The Choco Taco Bomb Pop Fall Brawl - Road Course at Badger Raceway - Muskego, WI

September 23, 2021

Round 2 of 16

Strom Stomps The Competition At Fall Brawl

Muskego, WI – Another Fall Brawl at the Road Course at Badger Raceway turned into another victory for “hometown hero” Dean Strom in the IndySlotCar Series.

Only two drivers have won this event and Strom now has four wins with nemesis Mike Lack capturing the other two races in the Fall Brawl history.

True to form, those two drivers topped qualifying with Lack taking the pole with a 4.515 second lap in the new Daboiler TS-21 Road Course bodywork. Strom’s 4.578 second lap had him settling for the second spot on the speed chart. Bill Black, Dan Margetta and John Wiedemann filled out the top five positions.

Heats were set randomly with the first of three heat races set with competitors Brad Core, Strom, Wiedemann and Black. Strom left the field behind, showing immediately that he would be one to contend with for the win. Black and Wiedemann battled for second with Wiedemann able to slightly pull away throughout the race to capture the spot by just three laps over Black when the checkers fell.

The second heat was tight all the way through with Pete Dorn leading early but not by much. When the halfway break came, Amy Butler, in a long-awaited return to the series, charged back to take the lead ahead of Dorn with Steve Rist just a couple laps back. Dorn returned to the lead in the second half and was able to hold on for the victory by just three laps over Rist. Butler struggled in the second half lane change and finished third just a lap behind Rist.

The final heat featured teammates Mike Kristof and point leader Joe Heitz facing off with Lack and Margetta. Margetta, struggling with the new Daboiler bodywork, was able to jump to the lead with Lack and Kristof not far behind. As the race wore on, Kristof would fade a bit, but the battle was on at the front with Lack chasing down Margetta. But time was not on Lack’s side as Margetta was able to hold him off by a lap at the finish. To make things worse, Lack just missed the transfer spot by two laps and that spot in the final would go to his teammate Wiedemann.

After two closely contested heat races, the excitement quickly diminished with Strom showing his domination of the field on his home turf early. The field was strung out early with Strom on point followed by Wiedemann, then Dorn and then Margetta. The only excitement was provided by Margetta as he tore off his front wing in the second corner of the opening lap. Later he lost control on the inside straight and flew head-on into race leader Strom, almost knocking him out of the race. Not to play favorites, a few laps later he accomplished the same maneuver, this time with Wiedemann on the receiving end. During this display of driving talent, Margetta knocked the entire nose section off of his ride. At the halfway break, Strom held the lead by twelve laps over Wiedemann in second with Dorn another eight laps back in third. Margetta was another four laps back in fourth, but during the break he attempted to glue his damaged Daboiler body back together. When he came in for his pitstop after the race was restarted, IndySlotCar officials pulled his ride from the race and disqualified him for working on his car under a red flag. Following that drama, the race returned to a peaceful butt-kicking by Strom as he took the win by eight laps over Wiedemann.

The victory was the fourteenth of Strom’s IndySlotCar career moving into sole possession of thirteenth in the All-Time Stats. Wiedemann, by way of his runner-up run, takes over the points lead with two races of the sixteen race season completed. Strom moves into second in the points just three points back and Heitz falls back to a tie with Lack for third, twelve points out of second with Dorn in fifth one point behind them.

Up next is the West Bend Grand Prix at the Lack Track in West Bend, WI on October 7th. Matt Hayek, who was unable to make the Fall Brawl, returns to the series as a winner of the last two West Bend Grands Prix.

The Choco Taco Bomb Pops Fall Brawl Fast Facts

Race date: Thursday, Sep 23

Track: Road Course at Badger Raceway, 3.25 mile natural-terrain road course

Race distance: 20 minutes

Twitter: @indyslotcar

IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com

2020 race winner: Dean Strom (#14 Squirrel Shagged Enterprises Dallara-Chevrolet)

2020 Firestone P1 Award winner: Mike Lack (#9 Super High Intensity Team Dallara-Honda)

One-lap qualifying record: Mark Walczak, 4.397 seconds, 2013

Race record: Mike Lack, 238 laps, 2018

YouTube Broadcast: IndySlotCar Channel

At-track schedule (all times local):

6:00 – Gates open

6:30 – Driver introductions

6:55 – Drivers’ meeting (chassis distribution)

7:00 – IndySlotCar Series Practice

7:20 – Qualifying for the Firestone P1 Award (group qualifying/ fastest single lap)

7:45 – Heat races

8:30 – Fall Brawl

Race Notes:

· Another full field is expected for the Fall Brawl including a driver who hasn’t made a start in two full years, the Last Chance Qualifier is expected to be needed again.

· There have been five runnings of the Fall Brawl, but only two winners, hometown hero Dean Strom with three including last year and Mike Lack with the other two.

· Chris Spehert took the win at the opening round, however, he is not expected to make an appearance at the Fall Brawl, by default that puts Joe Heitz atop the drivers’ standings coming into round two.

· Spehert’s victory was the fifth of his career, equaling Mike Kristof for 16^th all time. Speaking of Kristof, the Trokan Cup 500 was his 300^th career start, just the third driver in series history to hit that mark.

· Bill Black’s pole at the Mini Mile is the third of his career, tying Tom Spehert and John Baas for 18^th all time.

· Chris Spehert ticked up one spot in laps turned to 13^th with 31,046, Steve Rist and Joe Heitz also jumped up to 27^th and 28^th from 29^th and 30^th respectively.

· John Wiedemann moved out of a three-way tie for fifth on all time starts, now with 204, he leaves Mike Fitzlaff and Larry Rotter in sixth with 203. Brad Core’s sixth start moves him to 38^th.

· Steve Rist’s fourth career DNF at the Trokan Cup 500 moved him into a tie for 29^th with Pat Jarvis.

FALL BRAWL HISTORY (5 EVENTS):

Date Race Winner Event Name

9/19/2013 Mike Lack Ricardo’s Pizza presents the Badger Raceway Fall Brawl

9/17/2015 Dean Strom Fall Brawl presented by UFC

9/20/2018 Dean Strom Choco Taco Fall Brawl

9/29/2019 Mike Lack Choco Taco Fall Brawl

9/24/2020 Dean Strom Choco Taco Fall Brawl