Great Lakes Super Sprints

7/21/2017

GLSS-Great Lakes Super Sprints

HORSTMAN TAKES NIGHT 1 OF TRIPLE HEADER

Auburn, MI – Jared Horstman (Cloverdale, OH), starts 6th in the feature and works his way past 5 cars to take the lead in the 6th lap. With a few cautions and a red flag stoppage, Horstman was still able to hold off a hard charging Matt Foos (Fremont, OH) who worked his way up to a car length behind Horstman from 12th place. With his 2nd feature win this year at Tri-City Motor Speedway, tonights win is Horstmans 7th of this season, solidifying his lead in the points race.

Tonight was the opener of our Mid-Season Triple Header Weekend and was the first race for the K&N Sprint Invaders and the Great Lakes Super Sprints since our rain out July 3rd at Waynesfield Raceway Park. In spite of loosing a couple cars from Ohio that turned around after truck troubles, we had a full field of 21 cars registered. Surprise visitors dropping in to race with us this weekend were John Schulz from West Berlington, IA in the #99 Jim Davies car, Shawn Murray of Jacksonville, FL and Darren Orth of Jacksonville, FL.

As the cars pushed off for qualifying, it was quickly apparent that track owner Steve Puvalowski had a great track prepared! When qualifying was over, Kyle Sauder (Archbold, OH) was the new owner of the winged sprint track record with a 11.107 second lap at 114.73 mph. Andy Teunessen (Hastings, MI), Devon Dobie (Wapakoneta, OH), Linden Jones (Edwardsburg, OH) and Murray rounded out the top 5.

With Heat Races set, Schulz and Chase Ridenour (Perry, MI) led the first group on the track for the 1st race. In the first lap the races some of the drivers found some grip in the track they hadn’t expected. In lap 2, trying to avoid another car, Jones car pulls a wheelie and rocks back on his left rear tire and flops down its side. On the restart, Chase Ridenour (Perry, MI) holds on the lead and takes the checkered flag, with Sauder, Schulz and Mike Astrauskas (Pierson, MI) round out the top 4 finishers.

In heat race 2, Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI) and Joe Geibe (Sturgis, MI) lead out the group. As the green flag drops, Daggett quickly takes the lead and finds good traction around the top. With no cautions, Daggett separated himself from the pack and held on for the win. Picking up 2nd was Teunessen, while Murray and Kyle Poortenga (Woodland, MI) rounded out the top 4. Eric Smith (Lakeview, MI) did not show for his heat…after battling starting problems, he was sidelined with a broken drive shaft.

In the last heat race, Orth and Dalman bring the field around to the green flag. Dalman holds off Orth for the lead after 1 lap. Almost like a tiger in the grass, Horstman stayed in behind Dalman for a couple laps, then pounced on Dalman to the outside for the lead. Taking the checked was Horstman and Dalman holding on for second. Dobie and Foos round out the top 4.

The top 2 finishers in each heat race worked their way up to the grandstands for a re-draw to determine the starting 6 positions in the A-Main. With a little help from some young fans drawing their numbers. Horstman would start 6th, Ridenour 5th, Sauder 4th, Daggett 3rd and Teunessen and Gregg Dalman (Bellevue, MI) would be on the front row.

Teunessen and Dalman led the field out for the A-Main to a packed house of fans. It’s an awesome experience standing in the infield when you can hear the applause and cheering of the crowd over the roar of 21 cars during the 4 wide fan salute. As the cars separated and formed back up for the double file start, the green flag dropped. With a clean start, the first caution of the night flew in lap 5 with another quick caution after Murray tangled with an infield tire. Getting things under way again we clicked off a few more laps when Tanner Austrauskas and Orth got tangled up and Orth ended up on his side bringing out the red flag.
When the cars get fired there were 11 more laps to go. As the race gets underway, it takes Horstman and Foos about 162 seconds to get the checkered flag. Giving Horstman his 7th feature win and Foos the Hard Charger of the night moving up 10 spots from 12th to 2nd.

Night 2 will be July 22nd at Merritt Speedway. For full results and more information, go to www.greatlakessupersprints.com or follow us on Facebook under Great Lakes Super Sprints.

Article Credit: Barry M. Marlow