Spartan Speedway kicked off its 2006 racing season under cloudless skies on April 28th. A good crowd on the beautiful, but chilly, Friday evening was on hand to welcome back the competitors in the CARQUEST racing series. The Holiday Powersports Pony Stock division drew for position, with Tina Anderson and Randy Kretzinger Jr. starting on the pole for their 20 lap feature. At the drop of the green, those ponies were three- and four-wide going into turn one and through turn two. George Wyers led lap one with John Ward already looking for a way around him. Jimmy Scavarda snuck around them both and took the lead on lap five. Mark Garland and Terry Winstead stayed in the hunt as Scavarda and Wyers made their way into the rear of the field on lap seven. Wyers continued to work on Scavarda on lap 13 as they worked their way through heavier traffic on the high side. Lap 15 saw a great battle shaping up between Ward and Garland for third, as they raced side by side for the position. Garland got caught up in traffic as Ward pulled away, and at the line, it was Scavarda, Wyers, Ward, Garland, and Jason Brunn making up the top five. Heat wins were awarded to Wyers and Garland.

Congratulations go out to Perry Davenport on the birth of his new baby and also scoring the number one qualifying position with a time of 13.782 for the WMMQ 94.9 Classic Rock MI Modified division. Bill Butler and Chris Ozanich started on the front row for the start of their 40-lap feature. Ozanich jumped out to the early lead at the green flag with Butler, Bud Perry, Dick LaPratt, Jason Parish in hot pursuit. Caution on lap three sent Butler to the rear of the field, and on the restart, it was Ozanich and Perry breaking away from the lead pack to battle for first. Lap five saw Perry looking high and low for a way around Ozanich as caution came out for a second time, with Parish being sent to the rear. On the restart, it was a drag race between Ozanich and Perry, with Perry making his way around Ozanich on lap seven. With Perry running away, it was Ozanich, LaPratt, Weiler, and Davenport all running nose to tail on lap eight. Larry Wallace caught the tail end of the lead pack and was closing in by lap 10. Perry opened up a full straight away lead, with Davenport beginning his march up through the top five. Lap 16 saw Davenport move into fourth behind LaPratt, and immediately went to work on LaPratt for third. Davenport moved to the outside of Ozanich and took away second on lap 25. By lap 30, Perry had opened up a 5 ½ second lead over Davenport, as Wallace had reeled in the top five and went to work on them. Dick Maurer spun in turn four, bringing out the caution and effectively wiped out Perry’s huge lead. Parish had quietly been marching up through the field and was sitting in seventh when the caution flew. After the restart, with 10 laps to go, it was Perry, Davenport, Ozanich, LaPratt, and Weiler, with Wallace and Parish sitting just outside the top five. Parish made his way around Wallace on lap 35, while Perry and Davenport ran away from the field. At the checker, it was Perry, Davenport, Parish, Ozanich, and LaPratt. Heats were won by Stan Perry and Larry Wallace.

The Performance Automotive Northwest Street Stock division had a light driver turnout, probably due to the fact the some major rule changes were implemented over the winter. Of the eight Streets that were in competition, four were of the template body style, while the others opted for stock bodies. Competition was fierce in the heat race, with Ron Heeney and Dane Long getting together, leaving Heeney unable to return for the feature. Jamie Feguer was on the tear when engine problems sidelined him for the evening. The 25-lap feature saw Nate Moon and Damon Place on the front row and at the drop of the green, Moon jumped into the lead, followed by Damon Place, Scott Sigman, Bob Flotka, and Dane Long. Sigman took over the lead on lap four with Long challenging for the lead by lap seven. Caution for Flotka and Sigman saw Flotka sent to the end of the line. On the restart of lap 13, Long and Sigman broke away from the pack, followed by Moon, Place, and Foltka. Long opened up a pretty good lead over Sigman, while Place and Flotka made their way around Moon for third and fourth. Sigman went high in turn four, giving Place the opportunity to slip under him to take second position away on the last lap. At the stripe, it was Long, Place, Sigman, Flotka, and Moon. Place scored his first heat win earlier in the evening.
One of the most entertaining segments of the night was the Pony Stock Figure 8. Rick Richards, Randy Kretzinger Jr., Tina Anderson, John Ward, Terry Winstead, Jimmy Scavarda, Keith Holden, and Joe Bates made up the field for their 15-lap feature. John Ward sprinted his way into the lead and continued to lead through lap five. As the field began to spread out, the race became very interesting at the intersection. Ward slowed on lap 7 to allow slower traffic to clear the X while Scavarda barreled on through to take the lead. It was nip and tuck for those two throughout the race and the battle for first was on again by lap 11. Bates, Richards, and Winstead were watching the dog fight unfold ahead of them on lap 12 when Ward ducked to the inside of Scavarda to regain the lead. Lap 13 saw Ward hesitate again at the cross with Scavarda taking the inside line into first again. Ward drove past Scavarda on lap 14 to take the win on lap 15. At the line, the top five was Ward, Scavarda, Bates, Richards, and Anderson.

A special thank-you to the two Pure Stocks who gave the Spartan fans a little taste of what’s in store for this new division. Congratulations go out to Wayne “Daniel” Parkhurst for sweeping the heat and feature. The car looks and runs great!

Please join us next Friday night when we feature the WMMQ 94.9 Classic Rock MI Modifieds, Performance Automotive NW Street Stocks, Holiday Motorsports Pony Stocks, and Pony Stock Figure 8’s, along with Poor Paul’s $$$ from Heaven.