Veteran driver looking to put past disappointments behind him with first Berlin Raceway track championship
MARNE – Billy Shotko can now laugh about what happened on the last lap of the final race in 2001 when the West Olive stock car driver was running in Berlin Raceway’s Sportsman division.
It still hurts just a little bit, though.
“In 2001, I led (the point standings) from the season-opening race to the final lap of the last race,” Shotko said. “I was leading the race when I was taken out coming out of turn four. I stopped about 10 to 15 feet short of the start-finish line, and there I sat while everybody went by. Cort Corwin ended up winning the championship by a couple of points.
“You do (get over it), but you don’t. You get past it, but it never leaves the back of your head.”
Berlin is hosting The Chet Championship Weekend, a three-day program that opens with Thursday’s practice, continues with Friday’s qualifying and heat races and wraps up with Saturday’s feature races.
Shotko, who now races in Berlin's Modified class, once again finds himself on the verge of a track championship, which would be the first in his nearly two-decade long racing career. Shotko is 67 points up on second-place Adam Chase, while Kevin DeGood is third overall, 71 markers back.
It appears that Shotko is in ideal position to wrap up the title, but don’t look for any celebrations on his part until the checkered flag drops on Saturday’s program, which begins at 7 p.m.
“We have been trying a long time to get back into the position that we are right now,” Shotko said. “We just work hard every week, trying to finish the best we can in every race.
“This will mean a lot. We have finished second in Late Models, and we have been second in Modifieds the last two years. It has been a long time coming. I have been racing out here for 18 years.”
What a day Saturday could be for Shotko and his family. His son, Evan Shotko, 9, races go-karts at the Ravenna Motor Park, and Evan is one point out of the lead in his class entering Ravenna’s season finale Saturday. “It’s possible that it could happen,” Shotko said. “Even if he finishes second, though, I will be so proud of him. He does an awesome job.”
Shotko said that a track title would be bittersweet because his father-in-law, Brian Slade, died this past July 1. Slade owned Duratech Racing Engines of Coopersville, which supplies a number of area drivers with engines. Slade, 59, died of a burst aorta.
“The hardest thing about winning the championship is going to be that my father-in-law, who passed away, won’t be able to see it,” Shotko said. “Before every race, I say a little prayer, asking to make this motor last one more race. Just one more race is all we need.”
Practice will run 4-8 p.m. Thursday. Action begins at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Friday also is $1 beer and $1 hotdog night.
Here's how the points races are shaping up in each division heading into this weekend’s action.
Super Late ModelsTerry VanHaitsma leads Chris Anthony by 11 points, with Tom Thomas third, 26 outs.
Outlaw Late ModelsThe field will be chasing Ross Meeuwsen, who leads Terry Senneker by 32 points.
Super StocksJustin Ryan is leading the way by 57 points over Will Olmsted.
SportsmanTony Davis and Brian Tillema are engaged in the track’s tightest battle. Davis enters the finale seven points up on Tillema.
4 CylindersHolland’s Mike Speet can take Saturday off. Speet, who leads Charlie DeJong by 198 points, has already locked up the title.
VROAThe traveling Vintage Racing Organization of America will decide its title this weekend as well, and Terry Byrne has a 15-point lead over Don Deyman.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Garvey Best On Wild Day in Montgomery
Garvey Best On Wild Day in Montgomery
First Montgomery SLM race in Two Years Defined by Attrition
By Tim Quievryn, Speed51.com Correspondent - Twitter: @TheThirdTurn
Not much seems to be getting in the way of Mike Garvey these days.
Sunday at Montgomery Motor Speedway (AL) Garvey experienced two wrecks, a flat tire, and an incredibly tight racecar. He still left the track with the winner’s trophy and a cool $6,000 after capturing the victory in the Montgomery 150, the first Super Late Model race held at Montgomery in nearly two years.
The victory marked Garvey’s ninth this season and third consecutive victory after sweeping a pair of Pro Late Model races on the Gulf Coast last weekend.
It didn’t come easy to Garvey Sunday, but honestly nothing really came easy to any driver in the field. All 14 cars that started the race experienced some sort of major mechanical issue or crash damage with 13 cautions marring the distance. But the real fireworks came when Bubba Pollard and Augie Grill got together racing for the win in the closing laps, opening the door for Garvey.
“We had a fourth-place car,” Garvey said in Victory Lane. “It really wasn’t the best, we just kept working at it. When Bubba got into Augie there at the end and turned him around, we had worked on the car enough that we were as fast as they were. We changed our line too and were finally able to get away from everybody and win the race.
“I think we’re in real good shape heading into the end of the year. The difference this year is that Tracy [Goodson, car owner] made a real commitment and this is what we do now. We were trying to work on different things during the week and then race during the weekends. I think we’ve got a real good package for the big races coming up and the [season-ending Snowball] Derby. I’d rather not win a race all year long if we could win the Derby.”
Garvey had run around most of the race in the fourth to sixth position before a restart came at the lap-121 mark. Going into turn one, Garvey’s car failed to turn with a flat tire, collecting most of the top runners. Garvey drove away from the incident with relatively minimal damage. The team threw scuffs on the car and he was quickly able to make his way back up to third.
