By: Kevin Ramsell

LOVES PARK, IL (Sunday, April 13, 2008) – 16-year-old Michael Bilderback looked like a season veteran has he would go wire-to-wire and capture his second Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet feature win at the 31st Annual Spring Classic presented by Yellowbook at the Rockford Speedway. Matt Byrne would come home second with defending Big 8 Series Champion, Jeremy Miller in third.

“Wow, I can’t thank my crew enough,” an exhausted Bilderback stated in victory lane. Bilderback was in Toledo, OH, the day before for a race event that was rained out. “We got home around midnight and got ready to race here today.”

Bilderback started on the pole for the 100-lap feature event. He would jump out to the lead over outside front row starter, Ed Szelagowski, Jr. “I was afraid to start on the bottom, we hung in there and got it out front and never looked behind,” Bilderback stated.

Bilderback didn’t look behind as he built a straightaway lead over Szelagowski by lap 15.

Byrne, who started third, made his way to second by lap 24 as he worked his way past Szelagowski on the inside line.

Bilderback would continue to have a comfortable lead at the halfway mark.

Three laps later, Lyle Messinger would bring out the second of three cautions as he made hard contact with the tire protecting the point between the pit entrance and turn three. Messinger was able to walk away.

Bilderback would continue to lead with a healthy margin between him and Byrne.

Byrne would finally get past all of the lap traffic and have his sights clearly set on Bilderback with 23 laps to go. Bilderback would see his lead diminish with 10 laps to go as he encountered heavy lap traffic.

“Before I saw the lap traffic, I didn’t think I had a chance,” Byrne stated after the race. “Once I did, I pushed it pretty hard, almost spinning out to try to catch him.”

At the checkers it was Bilderback with the win by a car length over Byrne.

Miller was satisfied with his third place finish, “I just burned too much stuff up trying to get up there,” Miller stated. “Lap traffic was tough today; everybody did a nice job getting out of the way. I will take third today.”

Matt Berger would come home fourth after starting seventh while Bobby Wilberg rounded out the top five.

Wilberg set the fast time with a new Big 8 Series track record time of 13.706 seconds. Ryan Carlson and Ross Kenseth tied for second fastest with a lap time of 13.784 seconds.

Kenseth, making his first Big 8 Series start at Rockford, lasted only a lap in the main event has he was sidelined due with mechanical issues on the second lap. It appeared that he had a fluid leak coming from the rear end of his Ford Fusion.

Earlier in the day, Adam Degenhardt and Ryan Miles would win the qualifying heats while Bilderback and Byrne won the odd/even fast heats. Curt Thompson would win the last chance race.

The “Weekly Warriors” of the Big 8 Series presented by Gandrud Chevrolet will meet up once again on Sunday, May 4th at Madison International Speedway in Oregon, WI.

For more information, please visit the Series website at www.big8series.com.

4/13/2008 - Big 8 Series Results...
Big 8 Series Limited Late Models
A-Main 01 -- 1. Michael Bilderback, South Beloit; 2. Matt Byrne, Burlington, Wis; 3. Jeremy Miller, Rockton; 4. Matt Berger, Loves Park; 5. Bob Wilberg, Town of Beloit, Wis; 6. Chris Purdy, West Bend, Wis; 7. Ryan Carlson, Loves Park; 8. Steve Dobbratz, Rio, Wis; 9. Ricky Bilderback, Rockton; 10. Steve Rubeck, Monroe Center; 11. Kenny Richards, Montello, Wis; 12. Ryan Miles, Crystal Lake; 13. John Baumeister, Jr., Lake Geneva, Wis; 14. Scott Broughton, Stoughton, Wis; 15. Brady Liddle, Oregon, Wis; 16. Curt Thompson, Ft. Atkinson, Wis; 17. Adam Degenhardt, LaCrosse, Wis; 18. Mike Lloyd, Davis; 19. Ed Szelagowski Jr, Westfield, Wis; 20. Lyle Messinger, Lone Rock, Wis; 21. Bob Kahler, Caledonia; 22. Tim Sargent, South Beloit; 23. Jon Reynolds, Jr., Roscoe; 24. Ross Kenseth, Spring Valley.

Last Chance "A" 01 -- 1. Curt Thompson, Ft. Atkinson, Wis; 2. Steve Rubeck, Monroe Center; 3. Lyle Messinger, Lone Rock, Wis; 4. John Baumeister, Jr., Lake Geneva, Wis; 5. Nathan Oppliger, Oregon, Wis; 6. Chad Stevens, Orfordville, Wis; 7. Dennis Schmidt, Juneau, Wis; 8. Brady Liddle, Oregon, Wis; 9. Ryan Carlson, Loves Park; 10. Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor, Wis; 11. Dan Carlson, Rockford; 12. Andrew Kulka, Deerfield, Wis; 13. Mike Taylor, Stoughton, Wis; 14. Becca Kasten, Germantown, Wis; 15. Tyler Bauknecht, Reedsville, Wis; 16. Zach Fossum, LaCrosse, Wis; 17. Ryan Livieri, Fort Atkinson, Wis; 18. Tim Sargent, South Beloit; 19. Jeff Tisler, Reedsville, Wis.

