Snellenberger holds on for Bouche Memorial checkers

By Tom Wagner

STURGEON BAY, Wis. (May 23) – Rod Snellenberger held off Dave Bouche at the wire to cap­ture the $1,000 top prize in the seventh annual Nathan Bouche Memorial IMCA Sunoco Stock Car fea­ture Saturday at Thunderhill Raceway.

The only caution of the contest came on lap five. The front pair made it a two-car race the last 18 times around the oval with Bouche no more than a car length behind at any time.

Behind the lead duo, Shawn Havel advanced to third and, for a time, was making up ground. But the advance stalled in the late stages and he settled for third.

Derek Moede and John Anschutz ran together for the duration, finishing fourth and fifth, respec­tively. Dan Sell completed the top six, piloting the Nathan Bouche tribute car.

Moede had led the 22-car feature field to the green. Rick Dix was shuffled back on the lap five restart as Snellenberger and Bouche raced to the front. Snellenberger established the low groove, going to work on Moede for the lead, with Anschutz keeping pace on the outside.

On the ninth lap, Moede left just enough running room through the first turns to allow Snellen­berger to gain the edge. Snellenberger rushed past to the lead, taking Bouche with him in tow.

Snellenberger never faltered over the last 18 laps, which meant Bouche never had a chance to pull even for a pass attempt. They crossed the line exactly as they had run all race long, Snellen­berger first by a slim margin.

The win for Snellenberger was his second in a row and marked his 25th career Stock Car win at Thunderhill.

Other feature winners on the night were Tyler Hackett in the IMCA Xtreme Motor Sports Modi­fieds, Bernie Reinhardt in the Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and Marcus Moede in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply