Kelsey Steele overcomes crash to grab Arena Racing victory at DeltaPlex Arena

Kelsey Steele overcomes crash to grab Arena Racing victory at DeltaPlex Arena


By Steve Ungrey
The Grand Rapids Press

WALKER -- Kelsey Steele’s latest win involved a little duct tape and a lot of praying.

The Coopersville driver and daughter of three-time ARCA Racing champion Tim Steele put another feather in her already impressive cap, overcoming a two-car crash to capture the checkered flag at the AMP Energy 150 on Saturday at DeltaPlex Arena.

A little improvisation helped her succeed. Steele ran into the back of a crash involving Brad Huisken and Mitch Meppelink, but Steele hung on and took her taped-together vehicle to the finish line.

She finished 1.14 seconds ahead of Huisken and 1.5 seconds in front of Dave Sensiba.

Actually, to say her car was taped together may be an understatement.

Steele’s crew saw its careful tape job malfunction while she was rounding the track, and the back part of the car body flew off with 37 laps remaining in the feature.

“I’ve never had half a car missing before this,” Steele said.

“Pretty much the back end was gone. I backed away from the crash (involving Huisken and Meppelink) thinking nothing would happen, and I must have gotten caught up in their cars a bit.

“My dad told me that part of my body on the car was missing, and I just had to go on and move forward.”

A squeal of cheers rose from the northwest corner of the DeltaPlex every time Steele’s name was mentioned as part of Arena Racing’s feature event.

This group of girls was not here to root on Chase Elliott.

Instead, Steele found herself with her own cheering section during the race.

She also found herself with a handshake from Elliott at the end. Elliott finished sixth, 4.48 seconds behind Steele.

Elliott will return to West Michigan on June 21 as part of Berlin’s racing series.

“He’s a hell of a race car driver, so I’m honored to beat him,” Steele said.

“I watched him race down at Winchester and at my home track at Berlin and I have a lot of respect for him.”

Steele plans to race in two divisions when Berlin’s new season gets under way in April, racing in the Super Stock division and the new template body Late Model division.

She also is happy to have something to do in the winter.
“I didn’t know what to think when we all found out Arena Racing might not be going this winter,” Steele said. “I’m just happy to be back here, and I feel proud of myself. I’m very happy to return here and win.”

The second Arena Racing event takes place Feb. 5, when the mini-sprint cars will race around the DeltaPlex floor for the “Thunder on the Grand” special event. A third show is set for March 26.