5/21/2023
Badger Midget Auto Racing Association
Sparks Lights Up The Night In Plymouth
Plymouth, WI (May 20th, 2023) - The Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Racing Association made their return to the badger state at the famed Sheboygan County Fairgrounds and the Plymouth Dirt Track. The race would see Jace Sparks out of Marengo, IL take home his first-ever AFS BMARA win.
The AFS Badger Midgets started their Wisconsin season with an open wheel frenzy night at the track, along with the Bumper to Bumper IRA 410 Sprint Cars and the MSA 360s. This marked the first of two visits to the 1/3-mile clay oval for the series.
The night saw a 31-car-strong field at the start of the night. Regulars such as Jake Dohner, Adam Taylor, and Todd Kluever found themselves in the pits alongside rookies Parker Jones, Eric Blumer, and Tommy Colburn.
Action on the track started with the FiveOne Motorsports qualifying sessions. The FiveOne Motorsports Fast Time Award went to the driver of the #55, Todd Kluever. His time of 14.017 saw him on the top of the charts followed by Brandon Waelti, Chris Baue, Matt Rechek, and Mitchell Davis rounding out the top five.
The heats would be next with the Madison Extinguisher Service non-qualifier race, won by Jim Fuerst, Eric Blumer, and Parker Jones chased him to the line. Auto Meter Heat 1 saw Kevin Douglas take home the heat win followed by Mike Stroik and Cody Weisensel. The second heat race, sponsored by Simpson Race Products and VMS Rod Ends, was won by Kyle Stark, while Daniel Robinson, and Brandon Waelti were second and third respectively. Behlings Race Products Heat 3 put Todd Kluever in victory lane as Daltyn England, and Jace Sparks finished second and third.
The High-Performance Lubricants B-Main, where seven drivers would have the opportunity to punch their ticket into the A-Main was next. RJ Corson would cross the line first followed by the other six transfer cars, Chris Baue, Jake Dohner, Harrison Kleven, Miles Doherty, Eric Blumer, and Jim Fuerst
The time for talking was over as the feature rolled off. It would see the driver out of Marengo, IL, Jace Sparks sit on the pole with Mike Stroik starting right next to him. Sparks would have a fantastic launch from the green flag and lead the field while the #20 of Cody Weisensel, the #2 of Kyle Stark, and the #55 of Todd Kluever all battled it out for the second spot. The only yellow of the feature would come out when Tommy Colburn found himself spun around in turn three. The green flag would come back out and once again, Sparks made quick work to get away from the field. Sparks would be reeled back in by the cars behind him as Brandon Waeti, Weisensel, and Kluever would challenge him for the lead. All the attacks would be futile as Sparks came across the line to see his first checkered flag of his career and became yet another driver with an AFS Badger Midget win under his belt. Weisensel and Kluever would pass Waelti as Waelti made a move going for the win. Rounding out the top five were Weisensel, Kluever, England, and Stark. A hyped Sparks found his way to victory lane with some strong words to say, “Man, this is what kids dream of, and I just did it!”
The AFS Badger Midget Series will make their return to the historic Angell Park Speedway for the season opener and first annual Dalhke Memorial tonight. They will then make the trip south to the Kenosha County Fairgrounds and Wilmot Raceway on May 27th.
To learn more about the Advanced Fastening Supply Badger Midget Auto Racing Association visit BMARA.com or the BMARA Racing Facebook Page today.
