PHOTOS

By: Jordan Kuehne

LOVES PARK, IL (Saturday, April 11, 2009) – Mike Jucius took advantage of the misfortunes of others and survived some adversity of his own to win the WXRX 104.9FM Stone & Double T 200 lap enduro on Saturday afternoon at the Rockford Speedway. Jucius is the first winner of 2009 on the high-banked quarter-mile.

“I’ve been doing this race for the last ten years and I finally broke through,” an elated Jucius stated as he pumped his fist in victory lane. “The first 100 laps were alright, but once we switched over, the second 100 was much smoother. I really love the Monza format. It equalizes the field pretty well.”

Jucius made the climb to the top during the second half of the race, which featured a Monza course, inheriting the lead from Ryan Lagastee on lap 176. Lagastee suffered a flat tire and had to leave the race early, but he wasn’t the only one thwarted by tire trouble. Lagastee took the lead on lap 146 after race leader Devon Dixon fell victim to a flat right rear tire after leading the middle portion of the race. Jucius and Dixon almost ended each other’s chances earlier on in the second half of the event, when on lap 133 they slammed into each other exiting the chicane.

The Monza course, which features a makeshift chicane that forces drivers to dive off of turn two through the figure 8 course and back out into turn three, was used during the second half of the event.

The winner of the beauty contest held before the race, Bartlett native Mike Sorenson, brought the record field of 85 cars to the green flag. The early action was fierce as three red flags flew in the first 22 laps. The most spectacular crash of the day occurred on lap 11 when 2008 Oktoberfest Enduro winner Matt Rowe flipped over in turn one. Rowe was disappointed but he would walk away unharmed. “It’s not what we wanted, but if you can’t win you might as well be spectacular,” Rowe said.

The two namesakes of the event, WXRX 104.9FM afternoon drive-time hosts Jim Stone and Double T, wouldn’t fare so well in their second annual enduro.

Double T’s second attempt at racing didn’t go as well as his first. After finishing 31st last year, he finished in 53rd place after being forced to retire from the enduro on lap 73 due to a blown tire. “I was just trying to make it halfway and stay out of the messes but I ended up spinning out three times and got a flat tire and that was pretty much it,” Double T said.
Stone got the upper-hand on his co-host finishing 39th after retiring from the race at the halfway point because of a cracked radiator. “I had a great car but unfortunately the radiator cracked right before the halfway break,” he stated. “It was still a lot of fun though and I had a blast out there.”

The other on-air partner, Captain Jack, came home in 72nd after retiring on lap 7.
The second-place finisher was Kyle Stark, while Eddie Wolf brought home third place. Ryan Lagastee was the highest finishing automatic car finishing sixth on the day, while Machesney Park native Michael Noordwal was the highest finishing non-car entry, coming home in 17th in his minivan.

The 32nd annual Spring Classic will take place next Sunday, April 19th at the Rockford Speedway. The Spring Classic will feature the BRP Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet in their season-opener, the SPYDER 108, as well as the Mid-American Stock Car Series taking on the high-banked oval in a 50 lap feature. Racing gets underway at 1 p.m. with qualifying at 11:15 a.m.

Tickets for the 32nd annual Spring Classic are available now at the track’s website, www.rockfordspeedway.com, or by calling the track office at (815) 633-1500.
General admission tickets are only $20.00 for adults and $5.00 for kids ages 6-11. All kids five and under are free. Please visit the track’s website to download a $3 off coupon for the Spring Classic.

For more information on the Spring Classic, as well as a full season schedule and more, please visit www.rockfordspeedway.com or call the track office at (815) 633-1500.