The defining incident of the race would then come on Lap 136. Augie Grill had led every lap of the race up to that point. Bubba Pollard, having charged back through the field after a broken wheel hub left him deep in the pack at the halfway point, had finally caught the Grill machine. Pollard sized Grill up for a few laps, then began taking a few peeks to the inside to see if he could make a run. Coming off of turn two, Pollard got into Grill’s left-rear quarter panel, sending Grill around. Grill would go to the back of the order for the spin, but Pollard would be sent back there with him for causing the caution.
Garvey, inheriting the lead for the first time all day, then pulled away from closest pursuer Logan Boyett on the ensuing restart and watched Grill and Pollard race each other too hard trying to get back through the field to pressure for the win. Garvey won by half a straight-away over Boyett with Pollard just edging Grill for third.
“Everyone was taking everything they could get today,” Garvey remarked looking upon the attrition factor. “When you’re racing a Super Late Model during the day, it’s just slippery to try to pass someone. You’d slip up, bounce off a guy and you’d have more issues. It’s really hard here to pass in the Supers. You’d get under someone and they’d crowd you. That was a lot more action than I thought would be here for 14 cars. I was worried we weren’t going to have any and, good golly, we had about 20 of them.
“I think a lot of what you saw today was flats. One restart, I went off to one, it wouldn’t turn and I went straight into John Bolen. For some reason, we’re just getting a lot flats here. That’s about our eighth one here this year.”
Boyett was pretty pleased with his day, which was another eventful tale. He ran the last 75 laps with smoke pouring from the rear end of his machine. Despite having track officials black flag the car and getting checked during a number of late caution flags, Boyett was able to stay on the lead lap and, like Garvey, was able to take advantage when the lead duo spun.
“When we went green, we didn’t have a really good car” Boyett admitted. “It was tight at first and I wanted to run it harder than I wanted to for it to work. Then I thought the rear end was going to go, but it turns out we just had a seal going bad in the housing. We made a spring rubber adjustment during the halfway break which was making it better, but the oil getting on the right rear tire killed us going into the corner. Then somehow we had both front tires go flat.”
Perhaps Boyett encapsulated the day best when he added at the end of his post-race interview, “We just trucked on.”
Pollard finished a very disappointing third, spending most of the post-race on the pit wall a ways off from his racecar, alone with his thoughts. Grill was equally disappointed and also feeling poorly after two hours in the heat, spending his post-race cooling off and resting in his hauler.
“We had a real good racecar, just starting the race off by biding our time,” Pollard said after the event. “We actually broke off two studs and only ran with three lugs the rest of the race. We saved our stuff some more and made our way back up. We were better than him [Grill] at the end, but just got into him and spun him around.
“I hate it for Augie. I hate it for my team, because I took both of us out of contention to win. When you’re getting pressure near the end, you’re going to protect the bottom. I tried to get under him there off of turn two, but just nipped him from behind. I thought it was just good, hard racing with 15 to go.”
Grill was fourth. Pole winner Kyle Benjamin finished fifth despite incurring three flat tires, being in three accidents, and finishing the race with a right side door panel.
The next race at Montgomery will be the season finale for all divisions including the PLM Show Me The Money Series as the track holds the Alabama 200 September 15th and 16th.
RESULTS:
1 Mike Garvey
2 Logan Boyett
3 Bubba Pollard
4 Augie Grill
5 Kyle Benjamin
6 Steve Wallace
7 Brandon Odom
8 John Bolen
9 Ken McFarland
10 John Wilkinson, III
11 Hunter Robbins
12 Allen Karnes
13 Chris Serio
14 Spencer Davis
First Montgomery SLM race in Two Years Defined by Attrition
By Tim Quievryn, Speed51.com Correspondent - Twitter: @TheThirdTurn
Not much seems to be getting in the way of Mike Garvey these days.
Sunday at Montgomery Motor Speedway (AL) Garvey experienced two wrecks, a flat tire, and an incredibly tight racecar. He still left the track with the winner’s trophy and a cool $6,000 after capturing the victory in the Montgomery 150, the first Super Late Model race held at Montgomery in nearly two years.
The victory marked Garvey’s ninth this season and third consecutive victory after sweeping a pair of Pro Late Model races on the Gulf Coast last weekend.
It didn’t come easy to Garvey Sunday, but honestly nothing really came easy to any driver in the field. All 14 cars that started the race experienced some sort of major mechanical issue or crash damage with 13 cautions marring the distance. But the real fireworks came when Bubba Pollard and Augie Grill got together racing for the win in the closing laps, opening the door for Garvey.
“We had a fourth-place car,” Garvey said in Victory Lane. “It really wasn’t the best, we just kept working at it. When Bubba got into Augie there at the end and turned him around, we had worked on the car enough that we were as fast as they were. We changed our line too and were finally able to get away from everybody and win the race.
“I think we’re in real good shape heading into the end of the year. The difference this year is that Tracy [Goodson, car owner] made a real commitment and this is what we do now. We were trying to work on different things during the week and then race during the weekends. I think we’ve got a real good package for the big races coming up and the [season-ending Snowball] Derby. I’d rather not win a race all year long if we could win the Derby.”