Summary
31 Cars
AFS A Feature 25 Laps | 00:12:06.726 | Advanced Fastening Supply
- 40-Jace Sparks[1]; 2. 20-Cody Weisensel[4]; 3. 55-Todd Kluever[6]; 4. 19E-Daltyn England[9]; 5. 2-Kyle Stark[7]; 6. 9S-Mike Stroik[2]; 7. 57-Daniel Robinson[3]; 8. 3W-Brandon Waelti[5]; 9. 36-Chris Baue[17]; 10. 5K-Kevin Douglas[8]; 11. 15C-RJ Corson[16]; 12. 28-Jim Fuerst[22]; 13. 29-Harrison Kleven[19]; 14. 7-Brian Peterson[13]; 15. 87-Jake Dohner[18]; 16. 10A-Tommy Colburn[11]; 17. 68-Eric Blumer[21]; 18. 8-Jake Goeglein[15]; 19. 53M-Miles Doherty[20]; 20. 59-Kyle Koch[12]; 21. (DNF) 56-Charles Rufi[10]; 22. (DNF) 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[14]
High Performance Lubricants B 12 Laps
- 15C-RJ Corson[3]; 2. 36-Chris Baue[5]; 3. 87-Jake Dohner[4]; 4. 29-Harrison Kleven[7]; 5. 53M-Miles Doherty[9]; 6. 68-Eric Blumer[11]; 7. 28-Jim Fuerst[6]; 8. 31-Shay Sassano[1]; 9. 1W-Robby Wirth[13]; 10. 45-Trey Weishoff[2]; 11. 10-Denny Smith[8]; 12. 17-Nick Kilian[10]; 13. (DNF) 41-Parker Jones[12]
Behlings Heat 3 8 Laps
- 55-Todd Kluever[8]; 2. 19E-Daltyn England[3]; 3. 40-Jace Sparks[5]; 4. 7-Brian Peterson[1]; 5. 10A-Tommy Colburn[2]; 6. 31-Shay Sassano[4]; 7. (DNF) 5X-Adam Taylor[6]; 8. (DNS) 38-Matt Rechek
Simpson Race Products Heat 2 8 Laps
- 2-Kyle Stark[4]; 2. 57-Daniel Robinson[5]; 3. 3W-Brandon Waelti[7]; 4. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[1]; 5. 59-Kyle Koch[2]; 6. 53M-Miles Doherty[8]; 7. 15C-RJ Corson[3]; 8. (DNF) 6B-Mitchell Davis[6]
Auto Meter Heat 1 8 Laps
- 5K-Kevin Douglas[5]; 2. 20-Cody Weisensel[7]; 3. 9S-Mike Stroik[6]; 4. 56-Charles Rufi[3]; 5. 8-Jake Goeglein[1]; 6. 45-Trey Weishoff[2]; 7. (DNS) 87-Jake Dohner; 8. (DQ) 36-Chris Baue[8]
Qualifying Five-One Motorsports Fast Time
- 55-Todd Kluever, 00:14.017[14]; 2. 3W-Brandon Waelti, 00:14.061[15]; 3. 36-Chris Baue, 00:14.191[9]; 4. 38-Matt Rechek, 00:14.218[18]; 5. 6B-Mitchell Davis, 00:14.289[28]; 6. 20-Cody Weisensel, 00:14.460[17]; 7. 5X-Adam Taylor, 00:14.536[4]; 8. 57-Daniel Robinson, 00:14.560[21]; 9. 9S-Mike Stroik, 00:14.628[23]; 10. 40-Jace Sparks, 00:14.913[30]; 11. 2-Kyle Stark, 00:14.920[5]; 12. 5K-Kevin Douglas, 00:14.999[25]; 13. 31-Shay Sassano, 00:15.048[13]; 14. 53M-Miles Doherty, 00:15.133[20]; 15. 87-Jake Dohner, 00:15.138[6]; 16. 19E-Daltyn England, 00:15.190[11]; 17. 15C-RJ Corson, 00:15.225[2]; 18. 56-Charles Rufi, 00:15.250[12]; 19. 10A-Tommy Colburn, 00:15.251[19]; 20. 59-Kyle Koch, 00:15.261[16]; 21. 45-Trey Weishoff, 00:15.308[31]; 22. 7-Brian Peterson, 00:15.338[22]; 23. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 00:15.649[1]; 24. 8-Jake Goeglein, 00:15.776[29]; 25. 10-Denny Smith, 00:15.856[24]; 26. 29-Harrison Kleven, 00:15.860[3]; 27. 28-Jim Fuerst, 00:15.894[26]; 28. 41-Parker Jones, 00:15.982[7]; 29. 1W-Robby Wirth, 00:16.472[27]; 30. 68-Eric Blumer, 00:16.857[8]; 31. (DNS) 17-Nick Kilian, 00:16.857
Non Qualifier 8 Laps | 00:05:04.000 | Madison Extinguisher Service
- 28-Jim Fuerst[1]; 2. 68-Eric Blumer[5]; 3. 41-Parker Jones[6]; 4. 29-Harrison Kleven[2]; 5. 10-Denny Smith[3]; 6. 1W-Robby Wirth[4]; 7. 17-Nick Kilian[7]
Article Credit: Zack Krueger