8/18/2017
GLSS-Great Lakes Super Sprints
HANNAGAN WINS 3rd FEATURE OF YEAR WITH GLSS
Lake Odessa, MI – With overcast skies and 15 mph winds out of the south, Hurricane Hannagan blows into I-96 Speedway Friday night and captures his 3rd feature win this season with the NCRA Great Lakes Super Sprints.
Great Lakes Super Sprints rolled into I-96 Speedway Friday night for their last visit of the 2017 season. There was no chance of rain in the forcast, however the overcast skies looked like it could open up and rain any minute. Mother Nature was providing the perfect weather for peddle to the floor racing we were just hoping there would be a crowd to see it!
21 cars were registered and lined up for qualifying and the track conditions proved to be fast. Chase Ridenour (Perry, MI) rolled out in the first group and laid down a time of 14.497 seconds or 105.5 mph! Rolling out in the second group, Randy “Hurricane” Hannagan (Pittsboro, IN) set a new track record of 14.275 seconds or 107.2 mph. Devon Dobie (Wapakoneta, OH) was in the third group and he set 3rd fast time of 14.318 seconds or 106.9 mph. Qualifying in the 5th group and good enough for 2nd quick was Jared Horstman (Cloverdale, OH) who ran 14.308 seconds or 107 mph. Coming out in the 7th and final group, Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI) was 4th quick with a 14.445 seconds or 105.9 mph.
With qualifying done, the heat races were set and Linden Jones (Edwardsburg, MI) led the first heat race out on the track. As Jones brought the field to the green flag, Gregg Dalman (Bellevue, MI) jumped out front for the lead that he would hold to the checkered flag 2 minutes and 7 seconds later. Daggett, Hannagan, Kyle Poortenga (Woodland, MI) and Alexis Adgate (Middleville, MI) rounded out the top 5.
Brad Lamberson (Parma, MI) led the second heat out on the track. As the field passes the flag stand, Horstman goes high into turns 1 and 2 and is able to get around the front row coming out of turn 2 for the lead that he kept to the checkered flag in a blistering 1 minute and 56 seconds (average speed for 8 laps of 104.8 mph)! Lamberson, Trey Smith (St Joseph, MI), Ridenour and DJ Lamance (Delton, MI) rounding out the top 5.
In the 3rd and final heat, Joe Geibe ( Sturgis, MI) led the group onto the track. As the flag drops, Andy Teunessen (Hastings, MI) jumps out front with Dobie close on his tail. Teunessen takes the checkered flag with Dobie, Shawn Dancer (Delphos, OH), Geibe and Tony Bures (Bristol, IN) rounding out the top 5.
The top 2 finishers and the fastest 2 qualifiers finishing third in the heats transferred to the Hammer Time Dash presented by Home Pro Roofing. The eight drivers met at the GLSS trailer and drew for their brackets and pairings. Pairings were (1)Dobie vs Teunessen (2) Daggett vs Dancer (3) Hannagan vs Horstman (4) Dalman vs Lamberson. Second Round placed Dobie vs Daggett and Hannagan vs Dalman. 2nd chance bracket put Daggett vs Dalman. Giving us our 4 lap dash drivers of Hannagan, Dobie and Daggett. Hannagan won the Dash followed by Daggett and Dobie. Pretty exciting format! (see pictures attached to press release for brackets)
With the feature line up locked in, Hannagan and Daggett led out the field of 21 cars for the A-Main. Firing all the cars on the track, the field was lined up and rolled into our 4-wide fan salute! With festivities out of the way Hannagan brings the field to the start line at a good pace. As the cars roar into turn 1, a quick caution comes out ending up with Dancer sideways at the bottom of turns 1 & 2. With the field still bunched up cars scattered to avoid each other. Ralph Brakenberry (Pigeon, MI) hit his brakes to avoid a car ahead of him slowing faster than he was. As the 3T slid sideways, Brakenberry’s left rear caught the other cars right rear which flipped his car, crushing the wing and leaving Brakenberry upside down with fuel pouring into the cockpit from the fuel cell being impaled by a broken bumper.
An immediate red flag was thrown, Brakenberry was checked out, the car removed and the fuel burned off the track. Hannagan and Daggett brought the field around for a complete restart. Hannagan jumps out to a quick start with Daggett on his bumper. Daggett gets around Hannagan in lap 2 and leads going into lap 6 when Hannagan gets around once again. While Daggett is battling Hannagan, Horstman who started 7th has worked his way up into 3rd. In the eleventh lap, Horstman gets around Daggett coming out of turn 2. With Horstman going high into turn 3, Daggett gets a good run going low and trying to come out of 4 ahead of Horstman. Unfortunately, Daggett makes contact with Horstmans front bumper and the 85 car goes into the wall under power, up into the catch fence and down hard under the flag stand bringing out a red flag. Daggett was able to be assisted out of his car and walked away under his own power.
Once re-started the race turned into a marathon with a number of cautions as cars running the middle were spinning out in the middle of turns 1 and 2. An open red was called in lap 18 to allow crews to add fuel to the cars to finish the 25 lap feature. Once restarted, Hannagan led the field the rest of the way to the checkered flag with no further incidents. Horstman, Ridenour, Dalman and Dancer finished out the top 5.
Hard charger for the evening was Linden Jones who started 19th and finished 8th. Shawn Dancer who was sent to the tail on the opening lap actually moved up 15 spots to 5th, however “officially” his original starting position was 6th. Nice job to both drivers.
For full race results and more information about the series, go to www.greatlakessupersprints.com. Our next race will be Friday, August 25th at Manistee Fair Grounds followed by a Saturday night race at Thunderbird Speedway.
Article Credit: Barry M. Marlow
Submitted By: Barry Marlow
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