8/8/2016
Tri-City Motor Speedway
Race Results from 8/5/2016
08/05/16 Crop Production Services Feature Winners
Melling Select Late Models: #6r Carl Ries
Suspension MAXX Street Stocks: #96 Shane Wright
Main Street Seed and Supply IMCA Modified: #20w AJ Ward
Elgin Pro Stock: #71 Timmy Near
Thornton Brother’s Septic Service Bomber Stocks: #18 Nick Putman
Walker’s Ideal Trophies Mini Wedge: #3 Mason Clements
Ward’s IMCA Modified Winning Streak now 11 Straight at Tri-City Motor Speedway
08/05/2016 (Auburn MI) There was many storylines to follow on Crop Production Services night at Tri-City Motor Speedway this past Friday night. The month of August begins the final stretch of races to determine a track champion in each division. The Elgin Pro Stocks had a 36-lap $866 to win feature event. With that race, fans had an opportunity to win $100 in our annual Power Ball event. Also, over the week, TCMS promoter Steve Puvalowski placed a $250 bounty on Main Street Seed and Supply driver #20w AJ Ward for anyone that could snap his 10-race winning streak.
The Ideal Trophies Mini Wedge drivers brought out the first feature event of the evening. #7 Jonny Staszak, who had won his heat, #3 Mason Clements, and #38 Jennifer Young put on an exciting 10 lap feature with a great dual between Staszak and Clements. Staszak would reel in Clements on the final lap, but Clements was able to win by inches over Staszak at the line. Young would finish in third.
Thornton Brothers Sewer Service Bomber Stock Division point race is going to come down to season championship night in order to determine the 2016 Champion. Entering the night, the top five drivers were all separated by less than 10 points. Last week’s winner #77 Stacie Staszak won her heat race handily. Her win from the previous week put her on the tail of the field for the 12-lap feature. #18 Nick Putman would take full advantage of his front row starting spot to lead all 12 laps and pick up the win . Staszak would finish the event as the runner up and was followed by #09 Jack Freese, #13 Preston DeShano, and #21 Andy Koczenasz. The win has now moved Putman into a tie with #13 Preston DeShano heading into next week. The top four drivers are now separated by just two points in the chase for the championship.
Nineteen Elgin Pro Stock drivers were on hand for their special 36-lap feature paying $866 to win. #71 Timmy Near has been unstoppable in the past 6 weeks with the bulk of his five wins coming in the last three race nights. He set the tone early during the Break The Track Record pre-race event by not only setting the quick time in the class, but also breaking the track record that had been held by former Champion Steven Hilliker. The Bridgeport driver, who was four tenths of a second quicker than the field in qualifying, easily won his heat race along #x88 Eric Lake in his first Pro Stock race. It was no wonder that the fans had their eye on the #71 at the start of the big event. Pole sitter and point leader #14 Nate Jones would capture the first lap before #80 Jeramie Raby would take the lead for the next four laps. It looked like maybe Raby had something for Near as they would battle intensely before Raby pulled off the track on lap six. This handed the lead to Near which was all he needed as he cruised to his fourth win in a row. Not only was the win big for Near, it also gave one lucky winner in the grandstands $100 for having the power ball with the #71 on it! #57 TJ Gilbert would have to settle for his third runner-up finish in a row and was followed by rookie #28 Jared Rizer, #99 Rick Beauchamp, #44 Jeff Haley, #21d Darren Mularz, #9s Marc Super, #93 John Robbins, #@73 Don Colbath III, and #66t Rick Trewartha. With the third consecutive second place finish, Gilbert moves to the top of the standings one point ahead of Jones.
