Rockford Speedway 4/13
First time out in the new car and we were fast. Car was steady in time all during practice. Qualified 8th so that meant we didn't have to run a heat race. Car was great in the feature. Battled for 2nd place the first 50 laps of the feature. Took the lead a few laps later but left the race on the next restrart because of a flat tire. Came back out to finsih 12th.
Grundy County Speedway 4/25
Didn't change much on the car from Rockford. Car felt good in practice. Qualified in the top 10. In the heat race a car got sideways and everyone checked up but the guy behind me. We tangled and he drove me into the wall. Had lots of damage to fix as well as two flat tires. Worked on the car up until feature time and got it ready just in time. Car felt ok after that but not as good as it did earlier. Jumped out front at the start of the race and never lost the lead after numerous cautions. Won by about 10 car lengths.
Grundy County Speedway 5/2
Clutch went out 1st practice. We had it changed by qualifying. Made our first trophy dash of the season. Uneventful feature with only 2 yellows @ start of race. Race was a pleasure to watch instead of the usual wreck fest!!
Lake Geneva Raceway 5/3
This was race #2 in the Midwest Sportsman Series. Made a few changes after practice and the car felt good. Went out and set fast time. In the dash we got up to 2nd place but ran out of laps. Top 6 didn't run a heat so we went out to the feature feeling good. Got caught up in a wreck towards the end of the race with minimal damage. Ended up 6th in the feature. Up to 4th in points.
Grundy County Speedway 5/9
Just missed the trophy dash by qualifying 7th. Won our first heat race of the season. There was a big invert in the feature and we ended up starting in the 5th row. Race was pretty much follow the leader with lots of traffic in front of us. Moved up a few spots to finish 6th. 6th in points so far.
Grundy County Speedway 5/16
Car was good right off the trailer. Qualified 6th and won the trophy dash. In the heat race the cars ran pretty much side by side the whole race and it was hard to move up at all. Ended up 6th. In the feature it was a carbon copy of the heat race. The cars ran side by side and buer to bumper for most of the race. Made a few nice moves early on and finished 3rd.
Slinger Speedway 5/18
First time ever at this track to race and it took some time to figure it out. Struggled in practice and qualifying. Ended up 25th fastest out of 28 cars. At this time we figured we needed a miracle to make the race. We had to run the semi-feature to make the race. They only took the top 2 and we started 9th. Car was much better and we were moving up. On lap 15 of 20 we went into the corner to hard and made contact with another car and were sent to the back. Was running 9th on restart with 5 laps to go. Johnny found his groove and started to pass cars left and right. With 2 laps to go we were running 4th when the 2nd place car spun. Running 3rd on the restart and passed 2nd place on the back stretch of the white flag lap. Finished 2nd by a few feet and made the feature. Made some more minor changes and the car was great. Started last in the feature and just kept passing cars one at a time to finish 6th.
Grundy County Speedway 5/23
We qualified tied for 4th but were awarded 5th because Scott Dunning went out before us. In the trophy dash and heat race we were shuffled to the outside and finished 4th and 7th. Feature was a bunch of high's and low's. We worked our way up to 4th early in the event. During a caution on lap 15 we had to pull off because of a flat tire. Worked our way up close to the top 10 and again on lap 20 we got tangled with a slower car and got another flat tire. We changed it again and just rode around finishing the last 3 laps for a 19th place finish.
Grundy County Speedway 5/30 & 6/6
RAINED OUT
Illiana Motor Speedway 6/7
After back to back rainouts we decided to try our luck at Illiana. We qualified 7th fastest and finished 7th in the fast heat. In the feature we led up until lap 18 and then got shuffled back to 5th at the finish.
Slinger Speedway 6/8
RAINED OUT
Grundy County Speedway 6/13
Qualified 4th fastest but had the clutch go out before the trophy dash. Missed that race and the heat race while fixing it. Ran great in the feature and ended up in 3rd place right behind the leaders.
