Friday, May 26
Nelson, Wilbern, Smith and Meyering Top Guns at Winston Motor Speedway
Winston Motor Speedway started the Memorial Day weekend Friday, May 25th with some of the best racing and weather so far this season. Fans, drivers and crews continue to appreciate the close racing action in all divisions. The addition of track maintenance by Wilkerson Excavating of Muskegon has proved to make a huge difference in the track surface. Two and three and abreast racing have become the norm and not just an exception. Repeat Main event winners in all classes except the Bomber division was the story of the night.In the Late Model Division 21 cars took to the track for their 25-lap Main event. Carl Ries was the early leader. Ries paced the field for the first 7 laps from his outside pole position. On Lap 8 Kevin Nelson powered his way by Ries on the backstretch to grab the point. Once out front Nelson left no doubt in anyone’s mind why he is the Late Model Points leader at Winston. Nelson proceeded to win his fourth feature event in six race programs. Tom Dusen proved that his feature win last week was no fluke as he moved up five spots to garner the runner-up position. Carl Ries held onto third place. Rob Taylor moved from tenth to fourth. Kevin Nelson Jr. rounded out the top five. Heat race winners included Nelson Jr and Taylor. Josh Slade was the fastest in Time Trials. Nelson won the Dash event.
The Michigan Modified division continues to bring the fans some of the best racing action from any division. Rich Neiser broke away early from the pack only to see Mike Wilbern real him in late in the race. With five laps to go Wilbern patiently put himself in position coming out of turn four on the high side to complete a pass in front of the grandstands. Wilbern maintained his lead at the front and went onto win his third feature of the season. Neiser held off Fast Qualifier Andy Sprague for the second spot. Veteran Scott Presley was fourth followed by Nate Bostrom. Heat race wins went to Bostrom and John McCaul. Derek Poland took Dash event honors.
The Sportsman division also saw a four-time main event winner. Fast Qualifier Rob Sternberg’s inversion draw put Greg Smith on the pole. Although Jamie Gilmore was able to grab the lead from the outside of the front row, it only took three laps before Smith was able to make an inside pass for the lead. From that point Smith pulled away from the field and picked up another feature win. The race for second was won by Gilmore over Sternberg. Mike Peterson and Mike Anderson completed the top five. Bud Steinman and Chad Weinrick were Heat Race winners. Smith won the Dash event.
Bomber Driver Jerry Fairchild finally made his way to victory lane. Fairchild had led previous features late in the race only to suffer mechanical failure and cut tires. Tonight Fairchild was able to put it all together. Starting on the front row Fairchild held off the hard charges of Fast Qualifier Mike Epplett to garner his first Main event win to the season. Nate Walton, Stan Dodds and Tony Weinrick rounded out the top five. Marvin Klintworth and Keith Chrysler won Heat Races. Sadie Klien took Dash Honors.
Mini Stock Driver Mark Farber made it two Feature wins in a row. Farber made his way to the lead from his fourth position starting spot in the early going and never looked back. Stephen Thebo edged Zak Rounds for the second spot by a fender. Carl McCann and Joe McCormick completed the top five. McCann won the Heat race as well as being the Fastest in Time Trials. Thebo took Dash event honors.Cadillac High School sophomore Blake Meyering continued his assault in the Young Gun Division. Meyering won all the nights events except the Dash event, which went to Kiley Kennedy. In the Main event Meyering won his fourth feature event by half the track. Eric Harrald was the runner-up over Glenn Parker, Andrew Bartoszek, and Adam Spencer.
Winston Motor Speedway will begin a run of Mid-Season Championships starting next Friday June 2nd. Young Guns and Michigan Modifieds will take center stage on the night. For the Best in Family Entertainment along the Lakeshore make your way to Winston Motor Speedway.