Nine different winners have graced victory lane in the Melling Select Late Models so far in 2016 with the only multiple feature winner being Dona Marcoullier. 24 drivers were on hand to see if they could take home the top prize at the end of the 25-lap feature. Qualifying races were captured by last week’s winner #3 Kyle Roberts, #21 Steven Hilliker, and #6r Carl Ries. The B-main winner was #0p Kris Patterson Jr. #11x Ryan Lanphierd and Hilliker would lead the field of 20 to the green flag with Lanphierd taking the opening lap. Hilliker, who has been getting more comfortable with his late model, would lead up until lap 15. Ries, working the bottom groove, would pass Hilliker in turn four and lead the remaining 10 laps for his first TCMS victory of 2016. He was able to hold off a hard-charging #4t Andrew Terrill, #14 Tyler Norton, Hilliker, and Roberts. #13 Scott Baker, Lanphierd, #24 Alex Hupert, Patterson Jr., and #24 Joe Pomeroy completed the top ten. With another top five race finish, Terrill widened his lead atop the Late Model point standings to 20 points over #19 Derrick Hilliker.
The big news this week out of TCMS was the Bounty that was placed on #20w AJ Ward in the Main Street Seed and Supply IMCA Modified division. With Ward being undefeated in his ten starts, a $250 bonus was put up for any driver that could prove worthy enough to beat Ward in the 20 lap feature. Ward would begin the feature in the ninth starting spot with #776k Ken Zeigler and father #776r Rusty Zeigler leading the field of 21 to the green flag. Rusty would spin in turn two on the opening lap that would cause a lot of contact amongst drivers throughout the pack including Ward. Once the field went back to green, #27 Matt Szecsodi led lap one before Auburn driver #03c Chris Cohoon would pace the field. Cohoon would build a straightaway advantage on the field by hugging the bottom groove of the race track. By lap fourteen, the long green flag run would allow Cohoon to reach lapped traffic. Cohoon would find that the slower cars would be difficult to get around, which allowed for the rest of the field, including Ward, to catch him. On lap nineteen, Ward was within striking distance for a last lap challenge for the win and continuation of his impressive winning streak. Ward would pull along the outside of Cohoon in turn two and drag race him to turn three. At this point, the crowd was on its feet as both drivers came out of turn four in a dead heat. However, the high side momentum that Ward had would be enough to overtake Cohoon at the line by a half-car length and capture that 11th straight win. K. Zeigler, Szecsodi, #4s Toby Steele, #33 Todd Matheson, #187 Gavin Hunyady, #42 Craig Vance, #511 Chaz Pray, and R. Zeigler completed the top ten finishers.
The final event of the night, the Suspension MAXX Street Stock Class, had a tough act to follow after witnessing the thrilling modified feature. Qualifying races to narrow the field down to the 20 who would start the feature were won by #57 TJ Gilbert, point leader #96 Shane Wright, #x5 Eric Lake, and last week’s winner #50 Jake Thompson. Front row starter #17d David Doty would overtake pole sitter #35 Josh Kunisch to lead the first four laps before being battled by Gilbert. They would swap the lead for a number of laps before Gilbert, who had just taken the lead, had his motor break. This handed the lead back to Doty until lap 12 when Wright would take over the lead after battling from his twelfth place starting position. That pass would prove to be the final pass for the lead as Wright would take the checkered flag and extend his point lead. #3 Mitch Clements, who had the fastest car towards the end of the event ran out of laps to catch the leader and had to settle for a runner-up finish. Doty held on to third and was followed by #21 Dan Engel, #67 Ryan Fitzgerald, Thompson, #80 Aaron Mieske, #7r Kevin Newcomb, #31 Bob Robinson, and #15.2 Robert Cunningham.
This Friday, it is the final Figure-8 race of 2016!! 24 laps of criss-cross crazy action through the intersection for street stock-type cars!! Grandstand Admission is $14 for adults, 55 and better $13, 7-15 yr olds $5, and those under 6 get in for absolutely free. Start making plans to join us on Wednesday, August 24th as the American Ethanol Late Model Series will crown a 2016 Champion! In addition, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon will be on hand to compete on the 3/8ths clay oval with Michigan’s best Late Model Drivers!!! No need to wait in line on race day! Save yourself time and preorder your tickets online now at www.tricityracetrack.com . Free rustic camping is also available!!!
Submitted By: Steve Puvalowski
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