George Wilson, Michael Gold return to Laird Raceway

A pair of former Late Model drivers made returns to Laird International Raceway on Thursday night but it was a number of black flags during the features that took center stage.

George Wilson and Michael Gold both made returns to Laird on Thursday night though neither played roles in the Late Model feature that ended the night. Wilson had a second place finish in the second heat race but that was as close as he would come. On top of a heat race win, Rod Bolduc won the feature finishing ahead of Cory Furkey and Jayson Praysner who battles tightly for second while Bolduc ran away with the win. Praysner won the other heat race while Jeremy Van Hoek won the fast car dash.

John Hamilton was the victim of an early black flag in the Factory Stock feature, a feature he was leading at the time. With a comfortable lead, Hamilton was black-flagged, which led to Mike Corbett taking the victory over Mike Hearty and Mark Porpealia. The race was shortened due to time constraints. Dick Wellwood was also black-flagged later in the race. Varcoe was also the victim of a black flag, which was thrown by flagman Kevin King while she was leading the first heat race, a race won by Wellwood. Varcoe won the second heat. John Fragale won the fast car dash.

In the Modified Division, one week after sweeping the triple-crown with a pair of heat wins and the feature, Dave Slingsby won a heat race but didn't have any luck in the feature. Nick Jobst took the feature win over Lorne Ebare and Dennis Uhlman in a race shortened by time issues. Ebare won the first heat race. Jobst took home the fast car dash win.

The Stock four division had a different feel this week as the setup changed a little thanks to high car counts in the division over the course of the season. The group is split into four heat races with each driver getting settled into one heat race. The top four finishers in each heat all move on to the main feature of the night. The rest of the field competes in a pre-intermission feature in which the top two drivers head into the main feature, giving the main feature a total of 18 cars.

Heat one saw Tyler Parsons, who was later black-flagged in the feature along with Dave King, Brandan Penno, Tristan Anderson, and Jay McCoy earn spots in the main feature. Chris Miller, Mike Baraluk and Jeff Thomas got through the second heat. Dean Wade, Chris Humphrey, Dave King and Mav McDonald Jr. came through heat three while Donny Mergeart, Kyle Jarrett, Jake Irwin, and Gerald Arsher came out of heat four. The top two finishers in the pre-intermission feature were John Gardner and Al Lowen. Mergeart took home the feature win while Gardner and Dean Wade finished second and third.

Mike Hearty capped off his feature win with a victory in the demolition derby held at the end of the night.