Toledo Speedway

(FLAT ROCK, Michigan - June 25, 2011) - Carleton, MI driver Dennis Strickland edged out a hard-charging Eric Lee to win the ARCA Allegiant Late Model Gold Cup 100 lap feature race Saturday night at Flat Rock Speedway.  The win was Strickland’s third of the 2011 season at Flat Rock and his first-ever 100 lap win at the ¼ mile paved oval.  The night was filled with great racing as each of the 4 feature races saw 2 car battles all the way to the checkered flag

A total of 30 Moran Chevrolet Late Models were in the pit area for the first leg of the Allegiant Gold Cup

Series, a group of 5 races between Flat Rock and its sister track, Toledo Speedway.  Dan Ford Jr. set the Fastime Racing Engines and Parts quick time at 11:671, and then pulled an 11 for the inversion.  A total of 15 cars were in the 11 second bracket, separated by just 3/10 of a second!  Strickland and Joe Hawes led the 24 car field to the green flag, with Dennis jumping into the lead.  The first 6 laps saw 3 yellow flags, but then things settled down and the race went 74 laps before the next caution flag.  Lee moved to 2^nd spot by lap 18, while Harold Fair Jr. climbed to 6^th from his 10^th starting spot by lap 25.  Traffic was heavy throughout the event, which allowed Strickland and Lee to break away from the rest of the pack, building up a sizable lead on third place Jared Allision, with Ricky Kargel and Paul Pelletier next in the running order.  Ford got going and took to the high side, moved to 7^th spot on lap 38 and closed in on the next lead lap cars, while the lead pair battled back and forth for the top spot.  On lap 56, Ford zipped into 4^th and got to third the next lap, showing his speed and appearing to be the fastest car on the track.

Ford then set sail for Strickland and Lee, who continued to dip in and out of traffic.  Eric continued to apply the pressure and got door to door with Strickland on several occasions.  The long, 74 lap stretch of green ended on lap 79 when defending Gold Cup champ Mike Root got too low in turn 2 and shot up the track, taking Allison and Nick Grodi with him.  That trio had battled for position for many laps until the incident.  Root and Grodi were done for the night, but Allison continued with some bent sheet metal, but stayed on the lead lap, the last of 7 cars at that lap 79 mark.  On the restart, Strickland still had a determined Lee on his bumper and the stage was set for a great finish.  Again, traffic played a part and with 8 laps to go, the lead duo encountered Allison, still on the lead lap.  Strickland worked the outside, Allison stayed low and Eric Lee pushed hard to get to the number 1 spot.  With the pressure mounting and the laps winding down, Lee made several great moves to get by, but Strickland had enough to grab the victory over Lee.  Ford Jr.’s great run netted him third, Fair Jr. was fourth and Pelletier fifth, with Ricky Kargel sixth, all on the lead lap.  Allison wound up 7^th, 1 lap down.  Dakota Carlson, in his first Flat Rock appearance, was 8^th, Ron Allen was 9^th and rookie Derek Wiley tenth.  Rick Sheppard topped Steve Cronenwett Jr., Dan Trosen Jr. and Steve Peters in the 15 lap last-chance race.  Those 4 drivers all advanced to the 100 lap contest.

The action and great finishes continued in the 25 lap ARCA DTS Drive Train Specialists Street Stock A Main feature race.  While Scott Selmi led all 25 laps, youngster Frank Jiovani tried everything, looking for his first win.  Selmi motored away out front while the rest of the 24 car field raced hard, trying to catch the leader.  On lap 9, Jiovani, Tim Moore and Tadek Stadniczuk went 3 wide battling for second, with Jiovani grabbing the spot and giving him the chance to reel in Selmi.  A lap 19 yellow bunched things up, giving Frank a shot at victory.  Selmi gave him the bottom lane and Jiovani stuck the nose of his car there, but came up a fender short at the checkered flag.  Third was Tim Moore, with Stadniczuk, Chad Guinn, Rich Frantz, Landon Schuster, Dave Tanner, David Kind and Eric Fitzpatrick completing the top ten finishers. 

Not to be outdone in the photo-finish mode, the 15 lap Street Stock B Main was closer yet as Michael Phillips held off a great bid by Eric Huston to win the event by less than the nose of his car.  Mark Lavoie led the first 7 laps until Phillips went by to take the lead.  Huston closed in on the leader with 3 laps to go and dove low coming out of turn 4 to set up the exciting finish.  Lavoie was third, Jeff Luttermoser fourth and Tony Camilli fifth, with Don Roberts, Aaron Greathouse and James Pankow next in line at the stripe.  Frantz was the Fastime Racing Engines and Parts fast qualifier for the 35 car field at 13:525, while Luttermoser was the B Main fast timer at 14:553.  Grant Hedges, Scot Bunge, Jimmy Little and Huston took heat race wins.

After subbing for Dick Barker in the #45 Late Model, Greg Studt jumped into his Figure 8 machine and held off the lap after lap challenge of Jeremy Vanderhoof to win the 20 lap Parts Galore Figure 8 main event.  On the start, pole-sitter Robbie Loving looped his machine, giving Studt control of the event.  Vanderhoof was relentless in his pressure on Greg, getting door to door several times as the duo zipped around the Figure 8 track.  Studt stayed in front to take the win over Vanderhoof, with Billy Earley close behind in third spot.  Dennis Whisman was fourth and Anthony Terris fifth.  Loving recovered to take sixth spot, with Sam Hall, Randy Roberts, Archie Padgett and James Rae completing the top ten finishers.  Roberts and Vanderhoof scored heat race wins.  Vanderhoof paced the 16 car field in time trials with a lap of 20:499 on the Figure 8 course.

Saturday, July 2 Flat Rock Speedway will feature the Buckeye 305 Winged Sprint Cars, a 250 lap Enduro, the Jeff’s Collision 4 Cylinders and the Boat Figure 8 race!  Time trials begin at 6 and racing gets the green flag at 7 p.m.  Fans that attended the June 25 show will receive $5 off admission by presenting their ticket stubs at the ticket window for the July 2 event.  Log onto www.flatrockspeedway.com for further information.