Halloween Havoc - Quarry Heights Raceway - Wauwatosa, WI

October 26, 2023

Round 4 of 17

The Champ's Defense Begins

Wauwatosa, WI -- While he hasn't been completely invisible in the first three rounds, Joe Heitz defense of his Husarsbilt Cup began in earnest at Quarry Heights Raceway and the Halloween Havoc, when he climbed from the fifth row on the starting grid to victory lane. The Michael Shank-It Racing driver made one other final four appearance this season, however, that was short-lived as he crashed out at Badger Raceway before halfway, but this time #06 Honda-Daboiler took an early lead in his heat race and never looked back as he held off a late charge from John Wiedemann.

The event opened with the largest field seen in IndySlotCar in 13 years, when 15 drivers attempted to qualify for the 2010 HO Indy 500.  Fifteen Daboiler bodied cars lined up for Hallween Havoc where Dan Margetta scored his series record extending pole position, number 54. Mike Lack, who held the provisional pole until just the last few seconds of qualifying started along side on the front row. Michael Shank-It Racing's Mike Kristof lined up third, with Lack's FAST teammates Matt Hayek and Dean Strom rounded out the top five.

For the first time since the Last Chance Qualifiers have been instituted, the large field was winnowed down by three, since only the winner of the LCQ would advance to the field of 12 in the heat races. Until this event, when the largest field was 13, it meant only one driver was eliminated by the LCQ. And it was the points leader coming into the event, Team PenskeHO's Ev Kamikawa who raced his way into the field. It left CBD's Pete Dorn, MisFitz Motorsport's Mike Lack and Team Spehert's James Spehert as spectators the rest of the evening.

Halloween Havoc Fast Facts
Race date: Thursday, Oct 26

Track: Quarry Heights Raceway, 2 mile natural terrain road course, Wauwatosa, WI

Race distance:  20 minutes

Twitter:  @indyslotcar

IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com

2022 race winner: Matt Hayek (No. 26 Angry Squirrel Speedsport Honda-Daboiler)

2022 Firestone P1 Award winner: Mike Lack (No. 27 Angry Squirrel Speedsport Honda-Daboiler)

One-lap qualifying record: Matt Hayek, 3.717 seconds, 2019 (Quarry Heights Raceway)                                      

Race record: Matt Hayek, 282 laps, 2019 (Quarry Heights Raceway)     

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

7:30 – Qualifying for the Firestone P1 Award (group qualifying/ fastest single lap)

7:50 – Heat races

8:40 – Halloween Havoc (20 minutes)

Race Notes:

·         Hometown hero Matt Hayek is the defending race winner at the Halloween Havoc, a race he also won in 2019.

·         There have been three different winners so far in the 23-24 season, including Hayek at the Mini Mile, Dan Margetta and Badger Raceway and Mike Lack at Turtle Creek. However, it is the guy who has not won a race, but made finals at two of the three opening rounds that leads the championship, Ev Kamikawa over another driver without a win, John Wiedemann, nine points behind Kamikawa. In fact, only Matt Hayek, of the three race winners, is the only one in the top five in points, sitting third, with Pete Dorn and Joe Heitz rounding out that top five.

·         Three different pole winners this season, Hayek, Wiedemann and Lack, none won the race they took the Firestone P1 Award at, allowing the Pole-to-Win prize fund to climb past 100,000 IndySlotCar Bucks..

·         James Spehert turned his first official race laps at the Turtle Grand Prix after racing out of the Last Chance Qualifier after two previous tries. The Team Spehert rookie is the 60th driver in series history to make a start.

·         Stats Watch: James Spehert’s 92 race laps makes him debut at 52nd on the all-time laps list, his third appearance at a race equals the career starts of Johannes Schlicht, Eric Woodfin and Jim Chitel, all tied at 42nd. Mike Fitzlaff’s first appearance in several seasons moves him to ninth all-time on the starts list with 204, ahead of a tie he was in with Larry Rotter. Bill Black now has as many race starts as champion and Hall of Famer Jim Iverson with 111, tied for 19th. Steve Rist moves past Ned Wicker for 25th on the all-time starts with 58. Matt Hayek’s DNF at Turtle Creek is the 34th of his career moving ahead of Mike Lack to 7th all-time.

HALLOWEEN HAVOC HISTORY (30 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

10/25/18   Mike Kristof         Bridgestone Halloween Havoc    QHR

10/24/19   Matt Hayek          Halloween Havoc                     QHR

10/22/20   Steve Rist           Halloween Havoc                     Lack Track

10/21/21   Mike Lack            Halloween Havoc                     QHR

10/20/22   Matt Hayek       Halloween Havoc                     QHR

Most wins: Dan Margetta-5; Mark Walczak-4; John Wiedemann, Jim Kaehny–3; Matt Hayek, Mike Lack, Dave Austin, Ev Kamikawa-2