POS CAR# NAME Hometown Make Model Laps
1 311 Mike Jucius Oak Lawn 02 Saturn 200
2 192 Kyle Stark Waterloo, WI 92 Sentra 198
3 67 Eddie Wolf Thornton 97 Probe 197
4 5 James Stanis 197
5 33 Matt Jerry Pingree Grove 94 Saturn 194
6 93 Ryan Lagestee Dyer, IN 99 Accord 193
7 01 Josh Nelms Lockport 01 Galant 191
8 2 Roy Dennis Elburn 99 Saturn 191
9 96x Jimmy Hartmann Carpentersville 93 Escort 190
10 444 Kathleen O'Shields 190
11 182 Gabriel Alvarado Bartlett Saturn 189
12 11 Victor Young Genoa 91 Cavalier 187
13 52 Kyle Smith St. Charles 93 Cavalier 184
14 357 Rick Abel Salem, WI 91 Mazda 182
15 111 Devon Dixon Janesville, WI 92 Cavalier 176
16 45X Doug Finnern Des Plaines 94 Nissan 176
17 31 Michael Noordwal Machesney Park 94 Caravan 176
18 57D Donnie Schick Rock Falls 93 Cavalier 172
19 21D Dan Doherty Elgin Civic 172
20 3 Joie Dennis Marengo 97 Cavalier 169
21 43T Steve Goll East Dundee 98 Escort 168
22 23 Brittney Allen Sleepy Hollow 94 Escort 167
23 386 Alex Clubb Morris 91 Escort 161
24 37 Terry Biddick Evansville, WI 92 Probe 160
25 21 Ryan Schilling Bernard, IA 92 Escort 149
26 22J Cody Jacobson Kirkland 91 Accord 140
27 557 Daniel Beatty Aurora 91 Nissan 129
28 22 Charles Chism Jr Poplar Grove 91 Calais 129
29 11x Mike Cunz Courtland 93 Saturn 128
30 56C Scott Vetter Union 90 Eclipse 127
31 95 Freddy Wittmann Jr Des Plaines ?? 121
32 56 Jason Dull Machesney Park 86 Arias 118
33 40 Kyle Wittmann Des Plaines ?? 118
34 69 Mark Bielefeldt Loves Park 89 Civic 118
35 92 Ted Diangikes Montgomery 94 Civi 120
36 24 Jeff Hooker Courtland 95 Saturn 101
37 99 Joe Dynek Kingston 93 Tercel 101
38 109 Jason Haberstoch Belvidere 89 Corolla 97
39 104.9 Jim Stone 92
40 3x Dale Markham Maple Park 92 Accord 89
41 10 Ralph Markham Maple Park 89 Infiniti 84
42 27 Derek Dixon Janesville, WI 97 Sunfire 85
43 2H Jim Klingel Aurora 92 Integra 81
44 77 Jon Zummo Beloit, WI 85 Cavalier 81
45 0 Rick Zifko St. Charles 93 Nissan 75
46 51 David Smith McConnell 95 GrandAm 70
47 101 Roger Schultz Rockford 93 Probe 65
48 107 Tony Doherty Aurora Cavalier 64
49 12 Mike Nihles Lancaster, WI 91 Accord 62
50 11m Roger Markham St. Charles 95 Mirage 61
51 19 Justin Pearson Belvidere 88 Accord 53
52 93L Tim Loomis Kingston 89 S-10 52
53 TT Double T 51
54 72 Mike Sorensen Bartlett 93 Civic 51
55 86 Nick Clubb Morris 95 BMW 48
56 808 Jimmy Stephens Maple Park 90 Civic 47
57 555 Brent Armour Hinckley 94 Talon 46
58 040 Harley Conkling Yeowardville, IL 92 Honda 41
59 15J Stacey McElliogott Union 95 Neon 40
60 44 Fred Wittmann Sr Des Plaines ?? 34
61 M1 Marl Mongan Oregon 94 Escort 33
62 66J Timothy Jones Rockford 93 Escort 29
63 590 Brick Boss Rock Falls 89 Celebrity 29
64 32 Jeff Allendorf Belvidere 93 Altima 27
65 177 Dan Harris Janesville, WI 94 Probe 27
66 82 Brock Boss Dixon 85 Skylark 23
67 04 Jacob Eufinger Bristol, WI 92 Shadow 23
68 17 Jeremy Bingham Beloit, WI 92 Tempo 13
69 7 Jake Vande Hei Milton, WI 94 Sentra 12
70 141 Matt Rowe Maribel, WI 90 Cavalier 11
71 113 Alan Bekielewski 11
72 B103 Captain Jack 7
73 34C Jerry Roach Kingston 90 Eclipse 4
74 07 Paul Klus Kingston 95 Neon 0
75 B13 Robby Bakes Genoa Cavalier 0
76 D23 Brian Desmond Rockford 89 Saab 0
77 31J Jason Roth Hazel Green, WI 94 Accord 0
78 50 Joe Darnell Machesney Park Golf 0
79 54 Andy Hill South Beloit 03 Mirage 0
80 60T Dan Green Garden Prairie 93 Escort 0
81 66 Terry Ciano Jr Janesville, WI 89 Mazda 0
82 91 Steve Mack Rockford 95 Hyundai 0
83 777 Michael Wallis Machesney Park 85 Prelude 0
84 872 Brandon Ritter Bristol, WI 86 Accord 0