DARLINGTON – The Lafayette County Speedway took last Friday off as we hit mid-season. But, there’s still a lot to come for 2016 including the two largest races of the year– the Fair races and Corn Belt Clash.
    Let’s first take a look at point standings in each class. Points are awarded for heats and features. Heat races award three, two and one point for first, second and third place. Feature races give 40 points to first and go down one point per place. If drivers attend, but do not start a feature event, 10 points are awarded. Therefore, drivers earn a maximum of 43 points by winning their feature and heat, or are awarded just 10 points if something breaks and no laps are made.
    Starting with the Sportsman Trucks, newcomer #90 Beau Ploessl is in the lead with 287 points over #99 Bryce Winkers with 279 points. The younger Winkers takes second place by one point over his father, #59 Roger Winkers (278 points). Nine points split the top three, and they’ve all had feature wins this year.
    In the 4-Cylinders, driver #23 Eric Beau with 286 points holds a commanding lead over #11P Cody Pluemer (257) and #2EZ Cameron Wahl (245). Forty-one points split these three, so it would take Beau missing a night, or not starting a feature for Pluemer or Wahl to catch him before the season ends.
    As the SportMod division continues to grow and grow, there sits a tie at the top of the board. Longtime SportMod drivers #14 Kyle Hoffman and #83 Jeff Willis are both currently sitting with 274 points on the season. Hoffman hails from Leadmine, Wis. while Willis makes a long drive each Friday night from Iowa. Third place, with 255 points, stands #75 Bob Silaggi from Freeport, Ill.
    The Limited Late Models show a close points run for #3D DJ Sweet (289) who leads by seven points over #21 Jason Robbins (282) and 10 points over third, #91 of Rich Picha (279). Robbins and Picha jumped back in the seat of a Limited Late Model after racing SportMods and Modifieds in 2015.
    The Modifieds, the fastest class at the speedway, continue a close race in point standings. Drivers that raced Grant County Speedway in June were awarded five bonus points toward their Darlington standings. Those five points proved important to current leader, #34T Derek Thompson (272) who took the lead over last year’s point champion #32J Jason Buss (269) following that Lancaster race. Thompson continues his consistency across the tri-states, winning at multiple tracks and finishing in the top five almost every night. Nick Downs in the #35 is currently holding steady in third (249).
    As we look ahead, Lafayette County Speedway hits the track again on Armed Forces night July 8. Then, it will be an extra large purse as the INEX Legend’s traveling series joins the five weekly classes for the Lafayette County Fair race on Friday, July 15. The month will end with the largest race of the year on Saturday, July 30, with the Ralph Fryer Memorial Corn Belt Clash race featuring Open Late Models plus the five weekly classes.
    Stay tuned for more details on each of these races as the season progresses, and you can always visit the Lafayette County Speedway Facebook page or www.lafayettecountyspeedwaywi.com.