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WILMOT RACEWAY OPENING NIGHT 2024

(Wilmot, Wis., Saturday, May 11, 2024)--C.J. Malueg of Johnsburg, IL led wire to wire to score his first ever victory in the Liftpro Sprint Powered by Gandrud Chevrolet Winged 604 Sprint 20-lap feature to close out the 2024 season opening night of Wilmot Raceway's 74th year of operation on Saturday, May 11.

Second generation driver Rusty Egan of Round Lake Heights, IL took top honors in a hotly contested 20-lap AutoMeter Wisconsin WingLESS Sprints Powered by Gandrud Performance and Wilmot Raceway Catalyst Exhibits Track Series main.

Union Grove's Terry Kiedrowski won his first ever 20-lap IMCA Modified feature in a last lap victory.

Pleasant Prairie's Josh Gehrig overcame a flat tire which relegated him to the back of the 20-lap Unified Street Stock feature field to come back and score the victory.

Malueg took the lead from the start of the Winged Sprint main, but a red flew on lap two when Ion Stear of Hebron, IL got airborne in turn three, but never went over. A final caution appeared for debris with 13 laps to go erasing Malueg's lead of over two seconds ahead of second place Chris Klemko of Bristol.

Malueg went on to the win with Klemko second, Brian Kristan of Zion, IL third, Greg Olsen of Round Lake Heights, IL fourth and Tommy Sexton of Twin Lakes fifth.

"I have to thank my family and crew, everyone who worked on the car to get it out here," said Malueg. "It's a lot of fun driving these cars. I have to thank the fans who stuck in there with us as it got colder as the night went along. I can't wait for next week."

Kristan set a new track record in qualifying for the 604 crate winged cars with a clocking of :13.653 seconds, eclipsing the old mark of :14.354 set by Malueg on August 16, 2023 during the Kenosha County Fair debut of the class in an exhibition event.

In the WingLESS main, Egan took the lead from the drop of the green, with Jimmy Sivia of Winthrop Harbor, IL charging to the outside overtaking the point six laps into the feature. One lap later, Egan got crossed up in turn three while battling Sivia, gathering it back up. Unfortunately for third place Tyler Kuxhouse of Antioch, IL, he ended up being involved ending up broken and relegated to the pits for the night.

Egan and Sivia battled back and forth to the finish. Egan scored the win equaling his Wilmot victories in 2023. Sivia ended up second by less than a car length. Zach Raidart of Gurnee, IL took third. Kansasville's Ryan Marshall fourth. Brown Deer's John Fahl fifth.

"Jimmy always runs me clean and it was a lot of fun," said Egan, joined by his family in victory lane. "I used to sell checkered flags and souvenir programs here, watching my dad (Russ) race. Now my kids are racing karts, but they come and watch me race. It's pretty neat."

Kiedrowski's win was not easy in the modifieds. Union Grove's Joel Crowbridge held the top spot through a trio of cautions on laps 5, 6 and 9. Kiedrowski kept his sights on Crowbridge on the restarts.

The pair went side by side several times in the closing laps with Kiedrowski shooting to the victory out of turn four for the checkered by less than a car length. Crowbridge took second. Andrew Hamburg of Dixon, IL was third. Elkhorn's Jason Wirth was fourth. David Powers of Woodlawn, TN was fifth.

"This is my first win in a modified," said Kiedrowski. "Jason(Crowbridge) was great to battle with. I have to thank my family, sponsors, and these great fans. My MS Chassis was dialed in. My crew had the car set up perfectly."

In the street stock main, Salem's Brandon Mertes was in the front until lap 8 when Gehrig took the lead after slicing through the field following his restart at the back due to the flat tire. The next circuit Mertes went back in front. The pair continued to go back and forth until a caution came two laps from the finish. During the yellow Mertes pitted with a mechanical woe, returning but finishing out of contention with only two circuits left.

