Litchfield Goes Back To Back At Dells
2024-09-16
The day started out with 32 cars taking time in qualifying. The entire field was separated by just .686 during time trials, with Sun Prairie, Wisconsin's Nick Nolden grabbing fast time with a 14.149.
HEAT RACES
Mike Litchfield took home the fast dash heat win over the fastest qualifier Nick Nolden. In the first qualifier heat, Noah Eisenhower and Mahlon Borntregor battled side-by-side with Jesse Bernhagen right on their tail. With 3 to go, Borntregor pulled to an advantage, bringing Bernhagen with him. Grant Brown finished 4th to advance as well.
For the second qualifier, Hunter Stenson grabbed the lead right away over Hassler who was battling a loose car. Westenberg worked over Hassler but ended up third, with Thayran Rezin finishing fourth.
The final qualifier heat saw Jon Reynolds Jr. pop out to the lead with Steve Litchfield and Alex Braseth battling behind. With 16 to go Billy Braun went for a spin in turn two after contact with Brandon Laing bringing out the yellow. Reynolds Jr. got a good restart and Steve??? Litchfield climbed up after a couple laps to the rear bumper of Reynolds Jr. Braseth and Mitch Haver finished third and 4th, transferring into the feature.
Thirteen cars started the last chance race fighting for just two spots into the feature. Braun led over Laing in the early stages. With 10 to go the #52 of Cole Howard went for a spin on the frontstretch. There was a fierce fight on the restart with Conrad Morgan and Laing with Morgan making a crossover but with 5 to go Laing got loose into Morgan which caused Morgan to slide up into Laing triggering a several car spin, with everyone continuing. Laing struggled more after the restart when he collided with a loose car which sheared the right rear tire off his late model. Braun pulled away on the restart while Shane Radtke Jr worked Dennis Smith Jr hard for the final laps but couldn’t get him loose enough to make the pass.
FEATURE
Penn Sauter and Bernhagen started on the front row for the 68-lap feature and unfortunately the chance for a win was taken away from Reynolds Jr. before the race started as he went to the pits to be attended by the crew and missed the green flag.
Sauter leaped out ahead on the start and immediately was under fire from Michael Bilderback. Just a lap later Bilderback took the lead and Bernhagen went with to take 2nd away from Sauter.
Five laps in, Mike Litchfield powered his way to third before an incident in turn two where Sargent went for a spin and collected Westenberg and Ehde as well. Sargent went to the pits while the other two needed to be separated.
After a lengthy red flag, the field went back to green but Steve Litchfield spun in turn four to slow them shortly after. Bilderback had a solid restart while Mike Litchfield powered around the outside of Bernhagen then quickly shot to the outside of Bilderback for the lead.
With 59 to go, Mike Litchfield led the lap and then cleared around the outside to control the race. Litchfield continued to increase the gap as the race continued.
Sauter began to work his way back and battled the inside of Evan Hassler for the 4th position with 45 to go. Hassler would keep the spot after dealing with Sauter for a handful of laps. At the halfway point Sargent made his way back into the top-10 and continued to pick off cars ahead.
The second yellow flag of the evening came with 23 to go when Nolden and Sauter went for a spin in turn four. Sauter showed frustration with Nolden under the yellow flag and they both fell to the rear of the field. It would be the end of the night for Nolden when he pulled into the pits afterward.
On the restart, Bilderback was unable to keep pace with Mike Litchfield and the top cars fell single file while racing was tight in the back half of the top 10. Just two laps later Rayzin and Stenson made contact. Rezin spun while Stensen suffered heavy damage.
The rest of the field reassembled, Bilderback took a peak but Litchfield rocketed off the corner. At the same time, Sargent made his way to 5th and with 18 to go began to work his way around Evan Hassler. As the laps clicked off, Sargent found his way to 4th.
As the checkered flag flew, it was the defending late model champion at Dells Raceway Park taking the victory,
“This is just tremendous,” Litchfield said. “A lot of fond memories at Rockford, but happy NSTC is here at the Dells and we were able to defend the home turf.”
While not a victory, Bilderback was still excited with his runner-up finish.
“That 44 was just on rails,” Bilderback said. “He could just keep driving. We will take second, and gained more points on the championship.”
The next and final race of the 2024 Big 8 Series takes place on Saturday, October 5th at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in West Allis, WI.
