By: Spartan correspondent, Michelle Sprague
Spartan Speedway hosted a special Sunday show, for Andrews Chevrolet Super Late Models, to honor the memory of Chargin’ Charlie Ryan Jr. Doc Dutton led the opening laps of the 75-lap memorial race, with Tim Ryan taking over on lap seven. With Jimmy Gallagher in second and Doug Finley in third, Ryan was going to have his hands full, as all are veteran racers at the Spartan Speedway. Finley moved into second on lap 15, with Chris Hettinger, Dave Stehouwer and Logan Beckwith in tow. Stehouwer took the high side and got around Hettinger for third on lap 29, closing in on Finley’s rear bumper. By lap 54, the leaders were into the back of the field and Ryan was involved in an altercation bringing out the caution but got his spot back, and one lap later, spun, bringing out the caution. Finley took over the lead followed by Stehouwer, Beckwith, Randy Day, and Sonny Coito. Day and Stehouwer diced it up behind Finley, running side by side, until Day took the spot away for good on lap 60. Finley had pulled away from the pack, but caution bunched the cars into a tight little pack and on the restart, it was Finley choosing the outside lane. Finley got a great run on Day and went back to work, stretching his lead over Day and Beckwith. Beckwith ran in the top three until Stehouwer re-took the third spot on lap 71 and Day and Stehouwer ran out of laps to catch Finley for the win. At the line, it was Finley, Day, Stehouwer (Hard Charger award winner), Hettinger, and Beckwith.
Landon Hidy took the Pure Stock Slugfest feature win, with his dad, Dave Hidy giving him a run for his money in the early stages of the race. The Hidy’s ran side-by-side for eleven laps, allowing Chad Lamson to reel them in. Landon put some real estate between himself and Dave, while Lamson went to work on Hidy for second. Kyle Drake had a stellar run from the tail of the field to earn the hard charger award, coming home in fourth. Andrew Burton rounded out the top five. The Figure -8 winner for the Pure Stock division was Chad Lamson.
The Boss Snow Equipment Pony Stocks A-Feature saw Jimmy Scavarda make a run from the tail of the field to the front, to take the win. Tyler Heeney was the early leader, with Lex Jarecki challenging for the lead on the outside by lap seven. Todd Metz Sr. jumped into the mix, with Jarecki taking the lead on lap 10. Scavarda steadily picked off cars, sitting second by lap 16. Aaron Taylor worked his way into contention to finish third behind Scavarda and Jarecki. Heeney and Todd Metz Jr. crossed the stripe, fourth and fifth respectively. The B-feature saw a first-time feature winner, Scott Sparagowski, make a trip to the Corrigan Oil Winner’s Circle. Sparagowski took the lead from Jim Harbenski on lap two and never looked back. Darrell Taylor, George Garza, Mike Westphal and Harbenski finished second through fifth. The Pony Stock Figure-8 was won by Edson Rowley III, a frequent Sunday show visitor to the Winner’s Circle for his Figure-8 wins. Scavarda, Rich Roberts, Patrick Denison and Zack Macintosh had to settle for second through fifth.
