Sports Digest

Retzlaff takes 7th in Daytona Cup race

Parker Retzlaff nearly pulled off a monumental upset in only his second start in the NASCAR Cup Series. The Rhinelander native was in second place on the final lap before getting shuffled back coming out of the final corner and settling for seventh in an overtime finish to the Coke Zero Sugar 400 Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Retzlaff dodged two multi-car crashes in the late stages of the race and found himself in fourth position in a two-lap dash to the finish. He pushed Harrison Burton to the lead on the backstretch during the final lap, helping Burton score an upset win that clinched a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. 

Retzlaff improved on a 35th-place finish in his Cup Series debut two weeks prior in Richmond, Va. He drove the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet on Saturday, piloting the car to its second top-10 finish in only three starts this year for the part-time operation. Anthony Alfredo finished sixth for Beard Motorsports earlier this year at Talladega, Ala. 

Retzlaff has shown a knack for being near the front toward the finish in NASCAR’s unpredictable drafting-style races. He scored top five finishes at Daytona and Atlanta earlier this year in his No. 31 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. He was not as lucky, however, Friday night during the Xfinity Series race at Daytona. He was caught up in a wreck on lap 78 and finished 34th.

Gasperini claims B-Mod main at Eagle River

Frank Gasperini of Iron Mountain, Mich. took the lead at the drop of the green and fought off a stiff challenge all race long from Dustin White to win his second B-Modified feature at Eagle River Speedway last Tuesday.

The Michigan ace was also forced to sweat out a handful of cautions in the 20-lap contest. White took second place, followed by Chippewa Falls visitor Michael Truscott, Kory Joliff and Ryan Brown.

Pulaski’s “Hot Rod” Snellenberger won a physical, 15-lap IMCA Stock Car contest. The victory was Snellenberger’s 228th career IMCA Stock Car win. Defending track champion David Blackberg took second, followed by Jonathan Miller, Jason Zdroik and Green Bay’s Patrick Farley Jr.

Tomahawk’s Zack Friske was declared the winner of the Late Model feature after Shawano’s Aaron Reivitis, who crossed the line first, was disqualified following post race technical inspection.

Wyatt Mcintyre of Mass City, Mich., held off Sugar Camp racer Jason Eisel for the win in the Street Stock class. Prentice’s Brent Mindock went wire-to-wire to capture the caution-free Pure Stock Feature.

Pittsville’s Hoyt Cournoyer scored a last-lap pass on Oakley Schwantes to capture the 600 Micro Sprint feature. The event went green-to-checkered without a caution. Hometown driver Mason Meier continued his winning streak of capturing six feature wins in a row in the 300 Pro Micro Sprint division. In Semi-Pro action Addison Dishaw captured the feature win.

Racing resumes Tuesday, Aug. 27 on championship night. It will be the final points night for racing in 2024 and the racing action kicks off at 7 p.m.