By: Kevin Ramsell
NORWAY, MI (Sunday, August 31, 2008) – Jamie Iverson delighted the packed grandstand at Norway Speedway as he held off Dan Fredrickson to win his second American Speed Association Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by ECHO Outdoor Power Equipment event by claiming the Labor Day 100. Fredrickson also extended his point lead with a second place finish.
It was a classic short track battle as Fredrickson and Iverson brought the field to the green flag for the 100-lap feature event. The two stayed stuck to each other all night long as they battled for the lead throughout the event. Fredrickson, who has had two bad outings in the last two ASAMT events, was trying to get back in victory lane and gain some points on Donny Reuvers, who was only five points behind Fredrickson coming into tonight’s event.
Fredrickson would get that cushion on lap ten when Reuvers was involved in a melee in turn one with up to eleven cars involved. Reuvers would spend some time in the pits and return later in the event and come home with a 22nd place finish. Others involved in the melee included Jeff Storm, Blake Horstman, Nathan Haseleu, Nick Murgic, Jonathan Eilen, Rich Loch, Mark Kraus, Joey Miller and hometown Touring Star Kris Kelly.
The crowd was kept on the edge of their seats as Fredrickson and Iverson would put on a great battle.
Fredrickson would get the lead on lap 11 and hold off Iverson until with ten laps to Iverson, who kept trying to go on the inside of Fredrickson, would move to the outside lane and complete the pass, causing the crowd to get on its feet.
Iverson would pull away to about a car length victory over Fredrickson with Andrew Morrissey in third.
“That is about as good as it gets,” a smiling Iverson stated in victory lane. “I race against the best there is and Danny Fredrickson is one of them and to come out on top it sure feels good.”
“I thought I got a good jump and would try to check out a little bit and Danny kept getting on the outside and back of me, so I let him go on the outside and I would follow a while,” Iverson stated. “I thought he would return the favor later on, but I had to make it on my own. The only way to do it was to get on the outside of him. But, like I say, it doesn’t get much better than this.”
For Fredrickson, finishing second unofficially gave him a 58-point lead over Reuvers in the standing.
“He’s running real hard and I am running for points,” Fredrickson stated after the race. “He wanted to get after me pretty good, and at this point I couldn’t afford to go to the back, so I gave him the outside and made him work for it. Bottom line, fans had to love it and it was a good race for the Midwest Tour.”
Morrissey had a solid third place run and was close to the battle up front, “That was a helluva race with those guys, it was a good race from where I was, and I just wished I could keep up with the two of them.”
But Morrissey was happy to get another podium finish, “It was a good day, we weren’t very good in practice, but the day got better and it’s nice to get another podium finish.”
Travis Sauter came home fourth with Chris Wimmer picking up yet another top-five finish.
Tim Schendel had a sold run to finish sixth with Tom Gee Jr. in seventh. Greg Haese was eighth while Jonathan Eilen came home ninth. Mike Reichenber rounded out the top-ten.
Unofficially, Wimmer moves to third in the standings, 152 points behind Fredrickson with Schendel in fourth only 165 points back. Eilen is in fifth, 193 points back.
The ASAMT will conclude its four races in four weeks stretch next Sunday afternoon with the running of the Kim Parsons Memorial 100 at Marshfield Speedway in Marshfield, WI.
To learn more about the American Speed Association Kwik Trip Midwest Tour presented by Echo Outdoor Power Equipment log on to www.asamidwesttour.com or call the ASA Midwest Tour office at (262) 514-3880 or e-mail Tim Olson at tim@asamidwesttour.com or Steve Einhaus at steve@asamidwesttour.com.
To learn more of the Daytona Beach, Florida-based Racing Speed Associates or the American Speed Association Racing Member Track program, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from all the racetracks and regional tours involved in the American Speed Association, visit www.asa-racing.com.
This article was posted to the website on September 1st, 2008
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