The 2003 season continues to heat up every Saturday Night at the Kinross Speedway and this past weekend was no exception.With 6 race nights under their belts, the drivers put on the closest racing of the season in all 4 divisions to the delight of everyone in attendance.
As has been the case all season long the Factory Stock division displayed how close it really is once again.Seven cars qualified in the 15-second bracket with Pee Wee Fountain (50) being the fastest at 15.560 seconds.Mark Beaudoin (74) took the 4-car dash win while Jason Praysner (5) continued his battle for the track championship by taking home the Australian Pursuit.
Strongs, Michigan native Kevin Johnson (37) was victorious in the 10-lap heat race.Paul Fox (36) and Josh Ware (7) would lead the field down to the line for their 20-lap main event.Ware, who recorded his fastest qualifying times of the season earlier on, would lead the pack through the first 3 laps before Beaudoin would sweep the lead away on lap #4.The defending-track champion was now followed closely by Praysner and Johnson as Ware had dropped back to 4th.Cecil Piche (88) was absent through majority of the race as he went pitside on lap 2 only to return on lap 14. Jerry Ball was also pitside after completing 1 lap around the Speedway.Beaudoin and Praysner would be side-by-side the final 5 laps of this one but the streak would continue for Beaudoin as he would take home his 4th consecutive feature win since returning to the Speedway this season. Praysner, Dave Devine (4), Ware and Paul Fox (36) rounded out the top 5.
The Super Late Model division would see current point-leader Tim Aho (27) set fast time at 13.970.Dave Vansloten (33) would grab the four-car dash before backing that up with the win in the 10-lap heat race.Dennis Aho (75) and Mark Howland (45) would bring the field to the green flag for 20 laps of feature racing.The division would be minus 1 car after Jason Praysner (5) blew an engine during the heat earlier in the night.Dennis would grab the lead on lap one only to swap it back and forth with Howland three times before the caution would fly on lap 9.Vansloten would tag the rear with Howland your current leader.Once back underway Vansloten would only take 3 laps before he would be your leader on lap 11.It would be smooth sailing there on in, as Vansloten would grab his 3rd straight feature.Howland and Tim Aho (27) took top 3 honours.
Seventeen cars would find themselves to the Speedway on this night to represent the always-exciting Pure Stock Division.
Todd Ferguson (57) would set the time to beat early on and no one would dethrone him after a qualifying lap of 16.860.Korey Lavigne (72), in his first appearance of the season, would grab the early bragging rights with the win in the four-car dash.Richard Huyck (27) would grab Australian Pursuit #1 while Bill Cryderman (61) would be the victor in Australian Pursuit #2.Larry Young Jr. (25) and Barry Glenn (55) would grab their respective heat races.
Huyck and Mike Porcaro (15) made up the front row and brought the field to the green flag of this 25-lap affair.Porcaro lead the pack through the first 3 trips around the ¼ mile before Young Jr. would take over.The Soo, Michigan native was looking unbeatable early on in this one as him and Porcaro had a healthy lead on the rest of the field until a couple of cautions bunched up the pack.Young Jr. would continue to lead with Barry Glenn (55) in third, Cryderman fourth and Ben Huyck (28) fifth as they crossed the line on lap 18.Two laps later Cryderman and Young Jr. would come together in turn 2 resulting in a caution flag that would see Young Jr. go pitside to fix a flat tire and Cryderman would retain his current position in fourth.The restart would see Porcaro your new leader with only 3 laps to go.
By lap 23 Huyck was now challenging for the lead and once the white flag would fly he moved to the outside of Porcaro heading into turn 1.These two cars would run side-by-side the final lap of this race before Huyck would edge out his counter-part with a photo finish at the line.Porcaro, Lavigne, Cryderman, Joe Addison (43), Ray Golladay (22), Ray Golladay Jr. (20), Larry Young Sr. (26), Bob Laphew (99) and Terry Johnson (11) made up the top 10.Jared Nightlinger (48) would be the fastest of the 4-Cylinders once again, this time pacing the Speedway in 18.200 seconds.John Mayer (9) won the four-car dash before James Thompson (8) would grab the Australian Pursuit victory.Nightlinger took the checkered flag in the heat race.
James Orr (24) and William Odbert (23) occupied row 1 for their final race of the night.This one would be a little different than usual, as for the first time since week 1, track officials opted to run them the opposite direction around the Speedway.Orr would navigate his way as your leader for 4-laps before Mayer would take his 6th starting position to the front of the field.Your defending track champion was looking to grab valuable points after missing the action one week earlier with car problems but he had company by lap 6 as Nightlinger was breathing down his back.Your top 2-point getters were within striking range of many drivers including the 8 machine of James Thompson and #2 truck of Johnny Fountain Jr. but as time went on the distance got bigger.Mayer would continue to lead the pack until the final lap of this one as Nightlinger would maneuver his way through some lapped traffic and onto the win.Mayer, Thompson, Fountain Jr. and John Clawson (35) made up the top 5.
The Speedway would like to thank Coca-Cola Bottling of Michigan for all their great prizes on this night as well as commending all the drivers and fans who contributed to the 50/50 draw in support of the Lavigne Family.Your generous donations were much appreciated by all and showed how much we can rally amongst our racing family …. THANK-YOU!!
Racing at the Speedway resumes this coming Saturday, August 9th with a full 4-in-1 show along with a Mechanic’s Race and Intermission Driver Autograph Session.Time trials are at 4:30 p.m. with racing to follow at 6 p.m.
Don’t forget to check us out online at www.kinrossspeedway.com for all the information on the Randy Dewitt Memorial Invitational taking place on Saturday, September 13th!!
For another week we thank you and hope to see you all trackside “Where Action is the Attraction!” …. the Kinross Speedway!