7/29/2018
Tri-City Motor Speedway
7/27/2018 Race Results
07/27/2018 Valley Electrical Contractors/ Meijer Kids and Autograph Night
- Melling Performance Late Model: #24 Alex Hupert
- Suspension MAXX Street Stocks: #x5 Eric Lake
- Main Street Seed and Supply IMCA Modified: #79 Nate Jones
- Walker’s Ideal Trophies Mini-Wedge (6-9yr old): #80 Preston Mieske
- Walker’s Ideal Trophies Mini-Wedge (10-14yr old): #15 Cole Doty
- Mueller Performance Engines Pro Stocks: #K11 Kendall Morrison
- Thornton Brothers Sewer and Septic Service FWD Bomber Stocks: #52 Richard Schuler
Lake and Jones Join Five-Timers Club at Tri-City Motor Speedway
07/27/2018 (Auburn, MI) The 2018 TCMS race season is quickly winding down. With only a few weeks remaining, the pressure to win has increased the driver’s levels of intensity. Those yet to be crowned as winners this season are hungry to grab their chance for a feature win. Those that had success are just as motivated to add to their season’s total. One-hundred seventeen drivers from across Michigan and Ohio wheeled their machines in front of an enthusiastic crowd last Friday night at the Auburn speed plant.
After a jam-packed autograph session, the Main Street Seed and Supply IMCA Modified division took to the track for their 20-lap main event. #33 Todd Matheson and #27k Kevin McFarland brought the field of twenty to the green with Matheson immediately jumping to the front. Matheson looked as if he was going to run away with the win until an issue with his car caused him to suddenly spin in turn four with just four laps remaining. That spin also ended the night for third place running #03 Chris Cohoon as he was unable to avoid Matheson. With Matheson out, second place driver #79 Nate Jones was handed the lead and held off point leader #27 Matt Szecsodi for his fifth feature win of the year. With the finish, Jones picks up a championship point on Szecsodi and closes the gap to just two points. #615 Chad Wernette, #187 Gavin Hunyady, and #511 Chaz Pray wrapped up the remaining top five positions at the finish. #80 Aaron Mieske had to fight his way into a starting spot for the feature by winning the last chance qualifying race. Heat race winners included 2017 Champion #19jr Kody Johnson, Wernette, and #4s Toby Steele.
The Walker’s Ideal Trophies Mini Wedge Junior Division saw a first time winner in the 6-9yr old class as #80 Preston Mieske kept hard-charging #12 Morgan Bujarski and point leader #54 Addison Clink behind him to capture the checkered flag in their 10-lap feature. The DeShano duo of #5 Brennan and #28 Kyron would finish fourth and fifth. #15 Cole Doty added another win to his 2018 statistics in the 10-14yr old senior class. The Shepherd driver wheeled his way around #2e Easton Murray and #36 Jeniffer Young on lap two and cruised to the finish. Doty also won his heat race along with Brennan and Kyron DeShano.
A strong field of twenty-five SuspensionMAXX Street Stocks needed to be whittled down to the best twenty to start their twenty-lap pinnacle race of the night. Clare’s #81 Dustin Barlow, #96 Cade Schafer, and #15.2 Robert Cunningham won their qualifying heat races. Fourteen year old rookie #46 Tyler Moore won the last chance race to gain his entry to the feature. Four and five-wide racing thrilled the fans while rookie #18n Nick Putnam and Barlow would lead the charge. They exchanged the lead a number of times before 10th place starter and point leader #x5 Eric Lake took the top spot with three laps to go. Lake finished ahead of the field for his fifth trophy of 2018. Putman had his best finish of the year with a second place effort. Barlow finished ahead of #21 Kyle Thomas with #84 Eric Watz completing the top five finishing positions.
Attrition was the main competitor in the Thornton Brothers Sewer and Septic Service FWD Bomber Stock feature. Ten drivers took the green flag with #52 Richard Shuler taking control of the field. #80 Daryl McBride moved his way from fifth to challenge Shuler. The two drivers swapped the lead through most of the midpoint in the 15-lap battle. On lap 13, McBride would suddenly drop off the pace leaving Shuler alone in the front of the three others that survived to see the finish. #7 John Staszak, #17 James Antku and #0 Aaron Wentworth Jr. were those remaining at the checkered flag. McBride’s car was strong earlier as he and #01tk Brad Treichel topped their respective heat races.
A front stretch pile-up on the initial lap of the 30-lap feature damaged a number of top running drivers including point leader and two-time defending Melling Performance Late Model Champion driver #4t Andrew Terrill. With Terrill out of contention for a win, the rest of the field had the opportunity to gain points on the champion leader. Front row starter #6r Carl Ries held of the advances of #03 JC Witherspoon, #76 Torrey Ahrens, and #21s Steven Hilliker. But it was #24 Alex Hupert, one of the many cars sustaining damage in the lap one incident, who would out master Reis and the rest of the field for the eventual win. Hilliker could only muster a runner-up finish ahead of Ahrens, Ries, and #9 Isaac Wolfgang. #04 Wade Witherspoon, #4x Chad Anklam, and Ries collected heat race gold.
The Mueller’s Performance Engines Pro Stock feature was the final event of the evening. All twenty-one drivers took the initial green flag for the twenty-lap race. On lap three, contact sent champion contender #77 Chris Malek into a spin and over onto his roof. Malek was unhurt but his car was not able to continue. Pole-sitter #93 John Robbins clung to the bottom groove leading the first fifteen laps. While he led, #99 Rick Beauchamp and #27 Rob Westergard took numerous stabs at the lead but was unable to wrestle it from Robbins. As the race for the lead was being swapped amongst the three drivers, the two championship contending cars of #28 Jared Rizer and #K11 Kendall Morrison, were climbing their way to the front from the back of the field. Morrison was able to pass Rizer using the very top groove of the track and, eventually, grabbed the lead from Robbins. Morrison would pull away and captured an impressive win over Rizer, Beauchamp, #67 Ryan Fitzgerald, and Westergard. Robbins would end up thirteenth after contact sent him into the infield in the closing laps. Westergard, Beauchamp, and rookie #65 Matt Shaaf were the earlier heat race winners.
The Tri- City Motor Speedway and the team will be on vacation next weekend to prepare for the final Championship push!! We will be back on Friday August 10th for the Championship Pre-Show! It’s the final night to earn those coveted championship points before Championship night! In addition, we celebrate the upcoming school year with the annual Back to School Bike Bash! Kids 4-15 years of age with their own pedal bike and helmet will get a chance to race on the track! . Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, Mini-Wedge, Street Stocks, Pro Stocks, and FWD Bomber Stocks will be back in action. Walk in with ease without standing in the long lines on race day by purchasing your tickets online today at www.tricityracetrack.com. Don’t let your summer slip away without a visit to Michigan’s ultimate dirt track racing destination: Tri-City Motor Speedway.
Article Credit: Roger Williams
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