Teen Phenom Coming to Race in Grand Rapids

Chase Elliott, 15, among confirmed competitors for Arena Racing's AMP Energy 150 at DeltaPlex


Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press

West Michigan stock car racing fans saw just how talented Chase Elliott is when the teenage sensation competed at the Berlin Raceway this past spring.

Fans will get a second look at the 15-year-old rising star next month.

Arena Racing of Grand Rapids officials announced Thursday that Elliott will participate in the AMP Energy Drink 150 at the DeltaPlex Arena in Walker.

Elliott, the son of 1988 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Bill Elliott, was runner-up in Berlin’s June 17 CRA Super Series Rowdy’s Revenge 251 to Kyle Busch.

Elliott’s competed in 12 races in 2010, including the prestigious Winchester 400. He also won this past weekend’s Snowflake 100 at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.

“It is good to see someone like Chase and the Aaron’s team starting their 2011 with us here at Arena Racing Grand Rapids,” said race director Jack Gritter in a press release. “With $1,000 to win the feature and the fact that we are allowing both Arena cars and Mini Cup cars to participate, it should be a great night of racing for everyone.

“We also have the Quarter Midgets racing so you will see a lot of racing from both young and old that night.”

Arena Racing officials announced this past October that it was canceling its third season of competition. However, drivers and officials have worked together to bring racing back for the Jan. 8 special event. In addition, a title sponsor in AMP Energy Drink has been secured for the program.

“We are excited to announce that Pepsi will sponsor the Jan. 8 race with their energy drink AMP,” said Arena Racing general manager Peter Jackson.

Tickets are available for $10 and can be purchased at the DeltaPlex box office or online at ticketmaster.com. Race cars also are available. Contact Jackson at (616) 364-9000 for more information.

Eighth Annual Michigan Short Track Racing Club Bowling Tournament is Set

Eighth Annual Michigan Short Track  Racing Club Bowling Tournament is Set

Event Raises Money for Racing Families in Need

The Michigan Short Track Racing Club (MSTRC) is proud to announce details regarding the 8th annual MSTRC Bowling Tournament! The widely popular fundraising and short track racing event will once again be held at the immaculate Capitol Bowl in downtown Owosso, Michigan on Saturday, February 12th, 2011.
The annual bowling tournament and bench racing extravaganza for the short track racing community in the state of Michigan was started in 2004 as a way for the racing community in the great auto racing state of Michigan to get together over the winter and bowl for a great cause.
The MSTRC Bowling Tournament is now one of the biggest fundraisers dedicated to the short track racing industry in the State of Michigan for racing families in need. This year's tournament will once again benefit two well known family members of the racing community in the Great Lakes State.
The first beneficiary of the 8th annual MSTRC Bowling Tournament will be Brock Cogswell, a regular Super Late Models competitor at the 3/8s (0.375) mile semi-banked dirt oval of the Crystal Motor Speedway in Crystal, Michigan. The Davisburg, Michigan driver was involved in an on track accident which resulted in him breaking his foot and ankle. Since the accident, Cogswell has been unable to work due to complications from those injuries.

The second beneficiary will be Dick LaPratt, a former Modifieds competitor at the 1/4 (0.250) mile semi-banked paved oval of the Spartan Speedway in Mason, Michigan. LaPratt, who resides in Mason, worked at the Lansing Board of Water and Light and over the years, has had significant Shoulder Problems which has required Two surgeries. Later, more serious concerns with such problems as Lung Problems and Kidney Failure have slowed LaPratt.

The 8th annual MSTRC Bowling Tournament will begin with Sign In and Lane Assignments at "High Noon" 12:00p.m., with Optional "Hot Laps" / Practice beginning at 12:30p.m. Practice will end at 1:15p.m. Then after the random drawing for partners, followed by an Invocation and National Anthem, bowling will start at approximately 1:30p.m.

