(3-24-02)The 2002 season is a few weeks away. We are preparing our Pathfinder
with new Five Star Skin for the WCS,MARS and NSTC race's this season.
Mike has his car just about ready for a full season at Slinger Super Speedway.
Watch for us at the track,and make sure you stop in and say hi.
Rockford Speedway 4-6-02
The 12 car was barely finished in time for the annual rites of spring,the Rockford Spring
Opener.
Mother nature was evil...as cold temps saturday became cool rains sunday,and the big race
was rescheduled for April 28th.
Changes made offseason to the 12 car seem to be positive...look for us in the winners circle !
(4-21-02) Both the 10 and 12 car were weathered out this past weekend.
Mike will be racing at Slinger this sunday April 28th and Tony will be at the Rockford make up date.
Slinger and Rockford washed/chilled out April 28th.
Rockford make-up is OCT 19th,and Slinger has set July 3rd as a make up for their opener
Look for Mike at Slinger for the Al Schill Jr Memorial May 5th
(5-4-02) Slinger Speedway. Mike and Tony took the Al Schill Memorial race in,
both barely missing the feature in time,posting almost identical 11.9's//then
starting side by side in row 5 for the 30 lap semi feature,and ending up 6th and
7th..making it an early night for the Strupp team
(5-10-02)Madison MARS race for Tony..4th in Qualifier,14th and 16th in mains
Slinger was rained out 5-12-02)
(6-3-02)Strupp Enterprises and driver Tony Strupp are getting ready for the trek
to Marshfield for the MARS race this upcoming weekend June 8th,and preliminary plans
are to race the DELLS for a special sunday show June 9th..all contingent upon
the condition of the car after the saturday MARS race.
(6-9-02)Marshfield MARS event: Bad qualifying time..but the team responds and
Tony wins his heat race,and follows it up with a charge thru the field to a 5th place
finish.
The team decided to skip the DELLS show and gear towards the RED and
Norway races upcoming.Many people have approached the team recently saying
after last years Baldry/Strupp battle..they penciled the event on their calender
WIR( 6-15-02 )RED race of the Red White and Blue series...Tony "the Tiger" Strupp qualified 10th,
missed the pole by one and was inverted to a 10th place start,and advanced to 7th after the first 50
lap segment. Segment 2 was inverted once again,and Tony started 9th,and progressed all the way to
second place...getting passed by the familiar Bud Car late in the race...the team is up...next stop..
NORWAY!
(6-22-02)Norway MARS Race; Strupp Enterprises and driver Tony Strupp made the trek north to
Norway Speedway for the MARS 100 lapper,and in hot laps,developed a terrible miss in the engine.
The crew changed everything,with help from several teams(95,55,66) yet could not find the miss.
Barely getting ready for the heat race,Tony raced a sputtering 12 car to a win.
In the main event,contact spun Tony in turn 4 on lap 3,and he made the charge from the rear of
the field to a 4th place finish passing many cars on the outside down on horsepower but high
on determination.With a car that handled that well...if 100% on horsepower..who knows.
Oh yeah....the Bud Car won the
race:)
Time=7th Heat 1st Feature 4th
(7-3-02)MADISON Mars races. Tony qualifies 18th,takes 4th in the 50 lap qualifier.
Format was 50 lap qualifiers to determine the 75 lap main line-up with an odd-even format.
In the main,the "Tiger" was running 4th when he was tagged from behind and after re-starting
from the rear...passed several cars only to have the Brainbox fail...ending the night early.
(7-14-02)Slinger Speedway .Mike Strupp made his second appearance at Slinger Speedway
a good one,qualifying 20th for the twin 50's,starting last in the first feature passing his way
to a 16th place,and a second row starting spot for the second main.
In the second feature,Mike battled side by side with Jamie Wallace exchanging the 2nd and
3rd spot throughout the race..settling for 3rd...but with a great effort on the last lap....1 foot
from second.
(7-20-02)KAUKAUNA White race of the RWB series,Tony starts 15th and ends up 14th in first
main,the crew works hard to try and get the car to run better,and they did resulting in an 8th in
the second main.See you at the
Slinger Nationals tuesday night.
(7-23-02)Slinger Nationals. Tony and Mike made the "long" trek to Slinger Speedway for the
annual Nationals event. Tony qualified 5th quick,Mike had to run the qualifier.
In the qualifier,Mike was drilled from behind,folding his rear spoiler under,losing his rear
downforce and retiring him from the event. He then ran the semi-feature,charging to the front.
only to have a Left rear tire deflate in 4th,yet drove the car to an 8th place finish on a flat.
