Action heats up at Kinross Speedpark

Unseasonably warm temperatures heated up the action at the Kinross quarter mile for Thrifty Car Rental Night.

The regular program was modified with a second round of heat races added for every class along with a fifty lap feature event for the Pure Stocks sponsored by Thrifty Car Rental of Sault Ste. Marie.

The dashes started the evenings racing action with the fastest four qualifiers in each division lining up for a chance at the checkered flag. Brandy Clawson won the first race in her 4 cylinder race car. Her husband John ran just as strong and took the second checkered of the night with his Pure Stock. The Factory Stock Dash was won by Pee Wee Fountain, and the Late Model Dash won by George Wilson.

The first heat race of the night were the 4 Cylinders. Larry Miller led many laps and raced to the win. Eric Fountain finished second, and Chris Brady third.

The first of two Pure Stock heat races saw John Clawson run the high line of the track eventually working his way into first place. The field spread out after several laps of good, hard, racing. John Clawson took the win with Dan Shumbarger second, and Mick Pieri third.

The Factory Stock class put on another great show with close racing the entire heat. Cecil Piche worked his way through the field and finished first. Mark Beaudoin crossed the line in the second spot. Dean Eggart had a wild ride along the front stretch barrier at the checkered flag while finishing third.

The second 4 Cylinder heat race was another great race. Larry Miller took advantage of the three wide racing behind him drove to his second win of the night. Chris Brady finished second, and Eric Fountain third.

Pure Stock heat race number two was very fast and ran caution free. Barry Glenn made a bold move on the backstretch while taking the lead. He held on to the spot for the win. John Clawson finished second, and Nicole Radar third.

Mark Beaudoin had his second great start in a row taking the lead when the green flag dropped in his Factory Stock. He pulled away from the pack and took the win. There was very tight racing behind the leader with Dean Eggart finishing second, and Kary Saddison third.

The first Late Model heat was run right before intermission with the second scheduled directly after the short break. The sun setting off of turn one pushed their races later into the program as drivers weren’t able to see racing down the front stretch. Tim Aho drove away from the field and took the win. George Wilson held off Josh Ware for second, with Ware finishing third.

The second heat saw similar results with Tim Aho again taking the win. Josh Ware survived tagging the front stretch wall and spinning to finish in front of George Wilson for the second spot, with Wilson finishing third. Both Denny Aho and Matt Radar left the race early when their cars were damaged trying to avoid the spinning car of Ware. Both would return for the feature.

The first feature of the evening was for the 4 Cylinders. Cindy Pieri had her best race of the season going leading the pack for several laps before receiving the black flag for breaking the 1/4 second rule. Tony Rankin took over the lead for a short time before Don Dangler Jr. closed in and took over the first spot. Dangler held on to the lead and took the win. Eric Fountain finished second, and Brandy Clawson third.

The main event for the evening was the 50 lap Pure Stock feature. Barry Glenn led early and often as caution after caution came out for much of the first part of the race. Flag man Bill Cryderman took charge of the situation leaving the flag stand and reminding the drivers to use a little more discretion out on the track. The racing eventually got into a groove with the top three racing hard with each other while avoiding the lap traffic around them. John Clawson held off a hard charging Mick Pieri for the win. Barry Glenn finished third.

The Factory Stock feature saw some more tight racing. Mike Fox started at the front and drove a perfect race from start to finish. Fox ran fast and clean while earning the victory. Larry Young Jr. finished a strong second, and Cecil Piche third.

The final race of the evening was the Late Model feature. A three wide first lap saw Tim Aho shoot out front. George Wilson and Josh Ware worked their way through the traffic and made a run to the front. Wilson and Ware raced nose to tail while catching the leader Aho. Ware got on the outside of Wilson and took over the second spot. He caught the leader Aho in lap traffic and made a charge for the lead. Tim Aho crossed the line first with Josh Ware a close second. George Wilson finished third.

Racing action resumes again this Friday at Kinross Speedpark. For more information, log onto www.kinrossspeedpark.com.

(Submitted by Steve Lawson)