It was a "May" Day at Winston Speedway

Friday, August 8 2008

It was a "May" Day at Winston Speedway

Winston Speedway fans again were treated to some great racing Friday August 8th. The headline event of the night was the Paul Vanderstelt Memorial Race for the Factory Stock division. Vanderstelt recently lost a long battle with cancer. Vanderstelt was well known in West Michigan racing circles for his days as a driver most recently for his tire business. His passion for racing spanned 40 plus years. Vanderstelt will be missed but his generosity and willingness to help drivers will not be forgotten. Thirty Eight Factory Stocks were on hand to battle in honor of Vanderstelt.It was fitting on this night that a second generation driver would take the win in the Factory Stock Memorial race for Paul Vanderstelt.
How ironic Bill May, who’s father Vanderstelt raced against for years would take the win. Bill May used to watch his dad Bill May Sr battle with Vanderstelt during their racing days. Tonight May was a man on a mission as he earned the right to start on the pole after winning his heat race. May has won many features in his race career. The only thing his competitors could hope for was a mechanical failure. May never missed a mark leading all 25 laps. May left with a trophy, $500 cash and another cherished racing memory. The race for second had the fans on the edge of their seat. Dan Wilson held the runner-up spot for all but the last ten feet as Bill Delong edged him at the finish line by a bumper. Mike Pickard and Scott Erickson rounded out the top five. Heats were won by Erickson, Wilson, May and Jeff Califf. The top transfer spot out of the consolation feature went to Justin Gilland.
The story in racing is not always about the winner. The last couple of weeks in the Integra Racing Shocks and Springs Late Model division driver Kevin Juusola has been the talk of many people in the pits. The Juusola name is well recognized in Michigan because Kevin’s father Karl was recognized as one of the best Late Model drivers around before back injuries ended his racing career. Kevin has been on the rise and showed again tonight that he is looking to contend for wins. Juusola paced the field from his pole position never being challenged for the first fifteen laps. With ten to go Juusola found himself battling side by side with 2007 Track Champion Tom Sprague Jr. This lasted for 4 laps before Sprague Jr was able to clear Juusola. Once out front Sprague Jr could not breathe a sigh of relief. Hard charger Matt Pickard was on the move after starting tenth. With four laps to go Pickard made his way by Juusola and reeled in Sprague. Pickard made the pass on the low side only to be picked off by lapped traffic. Sprague’s veteran move of holding his line on the high side turned out to be the move of the race. While Pickard was left frustrated behind slow traffic, Sprague pulled away was able to make his way to victory lane for the 4th time this season. Matt Pickard held off Juusola for second. Andy Sprague and Rich Neiser completed the top five. Heat races were won by Shawn Reed and John McDonald. The “Dash for Cash” event was won by Neiser.
The field of twenty-two UMP Modified were all shaking their heads after the inversion draw. After winning the first heat race Points Leader John McCaul proceeded to draw a one chip that placed him on the pole for the feature. McCaul lined up for the main event already with eleven wins in twelve tries. Twenty laps and four cautions later he had made it twelve out of thirteen at Winston Speedway. Not only is McCaul dominating at Winston he is in serious contention to win the UMP Modified National title. Daryl Woodring was second followed by Jeff Erickson, Tim Tuttle and Stan Dodds. Woodring was also a Heat race winner.In the Port City Racing Sportsman division Point leader Ralph Sternberg gave way to Kody Weisner after leading the first eleven laps of their twenty lap feature. Once out front Weisner held off a late race charge from Bobby McQueen to take the win. The win was the third of the season for Weisner at Winston. Sternberg held onto third followed by Bean Falbe and Rob Sternberg. Weisner and McQueen garnered Heat race wins.
The most exciting finish of the night belonged to the Mini Stock division. Luke Near once won a feature after rolling his car over in turn three at Winston. It should not be a shock that tonight he won going across the finish line backwards. After watching front runner CJ Rector use every inch of track to keep Near behind him in the closing laps, Near made a clean pass on the outside of the final turn. Rector made contact to Near’s left rear quarter panel causing near to spin and slide across the finish line for his 5th feature win of the season. Rector was credited with second. Carl McCann, Chris Rice and April Spriggs completed the top five. Heat races were won by Rice and McCann.
The Warrior Four Cylinder division saw some of Crystal and Berlin Raceway’s top four cylinder drivers make their way to Winston and lead the pack. In their main event Rob Nieman made his way by Dennis Holtzlander on lap four for the winning pass. Nieman proved his Heat race win was no fluke as he went on to lead the rest of the main event to make his first visit to Winston a success. Holtzlander held onto second followed by Kyle Shattuck, Eric Dykema, and Cory Holtzlander.
Next Friday August 15th is the battle for bragging rights in the Sportsman and Late Model divisions. It will be their season Championship races. For the best in Family Entertainment along the Lakeshore make your way to Winston Speedway.