Kenosha's Ryley Newberry inherited the lead with Kenosha's Blake Kreuser right on his rear bumper. On the restart, Gehrig shot high around both to take the lead and victory, his fourth of his career at Wilmot and first in over two years. Newberry had a career best second. Rob Olson of Lindenhurst, IL was third. Kreuser ended up fourth. Tim Calanca of Lake Villa, IL fifth.

"It was not easy," said Gehrig, joined by his Dad and crew in victory lane. "First the flat tire sends us to the rear. Brandon was fun to race with. I was sorry when he pitted at the end. It's been a while since I've been in victory lane, so it feels good."

Wilmot Raceway returns to action Saturday, May 18 with Family Night Checkered Flag Giveaway. The B&L Office Furniture Powered By Great American Tire & Auto Repair Bandit 4-Cylinder Stock Cars make their rain-delayed debut. Liftpro Powered By Gandrud Chevrolet 604 Winged Sprints return along with Unified Street Stocks and IMCA Modifieds.

Grandstand admission is $15.00 for ages 13 & over, with ages 12 & under admitted free. Pit passes are $30.00. Grandstands open at 5 p.m. with hot laps/qualifying at 5:45 p.m., racing at 6:45 p.m. Pits open at 3 p.m. For updated information phone the trackside raceline 262-862-2090, or check the official website wilmotraceway.com or the track Facebook page.

Non Wing Crate Sprints (25 Entries)

A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:05:35.232

1. 50-Rusty Egan[2]; 2. 91-Jimmy Sivia[3]; 3. 23Z-Zach Raidart[6]; 4. 7X-Ryan Marshall[7]; 5. 0-John Fahl[10]; 6. 24-Eric
   Wilke[12]; 7. 17-Bryce Andrews[1]; 8. 11-Austin Hansen[15]; 9. 70H-Tate Hensley[9]; 10. 57F-Tristan Furseth[5]; 11. 38-
   Allen Hafford[17]; 12. 70-Chris Klemko[13]; 13. 4G-George Gaertner III[22]; 14. 29J-Ralph Johnson[21]; 15. 7-Trinity
   Uttech[14]; 16. 29OG-Tom Eller[11]; 17. 4L-Lance Thompson[20]; 18. 7D-Josh Davidson[23]; 19. 86-John Meyer[24]; 20.
   99J-Seth Johnson[16]; 21. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse[4]; 22. 13A-Dave Wallace[18]; 23. 59-Derek Crane[19]; 24. 17M-Matt
   Rypel[25]; 25. 40-Tim Cox[8]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:35.101

1. 7X-Ryan Marshall[2]; 2. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse[4]; 3. 29OG-Tom Eller[6]; 4. 17-Bryce Andrews[3]; 5. 70-Chris Klemko[5]; 6.
   13A-Dave Wallace[8]; 7. 4G-George Gaertner III[7]; 8. 59-Derek Crane[1]; 9. 17M-Matt Rypel[9]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:09.785

1. 40-Tim Cox[2]; 2. 91-Jimmy Sivia[4]; 3. 57F-Tristan Furseth[3]; 4. 24-Eric Wilke[5]; 5. 11-Austin Hansen[7]; 6. 99J-Seth
   Johnson[1]; 7. 29J-Ralph Johnson[6]; 8. 7D-Josh Davidson[8]

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:02:11.185

1. 0-John Fahl[1]; 2. 70H-Tate Hensley[2]; 3. 23Z-Zach Raidart[3]; 4. 50-Rusty Egan[4]; 5. 7-Trinity Uttech[6]; 6. 38-Allen
   Hafford[7]; 7. 4L-Lance Thompson[5]; 8. 86-John Meyer[8]

