A Little Celebration Goes a Long Way
by Kari Shear-Carlson
Aug 9, 2014-“It’s been a long time since I’ve won a super late model race. I’m really proud of the guys,” said Johnny Sauter from victory lane at Wisconsin International Raceway, after winning the ARCA Midwest Tour presented by Scag Power Equipment Calypso Lemonade 100 presented by Scag Power Equipment.
Sauter was unbeatable, never looking back once he took the lead from his nephew Travis. Johnny had a flawless night, well almost flawless. “I can’t believe I just wrecked my car, I feel so stupid right now,” said Sauter pausing during his victory lane interview. While doing his celebratory burnout, he slammed the left side of the car into the wall. “I only had high gear the whole night and I was do the burn out in high gear,” said Sauter.
Travis Sauter and Nick Murgic led the field to the green flag. Murgic got the early lead but Travis was hot on his tracks. Johnny Sauter, recently stating that the only reason he comes to a short track race is to win, was up to third by lap three and on a mission.
Ty Majeski and Nathan Haseleu had entered the night tied for the championship title and started side-by-side in tonight’s event. Nathan had gotten a little jump running in the fourth position as Majeski was tied up in sixth.
Travis was all over the rear bumper of Murgic as his uncle Johnny was closing in on him. With the three of them fighting it out, it allowed Haseleu to start to close in on the three. On lap 12, Travis ducked underneath Murgic in the dogleg and came out of turn four with the lead. Johnny followed suit and ducked into second.
Johnny was looking high and low and finally made the pass coming out of turn four and started to pull away. Majeski was also on the move and had made it around Murgic and set his sights on Haseleu for third.
Chris Weinkauf was running in the sixth spot but had closed in and made the pass for fifth around Murgic.
By lap 25, Johnny Sauter was pulling away from the rest of the field. Majeski had caught Haseleu and made the pass on lap 30, but as he went by, Haseleu pulled in due to mechanical failures which ended his night.
Johnny continued to stretch it out little-by-little as the rest of the field had settled in. Ty was slowly reeling in Travis Sauter, catching him on lap 43, but as they encountered lapped traffic, it allowed Sauter to gain a little breathing room.
With 30 to go Jonathan Eilen had gotten around Murgic. Majeski had caught Travis yet again and looked as though he might have something for him until 10 laps later when the point leader was off the pace ending his chances at a victory.
The caution set the field up for a 20 lap shootout with a Sauter, Sauter front row followed by Chris Weinkauf and Jonathan Eilen. But just before they were getting ready to go green, Chris Weinkauf pulled into the pits, allowing Nick Murgic to move up for a second row restart.
At the restart, Johnny was once again able to get a good jump and shut the door as Travis tried to make a last ditch effort on the outside. As Johnny started to pull away the battle was for third as Murgic and Eilen raced side-by-side for several laps.
Eilen finally cleared Murgic and now Jason Weinkauf was able to jump into the mix. Eilen was able to break away a little bit, but Jason Weinkauf was not going to let Murgic get away as he continued the challenge.
As the field was coming around for the final lap, Jason Weinkauf was off the pace allowing Murgic to finish in the fourth spot behind Jonathan Eilen. Nick Barstad rounded out the top five.
The next event for the ARCA Midwest Tour is Friday, August 15th at Norway Speedway. For event details, log on to arcamidwesttour.com
Be sure to follow the ARCA Midwest Tour on Facebook (midwesttour) and Twitter (@midwesttour).
To learn more about the Automobile Racing Club of America Midwest Tour, log on to arcamidwesttour.com. For questions, call Tim Olson at (612) 327-5831 or e-mail tim@arcamidwesttour.com
The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is among the leading auto racing sanctioning bodies in the country. Founded in 1953 by John and Mildred Marcum, the organization administers more than 100 events each year in multiple racing series, including the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, the ARCA/CRA Super Series, the ARCA Truck Series and the ARCA Midwest Tour, plus weekly racing at Toledo and Flat Rock Speedways.