Garvey had run around most of the race in the fourth to sixth position before a restart came at the lap-121 mark. Going into turn one, Garvey’s car failed to turn with a flat tire, collecting most of the top runners. Garvey drove away from the incident with relatively minimal damage. The team threw scuffs on the car and he was quickly able to make his way back up to third.
The defining incident of the race would then come on Lap 136. Augie Grill had led every lap of the race up to that point. Bubba Pollard, having charged back through the field after a broken wheel hub left him deep in the pack at the halfway point, had finally caught the Grill machine. Pollard sized Grill up for a few laps, then began taking a few peeks to the inside to see if he could make a run. Coming off of turn two, Pollard got into Grill’s left-rear quarter panel, sending Grill around. Grill would go to the back of the order for the spin, but Pollard would be sent back there with him for causing the caution.
Garvey, inheriting the lead for the first time all day, then pulled away from closest pursuer Logan Boyett on the ensuing restart and watched Grill and Pollard race each other too hard trying to get back through the field to pressure for the win. Garvey won by half a straight-away over Boyett with Pollard just edging Grill for third.
“Everyone was taking everything they could get today,” Garvey remarked looking upon the attrition factor. “When you’re racing a Super Late Model during the day, it’s just slippery to try to pass someone. You’d slip up, bounce off a guy and you’d have more issues. It’s really hard here to pass in the Supers. You’d get under someone and they’d crowd you. That was a lot more action than I thought would be here for 14 cars. I was worried we weren’t going to have any and, good golly, we had about 20 of them.
“I think a lot of what you saw today was flats. One restart, I went off to one, it wouldn’t turn and I went straight into John Bolen. For some reason, we’re just getting a lot flats here. That’s about our eighth one here this year.”
Boyett was pretty pleased with his day, which was another eventful tale. He ran the last 75 laps with smoke pouring from the rear end of his machine. Despite having track officials black flag the car and getting checked during a number of late caution flags, Boyett was able to stay on the lead lap and, like Garvey, was able to take advantage when the lead duo spun.
“When we went green, we didn’t have a really good car” Boyett admitted. “It was tight at first and I wanted to run it harder than I wanted to for it to work. Then I thought the rear end was going to go, but it turns out we just had a seal going bad in the housing. We made a spring rubber adjustment during the halfway break which was making it better, but the oil getting on the right rear tire killed us going into the corner. Then somehow we had both front tires go flat.”
Perhaps Boyett encapsulated the day best when he added at the end of his post-race interview, “We just trucked on.”
Pollard finished a very disappointing third, spending most of the post-race on the pit wall a ways off from his racecar, alone with his thoughts. Grill was equally disappointed and also feeling poorly after two hours in the heat, spending his post-race cooling off and resting in his hauler.
“We had a real good racecar, just starting the race off by biding our time,” Pollard said after the event. “We actually broke off two studs and only ran with three lugs the rest of the race. We saved our stuff some more and made our way back up. We were better than him [Grill] at the end, but just got into him and spun him around.
“I hate it for Augie. I hate it for my team, because I took both of us out of contention to win. When you’re getting pressure near the end, you’re going to protect the bottom. I tried to get under him there off of turn two, but just nipped him from behind. I thought it was just good, hard racing with 15 to go.”
Grill was fourth. Pole winner Kyle Benjamin finished fifth despite incurring three flat tires, being in three accidents, and finishing the race with a right side door panel.
The next race at Montgomery will be the season finale for all divisions including the PLM Show Me The Money Series as the track holds the Alabama 200 September 15th and 16th.
RESULTS:
1 Mike Garvey
2 Logan Boyett
3 Bubba Pollard
4 Augie Grill
5 Kyle Benjamin
6 Steve Wallace
7 Brandon Odom
8 John Bolen
9 Ken McFarland
10 John Wilkinson, III
11 Hunter Robbins
12 Allen Karnes
13 Chris Serio
14 Spencer Davis
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Mike Garvey Wins Again
Photo Courtesy of Speed51.comMuskegon's Mike Garvey took home a cool $6,000 today for winning a 150 lap Super Late Model event at Montgomery. Today's win was Garvey's 9th of the summer and 3rd win in a row for the Tracy Goodson owned race team.
Garvey made an interesting move as he fought a bad set of tires after a field pit stop on lap 75. After starting to fade Garvey radioed to put on his first set of tires on the next caution. Garvey raced the next 25 laps just trying to hang on and in sight of the leaders. A caution on lap 100 is what Garvey needed. It turned out to be the right decision as his car came back alive.
As Garvey worked his way through the field Augie Grill and Bubba Pollard were up front racing hard. On lap 135 Pollard turned Grill coming out of turn two. Both drivers were placed to the rear. Garvey inherited the lead and never looked back. The next 15 laps were caution free. Garvey won by 6 car lengths over Logan Bennett.