Qualifying 1 | 00:09:11.000

1. 711-Tyler Kuxhouse, 00:14.808[24]; 2. 91-Jimmy Sivia, 00:14.890[22]; 3. 50-Rusty Egan, 00:15.024[23]; 4. 17-Bryce
   Andrews, 00:15.055[19]; 5. 57F-Tristan Furseth, 00:15.122[21]; 6. 23Z-Zach Raidart, 00:15.125[15]; 7. 7X-Ryan Marshall,
   00:15.146[4]; 8. 40-Tim Cox, 00:15.157[1]; 9. 70H-Tate Hensley, 00:15.337[3]; 10. 59-Derek Crane, 00:15.338[13]; 11. 99JSeth Johnson, 00:15.385[17]; 12. 0-John Fahl, 00:15.456[9]; 13. 70-Chris Klemko, 00:15.460[11]; 14. 24-Eric Wilke,
   00:15.501[16]; 15. 4L-Lance Thompson, 00:15.520[20]; 16. 29OG-Tom Eller, 00:15.603[25]; 17. 29J-Ralph Johnson,
   00:15.784[12]; 18. 7-Trinity Uttech, 00:15.985[18]; 19. 4G-George Gaertner III, 00:16.028[14]; 20. 11-Austin Hansen,
   00:16.144[6]; 21. 38-Allen Hafford, 00:16.334[7]; 22. 86-John Meyer, 00:16.633[10]; 23. 13A-Dave Wallace, 00:18.199[5];
2. 17M-Matt Rypel, 00:26.984[8]; 25. (DNS) 7D-Josh Davidson

Street Stocks (15 Entries)

A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:08:28.567

1. 10-Josh Gehrig[5]; 2. 222-Ryley Newberry[11]; 3. 1R-Rob Olson[2]; 4. 8-Blake Kreuser[4]; 5. 72-Tim Calanca[1]; 6. 12-
   Brandon Mertes[3]; 7. 77J-Jason Jones[9]; 8. 53-Dustin Holland[8]; 9. 55-Keith Stich[12]; 10. 65-Mark Baker[10]; 11. 79-
   David Jones[6]; 12. 95-Robby Olson[7]; 13. (DNS) 50-Terry Hilgendorf; 14. (DNS) 35-Tristan Peyron

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:06:42.442

1. 10-Josh Gehrig[1]; 2. 53-Dustin Holland[6]; 3. 79-David Jones[5]; 4. 1R-Rob Olson[4]; 5. 65-Mark Baker[2]; 6. 222-Ryley
   Newberry[3]; 7. 15H-Troy Hensley[7]; 8. (DNS) 55-Keith Stich

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:50.366

1. 8-Blake Kreuser[1]; 2. 12-Brandon Mertes[2]; 3. 95-Robby Olson[6]; 4. 72-Tim Calanca[4]; 5. 55-Keith Stich; 6. 77JJason Jones[5]; 7. (DNS) 50-Terry Hilgendorf; 8. (DNS) 35-Tristan Peyron

Qualifying 1 | 00:02:55.501

1. 10-Josh Gehrig, 00:18.569[4]; 2. 8-Blake Kreuser, 00:19.441[2]; 3. 65-Mark Baker, 00:19.616[5]; 4. 12-Brandon Mertes,
   00:19.751[10]; 5. 222-Ryley Newberry, 00:20.221[8]; 6. 50-Terry Hilgendorf, 00:20.231[9]; 7. 1R-Rob Olson, 00:20.334[3];
2. 72-Tim Calanca, 00:20.681[11]; 9. 79-David Jones, 00:20.890[6]; 10. 77J-Jason Jones, 00:20.947[13]; 11. 53-Dustin
   Holland, 00:20.959[7]; 12. 95-Robby Olson, 00:21.422[14]; 13. 15H-Troy Hensley, 00:21.477[12]; 14. 35-Tristan Peyron,
   00:24.637[1]

A Modifieds (16 Entries)

A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:10:06.081

1. K9-Terry Kiedrowski[2]; 2. 28C-Joel Crowbridge[7]; 3. 57-Andrew Hamburg[6]; 4. 9W-Jason Wirth[4]; 5. 33-David
   Powers[11]; 6. 0-Elmer Everman[5]; 7. 37-Scott Tubbin[15]; 8. 68-Tom Neubauer[3]; 9. 30-John Dost[13]; 10. 19-Mike
   Wittenburg[10]; 11. 52M-Brad McGuire[8]; 12. 46-Jason Condrad[12]; 13. 2M-Steve Mueller[9]; 14. 4S-Joel Seegert[1]; 15.
   (DNS) 04-Morgan Sheppard

