Lake Odessa, Michigan (Monday, April 23rd, 2012): The Two Pre-Season Test & Tunes have been completed and now it’s time to go racing at the newly revamped and fast 3/8s (0.375) mile high-banked dirt oval of I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan THIS Saturday, April as the 7th annual Ice Breaker / Opening Night 2012 / Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club Night will highlight a festive season opener.
Co-Owners / Promoters, Mike & Sarah have a very aggressive schedule planned throughout the year and it all starts this Saturday featuring a full four in one show highlighted by the high-powered UMP Super Late Models who’ll be joined by the UMP Modifieds, Rudd’s Septic Service UMP Street Stocks, and Smyrna Bar UMP Sport Compacts as all four divisions begin their quests for the 2012 Track Championship within the UMP DIRTcar Racing Series.
Coming into the 2012 racing season, Tom Sprague Jr., will lead a stellar field of UMP Super Late Models as the premier divisions' Defending Track Champion while rising superstar, Jacob Poel will head up one of the strongest weekly fields of UMP Modifieds in the state of Michigan as he'll come into the season as the open-wheeled divisions' Defending Track Champion. Hometown favorite, Bill Brandt Jr., will try and fend off and expected stout cast of Rudd's Septic Service UMP Street Stocks as the Defending Track Champion and Rick Peck will lead the army of Smyrna Bar UMP Sport Compacts as the Defending Track Champion.
Every Regular Racing Night in 2012, The UMP Super Late Models will race for a minimum of $1,200 to Win and $200 to start while the UMP Modifieds will go for minimum of $500 to Win ad $125 to Start. The Rudd’s Septic Service UMP Street Stocks will be gunning for the highest payout in the state for their division at $500 to Win and $100 to start and the Smyrna Bar UMP Sport Compacts will be racing for a hefty $200 to Win and $25 to Start.
Get tickets exclusively with ShowClix! Just click on the link below for more information: http://getik.it/222645?f Those Ticket Prices for the 2012 season opener are: Adults (13-61): $12.00 – Seniors (62 and Over): $8.00 – Children (6-12) $6.00 – Kids (5 and Under): FREE – Family Pass $32.00 (*A family pass will get 2 adults and 2 children into the races. Once inside, the Kid’s Club is Free for the Kids!) – Pit Passes: $25.00 (for any age that can walk, infants are free).
In addition, it's also Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club (MARFC) Night, as all 2012 MARFC members who show their membership cards will get into OPENING NIGHT for absolutely FREE! This is the first MARFC Night of the 2012 season anywhere! To learn more about MARFC and to become a member, go to their website at: www.marfc.org
For the 2012 racing season, there will be some new starting times implemented. Pit Gates will Open at 3:00p.m., and the Grandstand Gates will open at 5:00p.m., just like in previous seasons. However Practice will now start earlier than in the past as the cars hit the track on race day starting at 5:30p.m. and will take turns on the track on a rotating basis until 6:25p.m. Then after the Drivers Meeting at 6:30p.m., followed by Pre-Race Ceremonies / Invocation / National Anthem(s), Racing will begin at 7:00p.m.
I-96 Speedway is located at 3823 Portland Road in Lake Odessa, Michigan. For more information, please call: 1 (616) 642-0555 or visit the website at: www.i96speedway.com You can also follow all of the off-season happenings in Lake Odessa, Michigan by becoming a fan on the tracks Facebook Fan Page. Just go to: www.facebook.com/i96speedway and click on “Like” button. You can even follow us on Twitter as well, just go to: www.twitter.com/i96speedway and “Follow” us today.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Needles Spoils Home Opener For Bozell in Intimidator 100
Needles Spoils Home Opener For Bozell in Intimidator 100
Tops 12-time Kalamazoo Champ To Win Intimidator 100
By Jason Christley, NASCAR via www.nascarhometracks.com
Andy Bozell put enough fast laps around Kalamazoo Speedway enough to accumulate 12 Outlaw Super Late Model Division track championships.
