LUXEMBURG, Wis. (June 1) – It took just shy of a full month from the originally scheduled opener, but Luxemburg Speedway was finally able to defeat Mother Nature and get its first official championship point show in the books Friday night.
For Mike Mashl, it was worth the wait.
Mashl parlayed a front row starting into a wire to wire victory, besting a loaded field of 32 cars to in the tough IMCA Modified division.
Mashl took control early, but before he could get any separation, a four car wreck in corner one on the third lap brought the feature to a standstill.
Back under green, Mashl was able to build a cushion over the pack as several teams vied for second. By lap seven, three emerged as the prime candidates for the spot, Johnny Whitman, Benji LaCrosse and Russ Reinwald. Reinwald started deepest on the grid, in the fourth row, passing Brad Lautenbach and Tony Wedelstadt to gain a top five running position.
In just a couple laps, Reinwald dispensed with Whitman and LaCrosse, but by that time Mashl had already built a sizeable advantage. Turning slightly faster laps, and aided somewhat by lapped traffic, Reinwald was able to consistently cut into the lead, but without the help of a late caution, he was never able to mount a serious pass attempt on the 1997 Luxemburg track champ.
At the line, it was Mashl by about five car lengths for the win. LaCrosse passed Whitman on the last lap to capture third. After qualifying for the feature via his “B” main, Mike Mullen charged from the ninth row to register an impressive fifth.
Joining Mashl in victory lane on the night were Eric Arneson in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Lucas Lamberies in the Karl Chevrolet Northern Sport Mods and D.J. Jorgenson in the Mach-1 Sport Compacts.