| Julies 2005 season got off to a
great start with a month of racing in Florida. Racing began
at Putnam Speedway in Satsuma, then Volusia Speedway in Barberville
and finished up at East Bay Raceway in Tampa. She racked
up five heat wins and 8 top ten feature wins! Julie finished
5th in overall points at Volusia and tied for 9th in points
at East Bay. Team mate Mike Wedelstadt, Julie, crew
chief Jerry Petit and Mom and Dad pulled the hauler out of
Wisconsin on Sunday, January 30, headed for Putnam Speedway
for the Renegade 100. They arrived to a muddy track and found
out that it was just too wet to begin the 5 days of racing
scheduled to start on Tuesday. The race was shortened to a
two day Twin 40 race. Friday racing began and Mike and Julie
both blew engines. With her back up engine Julie was able to
take a 10th place feature finish. It was then time to head off to Barberville
for the Winternationals at Volusia Speedway. Julie ran great,
finishing 5th in overall points. Record car counts of 117,
with drivers from 23 different states had some of the best
modified drivers entered. Racing began on Tuesday the 8th and
Julie had a 2nd place heat win and came in 5th in the feature.
She had a 9th place feature finish on Thursday and took 7th
in the feature on both Friday and Saturday. Monday the 14th it was off to Tampa for
Winter Nationals at East Bay Raceway. Tuesday was a perfect
Florida day - warm and sunny! There were 127 cars registered
for the series and had 119 in qualifying. Julie was 8th fastest
in a field of the best drivers in the US and Canada. She started
on the pole in heat eight and won it, making her the first
woman in the series 5 year history to win a heat race. On the
draw for feature starting position she drew number three and
started inside the 2nd row and finished 8th in the first of
5 feature races. Teammate Mike Wedelstadt took 6th in his heat
and finished 8th in the B-main.
Wednesday
Julie finished 4th in her heat and had to move on to the B-main
where she took 9th, not good enough to make the feature, but
this was the only day that Julie wasn't
able to make the feature. Thursday Julie qualified 5th with
a lap time of 17.600 seconds in a field of 115 cars, she was
just two tenths of a second behind the top qualifiers time
of 17.395. She started on the pole in the 5th heat and got
the win. The crew did an excellent job of getting her car set
up perfectly for this ever changing track. The took 9th in
the third night feature. She is now in 12th place in overall
points, jumping up from 17th the day before. On Friday Julie started inside row one
in the 7th heat and finished 2nd. After the heat races the
track and weather conditions changed. The temperature went
down to 51 degrees and the semi-features had many cautions
due to the slick track. Drivers were struggling to keep their
cars pointed in the right direction in the feature as many
said it was like driving on ice. The lap times were down to
19 seconds! Julies tires sealed up due to the cold temps and
the multiple cautions and she finished the feature in 18th
place. It was quite an accomplishment just to finish this race! On Saturday the talk in the pits was about the slick track
the night before and tire strategy for the final feature race
tonight. There was no qualifying today as all races were lined
up by points. The top six from points were locked into the
A-main and drew for starting positions. Julie was tied for
9th in points and won her heat. She started out in the lead,
lost it for ½ a lap then regained the lead to take the
checkered flag. She was then locked into the A-main. Mike Wedelstadt
finish 4th in his heat and came back in the B-main to finish
11th. The Saturday night 75 lap feature was the grand finale for
the 5th annual East Bay Open Wheel Modified Winternationals,
with a $8,000 purse on the line. A fuel stop was planned for
mid-race with 24 drivers taking the green flag. Julie started
outside row 5 and finished the feature in 3rd! Only 11 cars
were able to finish the feature with Thunder Bay, Ontario driver
Joel Cryderman taking 1st and David Hess, Jr. from Waterford,
Pennsylvania taking 2nd. Family and crew were all excited and
proud of Julie’s 3rd place finish as she parked her car
in the infield for interviews and pictures. 
Daily race stories from East Bay
can be found at www.eastbayracewaypark.com
Audio of interviews
at East Bay can be found at www.racerpm.com
Current News TOP |