Finishing Order:
1 Mike Garvey
2 Logan Boyett
3 Bubba Pollad
4 Augie Grill
5 Kyle Benjamin
6 Steve Wallace
7 Brandon Odom
8 John Bolen
9 Ken McFarland
10 John Wilkinson, III
11 Hunter Robbins
12 Allen Karnes
13 Chris Serio
14 Spencerr Davis
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Grand Rapids' Johnny Benson Jr. cracks top-five in his return to Berlin Raceway
Grand Rapids' Johnny Benson Jr. cracks top-five in his return to Berlin Raceway
By Steve Kaminski | Skaminsk@mlive.com MLive.com
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MARNE – A crew from the Charlotte-based Speed network packed up its cameras and headed to Berlin Raceway this weekend for Saturday night’s program to film a piece on Johnny Benson Jr.
Benson will be the subject of a Where Are They Now segment to be aired on Race Hub later this summer, and what they found out is that the Grand Rapids native is still racing and still having a blast.
Benson returned to his home track and ran with the traveling International Supermodified Association, which made its annual visit to the Marne half-mile and finished fourth in the 50-lap main. Benson is 49, and he said chances are that he will be retired five years from now.
“Five years? My kids will be out of school and I hope to spend some time traveling with my wife,” Benson said.
But Benson has no plans of slowing down just yet.
Benson hasn’t raced full-time on the NASCAR circuit since 2008 when he won the Camping World Truck Series championship. But that competitive spirit still burns for Benson.
“I would like to win an ISMA championship before I retire,” Benson said. “That would give me championships in five different series. I’m real proud of the four that I have, but it would be real cool to get one in an open wheel car.”
Berlin hosted the Open Wheel Spectacular Saturday night, which included the Must See Racing Extreme Sprints. The program was delayed for nearly an hour after veteran driver Jeff Bloom of Bangor slid his Sprinter backwards into the retaining wall between turns three and four during the opening lap of a heat race.
Bloom’s car caught fire, however, Bloom was able to escape serious injury. Series officials reported that Bloom was alert and talking before he was transported to the hospital via ambulance for treatment after suffering burns on his arms.
Benson participated in an ISMA race Friday night at Sandusky, Ohio. However, he dropped out of the event due to an engine problem. Benson was ready to go when the green flag dropped Saturday, though.
He said the Supermodifieds are one of the most challenging types of cars he has driven in his career.
“These cars are really, really hard to drive,” Benson said. “I have driven cars that are hard to drive, and all cars are challenging. But these things, holy smokes. They are an extreme handful. But when they are right, they are a blast to drive. When they are off a little bit, they are tough to drive.
“You have to give these guys who drive them a lot of credit. But I have been around so long and have driven on so many different tracks, it helps me run with these guys. These guys are very good, so we have been fortunate to have won three races. We were leading the points championship at one point, but we had a couple of DNFs, so that has taken us out of it. But we can at least still get second.”
Feature winners Saturday included Tom Thomas and Tim DeVos, who won the Late Model and Super Stock feature races, respectively. Lou Ciccone Jr. was first in the ISMA main, and JoJo Hellberg won the 30-lap Sprint feature and clinched the season championship.
Saturday night results
LATE MODELS (60 LAPS) – 1. Tom Thomas, 2. Ross Meeuwsen, 3. Ray Clay, 4. Terry Senneker, 5. Tim DeVos, 6. Steve Needles, 7. Terry VanHaitsma, 8. Mike Lichty, 9. Jeff Ganus, 10. Brian Maxim, 11. Monte Tolan, 12. Scott Thomas, 13. Mike Root, 14. Barry Hartwell, 15. Justin Schroeder, 16. Kristopher Fewless, 17. Dave Stehouwer, 18. Leroy Magoon, 19. Lee VanDyk, 20. Tim Yonker
SUPER STOCKS (30 LAPS) – 1. Tim DeVos, 2. Bob Bliss, 3. Jeremy Munniksma, 4. Seth Moody, 5. Justin Ryan, 6. Denny Anderson, 7. Nate Walton, 8. Andrew Nylaan, 9. Josh Slade, 10. Dave Hull, 11. Will Olmsted, 12. Weston Jewett, 13. Joel Baker, 14. Brett DeKraker, 15. Jerry Groenveld, 16. Brian VanZalen, 17. Cole Roelofs, 18. Trever McCoy, 19. Dennis Mann
HEAT WINNERS – Troy DeCaire, Dave Baumgartner, Billy Wease (Sprints); Justin Ryan, Joel Baker, Andrew Nylaan (Super Stocks)
FAST CAR SLASH – Mike Larrison (Sprints)
FAST QUALIFIERS – Ross Meeuwsen (Late Models) 102.703 mph; JoJo Helberg (Sprints); Bob Bliss (Super Stocks)
By Steve Kaminski | Skaminsk@mlive.com MLive.com
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MARNE – A crew from the Charlotte-based Speed network packed up its cameras and headed to Berlin Raceway this weekend for Saturday night’s program to film a piece on Johnny Benson Jr.
Benson will be the subject of a Where Are They Now segment to be aired on Race Hub later this summer, and what they found out is that the Grand Rapids native is still racing and still having a blast.
Benson returned to his home track and ran with the traveling International Supermodified Association, which made its annual visit to the Marne half-mile and finished fourth in the 50-lap main. Benson is 49, and he said chances are that he will be retired five years from now.
