The final night of racing at Belle Clair Speedway
by: Jack Pugh

BELLEVILLE, ILL (Oct. 7, 2006) - The final night of racing at Belle Clair Speedway was fan appreciation night and what a night of racing. There were lots of cars in two classes and not so many in one class, but there were a lot of fans in the stands.

In the UMP Late Model division, there were 26 cars on hand to race. In the first heat race, Michael Kloos took the win over Frankie Martin, Don Klein, Aaron Kleine, Rick Salter, Mark Voigt, Bob Geaschel, Bob Brown and Joe Garson. In the second heat, Jim Gibson took the victory followed by Ed Dixon, Dave Thornton, Bruce Unterbrink, Dan Jacober, Tyler Diebert, Len Garson and Mike Jacober. The third heat saw Mike Hammerle with the win with Mike Schulte, Andy Pryor, Clay Baumann, Danny Haynes, Ron Jarrell, Tracy Wampler and Dan Dondero in tow. The dash went to Dixon followed by Kloos, Gibson, Schulte, Hammerle and Martin. The semi sent Voigt, Diebert and Jarrell to the feature.

The 25 lpa feature started with Dixon and Kloos on the front row. With the dropping of the green flag, Kloos jumped to the lead with Dixon, Schulte, Gibson and Hammerle trailing. The race did not last long for the first caution to occur as Jarrell spun in turn one. The running order was Kloos, Dixon, Schulte, Gibson, and Hammerle in the top five.

The green light was turned back on and Kloos continued with the lead and Dixon trying everything he could to overcome the leader.

Kloos and Dixon went to the top of the track and proceeded to put on a show. Kloos was fast as was Dixon, but Kloos was driving a nice smooth line and held off all of Dixon’s tries for a pass.

The final caution came on lap 6 when Martin slowed on the track with problems. The top five stayed the same.

With the green flag waving again, the racing got hot again. The track was getting black, but the racing was still hot up front as Kloos and Dixon put on a show. Kloos and Dixon were fast and Dixon was giving it everything he had, but could not get passed the leader.

The race went to Kloos over Dixon, Schulte, Gibson and Hammerle. There was some passing going on as Voigt came from 15th starting spot to finish sixth and Salter started 13th and finished eighth.

The end of the race was a little exciting as Dixon hit the outside wall and spun on the front straight to add a little confusion to the cars behind him. No one got caught up in the spin and escaped in one piece, but it could have been a big mess.

In the UMP Modified class, there were 17 cars on hand. In the first heat, Marty Smith Jr. took the win over Paul Reinneck, Aaron Kleine, Chris Gray, Matt Verbeck, Bobby Johnson, Ricky Horton, Brad McKinnon and Mark Pflueger. In the second heat, David Seger took the victory followed by Brett Korves, Brian Bielong, Marty Smith Sr., Dave Sandage, Matt Koesterer, Tom Ratajczyk and Corey Carriker. The dash went to Bielong followed by Smith Jr., Korves, Kleine, Reinneck and Seger.

The 20 lap feature started with Bielong and Smith Jr. on the front row. With the dropping of the green flag to start the race, Bielong jumped in front.

After the first lap, the caution flew for Carriker’s spin in turn four. The top five were Bielong, Smith Jr., Korves, Kleine and Reinneck.

The race was being run one lap at a time as Smith Sr. had problems on the back straight away and stopped. The top five remained the same.

With the green flag back out, Bielong went to the top and Smith Jr. gave chase. Smith Jr. went low and grabbed the lead. The battle up front was intense and gave the cold crowd something to get heated up about. Bielong and Smith were putting on a show.

The race got two more laps in before Johnson spun in turn one. The running order was now Smith Jr., Bielong, Korves, Kleine and Reinneck.
Another lap in and another problem as Gray, Ratajczyk and Seger tangled in turn four. All the cars were able to continue at the back of the pack. The running order now was Smith Jr., Bielong, Korves, Kleine and Reinneck. On the restart, Sandage slowed and was done for the night.

On the next restart, some racing got going. Bielong retook the lead on lap 10 and held on to the end and fought off the challenges of Smith Jr.
Bielong took the win over Smith Jr. with Korves, Kleine and Reinneck completing the top five.

In the UMP Sportsman class, there were 10 cars eventually able to take the track. In the heat race, Bobby Teutraine took the win over Lonnie Casey, Nate Schmitt, Mike Jones, Matt Tettaton, Chris Smith, Zac Parks, Lewis Hayes and Lawrence Schaefer. The dash went to Schmitt with Casey, Smith, Tettaton, Teutraine and Parks in tow.

The feature started with Schmitt and Casey on the front. The green flag came out and Schmitt jumped to the lead. However, the lead was not the place to be.

Schmitt developed a rear flat tire on lap eight and dropped out giving the lead to Casey. Casey held the lead though several cautions until he spun on the back straight while leading.

Teutraine inherited the lead and went on to win the race over Davinroy, Tettaton, Smith and Schaefer.

This was the last race for Belle Clair Speedway for the 2006 season. See you in 2007.