A $10.00 donation is all it costs to join in on the fun and all participants will bowl Two (2) Games. Participants don't even have to bowl with their partner! Everyone can still bowl with the group you came with on one or more lanes.

In addition, you don't even have to bowl to participate! Everyone is encouraged to come out and support this annual event. Their will be numerous door prizes to be given away throughout the afternoon as well as 50/50 drawings and several special prizes to be distributed.
Following the bowling tournament, the MSTRC Bowling Tournament Awards Ceremony will be held approximately 45-60 minutes after the completion of Bowling in the bowling alleys' adjacent lounge, "The Capitol Bowl Hot Spot."

After the Awards Ceremony, the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards 2011 Season Opener, the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 will be shown live on SPEED from Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida on the surrounding televisions throughout the massive bowling alley and inside the Capitol Bowl Hot Spot. Then later in the evening, the Budweiser Shootout for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be LIVE on the televisions as well!

Capitol Bowl is located at 219 South Washington Street behind the J.C. Penny's store and Roma's Back Door Pizzeria and directly across the street from Jumbo's Bar and Grill in Downtown Owosso, Michigan. For more information about Capitol Bowl and the surrounding downtown attractions as well as hotel accommodations, log onto their website at: www.capitolbowl.net

During the seventh edition of the tournament back on February 13th, 2010, Capitol Bowl was once again packed as the tournament benefitted two family members of the racing community; Jake Dickman of the Mt. Pleasant Speedway in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan and Alan Taft of A.T. Racing Engines in Ovid, Michigan.

As for the award winners of the 7th annual MSTRC Bowling Tournament, Kris Hudson and Jeremy Kelley were crowned the overall winners as they combined to roll a 716 in the two games bowled to win the Team High Series Award over Erin Kline and Matt Prieur, who finished just nine pins behind with a 707.

For the individual award winners, Ed Inloes rolled the highest game of the tournament with a 245 to win the Men's High Game while Denny Smith won the Men's High Series title with a 457 series. For the women, Erin Kline was the most successful bowler of the entire tournament as she finished second with her partner, Matt Prieur in the Team High Series. She was the winner of the Women's High Game Award with a 237 and she also rolled a high series of 411.

In MSTRC Bowling Tournament tradition however, no one bowler can win more than one award, so Teresa Beckner was awarded the Women's High Series trophy with a 396 series to keep the streak alive of a Beckner winning at least one award in the Bowling Tournament at four consecutive years.

Arlee Jenkins picked up the Greg Yost Memorial Never Give Up Award for rolling a "new record low" game of a 40. The award was renamed the Greg Yost Memorial Never Give Up Award in 2009 in honor of the late Greg Yost, a benefactor during the 3rd annual tournament, who passed away in August of 2006.

Dave and Eldora Howe of Beacon Sales and Service in Charlotte, Michigan were the winners of the 2009 / 2010 Chris Throgmartin Dedication and Spirit Award for their continuous efforts and support of weekly short track racing in Michigan.

"Team Big Mouth" took home the special Traveling Team Award pitting them against Team Gone Fishin. Team Big Mouth consisted of; Ed Inloes, Dave Kennedy, Matt Prieur, Shaun Whitney, and Roger Williams. Members of Team Gone Fishin included; Brandon Curtis, Chuck Darling, Brian Howey, Ken Shook, and Kyle Trinklein. Team Big Mouth won the special Five-Man Team Award as they defeated Team Gone Fishin 1454-1260 to take home the Special Traveling "We Whipped Your A$$ Award for the fourth year in a row.

The MSTRC Bowling Tournament was started in 2004 and for the first three years, was held at Nic's Restaurant & Bowl (Formerly Tri-Ami Lanes) in Ovid, Michigan. In 2007, a decision was made to move the tournament to a bigger facility and the newly renovated Capitol Bowl in downtown Owosso, Michigan and since then, Capitol Bowl has been the home of the MSTRC Bowling Tournament and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

Past beneficiaries of the MSTRC Bowling Tournament include; Buck Harsen (2004), Michael Putnam (2005), the Crook Family (2005), the Bouwman Family (2006), the late Greg Yost (2006), Verwayne Greenhoe (2007), the Persails Family (2007), Chad Faur (2008), Matt Schindewolf (2008), the Newman Family (2009), Daniel "Doc" Dutton (2009), Jake Dickman (2010), and Alan Taft (2010).