“Five years? My kids will be out of school and I hope to spend some time traveling with my wife,” Benson said.
But Benson has no plans of slowing down just yet.
Benson hasn’t raced full-time on the NASCAR circuit since 2008 when he won the Camping World Truck Series championship. But that competitive spirit still burns for Benson.
“I would like to win an ISMA championship before I retire,” Benson said. “That would give me championships in five different series. I’m real proud of the four that I have, but it would be real cool to get one in an open wheel car.”
Berlin hosted the Open Wheel Spectacular Saturday night, which included the Must See Racing Extreme Sprints. The program was delayed for nearly an hour after veteran driver Jeff Bloom of Bangor slid his Sprinter backwards into the retaining wall between turns three and four during the opening lap of a heat race.
Bloom’s car caught fire, however, Bloom was able to escape serious injury. Series officials reported that Bloom was alert and talking before he was transported to the hospital via ambulance for treatment after suffering burns on his arms.
Benson participated in an ISMA race Friday night at Sandusky, Ohio. However, he dropped out of the event due to an engine problem. Benson was ready to go when the green flag dropped Saturday, though.
He said the Supermodifieds are one of the most challenging types of cars he has driven in his career.
“These cars are really, really hard to drive,” Benson said. “I have driven cars that are hard to drive, and all cars are challenging. But these things, holy smokes. They are an extreme handful. But when they are right, they are a blast to drive. When they are off a little bit, they are tough to drive.
“You have to give these guys who drive them a lot of credit. But I have been around so long and have driven on so many different tracks, it helps me run with these guys. These guys are very good, so we have been fortunate to have won three races. We were leading the points championship at one point, but we had a couple of DNFs, so that has taken us out of it. But we can at least still get second.”
Feature winners Saturday included Tom Thomas and Tim DeVos, who won the Late Model and Super Stock feature races, respectively. Lou Ciccone Jr. was first in the ISMA main, and JoJo Hellberg won the 30-lap Sprint feature and clinched the season championship.
Saturday night results
LATE MODELS (60 LAPS) – 1. Tom Thomas, 2. Ross Meeuwsen, 3. Ray Clay, 4. Terry Senneker, 5. Tim DeVos, 6. Steve Needles, 7. Terry VanHaitsma, 8. Mike Lichty, 9. Jeff Ganus, 10. Brian Maxim, 11. Monte Tolan, 12. Scott Thomas, 13. Mike Root, 14. Barry Hartwell, 15. Justin Schroeder, 16. Kristopher Fewless, 17. Dave Stehouwer, 18. Leroy Magoon, 19. Lee VanDyk, 20. Tim Yonker
SUPER STOCKS (30 LAPS) – 1. Tim DeVos, 2. Bob Bliss, 3. Jeremy Munniksma, 4. Seth Moody, 5. Justin Ryan, 6. Denny Anderson, 7. Nate Walton, 8. Andrew Nylaan, 9. Josh Slade, 10. Dave Hull, 11. Will Olmsted, 12. Weston Jewett, 13. Joel Baker, 14. Brett DeKraker, 15. Jerry Groenveld, 16. Brian VanZalen, 17. Cole Roelofs, 18. Trever McCoy, 19. Dennis Mann
HEAT WINNERS – Troy DeCaire, Dave Baumgartner, Billy Wease (Sprints); Justin Ryan, Joel Baker, Andrew Nylaan (Super Stocks)
FAST CAR SLASH – Mike Larrison (Sprints)
FAST QUALIFIERS – Ross Meeuwsen (Late Models) 102.703 mph; JoJo Helberg (Sprints); Bob Bliss (Super Stocks)
Saturday, August 25, 2012
I-96 Speedway Crowns Four 2012 Track Champions At The 5th Annual Dirt Gold Cup
Lake Odessa, Michigan (Saturday, August 25th, 2012): I-96 Speedway, located west of Lansing and east of Grand Rapids in Lake Odessa, Michigan hosted the 5th annual Dirt Gold Cup Championship Extravaganza / 2012 Season Championships for ALL FOUR weekly divisions within the United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) DIRTcar Racing Series! It was also Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club Night as well as the 4th annual Relay for Life Celebration which benefitted the American Cancer Society.
The 2012 Track Champions as well as the 2012 Rookies of the Year were crowned in the Miller Lite UMP Super Late Models, Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds, Rudd's Septic Service UMP Street Stocks, and Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts as the fast 3/8s (0.375) mile high-banked dirt oval was action packed night throughout the night and the great crowd on hand was treated to a great night of racing.
Congratulations to the 2012 Track Champions at I-96 Speedway and they are: m14 Brandon Thirlby – Traverse City, Michigan – Miller Lite UMP Super Late Models ---- 0x Zack Olger – St. Johns, Michigan – Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds ---- 44 Josh Frye – Coopersville, Michigan – Rudd’s Septic Service UMP Street Stocks ---- 14 Rick Peck – Hastings, Michigan – Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts.
