Toledo Speedway

Two weeks to get caught up on… because I haven’t got down to the pits and check out all the new drivers, this is going to be a short column.

Opening night, Dennis Strickland won the Super Late Model feature, “Harley and Johnny Vandorn did the setup on the car and it was fast right off the trailer. In the feature about lap 20 I tried to pass the 40 car (Nick Grodi) on the  outside but just as I got beside the 40 car he was getting a right front flat and pushed me up into the third groove which opened the bottom groove up for the 5 (Eric Lee) and 8 (Royce Cornet) to go by the both of us on the inside. Then the caution came out and put them both behind me. I was not going to make that mistake again, when the green fell, I passed the 40 car on the bottom, then chased down the leader and passed him in lapped traffic with ten to go for the win,” said the driver of Strategy One Computers, MichWiFi.net, Victory Christian Fellowship, Trenton Forging #90.

We have two new late models this year. One is Derek Wylie, who moved up from street stocks. The other is Terry Bogus, who comes from Auto City’s Super Stock division (and the Super Pro series). Last year his car was a template but reskinned it to run it at Flat Rock. Another interesting thing about Terry’s car is it has a crate engine in it. ”I had a blast for my first time racing at the Rock and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year. Thanks to Paul and Dave Pelletirer, and there Limelight Racing team for all the help getting me dialed in! Thanks to my sponsors, Nicholas Gantner Foundation / the550fund.org, Law offices of Fischer, Garon, Hoyumpa, and Rancilio, Action Bail Bonds, my family and crew.”

Opening night saw a first time winner in the Street Stock A division, and it was also his first SS race. 2010 Factory Stock Champion, Landon Schuster moved up a division. “I would like to thank Arnold Motorsports for all of their help. They helped me build this car and set it up for me, and without them, I never could have won the race. I also want to thank all my sponsors, Georgia Cable and Boring, A&D Auto Parts, Teamsters Local 20, D&S Boring, Communication Distributors, A-1 Auto Parts, Meg Fabrication, Rocky's Body Shop, Dynamic Designs Wraps, Allsouthautosports.com and Speedway Tire & Auto. Also Schorling Engines for building me such a great motor! The car is brand new so we are still in the process of breaking it in and tuning it to the track, so to win on the first night out really felt amazing! Very special thanks to my dad for working his butt off on this car and all of the support I get from my family. I would also like to say thanks to Rob Moore, he raced me very very clean during the race and I give him a lot of respect for that! This is a whole new experience driving these racecars compared to what I was used too, but it is a great beginning and we are looking forward to the rest of the 2011 season!”

Rich Abel won the B main opening night and would like to thank his sponsors, West Door Signs, Utility Trailers and Tony Tires.

When it’s your night, it’s you night. And Saturday was Tim Moore’s night. He was the fast qualifier and for a change the top 12 qualifiers pulled for postion.. and he pulled the pole for the feature. He went on to win the A division feature. “Thanks to a lot to Sealcoat and Striping, Dow engines, Northendscrapmetal.com and Jay-T Motorsports. Special thanks to the crew that kept on the car all day to make sure everything was perfect on the car. Besides the luck of drawing an ace for starting position, the car was the best its been in years:”

In the B main, we had a first time winner. And what’s better than a first time winner is someone that’s been racing about 20 years getting their first career feature. “I started racing in the early 90’s and I’ve never won a feature A or B before. I want to thank Monroe Rubbish and Holloway Companies for their support, but more important I want to thank God. It was a tough night. The tires were eight years old and I could not get any traction. Spun the car in practice, spun in qualifying, YIKES! Never ran a B race before but it was great to be back. After several closed head injuries in late models and time off from racing, I better understand the privilege it is to race. Thankful for the important things in life, like God and my family. Racing for fun now that I am old. Would also like to thank Ron Drager and Scott Schultz for all the work that they do and the way they treat the ‘Old Racers’,” said the driver of the #81.

From Billy Cronce driver of the #60, “Well we got our first win of the year in the heat race … despite more tire trouble. Couldn't get a break in the feature. I got caught behind #53 (Mike Phillips) and #30 (Jeff Luttermoser) to finish eighth. Our Crew Chief, Scott Marshall, brought his 4 cyl #76 back out to finish 4th in his event. He'll be back the next 4 cylinder event, with my son Billy debuting in the #51 4 cylinder.

#55/25

Jimmy Little has a new ride. He’s racing Lonnie York’s #25. “Actually the main reason we did it was because my car is still in no shape to be raced. Lonnie’s tryin’ to buy a house and we wanted to have a good shot at winning the B-main points this year but the 14.1 I ran last week was kinda a surprise but I learned a lot and had some fun. Lonnie is the person who got all of us into racing and he’s been helping me every step along the way. He’s just as disgusted with all the problems I’ve been having and he’s been helping me work on my car every week … so he decided to give me a shot. I’ve been going to Flat Rock ever weekend since I was 5 so I was amazed when he brought it up … but it’s been an amazing learning experience and I’m just going to get what I can and have fun this year.”

Jerry Lee Jr. won the opening night Figure 8 race…

Last week Robbie Loving suffered engine problems in hot laps and borrowed Dennis Whisman’s Toledo car to compete in. This week Robbie was back in his familiar #16. “I broke last weekend and want to thank Richie Lee and Dennis Whisman for the loan of the car. I’m really happy to win. I want to thank my sponsors and family and my crew. It was a long week. Dennis (Whisman) and I had a great race for a while and Greg (Studt) was sneaking up there at the end.”

Steve Chartrand has moved up to the Figure 8 division from the Street Stocks.