But Saturday night, he needed a few more laps.
The 48-year-old Bozell, of Portage, Mich., was edged by visiting Steve Needles as Kalamazoo kicked off its 62nd season with its annual extra-distance opener for its top division, the Intimidator 100.
Needles, 27, took the lead on a Lap 72 restart and held on to capture one of the premier short-track events in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for the first time.
The Berrien Springs, Mich., driver has previously won the Kalamazoo Klash, the track’s 150-lap event scheduled this year for Aug. 15.
“Andy is such a good racer, especially here,” said Needles. “I just kept digging and digging and digging, and he was digging. It was just good, hard racing.”
JR Roahrig finished third, followed by Tom Thomas and defending track champion Phil Bozell, who was in and out of the pits all night.
Kalamazoo is a 3/8-mile oval with 14 degree banking, located two hours outside of Detroit. It’s been a NASCAR-sanctioned track since 1989 and Bozell’s 12 NASCAR track titles tie him for fourth all-time in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. Last year, he won the state championship and his son, Phil, won the track title.
“It’s a fast little joint,” said Andy Bozell. “Our Late Models are go karts on steroids – they’re just wicked. It’s a great field of race cars. We separate cars by the thousands of a second on a week-to-week basis, draw for inversion. You just have to have a good car to race with. It’s a tough little place.”
Saturday night, Needles started eighth and quickly moved to the front. Bozell, qualified second and started 15th after the inversion, took advantage of a long green-flag from Laps 36 to 72 to take the lead on Lap 56 and build a comfortable lead. But a caution on Lap 72 set up a crucial restart.
“We had a good car tonight,” Bozell said. “It got late in the race and I needed a long green-flag run. I was just better on the bottom. After three laps my car got going good and I knew the restart was going to be trouble.”
As the leader on the restart, Bozell had lane choice on the restart and took the bottom. Needles took advantage of it and shot into the lead. He was able to withstand Bozell’s challenge on a pair of ensuing restarts and then hold off on over the final 26-lap, green-flag run.
“I was really good for about 20 lap runs, and then I started tightening up quite a bit,” Needles said. “I knew if I took the bottom I wasn’t going to be able to get the drive off I needed to get him. So when he took the bottom, I knew I could get it wound up on the top. There was just a lot of grip up there.”
From there, Needles only had one thing on his mind in the closing laps.
“Getting in a groove,” Needles said. “Getting in a groove and not making any mistakes. Just make smooth, smart decisions.”
Other NASCAR winners on opening night included Brandon Lyons in the Div. II Super Stock feature, Lloyd Books in the Div. III Pro Stock feature, Bobby Stremme - brother of NASCAR national series driver David Stremme - in the Div. IV Mini Stock feature, and Jerry Jansen Jr. in the Div. V Cyber Stock feature.
Tops 12-time Kalamazoo Champ To Win Intimidator 100
By Jason Christley, NASCAR via www.nascarhometracks.com
Andy Bozell put enough fast laps around Kalamazoo Speedway enough to accumulate 12 Outlaw Super Late Model Division track championships.
But Saturday night, he needed a few more laps.
The 48-year-old Bozell, of Portage, Mich., was edged by visiting Steve Needles as Kalamazoo kicked off its 62nd season with its annual extra-distance opener for its top division, the Intimidator 100.
Needles, 27, took the lead on a Lap 72 restart and held on to capture one of the premier short-track events in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for the first time.
The Berrien Springs, Mich., driver has previously won the Kalamazoo Klash, the track’s 150-lap event scheduled this year for Aug. 15.
“Andy is such a good racer, especially here,” said Needles. “I just kept digging and digging and digging, and he was digging. It was just good, hard racing.”
JR Roahrig finished third, followed by Tom Thomas and defending track champion Phil Bozell, who was in and out of the pits all night.