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:04:53.631

1. 57-Andrew Hamburg[1]; 2. 4S-Joel Seegert[3]; 3. 52M-Brad McGuire[4]; 4. 19-Mike Wittenburg[6]; 5. 68-Tom
   Neubauer[5]; 6. 33-David Powers[7]; 7. 30-John Dost[8]; 8. 37-Scott Tubbin[2]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:13.168

1. 28C-Joel Crowbridge[1]; 2. 9W-Jason Wirth[5]; 3. 2M-Steve Mueller[3]; 4. K9-Terry Kiedrowski[4]; 5. 0-Elmer Everman[2];
2. 46-Jason Condrad[7]; 7. 04-Morgan Sheppard[6]

Qualifying 1 | 00:03:44.991

1. 28C-Joel Crowbridge, 00:17.036[3]; 2. 19-Mike Wittenburg, 00:17.102[12]; 3. 57-Andrew Hamburg, 00:17.444[1]; 4. 2MSteve Mueller, 00:17.500[9]; 5. 4S-Joel Seegert, 00:17.713[6]; 6. K9-Terry Kiedrowski, 00:17.726[11]; 7. 9W-Jason Wirth,
   00:17.955[13]; 8. 52M-Brad McGuire, 00:18.209[8]; 9. 0-Elmer Everman, 00:18.622[7]; 10. 68-Tom Neubauer,
   00:18.824[10]; 11. 03T-Lee Tibbitts, 00:19.064[5]; 12. 46-Jason Condrad, 00:19.523[2]; 13. 04-Morgan Sheppard,
   00:19.828[15]; 14. 33-David Powers[14]; 15. (DNS) 37-Scott Tubbin

Winged Crate Sprints (14 Entries)

A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:05:26.045

1. 13-CJ Malueg[1]; 2. 70-Chris Klemko[3]; 3. 5-Brian Kristan[8]; 4. 9-Greg Olsen[4]; 5. 83-Tommy Sexton[7]; 6. 15-Dan
   Wade[5]; 7. 9X-Tim Cox[9]; 8. 7L-Ellie Hensley[6]; 9. 29R-Ralph Johnson[12]; 10. 22-Greg Alt[13]; 11. 20-Kevin Hinich[10];
2. 38-Allen Hafford[11]; 13. 19-Ion Stear[2]; 14. (DNS) 54G-Scott Grissom

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:03.477

1. 9-Greg Olsen[2]; 2. 19-Ion Stear[1]; 3. 5-Brian Kristan[4]; 4. 38-Allen Hafford[6]; 5. 9X-Tim Cox[5]; 6. 7L-Ellie Hensley[3];
2. 22-Greg Alt[7]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:04.723

1. 13-CJ Malueg[1]; 2. 70-Chris Klemko[2]; 3. 83-Tommy Sexton[4]; 4. 15-Dan Wade[3]; 5. 29R-Ralph Johnson[6]; 6. 20-
   Kevin Hinich[5]; 7. 54G-Scott Grissom[7]

Qualifying 1 | 00:04:06.635

1. 5-Brian Kristan, 00:13.653[4]; 2. 83-Tommy Sexton, 00:13.785[12]; 3. 7L-Ellie Hensley, 00:13.797[6]; 4. 15-Dan Wade,
   00:13.850[8]; 5. 9-Greg Olsen, 00:13.864[14]; 6. 70-Chris Klemko, 00:13.885[13]; 7. 19-Ion Stear, 00:13.893[7]; 8. 13-CJ
   Malueg, 00:13.991[1]; 9. 9X-Tim Cox, 00:14.031[3]; 10. 20-Kevin Hinich, 00:14.088[2]; 11. 38-Allen Hafford, 00:14.106[9];
2. 29R-Ralph Johnson, 00:14.332[5]; 13. 22-Greg Alt, 00:14.445[11]; 14. (DNS) 54G-Scott Grissom

Photos by KulasJr8 Racing Images

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