Toledo Speedway

Toledo, Ohio—August 14, 2015:  Dakota Carlson pulled away from Brad Riethmeyer in the closing stages and scored the victory in the Miller Lite 100 presented by Grogan’s Towne and Royal Truck and Trailer Friday night at Toledo Speedway.  Jeff Ganus, despite mechanical woes, captured the Royal Truck-Trailer Gold Cup Series title, while Greg Studt took the win to cement the ARCA R & M Recycling X Car championship.  Ron Allen topped the field and beat the impending rain and storms as he notched the win in the ARCA Aramark Late Model Sportsman feature.

Rob Tuck and Brian Saunders from Northwest Ohio Beverage presented the Gold Cup to Carlson in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Autograph Alley/7-Up Winner’s Circle.  Tim Phillips of Grogan’s Towne and Saunders gave the command to start the engines.  Carl Bumgardner of Royal Truck and Trailer congratulated Ganus and Carlson in the post-race festivities.

The threatening weather, which hit the track 5 minutes after the race card was completed, kept things moving despite a marathon-type Miller Lite 100.  The race was marred by oil-downs and a couple of multi-car incidents.  The race was a combination event for the Royal Gold Cup Series and the Main Event Series.  A solid field of 25 machines took the green flag.  The 10-car inversion saw youngster Trevor Berry, in his first outlaw Late Model start, lead lap 1.  Jeff Ganus, who battled transmission problems in practice, zipped from 4^th to the lead quickly on lap 2.  It appeared the Ganus crew had fixed their issues as Jeff took off.  Berry briefly took over the top spot on lap 15, but Ganus stormed back by.  The first yellow and eventual red flag stopped the action to clean up oil all around the ½ mile paved oval.  When the race resumed, Mike Mazzagatti took over 2^nd spot on lap 23, while Dakota Carlson moved from 9^th to 4^th by lap 27.  Dakota looked strong and took the second spot on lap 42, but Ganus, hot off his Kalamazoo Klash win, had built a big lead.

Several yellows did not slow down Jeff, as each time he zipped away from his challengers.  Carlson closed the gap in traffic, but Ganus just motored away.  The yellow came out on lap 61 when the rear end in the #18 of Ganus shifted, sending him down pit road with more repairs due.  Carlson assumed control, while Brad Riethmeyer began to work his way into contention.  On a lap 63 restart, Brad got around Dakota and took the lead and held the number 1 spot for the next 11 laps.  A red flag came out on lap 73 for a multi-car incident in turn 1, bunching the field again for a double-file restart.  Reithmeyer beat Carlson to turn 1, but Dakota zipped under Brad on the following lap to grab the lead once again.  Another yellow at lap 89 gave Riethmeyer another shot for the win and Brad was able to nose out front.  Carlson turned the tables on lap 91 and pulled away for the win.  Riethmeyer’s great run gave him second, Berry made a late charge to take third, Mazzagatti was impressive with fourth and Alex Rosenberry put his new ride into 5^th spot.  Nick Grodi, Nick Bailey, Dennis Strickland, Bob Varney and Scott Pemberton completed the top ten.  Brent Jack was 11^th and Frankie Jiovani 12^th.  Both those drivers ran in the top 10 for much of the event.  Ganus, Chris Benson, Mike Young, Jimmy Ward Jr., John Flynn, Don St. Denis, Jimmy Thiel, Dave Stehouwer, Steve Hawes, George Rangel, Scott McKenzie, Emerson Huffman and Harold Fair Jr. completed the finishing order.  Fair Jr. encountered mechanical issues.  Strickland set the DTS Drive Train Specialists fast time at 15:186.

Ganus becomes the 2015 ARCA Royal Truck and Trailer Gold Cup 6-race Series champion.  Jeff posted wins at Flat Rock, Toledo and Sandusky on his way to the championship.  Dennis Strickland, Scott Pemberton, Carlson and Frankie Jiovani (tie) were the top 5 point men in the Series.

Greg Studt now has ARCA championships in 3 different classes-Late Model, Figure 8 and now the ARCA R & M Recycling X Car division.  Greg capped off the night by taking the lead from AJ Padgett in the final laps to win the 30 lap contest and the Season Championship.  Dennis Whisman also got by Padgett and took second, Padgett was third, Dennis Whisman Jr. fourth and Craig Osenbaugh fifth, followed by Dusty Brunt, Matt Ringger, Mike Miller, Nolan Padgett and Randy Roberts Jr.  Studt set fast time at 11:507, while Whisman Jr. and Osenbaugh grabbed the heat race wins.

With the rain coming in quickly, the ARCA Aramark Late Model Sportsman heat races were scrapped and the division went right to their 35 lap main event.  Ron Allen took charge early in the event and zoomed away to the victory.  Mike Young was second, Kevin Stahl Jr. third, Tommy O’Leary IV was fourth and Greg Stilwell was fifth.  Kenny McKay Jr., Andy Harding, Chad Stilwell, Dan Grigsby, Craig Osenbaugh, David Hinjosa, Jim Froling and Gerald Wheaton were next in line at the finish.  Froling set quick time at 17:344. 

Toledo Speedway has no racing scheduled for next week.  The track will now prepare for the Friday, August 28 event-the LKQ Pick Your Part “Night of Destruction”!  Tickets are now on sale for the event at the track office or by calling 419-727-1100 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Fans will see 3 track champions crowned as the ARCA Armark Late Model Sportsman, Praxair Figure 8’s and ARCA Factory Stocks will all stage their final point race of 2015.  And, of course, the Figure 8 Train Race, Boat Figure 8 race and the Flag Pole race are all on the race card, topped off by the finale’, the School Bus Figure 8 Race!

The gates and ticket office will open at 5:30, practice begins at 5;30, time trials are at 6:45 and show time is 7:30 p.m.