BEAVER DAM, WI (June 17, 1998) -- On a night that it seemed heaven and hell were destined to meet face to face, the thunder of the World of Outlaws sprint cars was so overwhelming that not even Mother Nature couldn't resist, providing a dazzling display of distant lightning to compliment the high horsepower roar. Yet, when it was all said and done, it was Randy Koch who stole the show. Koch won the A-Feature that capped off the Badger Midget Auto Racing Association portion of a two-day, three division open wheel special at the Beaver Dam Raceway in Beaver Dam, WI, Wednesday night.

Koch, Oregon, WI, who started outside of the front row, slid in front of second year driver, Quinn McCabe, going into turn one on the third lap of 20 on the high banked 1/3 mile circuit. On the opening laps of the event, McCabe, running on the cushion, had just enough momentum to keep Koch from getting by him until he hooked a rut going into turn one and bobbled, which was all Koch needed to make the pass.

"I showed him a wheel in every turn those first couple of laps," Koch said from his pit area after the race. "But each time I'd get a run in there, he'd have just enough momentum that it would have gotten real dicey if I hadn't backed off those couple of times."

McCabe, shortly after recording his best finish yet in a midget, echoed Koch's remarks, "Randy gave me more than enough room to race him. I gave him everything I had and the car felt great all night long, but it wasn't enough to stay with him … he was the man."

All the while McCabe was chasing Koch, Boyd Calvert, Mt Horeb, WI was patiently working his way though the field. Calvert, who started outside the fifth row, drove his #23 Fontana / Stealth inside of the Lamers #1 of Tony Elliot, Kokomo, IN and into third place on lap 18.

"In turns three and four my car was working just awesome!" Calvert exclaimed, "one and two was a bit of a different story, but the set-up that the guys put on the car handled it pretty well. We're real happy with this third. We gained some points on the leader (Dan Boorse, Whitefish Bay, WI) we're really getting somewhere with our slick track setups."

Elliot hung on for fourth despite heavy damage to the front axle of his car he sustained when Doug Schenck spun in turn two, bringing out one of the nights only two cautions. Kevin Doty, the winningest driver in BMARA's visits to the banks of Beaver Dam, was also involved in the incident. The accident knocked both cars out of the race.

"The track was really fast tonight," Elliot said, "and with the axle bent the way it was, I had to really watch myself getting into the turns."

Kevin Olson, Machesney Park, IL in his return to the Lamers #66 rounded out the top five. "I haven't had much luck in the number one car yet this year," Olson explained, "so we decided to put the number 66 back on it. It's the same stuff we used for the championship last year, hopefully it will give us a boost for the rest of the season."

The Badger Midget Auto Racing Association will push off again this Sunday night at the Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, WI.

xxx

High Banks Down Under: How did Australians Adam Clarke and Steven Graham adapt to the high banks so quickly. One of Clarkes crew members mentioned that the track reminded him quite a bit of an Australian circuit called Parramatta, which is a 3/8 mile high bank near Sydney. According to the crew member, the track is a real high speed place.

Long Night: About the only person that had a longer night than the fans at Beaver Dam last night was Kevin Doty. A broken plug during his qualifying heat Thursday night forced him to start from the tail of one of Wednesday night's dual B-mains. He won that race going away. However, just two laps into the nights main event, Doty was running a middle groove and passing cars at a rapid pace when Doug Schenck looped his car 71 coming through turn three. Doty was in a place where he was unable to avoid contact. The collision damaged the car enough to keep Doty out of the nights remaining midget action. Later, Doty jumped into a 360 sprint car and, most unfortunately, crashed it as well.

Scruffy !!! Lining up a brand new sprint car for hot laps last night was one of the original members of the Pennsylvania Posse. Bobby Allen debuted his 1A sprint car at the World of Outlaws event at Beaver Dam only to have the motor sour in hot-laps.

OFFICIAL RESULTS, BEAVER DAM RACEWAY, 6/16,17/98

Points Standings as of 6/17/98

POSITION, DRIVER/POINTS, PASS PTS, .......CAR # ,OWNER POINTS