WEST SALEM – Like everyone else at La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway, Jacob Goede found himself taking a step back to marvel at his No. 72 machine and the performance it had.
After finishing runner-up in the season opener last week, Goede won the NASCAR Kwik Trip Late Model feature Saturday at West Salem.
“Last week I wasn’t very happy about it,” Goede said. “After the first week, it was kind of a wake-up call that we had to review everything and make sure it was where I thought it should be.
“I just refined things a little bit and it came out tonight and it was really good. I can’t thank my team enough for helping me in the shop and on the track.”
Goede, of Carver, Minnesota, came close to winning against Ryan Kamish last week, but he didn’t really like how his car handled the turns. After spending most of the offseason working on midgets for his three daughters, Goede finally got to work last week on his latest model.
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“We were hitting the track too hard, which seems like an easy fix,” Goede said. “Our balance was just off. Loosen and loosen (the corners). Tonight we solved it and I was able to get out of the corner very well.
“It made it possible to overtake this week, whereas last week I really struggled with it and couldn’t do anything with my race. Tonight I could finish it.”
Michael Haggar led from outside the front row for the first 15 laps before Goede, starting 11th, passed him for position and began to pull away. Haggar and Adam Degenhardt tried their luck in a battle for second place until three laps to go when the two tangled in turn four.
Degenhardt, the winner of six of six races earlier in the night, would head to the pits and finish 17th, while Haggar would stay on the track and rack up points for 13th place.
The caution set up a three-lap shootout with Bangor’s Steve Bachman and West Salem’s Skylar Holzhausen, but neither had anything to offer in terms of challenging Goede.
“Jacob moves very well in La Crosse,” Bachman said. “His car turns and starts like no other, so we have to work on that. He has proven to be one of the best drivers to ever set foot on this track, so finishing second to him is a big deal.
After a mechanical failure last week, Bachman recovered to finish in second place and is now eighth in the series standings.
“We had to flip the switch and get back into the routine of chasing wins again,” Bachman said. “What happened last week is unfortunate. Fortunately, it was an easy solution, but now we have to look for wins every week.”
Defending series champion Holzhausen managed a third-place finish, but is still unhappy with his car’s performance so far this season.
“It’s better than what the car was,” Holzhausen said. “We were lucky and got some positions on the restart. It just hasn’t been as good as last year and we’re struggling to get there. We are making some progress. “We’re going to get there.”
Adam Bendzick of Prior Lake, Minnesota, finished fourth after turning the fastest qualifying lap of 19.435 seconds.
Devin Schmidt crossed the line fifth, but was disqualified in post-race inspection, dropping Farmington, Minnesota driver Kamish into the top five. Kamish is second in the standings with Goede leading by 10 points.
Nick Beaver of Farmington and Steve Carlson of West Salem were the Late Model series winners, finishing ninth and tenth respectively in the feature.
Andy Barney made his first start in Late Models this season after winning the 2023 Sportsmen Championship. Barney placed third in his stock race and 12th in the feature.
La Crosse native and track veteran Don Turner brought out a caution on the third lap when he stalled on the backstretch, but came back in the hunt to finish 15th.
West Salem’s Nick Clements had a mechanical issue that forced him to retire early and finish 19th.
The NASCAR Kwik Trip Late Models will run again at La Crosse next Saturday with racing beginning at 7 p.m. Sportsmen, Hornets and Six Shooters will also be in action.
You can contact James Krause by email at James.KrauseJr@lee.net or on Twitter @jkrausepro.
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