As in years past, the beneficiaries were decided on by the membership of the Michigan Short Track Racing Club as Nominations were presented on the MSTRC message board and decided on by the senior members of the MSTRC Bowling Tournament Committee. That committee consists of; Brenda and Chuck Darling, Linda and Ed Inloes, Elaine and Matt Prieur, and Verwayne Greenhoe.

For more information about the 8th annual MSTRC Bowling Tournament, and to make a donation to the tournament with door prizes, or if you can't make it to the tournament and would like to donate anyways; Please e-mail the following committee members;

For MSTRC Founder, Chuck Darling, you can e-mail him at; mstrc_ceo88@yahoo.com For MSTRC President, Verwayne Greenhoe, you can e-mail him at: bmoc66@gmail.com For Ed Inloes, his e-mail address is; gb48507@yahoo.com and for Matt Prieur, you can reach him at: mprieur@mph-promotions.com

You can also log onto the Michigan Short Track Racing Club Website at: www.mstrc.com Then click on "Michigan Auto Racing Discussion" and scroll down for the Thread titled "Official 8th annual MSTRC Bowling Tournament Information"

West Michigan drivers Mike Garvey, Johnny VanDoorn compete in 43rd Snowball Derby

Steve Kaminski The Grand Rapids Press

West Michigan stock car drivers Mike Garvey and Johnny VanDoorn barely qualified for Sunday’s 43rd annual Snowball Derby, but the two sure had an impact once the green flag dropped.

Garvey, a 48-year-old Muskegon native, finished 12th in the prestigious Super Late Model 300-lap race at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., while VanDoorn, of Coopersville, took 18th.

Johanna Long, an 18-year old high school student from Pensacola, won the race on the half-mile short-track after surviving a series of late-race cautions.

Garvey, whose career includes stints in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck divisions, started 35th in the 37-car field after receiving a provisional starting spot. Garvey led the race with 70 laps to go when Bubba Pollard slipped by him, and he never regained the lead.

Garvey, who grew up racing at Muskegon tracks as well as Berlin Raceway in Marne, now resides in McDonough, Ga. He eventually dropped out of the top 10 Sunday after becoming involving in a number of late incidents.

VanDoorn, 22, started 34th, and he had to race his way into the field via Saturday’s 50-lap last chance race. Saturday’s top-four finishers advanced to Sunday’s main, and VanDoorn passed Stephen McCurley with two laps to go to qualify for his first Snowball Derby.

VanDoorn who won his second consecutive CRA Super Series championship this fall, drove his way up to 17th in Sunday’s first 80 laps. VanDoorn continued to climb. He was running 11th near the halfway point when he was forced to the pits due to mechanical problems. VanDoorn eventually returned to the race but lost a number of laps on pit road.

Past Snowball Derby winners include Kyle Busch, Darrell Waltrip and Donnie Allison. Long became the second female to win the race and the first since Tammy Jo Kirk took the checkered flag in 1994.

Long took the lead away from Landon Cassill with two laps to go.

"It is absolutely amazing,” Long said on Speed51.com’s post-race coverage. “I can’t believe I did it. We worked so hard for this and we did it.”

Long made contact with Cassill when making the late-race pass. The two said after the race that there were no hard feelings.

Cassill eventually finished second.

“I was on old tires and she was on new tires, so I have nothing to be mad about,” Cassill said. “She did a great job, and I’m just real proud to be in the top five here.”

Garvey Survives Snowball Demolition

Crashes snarl race
Jamie Secola • jsecola@pnj.com •
December 6, 2010

The 43rd Annual Snowball Derby started with a field of 37 cars.