In addition, the 2012 Rookies of the Year were also honored and they were: 5 Brook Brasington – Evart, Michigan – Miller Lite UMP Super Late Models ---- 46 Dave Schmidt - Grand Haven, Michigan – Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds ---- 1c Calvin Stemler – Ionia, Michigan – Rudd’s Septic Service UMP Street Stocks ---- 44 Nick Jenema – Wyoming, Michigan – 18 & Over Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts ---- 11 Tony Taylor – Portland, Michigan – 17 & Under Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts.
The first Championship to be decided would be for the Rudd's Septic Service UMP Street Stocks as their 25-Lap Feature would see Defending Track Champion Bill Brandt Jr., and Current UMP DIRTcar Racing Series Northeastern States Points Leader Dan Dykman starting on the front row. Dykman would edge out Brandt Jr., who had another battle of his own with Current Points Leader Josh Frye for the 2012 Track Title.
Dykman paced the field for the first 21 laps before an axle broke going into turns three and four bringing out the caution flag. This gave the lead to Frye and the Coopersville, Michigan driver would make no mistake the last four laps as the driver of the #44 Driftwood Bar & Grill / Chevrolet would win his fourth Feature Win of the year and the 2012 Track Championship in the process!
Jim Beltz finished second ahead of Brandt Jr., who pitted for a flat tire and make a valiant effort before coming home third. 2009 Track Champion Aaron Wolf and 16-year-old Carlind Forsythe completed the top five. Randy Wellman finished sixth as Joel Hummel, Trey Cotter, Bill Brandt Sr., and Dykman were the final top 10. Frye, Brandt Jr., and Dykman won the Heat Races.
The Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts were next for their 25-Lap Championship Feature as 2012 18 & Over Rookie of the Year Nick Jenema and Ryan Hamm brought the field to Chief Starter Brett Farmer's green flag. Hamm set a torrid early pace for the first five laps before slowing on the front stretch to bring out the yellow flag. This handed the lead to Current UMP DIRTcar Racing Series Eastern States Points Leader Paul Namey who tried to check out on the field.
Defending Track Champion Rick Peck who clinched his second straight Track Championship earlier in the afternoon to go with his 2011 crown simply by pulling into the pits, challenged Namey over the remainder of the race before taking the lead with just two laps to go and from there, his #14 Frisbee & Sons Plastering / Saturn would walk away with his fifth Feature Win and Repeat as UMP Sport Compacts Track Champion!
Namey settled for second while 18-year-old Terry Henderson Jr., Chad Tomczak, and 11-year-old Christopher Joyce finished up the top five. Fellow 11-year-old driver, Tony Taylor, who earlier in the night wrapped up the 17 & Under Rookie of the Year title finished sixth while Colee Ruesink, 14-year-old Harper Hotchkiss, Jackson Walker, and Jenema were the top 10. Henderson Jr., and Namey won the Heats.
The premier division within the UMP DIRTcar Racing Series, the Miller Lite UMP Super Late Models were next for their 25-Lap Season Championship Feature as going into the night, three drivers; Brandon Thirlby, Rich Neiser, and Zack Olger were all within sight of each other for the 2012 Track Championship. Alan Vochaska and Bry Sloan led the field to the green and it would be Vochaska beating Sloan and the rest of the first to the first corner.
Within just four laps, Thirlby, Neiser, and Olger were all running together and an epic battle ensued for not only position on the track, but for the 2012 Track Championship. With just four laps to go, Vochaska collided with a lapped car which forced the field behind to take evasive action. It would be Neiser who would pass Thirlby, Vochaska, and the lapped car to take over the lead and from there the Fruitport, Michigan veteran held off Vochaska and Thirlby and steer his #87 Baker Engineering / Mastersbilt Race Cars into victory lane after winning his first Feature of the Season.
Vochaska finished second and Thirlby finished third and it would be Thirlby and Neiser sitting on top of the Final Points Standings Tied for the title. The first tie-breaker edge would go to Thirlby (Most Feature Wins: Thirlby-3 / Neiser-1) to give the Traverse City, Michigan driver in his #m14 Thirlby Automotive / Mastersbilt Racecars machine his first career Track Championship off of that all important tie-breaker. This is the first of a potential four titles for Thirlby as he also leads the UMP DIRTcar Racing Series Michigan / Wisconsin / Canada States Points, Michigan Dirt Cup Late Models Tour Points, and Cherry Raceway Track points as well.
Dab Hubbell finished fourth in the main ahead of Dale Sheehy who would complete the top five. Chris Nash, Sloan, Olger, and Randy Whitten Jr., rounded out the top 10. Thirlby and Vochaska would score the Heat Race triumphs.
The final race of the night would be the 2012 Season Championships for the Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds and although disappointed with the outcome of the UMP Super Late Models Feature, Zack Olger wouldn't go home empty handed as the driver of the #0x Racer's Speed Shop / Xtreme Racecars entry took the green flag in the 25-Lap Feature to Officially clinch his first Track Championship of his stellar career.
The front row of the main would be John McClure and Collin Thirlby and it was Thirlby slipped by McClure in the early going to grab the lead. A scary incident involving Mark Anderson resulted in the veteran barrel rolling several times off the backstretch. He was fine, but the car was destroyed and he was done for the night. Thirlby maintained the advantage up front for all 25 Laps as the Traverse City, Michigan standout in his #47 Thirlby Automotive / Diamond Racecars ride would score his second Feature Win of the season.
