Race Report
Fans Get Four-in-One Show at Spartan Speedway
By: Michelle Sprague
Spartan Speedway’s Sunday Street Stock Slugfest saw eighteen street stocks vying for the title of “Slugfest Champion”. Mother Nature wiped out qualifying, so the driver’s drew for start positions. Dane Long won his heat from the pole, and Corey Davis won his from outside pole. Long started on the pole for the feature and drove away from everyone. By the 40th lap, he had lapped half of the field to score the Round 1 Slugfest win. Dave Bollis, Bubber Patrick, Mike Ammerman, and Damon Place rounded out the top five.
The Wolverine Outlaw Winged Midgets made a stop in Mason, MI on Performance Automotive Northwest Night. Seventeen winged midgets flew around the track at breakneck speed. Chris Hettinger and local racer, Derek Snyder won their heats. A.J. Lane started on the pole and pulled away to lead lap one of the 30-lap feature. Lane led the remainder of the 30 laps and at the stripe it was Lane, Snyder, Gary Harrell, Ike Beasley, and Isaiah Bross.
The MCR Dwarfs shifted gears from the 3/8-mile of CCS, to the ¼-mile of Spartan on Sunday. Fifteen dwarfs hit the track for some high-speed action. Eric Hoffman scored a heat win in a borrowed car, and Jon Wylie picked right up where he left off on Saturday night by winning his heat. At the drop of the green, Roger Balcolm went to the point and led them across the stripe to lead lap one. From there on out, it was all Balcolm. Jeff Slayton issued a challenge mid-race, and Jon Wylie was all over Balcolm’s rear bumper by lap 22. At the checkered flag, it was Balcolm, Wylie, Hoffman, Slayton, and Mike McManman.
Mother Nature kept some of the usual Figure 8 drivers away, but some of the regular street stock drivers stepped up to pull double duty. Nine cars lined up for 25 thrilling laps, and they didn’t disappoint the fans. Jeff Cummings jumped into first from third on lap one. Figure 8 specialists, Jim Gokee, Lonny Hill, and Frank Erlenbeck clinched the top four positions, while street stockers, Dave Bollis and Howard McDonough swapped fifth place a couple of times. By lap 14, Cummings had a ½-lap lead over second place Gokee. The final lap saw Cummings cross the line followed by Gokee, Hill, Erlenbeck, and McDonough. |