Foote Steps up to win at Spartan Speedway, as Clingan is claimed
Friday night once again brought perfect weather and the best Super Late Model feature of the year on Schram Auto Parts night at Spartan Speedway. A trail run at removing heat races and running semi-features and longer features seemed to be a success as the Super Late Models put on a fantastic 60-lap feature event. A 12-car invert put Joey Shuryan and Jack Landis on the front row of the 24-car starting field. Landis used the quick outside groove to stay next to Shuryan until lap 5 when Bill Heeney Jr. joined in as they went three abreast for the lead. Landis was hooked up down the backstretch and finally took the lead on lap 10. Lap 13 had Heeney Jr. spinning into the infield and ending his fine 2nd place run. The restart had two groove racing throughout the pack as Jon McNett worked John Ledwidge for 4th and Harry Foote Jr. got by Chris Place for 6th. By lap 25, Foote and Phil Massuch once again took to the outside as they followed holes created by Charlie Ryan Jr.. Ryan and Foote then hooked up to take Ledwidge for 3rd. Lap 35 had the lead pack mixing it up as McNett and Ledwidge spun fighting for 4th. The restart had both sent to the rear and Jack Landis victory hopes ended as he headed to the pits with a flat tire. Shuryan reclaimed the point, but had the heavy hitters of Ryan and Foote on his tail. With 20 laps to go, Ryan went to the outside to take the lead and once again Foote followed. Doug Finley was becoming the fastest car on the track as he took 3rd from Shuryan and looked to battle the lead duo. Finley was up to Foote for 2nd as Foote worked Ryan for the lead. These three put on a show of old, as the last ten laps were up for grabs until Foote claimed the lead with 8 laps to go and went on for the win as Finley beat out Ryan for 2nd. Massuch took home 4th and Shuryan 5th. Stan Perry, Jeff Hackworth , Place, McNett (from the rear) and Dale Lewis rounded out the top 10. Finley also claimed the Hard Charger Award from his 11th starting spot. The 15-lap Semi-Feature was taken by Tim Ryan, followed by Lee Taylor and Chad Bisset. Phil Massuch set fast time at 13:075 for the 30 Metro Ford SuperLate Models.
The Michigan Modifieds followed with their own 50-lap feature and a 15-car invert put Bob Bauer and Bud Perry on the front row. The “Ohio Posse” took the early lead and was never headed . The lead trio of Perry, Mike Logan and Bauer set sail as the battle for 4th heated up between Jason Parish, Jim Butler and Dick Mauer. As the lead trio encountered heavy lapped traffic, Logan took his shot at Perry, but traffic allowed Bauer to sneak by for 2nd. Perry was then able to fend off many restarts to take the win over Bauer, Logan, Jim Butler and Jason Parish. Larry Wallace, Dick Lapratt, Terry Goldberg, Ron Parish Sr. and Bill Butler rounded out the top 10. “Double Duty” Lee Taylor took home the Semi over Wayne Houghton and Dan Hamel. Clint Heinz led the 29-car field in qualifying with a lap of 13:764.
The 25-lap Performance N.W. Street Stock feature had a deep 16-car invert putting Bruce Jones and Wayne Beckner Jr. on the front row. The front row ran side-by-side and swapped the lead as the entire pack stayed in formation through lap 7. Pat Dent was quickly working his way to the front , when Stan Lambert went into turn 3 a little hot and spun both. The restart had both sent to the rear as Beckner Jr. took the point. Mike Havens was the man on the move as he snuck up to 3rd by lap 10. Havens and Rich Kinch were all over Beckner Jr. for the lead. Beckner could not make his car wide enough to hold off both as Kinch took the lead. Wayne’s brother Brian Beckner stalled allowing Wayne to reclaim the point for the restart. Havens was able to take Beckner Jr. on the restart as Kinch battled Rob Marten for 3rd. Havens took the win over Marten and Mike McEwan as Beckner and Kinch got shuffled to 4th and 5th at the stripe.
Mike Valasquez, Wayne Beckner Jr. and Doc Dutton took the heat wins and Rob Patrick won the Semi-feature. Rob Marten set fast time for the 34-car field at 14:578.
The Post-Net Pony Stocks 17-car field had Mannie Goodrich the early leader until Missy Bishop took the point with Trie Dubble in tow. Lap 5 had Dubble taking the lead as points leader, Cathy Clingan worked the outside and was up to 2nd by lap 7. With 4 laps to go, Clingan took the lead as Dubble fell off the pace. Clingan went on to win over Bishop, first timer; Jeremy Verhoff and Andy Sands. The heat wins went to Missy Bishop and first time winner, 14-year old Kenny Clark. A post race claim of Clingan’s car by Dubble was rejected and she had to forfiet the win to Bishop and lost all her seasons points.
This Friday we will return to the normal format as we run heats for all divisions. We thank all the drivers and fans for trying the new format and all your input. Mason State Bank will present the Kyle Petty show car and wrecker parade. Racing starts at 7:30 sharp at “The Track the Stars Call Home” –Spartan Speedway.
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