Friday, July 11 2008
Sprague, McCaul, Sternberg, Delong and Near are Top Guns at Winston Speedway
Friday July 11th was another great night of racing at Winston Speedway. It was I-96 Speedway Challenge Night for the Late Model and Modified divisions along with the Mid Season Championship for the Sportsman division. For the second week in a row the weather was not a factor in getting in the program. Five classes of racing provided a show for the fans that ran smooth and fast.
In the Integra Racing Shocks and Springs Late Model division out side pole sitter Jim Fairbanks held the early lead. By lap ten Tom Sprague Jr had pulled even with Fairbanks racing him side by side. On Lap thirteen Sprague gained the advantage with a pass going through turns one and two. As Sprague opened up the lead working his way through lapped traffic the next driver on the move was sixth place starter and present points leader Rich Neiser. A late race caution put Neiser on Sprague’s bumper. On the final lap Nesier was able to diamond the final two turns only to come a half car short on the inside of Sprague’s #21 Late Model. The win was Sprague’s third of the season at Winston. Fairbanks held onto third over Andy Sprague and Matt Pickard. Heat Races were won by Jeff Roodvoest and Andy Sprague. The “Dash for Cash” was won by Andy Sprague.
The Modified division continues to be a playground for John McCaul. After three laps being led by Dean Wilkerson it was all McCaul. Drivers in the Modified division have to be scratching their heads at McCaul's dominance. Only one other driver has a main event win at Winston. The race for second was as good as any racing action all season. With ten laps to go Wilkerson, Andy Sprague and Jacob Poel were the best of the rest as they swapped the second position on different occasions. With three to go all eyes were on Andy Sprague and Jacob Poel racing side by side. Coming for the checkered Poel and Sprague made contact. Poel showed the bottom of his race car to the fans as he went by the flag stand riding the wall and fence. The ensuing race for positions was scary as Poel and Sprague were stopped on the front stretch. No solid contact was made with either but cars did clip both of them as they went by. When the smoke cleared four drivers would have their cars taken to the pits on a wrecker. Poel would be credited with second but his car got the worst of all the carnage. The front sub of Poel’s car was bent bad enough to have his motor facing to the left. Sprague was third followed by Jeremy Ferguson and Dan Dykman. Heat Races were won by Poel and Wilkerson. The “Dash for Cash” winner was McCaul.
The Port City Racing Sportsman division was finally able to compete for their Mid-Season championship. After a two week delay drivers lined up by points with Ralph Sternberg holding the pole starting position. Outside of him was Chad Weinrick. The start of the race tuned out to be the big key as Sternberg jumped to the lead with Weinrick glued to his bumper. For the next twenty five laps Sternberg hit all his marks. Weinrick could only hope for a mistake by Sternberg. It never happened as Sternberg picked up his third win of the season. Weinrick was second followed by Tim Tuttle, Jeremy Holman, and Rob Sternberg. Dan Wilson and Holman garnered Heat Race wins.
Bill Delong’s eighth place starting position in the Factory Stock division was not a factor for him as he moved to the point by lap four. Once out front only Tony Weinrick could challenge as these two broke away from the rest of the field. Delong was too strong at the end and beat Weinrick for the win. The third spot went to Loren Peterson. John Person and Paul TenBrink completed the top five. Heat race wins earlier in the evening went to Person, TenBrink, and Delong. The top transfer spot in the consolation feature went to Scott Erickson.
The Sprague Auto Parts Mini Stock division saw Rothbury native Luke Near race his way to another feature win. Starting out front Near held off the hard charges of second and third place finishers, Carl McCann and CJ Rector to take the win. Mark Farber and John Foss completed the top five. Heat races were won by McCann and Near.
Friday July 18th will see another exciting night of action planned. Four divisions of racing along with a Roll Over contest will take place. The Late Model division will have the night off. For the best in Family entertainment along the Lakeshore make your way to Winston Speedway.
