Muenster's Plans Leave Luxemburg Title Defense In Question! By Joe Verdegan

April 7, 2003; Luxemburg, WI. - When the gates at Luxemburg Speedway swing open for their season opening race on Friday night, April 25, the IMCA modified title could very well see a new champion when the final checkered flag waves in August.

That's because 2002 champion Eddie Muenster's plans to defend his title are currently up in the air. The Green Bay driver plans on opening up the season the first few Friday nights at Luxemburg. However the track his daughter Angie races karts at has moved their weekly program to Friday nights, forcing Muenster to make a tough decision down the road. "I always tell everyone I've got a two woman team with me," Muenster quipped. "The kart track opens in mid-May sometime. I didn't plan on competing for points when Luxemburg opened up last year so I guess anything's possible at this point. I still bought a pit stall next to my dad and he'll be there each week for sure. At this point I've got no concrete plan. We'll see where the season takes us."

Whether or not Muenster races weekly at Luxemburg this season, one thing is for certain: to make a feature race on any given Friday night is an accomplishment in itself. Muenster should know. As the champion he failed to win a feature race. However he was the only driver out of nearly 80 other competitors in the division to make a feature every single night. "That's key to winning a title at Luxemburg," the three time champion pointed out. "For awhile it was just myself, Schraufnagel and Scott Mullen heading into late July. Bobby "Trackmaster" Marquis would remind me about that every week. I had some luck on my side and stayed out of trouble."

Muenster sees the same cast of characters being tough to beat on any given Friday night. "Brian Mullen's probably going to be the man to beat most nights," said Muenster. "He's already got his stuff dialed in. He's raced quite a bit already this year, and he's won a big race down in Texas. Brian bangs away in his shop year round and he comes to the track as well prepared as anybody we've ever raced against."

As far as other drivers, Muenster says there are plenty. "Scott Mullen really got the handle of Luxemburg last year, and I think Benji LaCrosse could be a force to be reckoned with by year's end, even though he's a rookie. I hear Brad Rohloff will be running Friday nights at "The 'Burg, too. If that's true he'll just add to the mix."

Top gun Jay Schraufnagel recently announced he would only run Luxemburg "occasionally", abandoning the grueling four-night-a-week schedule from last season. But familiar faces like Todd Dart, Randy LeMieux Jr., Jared Siefert, Joe White, Mike Klenz and 2002 rookie-of-the-year Eric Van Iten will likely step to the plate and challenge any newcomers who may blow into town to compete at the one of the most expertly-prepared third-mile clay ovals in Wisconsin.

Muenster will be piloting his Wayne Larson chassis again this season. In addition to racing at Luxemburg and Saturday nights as well, Muenster will still drive his asphalt late model Thursday nights on the pavement as well. In all, 18 of the top twenty drivers in the 2002 point standings will return to compete weekly at Luxemburg. Throw in an ample crop of rookie drivers and 40 car modified fields could be the norm on Friday nights.

The season opener on April 25 gets underway at 7 p.m. IMCA modifieds, IMCA stock cars, IMCA hobby stocks and four cylinder sport fours are slated to compete every Friday night. Luxemburg Speedway is located off highway 54 at the Kewaunee County Fairgrounds just 15 minutes east of Green Bay. For more information call track manager Rick Goral at 920 863 8446. The raceday phone is 920 845 2300. The track's website is www.luxemburgspeedway.com.