Massuch, Perry, Hidy, Van Gorden and Erlenbeck Harvest Winners
Fox 47, Lipari Foods and McClaire Mortgage welcomed a full house to Spartan Speedway for Poor Paul's 25th Anniversary Harvest 250.
The Art Moehen Super Late Models 100-lap feature had an excellent invert of 15 cars. Lenny Roberts and Ben Hidy brought the field down for the green flag. Roberts took the early lead as a bizarre incident had Charlie Ryan Jr's transmission fly out and bounce off cars and into the infield. The end result had Dan Graham, Larry Roberts and Ryan heading to the pits with damage. The restart had Roberts leading when Hidy looped him coming out of turn 2. Both drivers were sent to the rear and Joey Shuryan claimed the point. The race heated up in the pack as Harry Foote, Jimmy Thiel and Phil Massuch headed to teh front. Thiel seemed to have the fastest car on the track, but could not get by Foote as they battled Bill Heeney Jr. for 4th. Lap 30 had the drivers into lapped cars and Massuch snuck under Thiel for 4th. Up front, Shuryan continued to lead as Owosso rookie, Rob Buckley was having a great run in 2nd. John Ledwidge got under Buckley for 2nd as Foote and Massuch followed.
Lap 46 had Ledwidge taking the lead as Massuch beat Foote for 2nd. The best racing was all up front as Massuch then took over the point from Ledwidge. Gremlins hit Logan Beckwith and Doug Finley as they headed to the pits. Massuch was hooked up and took off for a 1/2 lap lead as Ledwidge, Foote and Thiel ran under a blanket for 2nd. Foote was busy holding off Theil as they crossed the finish line. Shuryan brought home 5th followed by Heeney Jr. and Jeff Hackworth. K-Zoo's Ken Kirby took the Semi Feature over Jimmy Gallegher and Chip Garlock. Doug Finley set fast time at 13.183 for the 31 car field.
The 50-lap Michigan Modified feature had a nice 15-car invert putting Lee Taylor and Justin Kazmar on the pole. Taylor took the early lead as the "Ohio Posse" Bud Perry jumped to the outside and was up to 3rd by lap 8. Perry quickly took the lead followed by Taylor and Mike Wells. Bill Luckherst followed Perry's line and was putting on a show as he worked up to 2nd from his 11th starting spot. Perry held a 10-car length lead as Luckherst quickly got a mirror full of Harry Parish. Jason Parish got by Taylor with 6 laps to go but had to settle for 4th at the line. Perry took the win as Luckherst held on over Parish, Jaon Parish and Lee Taylor.
Dick Mauer won the semi feature over Mike Piette, and Kyle Hicks. Harry Parish set fast time at 13.735 for the 31-car field.
The 50-lap Performance NW Street Stocks had Jason Hitsman and Ed Newman the front row. Newman ttok the early lead as fast qualifier, Mark Abee broke. Pat Dent, Mike McEwan and Mike Havens fought hard for 8th as John Forsythe battled Ken Clingan for 3rd. Lap 20 had Forsythe the quick car as he caught Newman for the lead. Dent was busy working Hitman for 3rd when a caution flew. The restart had Dent using his patented restart move to the outside of Forsythe. They touched, sending Dent into the wall and Forsythe limped to the pits with a flat tire. Both drivers were done for the night. Landon Hidy was quickly gaining positions and was in 3rd with 20 laps to go. A wild last 20 laps had Newman, Hidy and Hitsman trading paint for the lead. Hidy used the lapped car of John Ward to go three wide into turn 3. Ward spun into the infield causing a caution. The restart had Hidy diving under Newman into turn 1 for the lead. The two touched numerous times until Hidy prevailed down the backstretch. Hidy went on to win his largest victory of his career over Clingan, Newman, Hitsman and McEwan. Hitsman nipped Dave Parker for Semi-Feature #1 and Jerry Gifford beat Chris Gay for Semi #2. Mark Abee lead teh 41 car field with a lap of 14.724.
The Post-Net Pony Stocks had Chris VanGorden heading to the front from his 12th starting spot. Jason Townsend took the lead from the pole until being black flagged for speeding. VanGorden took off as Cathie Clingan was tapped by Sarles in turn 4, collecting Andy Sands and Norv Turner. The restart had Vangorden leading with Julie Abbot closing. Abbot caught VanGorden with 5 laps to go as the leader met traffic. VanGorden and Abbot went side by side for the last lap with VanGorden taking the win by inches over Abbot on the outside. Kyle Ballard brought home 3rd followed by Kenny Clark and Missy Bishop. Townsend and VanGorden won the heats and Clingan set quick time at 16.950.
The always exciting figure 8's were last out and and record field of 26 cars took the green flag. Ray Derminer and Randy Gilbert were the front row as Derminer took off and was not stopping as he was the early leader. Heavy, heavy, heavy intersection traffic filled the entire event as many times both sides just stopped. Joyce Derminer had her car being turned into a truck as she lost her rear sheetmetal due to being a used as a car ramp! Ray was leading until a hit in the x with Terry Winstead allowed drivers to get by. Frank Erlenbeck and Steve Utley set sail as cars blocked the intersection. It was a scorers nightmare as Utley looked to take the lead from Erlenbeck.
As the duo race through the "X" for the chekered flag, it was blocked and both drivers split to oppsosite sides. Utley lost control and almost flipped as Erlenbeck went on for the win over Utley who righted himself to get 2nd over Lonnie Hill. A post race inspection of a taped replay looked to have Erlenbeck a lap down and as of press time a winner has not been decided. {Erlenbeck was the winner}
Spartan Speedway would like to thank all the drivers and fans for making the 2002 Harvest 250 the best in the tracks history. This weekend we will have a special Fun Night as the Modifieds, Street Stocks and Pony Stocks hold a special event along with mechanics and Powder Puff races.
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