6/27/2020
GLSS-Great Lakes Super Sprints
HORSTMAN GETS 2nd WIN IN A ROW
Crystal, MI – Jared Horstman (Cloverdale, OH) makes it two in a row to start this whacky race season, after winning the Great Lakes Super Sprints feature at Crystal Motor Speedway Saturday night!
The fans at Crystal, were treated to another great show by the GLSS drivers. On a challenging track for heat races, 19 cars battled for starting positions in the Feature Event.
To start the night out, our drivers took the track about 6:35 pm to qualify in groups of 3. Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI), RJ Payne (Montrose, MI) and Eli Lakin (Buchanan, MI) hit the track first, with Daggett setting the mark to beat with a quick time of a 13.393 second lap! By the end of qualifying, Gregg Dalman (Bellevue, MI), who went out in the 5th group, sat on top of all cars as quick qualifier, with Daggett, Ryan Ruhl (Coldwater, MI), Chase Ridenour (Perry, MI) and Horstman rounding out the top five.
Rolling on the track around 7:45 pm, Jay Steinbach (Hudsonville, MI) led the field of cars around to the green flag. In just 2 quick minutes, Steinbach took the checkered flag in the Engler Machine and Tool Heat 1, while holding off Phil Gressman (Helena, OH) along with Ridenour and Dalman.
In the Campbell Performance Heat 2, Kyle Poortenga (Woodland, MI) led wire to wire taking his first heat race in 2020. Poortenga had to hit his marks and stay on the throttle to keep Horstman, Conner Morrell (Bradenton, FL) and Daggett behind him!
The Kistler Engines & Racing Parts Heat 3 rolled on the track and came around for the green flag. Linden Jones (Edwardsburg, MI), who is driving the 19 car of Brett Manns while he is battling back problems, got up on the wheel and never looked back as he took the checkered flag. Jones held off Max Stambaugh (Elida, OH) as well as Ruhl, Andrew Scheid (Sparta, MI) and Mike Astrauskas (Pierson, MI) who rounded out the top 5.
The top two finishers of each heat redrew at the GLSS hauler. After the drawing was done, Gressman and Stambaugh pulled a 1 and 2 respectively. Poortenga and Jones started in the 3rd and 4th position and Steinbach and Horstman drew a 5 and a 6, placing them in the 3rd row. Dalman was the fastest qualifier to not make the redraw, added this year, he was automatically awarded the 7th starting position, one spot out of the redraw. The rest of the field filled in the positions based on their heat race finishes.
The drivers for the feature, were pushed out on the track by their crew members. After firing on the track, the cars took a few laps and then formed up and were given the signal to move into our salute to the fans, our four wide salute. As the cars pulled out of their salute positions, the flagman quickly lined them up and gave them the 1 to go!
As the green flag dropped, Gressman was determined to beat everyone to turn 1, holding off Stambaugh, Poortenga and Jones into the turn. As the field got a little spacing and cars battled for track space, there was contact on the front stretch after 3 laps, which left Scheid sitting with his left front wheel sitting broken. After a couple more cautions at lap 5 and lap 17, we were set for a race to the checkered flag. Dalman who started 7th had slowly moved up to 4th, but in lap 20 he moved up to 3rd and in lap 21 he went to second place, getting around Stambaugh. Dalman was able to hold on to 2nd for 3 laps, but as they took the white flag for one more lap, Stambaugh get s around Dalman but leaving Dalman with 3rd.
Daggett, who started 12th, kept the crowd entertained as he chipped his way through the field throughout the feature. As Daggett took the checkered, he had moved his way up to a 5th place finish and making him the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger tonight, gaining 7 spots. Ruhl, who started in the 10th position worked his up to a 5th place finish. As Horstman took the checkered for his 2nd win in a row, Stambaugh, Dalman, Ruhl and Daggett rounded out the top 5 finishers.
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The 2020 season is about as normal as a 3 dollar bill! With races being scheduled 7-10 days out and racing on weekends that were originally not scheduled to race has put a lot of pressure on drivers, their crews and yes, our fans! For instance, Nathan Barouch, a newcomer to the series, was in Florida and booked a flight to Michigan for this added race, only to have it cancelled at the last minute and arriving in Detroit as our cars were taking the track. Our oldest member driver, Ralph Brakenberry had made plans he couldn’t break, celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary with friends and family today instead of racing! (Congratulations Ralph and Linda). There were several others with work related issues, but overall our members have been very supportive! We’d like to thank them for adjusting to our short notices, along with their crews, the tracks and of course the fans for their understanding!
Our next race will be Thursday, July 2nd at one of our drivers favorite tracks, Tri-City Motor Speedway near Auburn, MI. It will be a $3,000 to win race along with the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints. Two Series that are both built for speed…Don’t miss these winged groups invade Tri-City!
Thank you to our sponsors who make it all happen! Engine Pro/Perfit, ARP, Hoosier, Beacon & Bridge Markets, Addvanced Heating and Cooling, Midland Steel, Engler Machine and Tool, Kistler Engines & Performance Parts and Campbell Performance.
Article Credit: GLSS Staff Writer
Submitted By: Barry Marlow
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