Outgoing Track Champion Jacob Poel finished second while Travis Stemler, Former Two-Time Track Champion (2008 & 2009) Todd Feutz, and McClure were the top five. 2012 Track Champion Olger was sixth in the main while Tim Stemler, Kevin Cavanaugh, 2007 Track Champion Shannon Fisk, and Justin Fleming completed the top 10. McClure, Travis Stemler, and Anderson were the Heat Race victors.
I-96 Speedway will now take an extended vacation in preparation for the 2012 Season Finale on a special Sunday afternoon, October 14th as the cars and stars of the United States Auto Club (USAC) AMSOil National Sprint Cars Series will make the return trip to West Michigan and race on the famed ½ (0.500) mile high-banked dirt oval after getting rained out back on August 10th.
Superstars like Five Time & Defending Series Champion Levi Jones as well as Indy 500 starter Bryan Clauson, Current Points Leader Jon Stanbrough, Veterans Dave Darland, Tracy Hines, and many more will make the trip north in the series' first appearance at I-96 since 1996.
Joining the USAC AMSOil National Sprint Cars Series on the famed 1/2 mile will be the Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds as well as a "Run What You Bring" division featuring any type of car such as Limited Late Models, Pro Stocks, Pro Trucks, Street Stocks, and more (excluding Super Late Models) The Schedule of Events and Starting Times for this event are also “To Be Announced.”
Race Fans who already purchased Advance Tickets will still be able to use those in October and now there’s plenty of time to still get tickets for this event for those that haven’t at the link below: http://www.showclix.com/event/226174 and for more information about the USAC AMSOil National Sprint Cars Series, go to their website at: www.usacracing.com
I-96 Speedway is located at 3823 Portland Road in Lake Odessa, Michigan. For more information about the on-going 2012 racing season, please call: 1 (616) 642-0555 or visit the website at: www.i96speedway.com You can also follow along all season long 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.
The 2012 Track Champions as well as the 2012 Rookies of the Year were crowned in the Miller Lite UMP Super Late Models, Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds, Rudd's Septic Service UMP Street Stocks, and Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts as the fast 3/8s (0.375) mile high-banked dirt oval was action packed night throughout the night and the great crowd on hand was treated to a great night of racing.
Congratulations to the 2012 Track Champions at I-96 Speedway and they are: m14 Brandon Thirlby – Traverse City, Michigan – Miller Lite UMP Super Late Models ---- 0x Zack Olger – St. Johns, Michigan – Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds ---- 44 Josh Frye – Coopersville, Michigan – Rudd’s Septic Service UMP Street Stocks ---- 14 Rick Peck – Hastings, Michigan – Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts.
In addition, the 2012 Rookies of the Year were also honored and they were: 5 Brook Brasington – Evart, Michigan – Miller Lite UMP Super Late Models ---- 46 Dave Schmidt - Grand Haven, Michigan – Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds ---- 1c Calvin Stemler – Ionia, Michigan – Rudd’s Septic Service UMP Street Stocks ---- 44 Nick Jenema – Wyoming, Michigan – 18 & Over Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts ---- 11 Tony Taylor – Portland, Michigan – 17 & Under Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts.
The first Championship to be decided would be for the Rudd's Septic Service UMP Street Stocks as their 25-Lap Feature would see Defending Track Champion Bill Brandt Jr., and Current UMP DIRTcar Racing Series Northeastern States Points Leader Dan Dykman starting on the front row. Dykman would edge out Brandt Jr., who had another battle of his own with Current Points Leader Josh Frye for the 2012 Track Title.
Dykman paced the field for the first 21 laps before an axle broke going into turns three and four bringing out the caution flag. This gave the lead to Frye and the Coopersville, Michigan driver would make no mistake the last four laps as the driver of the #44 Driftwood Bar & Grill / Chevrolet would win his fourth Feature Win of the year and the 2012 Track Championship in the process!
Jim Beltz finished second ahead of Brandt Jr., who pitted for a flat tire and make a valiant effort before coming home third. 2009 Track Champion Aaron Wolf and 16-year-old Carlind Forsythe completed the top five. Randy Wellman finished sixth as Joel Hummel, Trey Cotter, Bill Brandt Sr., and Dykman were the final top 10. Frye, Brandt Jr., and Dykman won the Heat Races.
The Smyrna Bar & Restaurant UMP Sport Compacts were next for their 25-Lap Championship Feature as 2012 18 & Over Rookie of the Year Nick Jenema and Ryan Hamm brought the field to Chief Starter Brett Farmer's green flag. Hamm set a torrid early pace for the first five laps before slowing on the front stretch to bring out the yellow flag. This handed the lead to Current UMP DIRTcar Racing Series Eastern States Points Leader Paul Namey who tried to check out on the field.
