The stands were packed for Sunday's Angell Park Speedway opener and the AFS Badger Midget Series' 2nd annual Dahlke Memorial. The race is run to honor BJ Dahlke and his daughter Addison who were victims of a traffic crash. Both were part of the Badger Midget racing community. Eric and the crew were looking forward to a challenging night in front of their hometown fans. He was especially pumped since he didn't make it out of the B-Main in 2023, for the inaugural event.
Thirty cars filled the pits. Qualifying was interesting. There were four hot lap/qualifying flights and each one produced someone in the top four. This told us that the track kept everything equal. To that end, Eric qualified a respectable 13th. Remember, this was maybe his 15th start ever in a midget and only second time out this year.
He started 4th and that's where he finished in his heat. The track wasn't too tricky, yet. It had been reworked after qualifying.
Before the feature, the team scrambled as they discovered an electrical issue. Justin, Eric and Logan went to work on the problem. They elicited the knowledge of the famed, "Big Dumb Guy," who helped get things in order.
Eric started 11th in the feature. The track was much different now. There were more bumps and ruts. It was awesome, though, in that there were two, if not three, grooves. Eric primarily stuck to the bottom, which within the group he was battling, seemed to be the better of the lines. The one time he did go high, he tagged a rut in the middle of turn-four. The #68 got a good jolt, but Eric gathered it in. He may have lost a spot, still running about 11th-ish, but later got it back.
He looked to be in position for a top 10, when a car slowed exiting turn-4. Eric swerved to miss him, but caught his right rear to the left side of the slowing vehicle. The immediate obvious damage to his car was a destroyed right rear tire. The tail pipe was bent down in a 90 degree angle too. His night was done, some ten laps in. He was scored in 17th out of 22.
Along with honoring BJ and Addy, this race brought a lot of prize money donated in their names. Each position in the feature had two or three people or businesses add to the purse. Eric was lucky enough to have four people offer up money for his finishing position.
One of them, Kenzie Dunn, is actually a second cousin once removed, to Eric. She's the granddaughter to Chuck Bollig, Eric's mom, Mary Jo's first cousin.
Another family offering prize money won by Eric was the Yeargin Family. Erin and Heather run Angell Park (to over simplify it). Erin is best known for his track prep and Heather is boss at the pavillion and helped Stephanie, Eric's sister, make her wedding dance perfect.
NK Racing put up prize money. That's short for fellow competitor and Sun Prairie native, Nick Kilian, also a Sun Prairie kid. Nick finished two spots ahead of Eric.
Lastly, Bill, Pat and Jen Folz donated to the 17th spot. They are in-laws to Melissa Folz, Addison's mom, so Addy's grandparents. Melissa helps Eric out with sponsorship of the midget. It's special to see how we had a connection to every donor and it says a lot about the Badger community.
Eric put up some cash for the 4th finisher, which was won by Kyle Stark and Grandpa and Dad, under the Blumer Antiques banner offered money to the 6th finisher, who was Daniel Robinson.
Thanks to Badger announcer Eric Huenenfeld for giving a shout out, half way around the world to our friend and sponsor, Owen Leatherberry! And while we are at it, thanks to Quinn, Amy and the rest of the BMARA crew for all of their hard work.
The Club LaMark #68 will have the Memorial Day weekend off, as will the rest of Badger. We'll be back in action a week from Sunday, June 1, for the Fanaktive Three in One Show featuring the Badger Midgets, the Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Cars and MSA 360 Sprinters.
Thanks to Justin, Greg and Logan, who all had a part in weekly prep on the car and Justin and Logan for their race day help as Greg was on his annual vacation. A second thanks goes to Justin who not only wrenched, but also took the cool pictures that go with this post.
Thanks too, to Doug Schenck of Olson's Vacuum for getting Eric a new steering wheel!
Congrats to Brandon Waelti for winning the Dahlke Memorial for the second year in a row!
Eric will be on The Racing Round Up show, Tuesday, May 28. We'll provide more on that by Monday.
And as always, we can't do it without these folks. Thanks so much to our sponsors for their support!
Club La Mark
Storage & Handling Systems
Cartopia
Owen Leatherberry (USN)
Doral Equipment Rental
J.F. Ahern Co.
The Hill Bar & Grill
Melissa Folz In memory of Addison Dahlke
Northern Air Systems
BRS Radiator, Machine & Fabrication
North Central Utility
Fowler Heating & Air Conditioning
OWL
Hypersports
Ground Up Lifts
Fastenal
Legends.Direct
East Central Coin
Grandpa Blumer
Mom & Dad
- William Blumer on May 21, 2024
- Article Date: 5/21/2024