @indyslotcar

IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com

2020 race winner: John Wiedemann (No. 19 Angry Squirrel Speedsport Dallara-Honda)

2020 Firestone P1 Award winner: John Wiedemann (No. 19 Angry Squirrel Speedsport Dallara-Honda)

One-lap qualifying record: Mark Walczak, 4.000 seconds, 2011

Race record: Mike Lack, 21 minutes 03 seconds, 2019

YouTube Broadcast: IndySlotCar Channel

At-track schedule (all times local):

6:00 – Gates open

6:30 – Driver introductions

7:00 – Drivers meeting/Chassis distribution

7:05 – IndySlotCar Series Practice

7:25 – Qualifying for the Firestone P1 Award (group qualifying/ fastest single lap)

7:50 – Heat races

8:45 – Raven 250 (250 laps)

Race Notes:

· After his first win of the season at the Rapids Grand Prix, Mike Lack has moved to the lead of the Husarsbilt Cup championship for the first time this season, moving ahead of Dean Strom by 4 points.

· Mike Lack’s win at Rapids makes him the seventh different driver to take the checkers this season.

· Lack also took pole position at the Rapids GP, the 42^nd of his career, moving him into solo third all-time.

· Bill Black became the second driver this season to go from first to worst, finishing last following a win.

· In the last 6 events at Raven Raceway, Mike Lack has an average finish of 3.0, best of the field, while Ev Kamikawa has the best average starting position of 2.4. (see attached Raven Race Stats sheet)

RAVEN 250 HISTORY (21 events, 2000 - Present)

Date Race Winner Event Name

2/17/2000 John Shea Milwaukee Bucks Challenge – Raven Raceway**

3/1/2001 Chad Sorce Milwaukee Bucks Challenge

1/31/2002 Phil Cianciola Palermo’s Pizza Challenge*

1/2/2003 Larry Rotter Saz’s 250

10/2/2003 Larry Rotter Saz’s 250

1/6/2005 Phil Cianciola Saz’s 250

1/5/2006 Dan Margetta Saz’s 250

1/4/2007 Dan Margetta Quizno’s Grand Prix

1/3/2008 Mark Walczak Quizno’s 250

1/8/2009 Mark Walczak Raven 250

2/4/2010 Mike Fitzlaff Raven 250

1/6/2011 Dan Margetta Raven 250

1/5/2012 Mark Walczak Raven 250

1/3/2013 Mark Walczak Raven 250

1/2/2014 Dean Strom Raven Bowl 250

1/8/2015 Mike Lack Raven 250 at Rapids – Temporary oval at Rapids International

1/7/2016 Mike Lack Raven 250 – Turtle Creek Park Raceway

1/5/2017 John Wiedemann Raven 250 – race returns to Raven Raceway**

1/4/2018 Bill Black Raven 250

1/2/2019 Mike Lack Raven 250

1/23/2020 John Wiedemann Raven 250

Most Wins – 4-Mark Walczak; 3-Mike Lack (wins on all 3 tracks to host the event), Dan Margetta; 2-John Wiedemann, Phil Cianciola, Larry Rotter

*-Dave Austin bottle/nose incident

**-All races held at Rave Raceway through 2014 and again from 2017