Edition 12, September 24th- 2007

Marshfield may be our new favorite track.

Marshfield looks a lot closer on a map to home than it really is! On an unseasonably warm September day we all headed to the half mile in central Wisconsin noted for its tight turns. This race had been highlighted on our calendar for some time as the team felt they perform better on longer distance speedways, and the car owner Adam, and event sponsor, Faith Pools and Spas are business associates. The team arrived at Marshfield Speedway early on Friday to get in some needed practice, as James had never raced at this venue before.

The practice indicated we were about 3 rd fastest, but it was also evident, this track could easily bite you as evident by the cars going out to qualify less their nose sheet metal. We waited to see what Bill Prietzel would show and he laid down almost identical qualifiers of 19.504 and 19.534. We were 10 th in line and James’ first lap was booked at 19.600, which would place us second in qualifying with the #31 in third, #32 fourth, and #22 fifth. Nowak, #32, was definitely the local crowd favorite, and being the gentleman racer he is, he walked through the crowd after qualifying talking to friends and fans. Lyle and his wife Marcie even stopped to talk to us, his competitors to say hi and wish us luck, and it certainly confirmed what a class act they are.

We had to wait an eternity as other races were held, including a very long red flag session to remove an injured driver from the four-cylinder division. The wait meant that the track continued to cool and I was somewhat concerned that the car might not handle the same as qualifying, but I also new everyone else was in the same situation. We proved we could move up in the heat races starting 8 th and finishing 4 th. What we were not prepared for was what cars were going to be very fast in the feature race.

We started the 40 lap feature in 11 th position inside. By lap 3 we had moved forward to 6 th with the #99 in first position. Lap 6 was caution for one of what would be more spins by car 17. By lap 12, James had piloted the car into 4 th, lap 15 we were in 3 rd. Lap 20 the yellow was displayed for Bobby Gutknecht and we continued to stand in 3 rd place. Lap 22 we had moved into 2 nd and now were following the #53 car and being dogged by the #31.

We continued to follow Rod Brewe in the #53 and finally on lap 32 we got under him cleanly on turn two and took the lead with Brett Piontek in the #31 following us. Lap 36 saw the first of 3 cautions to the finish with James continuing to hold off the other drivers. This was many anxious moments for the team’s sponsor and crew as we watched the many restarts. The 97 Berge race team finally got there first win of the season.

The end of course for us was very sweet as we watched one of the better burn outs by James Swan. The crew finally got their well deserved moments in victory lane, and they continued to reminisce into the night. As of this writing we are in first place 42 points ahead of Bill Prietzel and 73 in front of Bobby Gutknecht. The points race will be close to the end.

We wish to thank Rod and Brett who raced us clean all night, and we look forward to Sunday September 30 th in Rockford for the next to last points race of the season. Good luck to all competitors.

Racing to the Checkers

Jim