Heat 01 -- 1. Adam Degenhardt, LaCrosse, Wis; 2. Scott Broughton, Stoughton, Wis; 3. Curt Thompson, Ft. Atkinson, Wis; 4. Lyle Messinger, Lone Rock, Wis; 5. John Baumeister, Jr., Lake Geneva, Wis; 6. Chad Stevens, Orfordville, Wis; 7. Ty Reedy, Holmen, Wis; 8. Brady Liddle, Oregon, Wis; 9. Andrew Kulka, Deerfield, Wis; 10. Mike Taylor, Stoughton, Wis; 11. Jon Minor, Stoughton, Wis; 12. Tim Sargent, South Beloit.

Heat 02 -- 1. Ryan Miles, Crystal Lake; 2. Mike Lloyd, Davis; 3. Steve Rubeck, Monroe Center; 4. Nathan Oppliger, Oregon, Wis; 5. Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor, Wis; 6. Wes Coon, Nekoosa, Wis; 7. Becca Kasten, Germantown, Wis; 8. Dan Carlson, Rockford; 9. Jeff Tisler, Reedsville, Wis; 10. Tyler Bauknecht, Reedsville, Wis; 11. Ryan Livieri, Fort Atkinson, Wis; 12. Zach Fossum, LaCrosse, Wis; 13. Russ Blakeley, Whitewater, Wis.

Heat 03 -- 1. Michael Bilderback, South Beloit; 2. Ricky Bilderback, Rockton; 3. Steve Dobbratz, Rio, Wis; 4. Chris Purdy, West Bend, Wis; 5. Bob Wilberg, Town of Beloit, Wis; 6. Matt Berger, Loves Park; 7. Ross Kenseth, Spring Valley, IL

Heat 04 -- 1. Matt Byrne, Burlington, Wis; 2. Bob Kahler, Caledonia; 3. Ryan Carlson, Loves Park; 4. Jeremy Miller, Rockton; 5. Jon Reynolds, Jr., Roscoe; 6. Ed Szelagowski Jr, Westfield, Wis; 7. Kenny Richards, Montello, Wis.

Time Trial -- 1. Bob Wilberg, Town of Beloit, Wis; 2. Ryan Carlson, Loves Park; 3. Ross Kenseth, Spring Valley; 4. Jon Reynolds, Jr., Roscoe; 5. Matt Berger, Loves Park; 6. Jeremy Miller, Rockton; 7. Ricky Bilderback, Rockton; 8. Steve Dobbratz, Rio, Wis; 9. Matt Byrne, Burlington, Wis; 10. Ed Szelagowski Jr, Westfield, Wis; 11. Michael Bilderback, South Beloit; 12. Kenny Richards, Montello, Wis; 13. Chris Purdy, West Bend, Wis; 14. Bob Kahler, Caledonia; 15. Brady Liddle, Oregon, Wis; 16. Steve Rubeck, Monroe Center; 17. Scott Broughton, Stoughton, Wis; 18. Nathan Oppliger, Oregon, Wis; 19. Adam Degenhardt, LaCrosse, Wis; 20. Ryan Miles, Crystal Lake; 21. Lyle Messinger, Lone Rock, Wis; 22. Mike Lloyd, Davis; 23. Curt Thompson, Ft. Atkinson, Wis; 24. Skylar Holzhausen, Bangor, Wis; 25. Chad Stevens, Orfordville, Wis; 26. Russ Blakeley, Whitewater, Wis; 27. Jon Minor, Stoughton, Wis; 28. Wes Coon, Nekoosa, Wis; 29. John Baumeister, Jr., Lake Geneva, Wis; 30. Becca Kasten, Germantown, Wis; 31. Andrew Kulka, Deerfield, Wis; 32. Tyler Bauknecht, Reedsville, Wis; 33. Ty Reedy, Holmen, Wis; 34. Dan Carlson, Rockford; 35. Mike Taylor, Stoughton, Wis; 36. Jeff Tisler, Reedsville, Wis; 37. Dennis Schmidt, Juneau, Wis; 38. Ryan Livieri, Fort Atkinson, Wis; 39. Tim Sargent, South Beloit; 40. Zach Fossum, LaCrosse, Wis; 41. Shawn Pfaff, Sparta, Wis; 42. Alex Papini, Machesney Park; 43. Jerry Gille, Roscoe; 44. Jimmy Ganski, Rosholt, Wis; 45. Tyler Sauter, Necedah, Wis.