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Saturday night Herbst was back behind wheel, and after he cruised to his first Kwik Trip Late Model victory of the season before a crowd estimated at 2,500, he had nothing but words of appreciation and praise for his crew and for Lamoreaux.
“These guys did it all. They deserve all of the credit,” Herbst said, pointing to his crew, which includes his father, Terry. “They gave me a phenomenal car. I haven’t driven a car that good in a long time. Tonight, it was like I was driving down the interstate.”
Herbst was good, he was fast, and he as fortunate to start on the outside of the front row. A number of other drivers were not so lucky as an eight-car wreck on the first turn of the first lap — the point where the cars are reaching their highest speed, which can be up to 120 mph — scattered cars across the track, and even on top of each other.
Bill Niles’ car ended up on top of one driven by Tim Nelson, and both were smashed against the outside concrete wall right in Turn 1. It all started when Shawn Pfaff and Tony Bagstad made contact, and that set off a spin that forced everyone behind them to look for daylight.
“I was by Brent (Kirchner). He did a great job,” said Todd Korish, who finished third in the feature. “I feel bad for all of those guys. You never want to see that happen.”
No driver was injured in the wreck, but it cut the field from 22 cars to 14 before a couple car trickled back out midway through the race.
For Herbst and Emily Sue Steck, it didn’t matter as the only way they knew there was a wreck is when they came out of Turn 2 and saw the caution lights flashing.
“I had no idea,” said Steck, who ran one of the best races of her young career and wound up with a career-best second-place finish. “When the lights came on that quickly, I knew it was big and bad. I kept thinking about what to do and what not to do.“
And what didn’t Steck want to do?
“Look in the mirror,” she said.
If Herbst looked in his mirror, he wouldn’t have seen much — maybe long stretches of a car-less race track. Herbst, who is also racing in the ASA Late Model Series again this season, simply had the fastest car on the track at the start of the race, during the middle, and at the end. He took the lead from Steck — who started on the pole — during the first lap and led every lap of the feature race.
He said watching Lamoreaux race, learning from the wily veteran, and being a part of a pit crew gave him a new overall perspective.
“I work out of town every week — way out of town,” said Herbst, who has worked in St. Louis, Cincinnati and Lawton, Okla., in recent months. “These guys are here all week working on the car. When I worked with them on Thursday night, it gave me a whole new appreciation of what they do for me. It also gave me a better perspective of what the car needs after Mark drove it.”
In the end, it may have made Herbst a better driver, too, as no one could touch him Saturday night.
SPORTSMAN: Rick Schermerhorn won his first feature of the season in the North Country Contractors Sportsman Division Saturday night. He beat John Olson and Larry Bolster across the finish line. Nick Clements, who entered the night as the points leader in the division, took fourth for the second straight race. Jes Tenner rounded out the top five.
THUNDERSTOX: Matt Inglett of La Crosse won the United Auto Supply Thunderstox feature race. Ed Senn took second, while Jerrod Loging was third.
Jeff Brown can be reached at (608) 791-8403, or at jbrown@lacrossetribune.com