In the 200 lap main,Tony was running 5th early when Nascar star Matt Kenseth got into Tony's
LR and he spun out.
Tony never caused a yellow,and blended into the rear of the field,losing a lap in the first 100
lap segment.
In the second 100 lap segment,Tony passed MANY cars,actually finishing second to the 17 car,
but with losing the lap in the first segment,finished 8th overall.
(7-27-02) I-94 Speedway Sauk Centre MN. At a track neither Mike or Tony Strupp had ever seen,
the 10 and 12 teams made the 400 mile trek to the 1/3rd mile track.
Mike had problems in practice,his LR axle exploded in the rear end,and with the help of many people
and an axle from the 87 team(thanks!) made it out for his qualifier and the 100 lap main,finishing 11th.
Tony started the night 3rd quick,3rd in the fast heat,and quickly charged to the front of the 100 lapper.
Running 3rd,Tony was tagged by the 8 car,and both were sent to the rear.
After a restart,the 12 car charged to the front,taking the lead and building a straightaway cushion.
A late race caution bunched the field,but the "Tiger" once again led,but with 4 laps to go,the 8 car
again tagged Tony and spun him.The green dropped with 4 to go and Tony passed a few cars
to finish 6th.
(8-4-02) SLINGER SPEEDWAY .Mike and Tony head to Slinger for the Michael Hartmann well
drilling 65,with Tony timing in 11th,and MIke 21st.
Mike started deep in the semi feature,passing several cars only to run out of laps and finish 5th.
Tony started on the outside front row,but we missed the set up and faded to a 6th place finish.
(8-10-02)141 Speedway MARS 100 lapper. Tony starts the night 3rd quick,4th in the heat,and after
shrinking right side tires,ends up 10th in the main event...next stop..Kaukauna August 17th.
(8-11-02)SLINGER Speedway Mike and the 10 team made the haul to Slinger and started out
19th in time,started in the back of the semi and ended up 12th,making it an early night.
(8-17-02)Wisconsin International Raceway..Kaukauna..Red White and Blue finale.
Tony has a so so night...taking 8th in the first 50 lap segment,and ended the nightcap
11th.
Tony and the team now prepare for the Dells this saturday night,and also plan on the Labor Day
event.
(8-18-02)Slinger Super Speedway . Mike Strupp and crew haul to Slinger Super Speedway
for the sunday night show.....and while turning some hot laps(very Fast) the car developed a
miss.
Crew chief Randy Strupp detected water in the oil...and decided against racing the 10 car.
Mike will be hauling to WIs Dells this sat August 24th.
(8-24-02)Wisconsin Dells Tony and the 12 team head out to the DELLS for a tuneup
of upcoming events,time in 10th quick with little practice and a stout field of cars.
Fast heat,Tony takes second to Dave Feiler,and in the main...while setting up for the lead pass,
the 12 car broke a RR suspension component and spun,ending a strong run but giving faith to
the team on the upcoming specials.
(8-25-02)SLINGER SPEEDWAY Mike and the 10 team head to Slinger with a new powerplant
under the hood..qualify 7th quick...win the trophy dash,and while running 3rd break some suspension
in the RF ending the run and suffering heavy bolt on damage,but driver is ok....next week..back at Slinger.
(8-31-02)MARSHFIELD MARS event. Tony and the 12 team start the night out 7th quick in Timing.
This gives Tony outside row 1 in fast heat and he cruised to an easy win.
In the 100 lap main,The Tiger started 5th...and while battling with the 87 car,contact was made and
Tony slid into turn 3,but didn't spin,but was put to the rear.Restarting last,Tony charged back
towards the front,and while running in the top 5,came upon a blocked turn 2,as the 17 car of Dan Mills
had spun,and a decision was made...t-bone the 17 or go for a ride..and the latter was the choice,
and the 12 car ended up in the trees..literally.
After the car was brought back to earth...the team looked over the car,changed the LF tire and removed
brush and debris..and went back out....and charged to a 3rd place finish.
The team now prepares for the DELLS WCS race this Labor Day.http://www.wisconsinchallenge.com
(9-1-02)SLINGER SPEEDWAY Labor day 100 lapper.Fireworks and a full house greeted the 10
team and in timing..well..it didn't go as planned.In the semi feature...Mike was the leader for most of
the event but a challenge from the 21 car resulted in a 2nd place finish and 20th starting spot in the main.