Kalamazoo is a 3/8-mile oval with 14 degree banking, located two hours outside of Detroit. It’s been a NASCAR-sanctioned track since 1989 and Bozell’s 12 NASCAR track titles tie him for fourth all-time in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series. Last year, he won the state championship and his son, Phil, won the track title.
“It’s a fast little joint,” said Andy Bozell. “Our Late Models are go karts on steroids – they’re just wicked. It’s a great field of race cars. We separate cars by the thousands of a second on a week-to-week basis, draw for inversion. You just have to have a good car to race with. It’s a tough little place.”
Saturday night, Needles started eighth and quickly moved to the front. Bozell, qualified second and started 15th after the inversion, took advantage of a long green-flag from Laps 36 to 72 to take the lead on Lap 56 and build a comfortable lead. But a caution on Lap 72 set up a crucial restart.
“We had a good car tonight,” Bozell said. “It got late in the race and I needed a long green-flag run. I was just better on the bottom. After three laps my car got going good and I knew the restart was going to be trouble.”
As the leader on the restart, Bozell had lane choice on the restart and took the bottom. Needles took advantage of it and shot into the lead. He was able to withstand Bozell’s challenge on a pair of ensuing restarts and then hold off on over the final 26-lap, green-flag run.
“I was really good for about 20 lap runs, and then I started tightening up quite a bit,” Needles said. “I knew if I took the bottom I wasn’t going to be able to get the drive off I needed to get him. So when he took the bottom, I knew I could get it wound up on the top. There was just a lot of grip up there.”
From there, Needles only had one thing on his mind in the closing laps.
“Getting in a groove,” Needles said. “Getting in a groove and not making any mistakes. Just make smooth, smart decisions.”
Other NASCAR winners on opening night included Brandon Lyons in the Div. II Super Stock feature, Lloyd Books in the Div. III Pro Stock feature, Bobby Stremme - brother of NASCAR national series driver David Stremme - in the Div. IV Mini Stock feature, and Jerry Jansen Jr. in the Div. V Cyber Stock feature.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Justin Ryan beats Seth Moody in cat-and-mouse game at Berlin Raceway
Justin Ryan beats Seth Moody in cat-and-mouse game at Berlin Raceway
By Steve Kaminski
Skaminsk@mlive.com MLive.com
MARNE – Every time Justin Ryan of Grand Rapids pulled away late in Saturday night’s 75-lap Super Stock feature race at the Berlin Raceway, caution waved to wipe out his lead.
Strangely, Ryan said that was the best thing that could have happened to him.
Ryan held off Seth Moody over the caution-filled waning laps to capture his second consecutive win of the season. Ryan also won last week’s season-opener.
“I think if we would have had a longer green flag run, he would have got to me,” Ryan said. “My car would start to go away a little bit after the longer runs, so I think the caution helped me out a little bit. I was able to cool off the tires running around under yellow, then get away for a couple of laps.
“That’s not always the case, but I will take them any way that I can get them.”
Moody dominated the first half of the feature, only to watch his lead disappear on a lap 37 caution. Ryan was able to charge past Moody when the race was restarted, and while he led the rest of the way, Moody continued to hound him to the finish.
Saturday marked the season debut of Berlin’s Modified division, and Ryan Hamm said that he was expecting to finish second to Billy Shotko. But he was able to overtake Shotko with eight laps to go in the 30-lap main. Hamm then held Shotko off for a 1.3 second win.
“Billy Shotko has always been fast,” Hamm said. “He was fast last year and he is fast this year. We were good in practice, and in the second practice, we fell on our face. We missed something. We got it back in the heat race a little bit, and then we made a couple of more adjustments for the feature, and it worked out good. I had a lot of fun. It feels great.”
Tony Davis of Wyoming outdueled Brian Tillema of Byron Center to win the 25-lap Sportsman feature for his second career feature win and first since 2008. Tillema, who won last week’s opener, grabbed the lead on lap five, but he was never able to escape Davis. Davis caught Tillema at the race’s halfway, and the two then battled door-to-door without making contact over the next seven laps before Davis pulled away.
