Friday night was a big night for several different drivers at the Spirit Auto Center Speedway.
Reigning 600 Micro Sprint Champion, Jon Keller drove the Ed and Amy Barber owned No. 99B to victory in the twenty lap feature event, giving the Barbers their first ever feature win. Keller has always raced his own equipment but was approached by the Barbers during the off season and the driver and owners decided to create a new team for 2017. The team struggled during the early part of the season but just kept working and their efforts paid off.
The feature saw three different leaders throughout the event. Luke Thomas took the lead on lap one with two time feature winner, Matt Smith taking over on lap two. Thomas took the lead back on lap three and had Smith chased the leader for many laps before mechanical issues took him out of the running. Keller became Thomas’ new challenger, taking the lead on a lap eighteen restart. Thomas would then become a victim of mechanical failure, coming to a stop in turn two on lap nineteen. Keller raced to the checkered for his first win with his new team. Rob Vivona made a last lap pass to take second over Steve Bracall. Nick Walton finished fourth with Rich Mellor rounding out the top five.
Chris Locuson raced to the win in the 270 Micro sprint feature event in the Locuson Double Down No. 21 – the same car that his brother, Andrew drove to a win in the second week of the season.
Brandon Shipley led the first ten laps of the feature event. Shipley had quite a lead when Locuson arrived in second but Locuson began to close in on the leader before the caution waved at the race’s half way mark. The resulting restart put Shipley and his challenger side by side for the restart. Locuson was the race leader by the time the field completed the next circuit. Locuson raced to the checkered ahead of Rich Keller who rebounded from an early race incident to finish second. Two time feature winner, Alex Swift held off the challenges of reigning track champion, Tyler Reinhardt to finish third with Ken Andreas completing the top five at the finish line.
Lou Partite picked up his first win of the season in the Speedway All Star Bagel Stop Slingshot competition when he took the win in the rained out feature from May 12th. Lou finished ahead of his brother, Richard, who previously won in Friday night competition. David Bell finished third followed by Ashley Therien and Steve Schenker.
Schenker came back to capture the win in the regular Slingshot feature over Rich Partite. It was the first ever win for Schenker who was as pleased to have beat Partite as he was to pick up the win. Lou Partite finished third followed by Bell and Matt Miller.
Joe Garey picked up the win in the i2M Four Cylinder Enduro feature event which put an end to Scott Miller’s eight race win streak. Miller finished second with Tony Turner third.
Nathan Smith was the winner of the 600 Novice feature event over Kristy Hicks and Ed Wolf.
Action will return to the Spirit Auto Center Speedway on Sunday this week for the third hand of the 2017 Poker Series. Racing gets underway at 6pm for the 270 and 600 Micro Sprints, Slingshots and Xcel 600 Modifieds.
600CC MICRO SPRINT FEATUE (20 laps): 1. Jon Keller, 2. Rob Vivona, 3. Steve Bracall, 4. Nick Walton, 5. Rich Mellor, 6. Richie Keller, 7. Justin Murphy, 8. Jermain Godshall, 9. Billy Calvert, 10. Kyle Spence, 11. Nick Havens, 12. Brandon Pavel, 13. Travis Hill, 14. Mike Linderman, 15. Nathan Smith, 16. Joe Dopke, 17. Luke Thomas, 18. Matt Smith, 19. Joe Bednarek, 20. Jack Conover, 21. Dave Nelson, 22. Jim Tippin, 23. Rebecca LaMothe, 24. Chris Fenimore, DNQ – Mark Landwher, Dave Damaio, Amanda Onimus, Kristy Hicks, Ed Wolf
NOVICE 600CC MICRO SPRINT FEATURE (8 laps): 1. Nathan Smith, 2. Kristy Hicks, 3. Ed Wolf
270CC MICRO SPRINT FEATURE (20 laps): 1. Chris Locuson, 2. Rich Keller, 3. Alex Swift, 4. Tyler Reinhardt, 5. Ken Andreas, 6. Colin Bustard, 7. Brandon Shipley, 8. John Wagner, Jr., 9. John Blanda, 10. Ryan Heim, 11. Billy Gray, 12. Ryan Wozunk, 13. Decker Morrow, 14. Ross Holler, 15. Bill Gunning, 16. Luke Fogg, 17. Jonathan John, 18. Kristen Landwher, 19. Joe Dopke, 20. Tom Landwher, 21. Steve Coslop, DNS – Brian Olsen, Ron Ford, Brandon Ewing
MAKE UP SPEEDWAY ALL-STAR BAGEL STOP (20 laps from May 12th): 1. Lou Partite, 2. Rich Partite, 3. David Bell, 4. Ashley Therien, 5. Steve Schenker, 6. Tess Horvath
SPEEDWAY ALL-STAR BAGEL STOP SLINGSHOT (20 laps): 1. Steve Schenker, 2. Rich Partite, 3. Lou Partite, 4. David Bell, 5. Matt Miller, 6. Ashley Therien, 7. Tess Horvath
i2M FOUR CYLINDER ENDUROS (20 laps): 1. Joe Garey, 2. Scott Miller, 3. Todd Turner
Upcoming events
Friday, June 30 – No Racing
Sunday, July 2 – 3rd Hand of the 2017 Poker Series, 270 & 600 Micros, Slingshots and Xcel 600 Modifieds, racing at 7pm
Friday, July 7 – 270 & 600 Micro Sprints & 4 Cylinder Enduros, racing at 8pm
Friday, July 14 – 270 & 600 Micro Sprints, 4 Cylinder Enduros plus Slingshots, racing 8pm
Friday, July 21 – 270 & 600 Micro Sprints, 4 Cylinder Enduros plus MASS Sprint Cars, racing 8pm
Friday, July 28 – 270 & 600 Micros & 4 Cylinder Enduros, racing at 8pm