In the main..Mike charged thru the field running 10th,when a piece of lead was rubbing on the LR tire,
and a black flag was displayed..ending the night.
(9-2-02)DELLS Motor Speedway...Wisconsin Challenge Series. Tony and the 12 team make the haul
to the tourist trap of Wisconsin..start out 8th quick..and in the 100 lap main battle all race and the result
was a second place showing at the 1/3rd mile speedplant.
Win place and show!!
(9-8-02) Slinger Speedway Mike and the 10 team head off to the sunday night races,a poor
qualifying run of 23rd made the team's goal a semi feature win..which was easily attained.
In the 30 lap race of champions,a race for feature and dash winners,Mike started 13th,
and after 2 bad restarts...he charged to a 4th place finish.
(9-15-02)SLINGER SUPER SPEEDWAY..Mike and the gang head to Waynes world for the
finale and have a super night..4th in time,3rd in the fast dash,and after starting mid pack,
charged for a strong 4th place run in the 75 lap feature.
Mike will now take a few weeks off and gear up for the I-94 MARS race oct 13th-14th.
(9-15-02)DELLS Motor Speedway...Tony and the 12 team headed to the DELLS for
a sunday special featuring Dick Trickle.After ANOTHER carb problem in practice and
timing,a carb was borrowed and Tony charged to an easy win in the semi feature.
This allowed the Tiger to start the 100 lap main from the rear,and while moving to the front,
he was involved in a serious wreck and sustained heavy damage to the 12 car.
The Team now regroups and rebuilds for a busy end of the season,with stops
upcoming at Rockford,the Dells,I-94 and Rockford again...stay tuned!
(9-21/22-02)Rockford(ILL) SpeedwayThe Tiger and the team headed to the flatland
for the september classic at the Rockford Speedway,twin 150 lap features,with
the top 2 in time locked in(Tony qualified 8th of 29) and the rest in odd and even
races in which Tony and the 12 team took 3rd.
Sunday a dice roll decided the invert,which was a 6....so we started outside row 3.
Racing was furious early,as the 8 car of Eddie Hoffmann turned the 12 car in turn
3-4.As Tony came back from the rear,a sight impaired 2 car of Eddie May sent
the 12 for another loop in 3-4(hood was buckled on the 2 car)
Once again Tony charged from the rear and settled into 6th place at the checkers.
In the second 150,Al Schil didn't see the 12 car outside of him and sent Tony
into the backstretch wall....and extensive repairs(removal) were needed,yet
The Tiger came back and finished 8th.
The team now rebuilds the 12 car for this friday-saturday at Wisconsin Dells!!
(9-27/28-02) DELLS Motor Speedway.Tony and the 12 team went to the biggest race
Wisconsin has ever seen..and in timing,the 12 car ended up 12th..meaning he had to race
to get into the 250 lap main.While racing hard with Rich Bickle Jr,the car died..and Tony
was pushed off the track.An ignition wire that supplies the MSD unit fell off...but a rule
stating the next 2 cars in time that didn't make the show via the qualifiers...the Tiger was in!
As saturday rolled around,the team got ready and the Tiger marched to the front,and settled
into 6th at the 125 lap break...but soon after learned that rotating the left side tires was a bad
choice,and a fast car turned into a dump truck and the end result was a 9th place run.
Special thanks go out to Leo's Upper Dells Bar and Leo's Ceramic Tile for their support
and to Bryan and his staff at The Dells Motor Speedway for hosting such an event!!
(10-12/13-02)I-94 Raceway..Sauk Center MN.Mike and Tony made the 400 mile haul
to Minnesota's finest 1/3rd Mile track in cold temps and even some flurries.
Timing went well for both drivers,as Tony was second to Terry Baldry and Mike
timed in 9th quick.
In the heat races,Mike took 4th,while the Tiger was 7th.In the 100 lap main,Mike's
car lost the handle and he pulled off,while Tony charged to the front as he did earlier
in the year,but with the cool dry air and abrasive track,Tony toasted his rear tires
and the end result was a 6th place finish during his second race at the track.
We will update points as soon as the final standings are available...we'll see you at
Rockford this saturday the 19th,practice at 10 am and racing at 12 noon.
(10-19-02)The 2002 season ended on a positive note as Tony and the 12 team
ended up second at Rockford in their twice delayed spring opener.
The team now makes plans for the 2003 season,as the 12 car is for sale and
the cabinets have to be finished!