“It is career win No. 2, and it feels great,” Davis said. “We put in a lot of hard work and I feel we made a lot of good decisions with our body style. We contacted some people, and they helped us out a lot.
“Brian treats everyone with respect out here, and he has treated me as good as anyone has out here. I wanted to do the same.”
Mike Speet, of Holland, earned his second consecutive win, too, taking first in the 10-lap 4 Cylinders main. He won the feature race, set fast time and captured a heat race, just like he did last week.
Speet started 15th in the 17-car field, but he needed only three laps to charge into the lead. He barely stayed out of trouble, though, since there were two cautions even before a lap was completed. Speet said he was fortunate to escape unscathed.
“I started way in the back, and there was a lot of trouble around me,” Speet said. “Every single (accident) was a near miss. I got tagged a little bit one time when a guy was trying to get underneath me.”
SUPER STOCKS (75 LAPS) 1. Justin Ryan, 2. Seth Moody, 3. Nate Walton, 4. Will Olmsted, 5. Dave Lake, 6. Bob Bliss, 7. Denny Anderson, 8. Andrew Nylaan, 9. Dave Hull, 10. Dennis Mann, 11. Cole Roelofs, 12. Warren Speet, 13. Joel Baker, 14. Jeremy Munniksma, 15. Tim Stuart, 16. Trever McCoy, 17. Kelsey Steele
MODIFIEDS (30 LAPS) 1. Ryan Hamm, 2. Billy Shotko, 3. Billy Eppink, 4. Kevin DeGood, 5. Adam Chase, 6. Randy DeBoer, 7. Ryan Gruppen, 8. Ben Welch
SPORTSMAN (25 LAPS) 1. Tony Davis, 2. Brian Tillema, 3. Randy Veldman, 4. Andrew MacIntosh, 5. Mitch Meppelink, 6. Nick Sherrington, 7. Allen Davis, 8. Kirk Meissner, 9. Tyler Nawrocki, 10. Tyler Sterken, 11. Gerry Shepard, 12. Dave Cutler, 13. Scott Root
4 CYLINDERS (10 LAPS) 1. Mike Speet, 2. Charlie DeJong, 3. Chuck Norris, 4. Darrell Holtzlander, 5. Dave Duyst, 6. Jackson Walker, 7. Seth VanHorssen, 8. Paul Ritchie, 9. Dan Schoenborn, 10. Kyle VanDrunen, 11. Jason Essex, 12. Jerry Smith, 13. Rob Ream, 14. Robbie Ream, 15. Dan Ream, 16. Zack Clark, 17. Jake Loesch
HEAT WINNERS: Ryan Hamm (Modifieds); Randy Veldman, Scott Root (Sportsman); Mike Speet, Zack Clark (4 Cylinders)
FAST QUALIFIERS: Nate Walton (Super Stocks) 92.130 mph; Kevin DeGood (Modifieds) 92.340 mph; Tony Davis (Sportsman) 85.519 mph; Mike Speet (4 Cylinders) 78.385 mph
By Steve Kaminski
Skaminsk@mlive.com MLive.com
MARNE – Every time Justin Ryan of Grand Rapids pulled away late in Saturday night’s 75-lap Super Stock feature race at the Berlin Raceway, caution waved to wipe out his lead.
Strangely, Ryan said that was the best thing that could have happened to him.
Ryan held off Seth Moody over the caution-filled waning laps to capture his second consecutive win of the season. Ryan also won last week’s season-opener.
“I think if we would have had a longer green flag run, he would have got to me,” Ryan said. “My car would start to go away a little bit after the longer runs, so I think the caution helped me out a little bit. I was able to cool off the tires running around under yellow, then get away for a couple of laps.
“That’s not always the case, but I will take them any way that I can get them.”
Moody dominated the first half of the feature, only to watch his lead disappear on a lap 37 caution. Ryan was able to charge past Moody when the race was restarted, and while he led the rest of the way, Moody continued to hound him to the finish.
