Stewart put on quite a show in both the Late Model and Modified heat races. After not drawing very well for the Modified, Stewart started ninth on the field in his heat race, and started making his way to the front in a hurry. After surviving some contact with Lasoski, Stewart held on and made the pass on Mike Kelley Jr. with two to go for the win. In the Late Model heat race, Stewart started from the pole and led every lap to pick up his second heat race win of the night.

Other heat race wins in Modified competition went to Dave Cain, Craig Thatcher, Dave Lear, Al Uotinen, and Craig Christenson.

In the Late Models, also picking up heat race wins were Bob Timm, Eric Pember, Ryan Aho, and Joel Cryderman.

In Modified B-Feature competition, the top two finishers in each would go on to the A-Feature. In the first of three, Brent Prochnow, and Brad Hansen advanced. In the second, it was Craig Scott and Danny Lasoski. And in the third and final one, it was Darrel Nelson, and Tim Jackson picking up the final transfers.

There were two Late Model B-Features, with Rick Egersdorf picking up the win in the first one, and Mike Goodremote coming home first in the second one.

During the intermission, yet another spectacular fireworks display was seen by all, which has become commonplace at the Cedar Lake Speedway for the Firecracker 100. It definitely rivals any display you will see anywhere on the Fourth of July.

The first feature event of the evening were the Modifieds, and after some of the action in the qualifying races, it was a sure bet that this would be a great one. Steve Wik would start from the pole, with some very heavy hitters throughout the field.

Steve Wik got the jump on the field and was the early leader, followed by a very hard-charging Jamie Lemke. Craig Thatcher also made a couple very impressive moves in the opening laps.

Lemke came up to challenge for the lead, after getting around Dave Lear for second, but Thatcher was moving in quickly on the top side. He would shoot past both Lemke and Wik to take over the top spot, and by lap 10, had already pulled out to a half-straightaway advantage.

Tony Stewart and Dave Lear were contesting the fourth position, and it would be Stewart coming out on top to take the spot. Jeff Wildung also started pressuring Lear for the fifth position, and he too would advance to take fifth away.

The battle for second was turning in to a good one as Wik started to hound Lemke, and this would go on for the remainder of the race, as Thatcher continued to run away from the field out in front.

By lap 15, Thatcher started to catch those at the tail of the field, and would put on a demonstration on how to work traffic. Wik and Lemke continued to go at it for second, with Stewart solidly in the fourth spot.

Al Uotinen started to come on strong as the laps wound down, passing Lear to take over sixth. Wik and Lemke after a great battle for second were side by side for the last couple laps and it was Wik by just inches at the line, followed by Stewart and Wildung to round out the top five. Thatcher scored the victory in a very dominating performance, by over a straightaway, and only 12 cars finishing on the lead lap.

Tony Stewart was on the pole for the Late Model feature, and definitely had the crowd behind him. After being very impressive in all of the events he had run for the night, winning both heat races and finishing fourth in the Modified feature, it was time to see how he stacked up against the local drivers in a Late Model.

Stewart would hold Bob Timm at bay to lead the first lap, but it was Timm on the high side to blast by Stewart for the lead on lap two. Joel Cryderman was the next to challenge Stewart and he too would would make the pass to take second.

Cryderman would then go after Timm and take the lead away, but Timm came right back to reclaim the position a lap later. The two raced side by side again for a lap, with Cryderman coming out on top this time, to take the top spot once again.

Eric Pember was turning the heat up on Stewart for third, and after a brief battle, it was Pember taking the third position.

The first caution came on lap 15, when Tony Stewart got turned around in turn four. Stewart was sent to the tail, but Steve Laursen took credit for getting in to the back of Stewart's car, so with taking the blame for the incident, Laursen was also at the tail of the field. According to track rules, Stewart would be entitled to go back to the position where he was running when the incident occured, since Laursen told track officials that he felt he was responsible for Stewart's spin. When Stewart was informed of this, he chose to stay at the tail of the field.

On the re-start, it was Cryderman out front, followed by Timm, Pember, Aho, and Chad Cummings.
Pember shot by Timm for second, and then catastrophe struck for Bob Timm. Going in to turn two, Timm made hard contact with the wall, which sent him high in the air, flipping numerous times, coming to rest upside down in turns one and two. To everyone's relief, he climbed from the car under his own power and was reported to be alright. Ryan Aho was also involved in the incident but was able to continue, and resumed running in the third position.

So on the re-start, it was still Cryderman in the lead, followed by Pember, Aho, Cummings and Pat Doar.
Doar immediately got by Cummings on the start, and then went on to challenge Aho for third. On lap 19, Doar completed the pass on Aho, and Cummings was next to try to take a spot from Aho.

Jerry Redetzke was making his way to the front also, and entered the top five on lap 20. Doar was starting to put some pressure on Pember for second and briefly got along side but could not complete the pass.

The next caution came on lap 22, when Wade Field, Ashley Anderson, and Dan Younick got together in turn three, with Field and Younick ending up against the concrete.

Once again, it would be Cryderman leading the field to the cone. Jerry Redetzke made a move on Aho to take over fourth on lap 23, while Doar tried Pember again for second, but again, Pember withstood the challenge.

Jon Kurshinsky was making a late race charge after starting deep in the field, and took over the fifth spot on lap 25.
The final caution came with two laps remaining, when Steve Laursen and Porky Brust got together in turn three.

Kurshinksy passed Redetzke on the re-start to take over the fourth position, after a very strong run from the back. But taking the checkers first was Cryderman, followed by Pember, Doar, Kurshinsky, and Redetzke.

An excellent night of racing, and an impressive showing by Tony Stewart, who fought his way back up to finish 11th in the Late Model after going to the tail. Stewart was also quoted as saying he had so much fun at the Cedar Lake Speedway, that he wants to come back and do it again next year. So if you were unable to attend on Saturday, you will not want to miss next year's Firecracker 100!

The next event on the schedule is the Pennzoil World of Outlaws sprint cars, along with WISSOTA Super Stocks, which will take place on Monday, July 8th. For more information or any questions, please call 1-866-4CLSFUN or visit our website at http://www.cedarlakespeedway.com/ See you at the races!!

SUMMARY
WISSOTA Late Models
Feature: Joel Cryderman, Eric Pember, Pat Doar, Jon Kurshinksy, Jerry Redetzke, Chad Cummings, Ryan Aho, Mike Goodremote, Bill Byholm, Jeff Wildung
Heat 1: Tony Stewart, Brady Smith, Redetzke, Craig Scott, Rick Egersdorf
Heat 2: Bob Timm, Steve Laursen, Byholm, Larry Stockwell, Joe Bean
Heat 3: Pember, Jeff Provinzino, Wildung, Dan Younick, Mike Nutzmann
Heat 4: Aho, Jim Bruggeman, Jeff Patchen, Porky Brust, Wade Field
Heat 5: Cryderman, Cummings, Doar, Kurshinsky, Ashley Anderson
B-Feature 1: Egersdorf, Anderson, Nutzmann, Mike Chamernick, Eric Breeschotten
B-Feature 2: Goodremote, Field, Darrel Nelson, Bean, Mike Frolik