September 5, 2008; Columbus, WI. - With Mother Nature threatening to ruin the night's festivities, the racing action got underway to decide the 2008 champions at Columbus 151 Speedway. Andy Wendt of Watertown laid claim to the 50 lap Late Model season championship feature while Ron Bishofberger of Fort Atkinson tried to hold off Don Gaserude in the points standings. Two cautions on the first four laps slowed the field, and after the dust settled, Dan Lensing sat in front of the pack with Wendt on his rear bumper for second.

As the field returned to green flag racing, Wendt began hounding the leader, looking for an opportunity to pass. Meanwhile, Bishofberger battled in the top five while Gaserude was trying to make his way forward. Wendt finally got inside Lensing on lap 17, making the pass a lap later with Dean Schultz in tow for second. Caution again waved on lap 24, allowing Gaserude into the top five for the restart. Wendt continued to lead with Schultz in second while Gaserude got by Bishofberger and tried to separate himself from the point leader. A final caution with only six laps remaining bunched up the leaders for the restart. Schultz tried everything short of spinning the leader to get by, but Wendt held  him off to take
the checkers in front. Rounding out the top five were Al Weishoff, Gaserude and Nick Wendt. Bishofberger's sixth place finish managed to keep him one point in front of Gaserude, giving him the title of 2008 Late Model Champion.

Jim Rohrbeck of Portage captured the Sportsman feature after it was cut short due to rain. Gary Winters grabbed the early lead from the front row with Rohrbeck sliding into second. Caution flew on lap five just as Rohrbeck got past Winters for the top spot. After the restart, Brandon Riedner and Scott Riedner moved up behind the new leader to challenge. Brandon went to the outside, looking to get around Rohrbeck. The threesome battled under a blanket for the remainder of the event, with Rohrbeck holding off the father/son duo. As the field completed lap 30 of the 40 lap contest, the rain began to fall forcing the remainder of the event to be cancelled. Rohrbeck claimed the win followed by Scott Riedner, Brandon Riedner, Dan Gosda and Gerry Junget. Scott Riedner of Waunakee owned the division most of the season to take the championship by a commanding amount over his son, Brandon.

Watertown's Jim Tate took over the lead of the Hobby Stock feature midway through the 30 lap event to take the win. Reiny Scherbarth took the initial lead with Lincoln Keeser moving up to second on lap two. Keeser motored past Scherbarth to take away the top spot on lap 5 with Kyle Riedner in tow for second. While Keeser and Riedner
battled for the lead, Tate closed the gap on the leaders and went to the outside to pass. Tate cruised past Riedner and alongside Keeser. After a brief caution on lap 19, Tate went back to work in the high groove to get by Keeser for the lead. Tate took the position away and drove off to the win followed by Keeser, Gary Pashley, Dustin Ward and Kale Peterman. Waterloo's Dustin Ward claimed the title in the Hobby Stock division after a good season –long battle amongst several
drivers.

Beaver Dam's Carlyn Voigt claimed her second straight feature win by taking the win in the 25 lap Bandit event. Josh Steckel took control on the first lap while the battle for second raged behind him. Jeff LeFave and Brandon Condroski fought for the spot while Voigt and Ed Klug sliced through the field. As the laps wound down, Voigt caught the leaders and went to the outside. Voigt made it a three wide battle for the top spot, emerging with the lead on lap 18. Klug followed her lead to second, but Voigt had the field covered from there as she motored to the checkers for the win. Klug was second
followed by Condroski, Dave Schmidt and LeFave. Michael Clapper of Dane laid claim to the 2008 Bandit championship.
Unfortunately, the rains came before the Backup division was able to take the green flag. Jug Her won the title by 10 points over fellow competitor George Wachuta.

This brings to a conclusion the 2008 racing season at Columbus 151 Speedway. The track would like to thank all the drivers, teams, sponsors and fans for a great season and congratulations to the 2008 champions.

For complete results from the RACESTAT computer click here