Saturday marked the season debut of Berlin’s Modified division, and Ryan Hamm said that he was expecting to finish second to Billy Shotko. But he was able to overtake Shotko with eight laps to go in the 30-lap main. Hamm then held Shotko off for a 1.3 second win.
“Billy Shotko has always been fast,” Hamm said. “He was fast last year and he is fast this year. We were good in practice, and in the second practice, we fell on our face. We missed something. We got it back in the heat race a little bit, and then we made a couple of more adjustments for the feature, and it worked out good. I had a lot of fun. It feels great.”
Tony Davis of Wyoming outdueled Brian Tillema of Byron Center to win the 25-lap Sportsman feature for his second career feature win and first since 2008. Tillema, who won last week’s opener, grabbed the lead on lap five, but he was never able to escape Davis. Davis caught Tillema at the race’s halfway, and the two then battled door-to-door without making contact over the next seven laps before Davis pulled away.
“It is career win No. 2, and it feels great,” Davis said. “We put in a lot of hard work and I feel we made a lot of good decisions with our body style. We contacted some people, and they helped us out a lot.
“Brian treats everyone with respect out here, and he has treated me as good as anyone has out here. I wanted to do the same.”
Mike Speet, of Holland, earned his second consecutive win, too, taking first in the 10-lap 4 Cylinders main. He won the feature race, set fast time and captured a heat race, just like he did last week.
Speet started 15th in the 17-car field, but he needed only three laps to charge into the lead. He barely stayed out of trouble, though, since there were two cautions even before a lap was completed. Speet said he was fortunate to escape unscathed.
“I started way in the back, and there was a lot of trouble around me,” Speet said. “Every single (accident) was a near miss. I got tagged a little bit one time when a guy was trying to get underneath me.”
SUPER STOCKS (75 LAPS) 1. Justin Ryan, 2. Seth Moody, 3. Nate Walton, 4. Will Olmsted, 5. Dave Lake, 6. Bob Bliss, 7. Denny Anderson, 8. Andrew Nylaan, 9. Dave Hull, 10. Dennis Mann, 11. Cole Roelofs, 12. Warren Speet, 13. Joel Baker, 14. Jeremy Munniksma, 15. Tim Stuart, 16. Trever McCoy, 17. Kelsey Steele
MODIFIEDS (30 LAPS) 1. Ryan Hamm, 2. Billy Shotko, 3. Billy Eppink, 4. Kevin DeGood, 5. Adam Chase, 6. Randy DeBoer, 7. Ryan Gruppen, 8. Ben Welch
SPORTSMAN (25 LAPS) 1. Tony Davis, 2. Brian Tillema, 3. Randy Veldman, 4. Andrew MacIntosh, 5. Mitch Meppelink, 6. Nick Sherrington, 7. Allen Davis, 8. Kirk Meissner, 9. Tyler Nawrocki, 10. Tyler Sterken, 11. Gerry Shepard, 12. Dave Cutler, 13. Scott Root
4 CYLINDERS (10 LAPS) 1. Mike Speet, 2. Charlie DeJong, 3. Chuck Norris, 4. Darrell Holtzlander, 5. Dave Duyst, 6. Jackson Walker, 7. Seth VanHorssen, 8. Paul Ritchie, 9. Dan Schoenborn, 10. Kyle VanDrunen, 11. Jason Essex, 12. Jerry Smith, 13. Rob Ream, 14. Robbie Ream, 15. Dan Ream, 16. Zack Clark, 17. Jake Loesch
HEAT WINNERS: Ryan Hamm (Modifieds); Randy Veldman, Scott Root (Sportsman); Mike Speet, Zack Clark (4 Cylinders)
FAST QUALIFIERS: Nate Walton (Super Stocks) 92.130 mph; Kevin DeGood (Modifieds) 92.340 mph; Tony Davis (Sportsman) 85.519 mph; Mike Speet (4 Cylinders) 78.385 mph
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