When Johanna Long took the checkered flag, there were just 12 left.

But that's the treacherous nature of the Derby, the most prestigious and competitive short-track race in the country.

Wreck after wreck, breakdown after breakdown, drivers were picked off one by one in a race that saw 16 cautions. Some, like former Derby champ Dave Mader III, fell victim to faulty equipment. Some, like 2005 champion Eddie Mercer, saw their title chances wrecked with a totaled vehicle.

Some, like Mike Garvey, were outdone by aggressive driving. "It was a rough race, to put it mildly," said Mike Garvey, who led the Derby twice for a total of 55 laps and was involved in a handful of cautions. "To win, I think you should pass people and not run over them."


Even so, Garvey was one of the lucky ones. He actually finished the race at the half-mile track, where the field of 37 covers about half of the available real estate.

One of the most heartbreaking wrecks occurred on Lap 298. Chase Elliott, the 15-year-old Super Late Model phenom and son of NASCAR legend Bill Elliott, had fallen toward the middle of the field after leading for 63 laps. He slowly was making his way back toward the front when Landon Cassill spun him into a wall. Elliott — who won the Snowflake 100 on Friday — didn't return.

The same thing happened to Augie Grill, another favorite and two-time Derby champion, when he slowed for a wreck and was hit from behind.

"It's a 300-lap race, and drivers have to manage their equipment and their cars, and most of them did in the beginning," said Tim Bryant, owner of Five Flags. "But when the laps start winding down, there's a little less caution and drivers bear down a little more."

That showed in the final 38 laps, which saw seven cautions that slimmed the field from 18 down to its final 12. Bubba Pollard, who was second in laps led with 59, was one of the drivers who wrecked toward the end when he was spun out by Donnie Wilson, who finished second.

"We had a real good car," said Pollard, a regular at Five Flags. "(Wilson) usually races me pretty clean. I knew he was good. I guess he just couldn't wait any longer to pass me. It's just disappointing."
In last year's Derby, only 13 drivers were still running at the race's completion. This year, even out of the 12 that did finish, not one car escaped damage.

"At this level, guys are racing hard," said race director Dan Spence. "A lot of times, a guy gets spun because he tries to block."

"In this race, we had guys competing from 18 different states and Canada," Spence added. "That has a lot to do with it (the wrecks) because the drivers aren't familiar with one another. Also, it's not a points race, and a win is strictly for the money and the glory."

Even Long caused some of the carnage, though not intentionally. When Long made a late move for third, she tried to get around Cassill at the same time as Grant Enfinger. Enfinger attempted to pass on the outside, while Long took the inside and clipped Cassill, spinning him on the back straightaway.

"She did a great job," said Cassill, who ended up finishing fourth. "I would have done the same thing. She had the faster car with newer tires. It was a good day. We were just trying to hang in there and be there at the end, and it almost worked."

Johanna Long Wins Snowball Derby!

43rd Annual Snowball Derby Unofficial Results :

1. Johanna Long
2. Donnie Wilson
3. Scott Hantz
4. Landon Cassill
5. Dennis Schoenfeld
6. Derrick Griffin
7. Mason Mingus
8. Travis Kittleson
9. John Bolen
10. Jimmy Garmon
11. Bubba Pollard
12. Mike Garvey
13. David Stremme
14. Casey Smith
15. Dan Fredrickson
16. Casey Roderick
17. Chase Elliott
18. Johnny VanDoorn
19. Ross Kenseth
20. Grant Enfinger
21. Cale Gale
22. Andy Loden
23. Chris Davidson
24. Jeff Fultz
25. Josh Hamner
26. Ryan Sieg
27. David Ragan
28. Augie Grill
29. Jerry Artuso
30. Dennis Prunty
31. Clay Rogers
32. Korey Ruble
33. Brandon Carlson
34. Ryan Lawler
35. TJ Reaid
36. Dave Mader III
37. Eddie Mercer