Friday, June 30 2006
McQueen Tops Late Model Field at Winston Motor Speedway
Winston Motor Speedway started the 4th of July weekend with nice weather, great racing and a Fireworks program that filled the sky and had fans cheering with appreciation. One competitor will remember Friday June 30th as a confidence booster in his return to racing after a four- year layoff.
Late Model driver Brian McQueen has spent the last four years as a fabricator and spectator of the same cars he would be racing door to door in his return behind the steering wheel. McQueen’s well known in West Michigan racing circles for his ability to put a race car together, but tonight fans walked away in awe of his driving ability. McQueen’s layoff was not evident. Starting sixth in the18 car field McQueen jumped to the high side at the start of the race. By lap five McQueen was in third and in hot pursuit of leaders Tim Stott and Ricky Whipple. After a caution on lap six McQueen made another high groove pass of Whipple to put him in position for the win. Stott and McQueen had the fans on their feet as they ran side-by-side lap after lap. Stott raced in the low groove while McQueen ran on the very top groove of the track. McQueen finally gained the advantage with six laps to go with a great run off turn four to make the pass in front of a packed house at Winston. McQueen could not sigh a breath of relief as Whipple’s Late Model ride started to come alive with four laps to go. After dropping four spots earlier in the event, Whipple came within a fender of stealing the win coming out of turn four. Whipple was left hoping for one more lap as McQueen edged him at the line to pick up his first Feature Late Model win in almost five years. Tom Sprague Jr. was the hard charger of the Late Model feature coming from fourteenth to third. Kevin Nelson Jr. and Stott rounded out the top five. Sprague Jr and Stott won heats. McQueen won the Dash event. Shawn Reed was the fastest in Time Trials.
To say that Andy Sprague has figured out his new Bob Pierce 2006 racecar would be an understatement. Sprague became the first Modified driver of the season to pull off a sweep of every event he ran on the night. Sprague’s fast time in Qualifying was backed up with Dash, Heat Race and Main event wins. In the Main event he dominated from start to finish winning by fifteen car lengths. Mike Wilbern won the race for second over John McCaul, Ray Wiggers and Rich Neiser. McCaul won the other heat race.
In the Sportsman Division two drivers found the low groove to their liking and moved through the field quickly. Greg Smith went from third to first on lap three with inside passes of Vinny Homan and Chad Weinrick. Fast Qualifier Mike Lynn followed suit as he came from sixth to second by lap nine working the bottom groove. Unfortunately for Lynn, Smith was long gone and on his way to his 7th feature win of the season. Chasing Lynn finishing third was Chad Weinrick. Jamie Gilmore and Dave Wieten rounded out the top five. Gilmore and Keith Chrylser garnered Heat Race wins. Jeremy Holman took home Dash honors.
In the Bomber Division Kyle Borgman keeps combining the luck of the draw and great car control. Starting in the front row Borgman hit all of his marks to lead every lap of a caution filled main event. Hard charges from Stan Dodds and Jerry Fairchild fell short as Borgman claimed his third Main event in five attempts at Winston. Sadie Klien and Nathon Walton finished fourth and fifth in the finish order. Eric Wadkins, Alan Keister and Mike Epplett took checkered flags in Heat races. Borgman claimed Dash Honors. Tony Weinrick earned the top spot in Time Trials.
Although attrition during the evening resulted in a four-car field for the Mini Stocks, Mark Farber and Zak Rounds put on a show for the fans. These two drivers literally raced side by side for every lap of their ten-lap event. At the finish line Farber was able to edge ahead of Rounds by a fender to claim his fourth feature win of the season at Winston. Rounds, Carl McCann and Nathan Tarte completed the field. Farber swept the Dash and Heat races. Rounds was the quickest in Qualifying.
Blake Meyering started his holiday weekend with his eighth feature win of the season. Meyering lead every lap of the Young Gun main event. Tyler Wagner and Adam Spencer rounded out the finishing order of their three car main event. Meyering also won the Time Trial and Heat race events. Tyler Wagner took Dash honors.
Winston Motor Speedway continues its fun filled summer of racing next Friday July 7th with six divisions of racing. For the Best in Family Entertainment make your way to Winston Motor Speedway.
