By: Spartan correspondent, Michelle Sprague
On the evening of June 18th, with the threat of strong storms looming on the horizon, officials at the Spartan Speedway opted to run an abbreviated “features only” racing program. The Racestatus.com MCR dwarfs were first on the docket with Dewitt’s Craig Curtis taking the win. Eric Hoffman ran second until Jon Wylie, who worked his way up from the rear of the field after an earlier altercation, got around him with four laps to go and was able to hang on for a second place finish. Hoffman came home third with Jim Miller and Stephen Bobek rounding out the top five. The Valvoline Instant Oil Change Modified division took a shot at their feature, but came up a couple laps short, as heavy storms rolled in. Rob Newman led a majority of the 50 laps but had mechanical issues and retired to pit, briefly turning the lead over to Ron Parish. Larry Wallace took the lead away six laps later and tried to outrun both Parish and the weather. Eventually, Mother Nature won out and the checker was flown early. At the stripe, it was Wallace, Parish, Chris Ozanich, Justin Kazmar, and Sonny Coito.
The 2nd Sunday Slugfest and Stan Perry “Godfather 75” fared much better weather-wise, as Sunday, June 20th was a beautiful day to honor the impact that Stan Perry had on the Spartan racing family. Twenty five Andrews Chevrolet Super Late Models from across the state showed up to try and make the 20-car field. Logan Beckwith posted fast time in qualifying and by virtue of a 10-car invert, started 10th. Randy Day and Doug Finley brought the field down to the green, marking the start of a caution riddled event. Andy Bozell and Finley swapped the lead time and time again, taking turns choosing the preferred line on every double-file restart until about lap 32 when Bozell was able to nail down the top spot. Beckwith worked his way into second behind Bozell, with Day, Finely and Phil Massuch wanting a piece of the action. Bozell and Beckwith were able to pull away after a late race caution. Beckwith was never able to find a way around Bozell, but Finley, Massuch and Jimmy Gallagher were able to get around Day to finish in the top five. Andy Bozell, of Portage, is a two-time winner of the Godfather 75.
The Sunday Slugfest proved to be just that…a slugfest. Lots of crumpled fenders and bruised egos left the Spartan Speedway, thinking ahead to the next installment in July. The Boss Snow Equipment Pony Stocks saw Lex Jarecki lead a majority of the A-feature race, but Wayne Beckner Jr. made a last lap pass and nipped Lex at the line for the win. Patrick Denison, Todd Metz Jr. and Todd Metz Sr. rounded out the top five. Darrell Taylor had a stellar run going in the B-feature with Patrick Denison’s back-up car. Joe Bates had other plans though. He tailed Taylor for a number of laps, jumped to the high side of Taylor, and took the lead away with six laps remaining. Taylor began to fade as Randy Kretzinger Jr. and Tyler Heeney got around him as laps wound down. At the line, it was Bates, Kretzinger, Heeney, Taylor and Kyle Everson. Edson Rowley III took the Pony Stock Figure-8 win.
Todd Foote, of PawPaw, took the Sportsman feature win, with Chris Shannon, Ron Heeney, Mike Ammerman and Jimmy Scavarda rounding out the top five. Foote set sail for the front and never looked back, taking the lead from Shannon on lap 10 and opening up a wide margin of victory.
The Pure Stock division was a knock down, bare-knuckle slugfest with 21 cars taking the green and on the last restart, just 12 cars remained. Lap 25 ended with a huge altercation involving nearly half of the remaining field. When the smoke cleared, it was Chad Lamson with the win. Lamson also took the Figure-8 win for the division.
Please join us each and every Friday night for exciting racing action. June 25th is Andrews Chevrolet Night and Burn-Out Contest. On the docket are the Andrews Chevrolet Super Late Models, Pure Stocks and Boss Snow Equipment Pony Stocks. July 2nd is a MOD 50 for Valvoline Instant Oil Change Modifieds, and it is Motorcycle Night. Motorcycles are admitted half-off at general admission gate with parade laps at intermission. Featured divisions for the evening are the Sawyers Superstore Wingless Sprints, Pure Stocks and Boss Snow Equipment Pony Stocks. As always, we’ll see you at the races!
