Competition Hot During Who Warm-up
With “The Who 55” only 5 days off, 34 Super Late Models arrived at Merritt Speedway for Saturday night qualifying to check their setups. Several of these drivers had journeyed hundreds of miles from their homes for this opportunity. When the clock was tripped for the final time, Rail Rokos of Traverse City had set fast time at 13.82 seconds followed by Brandon Thirlby, also of Traverse City, David Hilliker of Midland and Rich Robinson Sr. of Shepard. Prior to the dash won by Thirlby, on track ceremonies honored Merritt Speedway’s finest by Michigan’s finest, as Frank Seder of Alger and Leo Pego of Mt Pleasant were nominated into the Michigan Racing Hall of Fame. Heated competition that had the stands buzzing as Andy Chester of Kingsley won Heat 1, Bob Hammer of Boon took Heat 2, Heat 3 went to Rusty Seavers of Stanton, Kris Patterson of St. Johns took honors in Heat 4 and Dona Marcoullier won the B Main.
As the feature event can on the track may fans were on the fence waving to their favorite. Tom Sprague Jr. of Muskegon was on the pole and brought the field to the green, taking command of the race. By lap 3, Seder moved into 2nd from his 6th place starting spot and at half way Eric Spangler of Lake City was in 4th, improving his start by 9 positions. When the checkered flag flow, Sprague and Seder had run 16 laps side by side with Sprague getting the nod. “Frank was really working me, I haven’t had to work that hard for a win in a long time,” said Sprague, “but this just makes it more gratifying.” Seder was 2nd followed by Spangler, Donnie Marcoullier of Houghton Lake, Justin McNeill of Gladwin, Joe Pomeroy of Cass City, Chuck Powell of Harrison, Seavers, Allen Markel of West Branch and Dona Marcoullier rounded out the top ten.
In Michigan Modified action Lawrence Sprague of Mt Pleasant was fasted in qualifying with Mark Kurth of Gaylord winning the dash. Brent Banning and Greg Wangler Sr. of West Branch won Heat 1 & 2 respectfully, with Kyle Roberts of Beaverton finishing 1st in Heat 3 and John Taylor of Mt Pleasant winning the B main. When the green flag flew, Brian Brindley of West Branch brought the field into turn one with Kurth and Sprague nipping on his heals. For the first hand full of laps, Brindley and Kurth traded paint and positions before Kurth took the lead on lap 7 on his way to the win. With the race winding down Chad Bauer of Farwell and Rich Robinson Jr. of Mt. Pleasant had worked into 2nd and 3rd, with Banning showing, “that dog can hunt” moving from 20th to 4th. The remaining top ten where Sprague, Chris Wiggens of Mt Pleasant, Brindley, Dave Mairose of West Branch, Brain Thomas of Freeland and Bob Kingen of West Branch.
Pro Truck excitement started early with rookie Mike Nelson Jr. of Cadillac setting the high mark in qualifying and winning the dash. The veterans not wanting to be out done took both heat races with Dick Stout of Houghton Lake taking Heat 1 and Mike Kresnak of Elwell atop Heat 2. The “A Main” started with Ian Knoertzer of Gladwin grabbing the lead and setting sail until a mechanical failure sidelined him at lap 17. This handed the lead to Karl Mead of Reed City who had been shadowing Knoertzer and would soon be celebrating his 1st feature win. Craig Foster of Lake City was 2nd followed by J.T. Anderson of Cadillac, Richie Sutherland of Merritt, Adam Brinks of Cadillac, Stout, Blake Meyering of Cadillac, Bob Hammer of Boom, Shane Branscombe of Lake City and Dave Degroat of Houghton Lake Heights.
For the first time this season the Modified 4 Cylinder Division ran the 4 turns at Merritt Speedway with both the heat and feature ending with the same outcome. Alex Hubert of Augres won both events followed by Trevor Fedewa of Mt Pleasant, Cody Bauer of Farwell and Cindy Malcolm of Harrison.
In the Theme Bee’s, Darrin Bowers of Marion extended his point lead over Tyler Hacker of Houghton Lake and Brittney Morris of Cadillac, winning both the heat and feature races.
Thursday, June 12, 2008 is “The Who 55” presented by Lane Automotive and K&N filter, also the “Dart Race of Champions”. Gates open at 3:00 PM with a Drivers Meeting at 5:00 PM, qualifying starting at 5:30 PM, children under 12 get in to the Grand Stands free with a paid adult, check here for all updates. SEE YA AT THE RACES!!
Submitted by: Bob Steele
Merritt Speedway
