WALLACE & HARTMAN BECOME REPEAT WINNERS

The NASCAR, Dodge Weekly Racing series saw a pair of repeat winners Saturday night as Mike Wallace and Scotty Hartman turned the trick in the Crate Late Models and Pro-ams.

Wallace is hoping that his next feature win won't come as a result of rebuilding the car after a wreck. Wallace and his crew spent most of the later part of the week replacing the front stub on the Mike Collins owned car. They just put the finishing touches on it before leaving for the track. He started by winning his heat race over Todd Morgan. He started the 20 lap on the pole after the top 15 were inverted. Wallace and racing legend Ron Tilley battled for the early lead with Tilley taking the early lead on the back stretch. But lap 2 saw Wallace pass Tilley for the lead and eventual win. Several restarts bunched up the field, but Wallace stayed in front on each one. Bill Leighton Jr. was the last one to have a shot at Wallace but he could'nt get it done and Wallace claimed his 2 nd win of the year. Wallace told me he does'nt like starting on the front row because the only place to go is back. At the checkered flag several cars got together and Jason Hobscheidt got turned around. Ron Tex Jr., Dave Doll and Kent Schimenti rounded out the top 5. Hobscheidt ended up 16th .

The Certified Transmission Pro-am 18 lap feature saw Jason Cieslik race to an early lead from his pole position start with Ray Dessell following in 2 nd . Nick Steier moved into 3 rd on lap 2 and 2 nd on lap 5. But Scotty Hartman was hot on his tail. Hartman passed Steier for 2 nd on lap 9. After chasing Cieslik for 6 laps Hartman was able to take the lead with 2 laps left. Larry Robinson Jr. made a late race charge after starting 15 th , but he could'nt reel in Hartman and had to settle for 2 nd . Cieslik finished 3rd ahead of Joe Feyen and Steier. Hartman, who is leading the points, also won his heat race.

The B-Mod feature saw Mike Christiansen take the early lead. But Harry Nixon was on the move and looking for his 3 rd feature win. Nixon took the lead on lap 4 and was on his way until lap 11 when he lost fuel pressure and Jim Fritz took the lead. Fritz then held on and took the checkered flag for his first career feature win. Larry Robinson Sr took 2 nd over Daryl Weilage and Jim Hendricks.

The Trail Performance/Trade Center Automotive 305 Sprint Cars made their 2 nd appearance of the season and Matt Stephanson made the long haul from Des Moines worthwhile as he picked up his 1 st win of the year. Only 4 of 6 cars started the feature but Stephanson charged from the outside front row and led all the way. Matthew Stelzer finished 2 nd ahead of Trish Dover and Michael Oliver. Oliver Won the heat race with Dover in 2 nd .

The Tobacco Free Nebraska Pro-Hornet 12 lap feature saw Austin Kurtzer go from 3 rd to 1 st on the opening lap and looked like it was a sure thing that he would win. But Rick Havenridge, who started 11 th , had other ideas as he charged his way to 2 nd by lap 4. And on the lat lap out of turn 4 Havenridge ducked underneath Kurtzer to take his 2 nd feature win of the year. And in the process Havenridge and Kurtzer are now tied for the top spot in points. Havenridge has the advantage though with 2 feature wins to Kurtzer's 0 feature wins.

The TFN Novice Hornet feature saw Steve McConnell take the early lead only to lose it on lap 2 to Nathan Brown. Brown led the rest of the way to what appeared to be his first career feature win. But in the tech area he was disqualified for using spring rubbers on what is supposed to be a virtually a street car. This gave the win to Taylor Collins with Bryan Hull in 2 nd .

Next Saturday, June 3 rd , is Nebraska Auto Racing Hall of Fame night at I-80 featuring the NASCAR Dodge Weekly Racing Series Crate Late Models, Certified Transmission Pro- Ams, B-Mods and Tobacco Free Nebraska Hornets.. Hot laps are at 6:30 with racing Action getting under way at 7.

NRP/I-80 Speedway is located between Omaha and Lincoln just north of I-80 exit 420 and runs the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series on Saturday and Sunday nights during their regular season; one of only two tracks in the USA to hold two NASCAR Dodge Weekly Sanctions. For more information, contact the NRP General Offices at 402-342-3453 during normal business hours or visit the web site at www.neracewaypark.com . On race days after 4pm, the track info line is 402-944-2233.