Lake Geneva Raceway 6/14
Qualified 4th fastest and finished 3rd in the trophy dash. No heat race for the fastest 6 cars so our next race was the feature. Go as high as 2nd place with about 5 laps to go and pulled along side Josh Bauer to take the lead. He drove us the way he has been racing everyone this year...Dirty. As we went to go by for the lead he drove down on us and put us in the infield. Got sent to the back of the pack and ended up with a 14th place finish instead of a win.
Midwest Sportsman Points
Final Standings
Final Point Standings for 2003
1 #5 Jeremy Miller - Roscoe,IL 1400
2 #71 Josh Bauer - Random Lake,WI 1375
3 #4 Nick Schumacher - Germantown,WI 1285
4 #97 James Swan - Wonder Lake,IL 1235
5 #24 Brandon Norris - Ottawa,IL 1225
6 #05 Bob Hacker - Loves Park,IL 1175
7 #96 Dennis Norton Jr. - McHenry,IL 1050
8 #47 Ken Joosten - Wonder Lake,IL 1030
9 #10 Bobby Gutknecht - Franklin,WI 995
10 #19 Dave Thomas - Franklin,WI 985
11 #77 John Senerchia - Oak Forest,IL 885
12 #60 Michael Anderson - Sheboygan,WI 760
13 #35 Pat McIntee - West Bend,WI 750
14 #99 Jim Thorson - Sugar Grove,IL 700
15 #54 Erik Pierce - Lake In The Hills,IL 590
16 #63 Gary Lamonte - West Allis,WI 585
17 #13 John Fischer - Burlington,WI 580
18 #500 Steve Hoff - Janesville,WI 555
19 #2 Shawn Utphall - Racine,WI 460
20 #44 George Schultz - Pleasant,WI 445
21 #18 Jeremy Bloomberg - Hampshire,IL 440
22 #5 Bill Prietzel - West Allis,WI 440
23 #5 Bill Neering - Cedar Lake,IN 400
24 #2 Mike Graczkowski - Jackson,WI 390
25 #51 Steve Campbell - Lisle,IL 375
26 #19 Scott Ascher - Sussex,WI 315
27 #500 Tim Sargent - Beloit,WI 305
28 #89 Ryan Finley - Big Rock,IL 300
29 #48 Brad Keith - West Bend,WI 285
30 #9 Dan Church - Burlington,WI 280
31 #32 Brian Baker - Springfield,WI 270
32 #5 Gary Norton - Hebron,IL 270
33 #5 Jay Schambeau - Hubertus,WI 255
34 #43 Jamie Dorsey - Rockford,IL 245
35 #33 Jeff Peterson - Lombard,IL 240
36 #52 Todd Gehring 235
37 #2 Dave Gentile Jr. - Elwood,IL 230
38 #3 Jimmy Evans - St. Francis,WI 220
39 #21 Todd Stoner - Pleasant Prairie,WI 215
40 #41 Jason Taghikhani - Franklin,WI 205
41 #19 Jake Ryan - Lakeville,MN 175
42 #72 Rick Corso - McHenry,IL 170
43 #67 Mark Rhode - East Troy,WI 165
44 #66 Peter Hernandez - Mokena,IL 160
45 #94 Lee Gibbs - Lake Geneva,WI 155
47 #14 Tom Knippenberg - Channahon,IL 150
46 #69 Chris Klein - East Troy,WI 135
48 #10 Nathan Fick 125
49 #22 Jeremy Spoonmore - Somonauk,IL 125
50 #20 Colin Bamke 120
51 #93 Dave Obermeyer - Allenton,WI 120
52 #75 Kellen Arnold - Morris,IL 105
53 #71 Chris Cooling - Joliet,IL 100
54 #23 Thomas Garbacz - Schaumburg,IL 100
55 #72 Jeff Lorenz - Waukesha,WI 100
56 #26 Michael Marden - Mosinee,IL 100
57 #55 John Fiorita - Mt. Prospect,IL 80
58 #13 Pat Drinkwine - Iron Ridge,WI 60
59 #90 Kevin King - Greenfield,WI 60
60 #68 Barry Krueger - Antioch,IL 60
61 #16 Tyson Leonard - East Troy,WI 60
62 #45 Rick Rowlett - Marengo,IL 60
63 #20 Rich Wagner - Slinger,WI 60
