Luverne’s Perry Schnnekloth poses for a picture in front of his winning car, an Oldsmobile Cutlass, after winning the Enduro Race at the Rock County Fair Saturday. Schneekloth completed 188 laps in two hours to claim the top position in a record-setting field of 57 cars that competed in the 2003 version of the event.By John RittenhouseA Luverne driver emerged as the champion of the Rock County Fair’s largest Enduro Race Saturday night.Perry Schneekloth bested a record field of 57 cars to win the 2003 version of the Enduro Race, which is sponsored by the Rock County Corn & Soybean Association and Agri-Energy, LCC.Driving his Oldsmobile Cutlass, Schneekloth completed 188 laps to win his first Rock County Fair title.Schneekloth’s winning performance was witnessed by many.According to Burdette Braun, one of the event organizers, Saturday’s race attracted 1,090 fans to the grandstands. Add another estimated 300 to 400 people working in the pits, and the result was one of the most well-attended grandstand shows in the history of the local fair."We had a record field of 57 cars at the start of the race, and 90 percent of the field was made up of local drivers," Braun said. "There were 21 cars still running at the end of the race."The Enduro Race runs under a 200-lap, two-hour time limit, whichever comes first.With 57 cars on a small track to start the race, not surprisingly, it was the two-hour time limit that settled the issue.Schneekloth topped the second-place performance turned in by Valley Springs driver Jeremy Skadden by seven laps. Skadden completed 181 laps.Luverne drivers Travis Van Santen and Adam Kinsinger placed third and fourth respectively.Van Santen completed 176 laps in his Oldsmobile Delta 88. Kinsinger racked up 175 laps in his Pontiac Grand Prix.Randy Sasker, a Luverne High School graduate who now lives in Worthington, completed 173 laps in his Chevrolet Monte Carlo to place fifth.Rock County residents Greg Vande Velde and Matt Sandbulte cracked the Top-10 at race’s end.Luverne’s Vande Velde placed sixth in his Dodge Diplomat. Sandbulte finished eighth in his Chevrolet Caprice.Area drivers Cliff Lynn and Gene Schoep placed ninth and 10th respectively. Lynn is from Adrian. Schoep is from Edgerton.Sioux Falls driver Eric Schultz rounds out the Top-10 by finishing in the seventh slot.
