Wilmot, Wis., Saturday, May 29, 2021)--Oconomowoc's Ryan Zielski became the fifth different 20-lap Autometer/Brewington Electric Wisconsin wingLESS Sprint Car feature winner of 2021 at Wilmot Raceway Saturday, May 29. Zielski held off a late charge from second place Jimmy Sivia of Winthrop Harbor, IL highlighting the Memorial Day weekend Family Night sponsored by Grand Foundation. Burlington's Rusty Egan took third less than half car length alongside Sivia.
"We broke last week so this made up for it," said Zielski. "Jimmy(Sivia) is tough and I knew he'd be coming."
Caledonia's Chris Carlson took the lead on a restart following a caution with six laps remaining and went on to take the checkered victory for the fifth time in as many 20-lap modified features at Wilmot this season. Early race leader Joe Huenfeld of Freeport, IL ended up second. Tim Hamburg of Dixon, IL was third.
"I might have won four in a row before, but never five," said Carlson. "With all of the good cars starting in front I didn't know if I could win it without the caution. My crew keeps setting me up a great car."
John Cole of McHenry, IL led flag to flag in the 20-lap Bandit 4-Cylinder Stock Car feature for his first main ever win of the year. David McKellips of Mt. Pleasant was second. Scott Ellis of Lake Villa, IL took third.
"This is the first time I won a feature without my wife, Danielle, watching me," said Cole, the reigning Wilmot champion, who became the third different feature winner of the season. "This makes up for all of the hard work by the crew after the problems we had last week."
Cody Erickson of Algonquin, IL won his first 20-lap street stock feature of the season, leading wire to wire. Rob Maule of Hebron, IL was second. Muskego's Courtney Atkinson recovered from an opening lap spin to take third.
"This car is a 10-year anniversary of the Cadillac which my Dad, Dave, built," Erickson said, explaining the nickname "Cadzilla" on the sides of the car. "He built this one, too, and it's been running great."
The Sprint Car Challenge comes to Wilmot Raceway's 1/3-mile clay oval on Friday, June 4 as Tony Stewart's All Star Sprints take on the Bumper to Bumper Interstate Racing Association (IRA) Sprints at the IRA's original home track. Wingless Sprints and IRA Lightning Sprints round out an all sprint car program. Advance tickets are available on the wilmotraceway.com website. All grandstand seats are general admission. Advance ticket holders will be admitted to the grandstands beginning at 3:00 p.m. with race day purchasers being allowed in starting at 4:00 p.m. Grandstand admission is $30.00 for adults ages 12 & over; $5.00 ages 7-11; with 6 & under admitted free. Pit passes are $35.00 with the pits opening at 2:00 p.m.
On track activity is scheduled to begin about 5:45 p.m. with racing getting underway around 7:00 p.m.
For updates check the Wilmot Raceway official Facebook Page or wilmotraceway.com, or phone the trackside raceline 262-862-2090.
Submitted by Michael H. Babicz 262-206-5465