Defending Track Champion Rick Peck who clinched his second straight Track Championship earlier in the afternoon to go with his 2011 crown simply by pulling into the pits, challenged Namey over the remainder of the race before taking the lead with just two laps to go and from there, his #14 Frisbee & Sons Plastering / Saturn would walk away with his fifth Feature Win and Repeat as UMP Sport Compacts Track Champion!
Namey settled for second while 18-year-old Terry Henderson Jr., Chad Tomczak, and 11-year-old Christopher Joyce finished up the top five. Fellow 11-year-old driver, Tony Taylor, who earlier in the night wrapped up the 17 & Under Rookie of the Year title finished sixth while Colee Ruesink, 14-year-old Harper Hotchkiss, Jackson Walker, and Jenema were the top 10. Henderson Jr., and Namey won the Heats.
The premier division within the UMP DIRTcar Racing Series, the Miller Lite UMP Super Late Models were next for their 25-Lap Season Championship Feature as going into the night, three drivers; Brandon Thirlby, Rich Neiser, and Zack Olger were all within sight of each other for the 2012 Track Championship. Alan Vochaska and Bry Sloan led the field to the green and it would be Vochaska beating Sloan and the rest of the first to the first corner.
Within just four laps, Thirlby, Neiser, and Olger were all running together and an epic battle ensued for not only position on the track, but for the 2012 Track Championship. With just four laps to go, Vochaska collided with a lapped car which forced the field behind to take evasive action. It would be Neiser who would pass Thirlby, Vochaska, and the lapped car to take over the lead and from there the Fruitport, Michigan veteran held off Vochaska and Thirlby and steer his #87 Baker Engineering / Mastersbilt Race Cars into victory lane after winning his first Feature of the Season.
Vochaska finished second and Thirlby finished third and it would be Thirlby and Neiser sitting on top of the Final Points Standings Tied for the title. The first tie-breaker edge would go to Thirlby (Most Feature Wins: Thirlby-3 / Neiser-1) to give the Traverse City, Michigan driver in his #m14 Thirlby Automotive / Mastersbilt Racecars machine his first career Track Championship off of that all important tie-breaker. This is the first of a potential four titles for Thirlby as he also leads the UMP DIRTcar Racing Series Michigan / Wisconsin / Canada States Points, Michigan Dirt Cup Late Models Tour Points, and Cherry Raceway Track points as well.
Dab Hubbell finished fourth in the main ahead of Dale Sheehy who would complete the top five. Chris Nash, Sloan, Olger, and Randy Whitten Jr., rounded out the top 10. Thirlby and Vochaska would score the Heat Race triumphs.
The final race of the night would be the 2012 Season Championships for the Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds and although disappointed with the outcome of the UMP Super Late Models Feature, Zack Olger wouldn't go home empty handed as the driver of the #0x Racer's Speed Shop / Xtreme Racecars entry took the green flag in the 25-Lap Feature to Officially clinch his first Track Championship of his stellar career.
The front row of the main would be John McClure and Collin Thirlby and it was Thirlby slipped by McClure in the early going to grab the lead. A scary incident involving Mark Anderson resulted in the veteran barrel rolling several times off the backstretch. He was fine, but the car was destroyed and he was done for the night. Thirlby maintained the advantage up front for all 25 Laps as the Traverse City, Michigan standout in his #47 Thirlby Automotive / Diamond Racecars ride would score his second Feature Win of the season.
Outgoing Track Champion Jacob Poel finished second while Travis Stemler, Former Two-Time Track Champion (2008 & 2009) Todd Feutz, and McClure were the top five. 2012 Track Champion Olger was sixth in the main while Tim Stemler, Kevin Cavanaugh, 2007 Track Champion Shannon Fisk, and Justin Fleming completed the top 10. McClure, Travis Stemler, and Anderson were the Heat Race victors.
I-96 Speedway will now take an extended vacation in preparation for the 2012 Season Finale on a special Sunday afternoon, October 14th as the cars and stars of the United States Auto Club (USAC) AMSOil National Sprint Cars Series will make the return trip to West Michigan and race on the famed ½ (0.500) mile high-banked dirt oval after getting rained out back on August 10th.
Superstars like Five Time & Defending Series Champion Levi Jones as well as Indy 500 starter Bryan Clauson, Current Points Leader Jon Stanbrough, Veterans Dave Darland, Tracy Hines, and many more will make the trip north in the series' first appearance at I-96 since 1996.
Joining the USAC AMSOil National Sprint Cars Series on the famed 1/2 mile will be the Accurate Engines UMP Modifieds as well as a "Run What You Bring" division featuring any type of car such as Limited Late Models, Pro Stocks, Pro Trucks, Street Stocks, and more (excluding Super Late Models) The Schedule of Events and Starting Times for this event are also “To Be Announced.”
Race Fans who already purchased Advance Tickets will still be able to use those in October and now there’s plenty of time to still get tickets for this event for those that haven’t at the link below: http://www.showclix.com/event/226174 and for more information about the USAC AMSOil National Sprint Cars Series, go to their website at: www.usacracing.com
I-96 Speedway is located at 3823 Portland Road in Lake Odessa, Michigan. For more information about the on-going 2012 racing season, please call: 1 (616) 642-0555 or visit the website at: www.i96speedway.com You can also follow along all season long 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.
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