Hiiemaa grabs two wins at Laird

Defending late model champion Robert Hiiemaa became the first driver to win two features in the ultra competitive field at Laird International Raceway this season.

Hiiemaa, looking to defend his championship in a new ride this season, used a quick start off a restart to hold off the hard charging field and capture the feature event on Monday night.

The Monday night show was scheduled as a makeup for one of five cancellations the track has been forced to make due to weather conditions this season.

Hiiemaa, who began the night with a win in the opening heat, was forced to make some adjustments for the feature after his car was loose running through the corners earlier in the evening.

"We were able to get things tightened up for the feature after we were running loose earlier in the night," said Hiiemaa, who also won the feature on opening night, track side following the race. "I was able to get a good jump on the restart and that's what I needed to hold them off."

Hiiemaa had George Wilson, who set the night's fast time in qualifying in his new Ford Taurus, following close behind down the stretch.

Thessalon's Dave Seabrook captured the four car dash over Michael Gold, Jason Praysner and George Wilson while Dan Desjardins captured the second heat race.

Despite a small five car field, the factory stock division put on an exciting show with Steve Kent, Kevin Pace, David Slingsby and John Fragale all running bumper-to-bumper through both heats and the feature event.

Kent, a Bar River driver, kept his feature streak alive with his fourth consecutive feature win in four nights of racing at Laird. Pace won the opening heat while Kent took the checkered flag in the second heat.

The pure stocks made their return to LIR this week and defending track champion Ray Golladay captured his first feature win of the season in his familiar number 22 Chevy Monte Carlo. Golladay, a native of Cottage Park, Michigan, had been racing a truck in the pure stock field earlier this season.

Joe Addison opened the night with a win in heat one before edging Golladay at the finish line to win the second heat.

Sugar Island, Michigan's Jim Gort Jr. captured his second feature win of the season in the modified division.

Kevin Oicle captured the first heat while Goulais River's Larry Ebert made his debut this season with a win in the second heat.

In the stock four division, Nick Jobst took home his first two wins including a victory in the feature.

With 22 cars entering the pits for action the night, LIR split the group into two 11 car fields for heat race action.

Jobst captured the first heat while Gordon Hunt won the third heat with the same group. In the second group, Dave King won the second heat and Mike Baraluk the fourth.

LIR will return to action on its usual Thursday night with a special program lined up for the Canada Day holiday.

To celebrate Canada's 137th birthday, LIR will run 137 laps of feature racing including a twin 40 lap feature in the late model division with a large prize purse up for grabs.

Following the first 40 lap feature, the cars will line up for the second feature in the same order that they finished the first. The driver who captures the checkered flag following the second feature will take home $1,000 for their efforts.

To accommodate those fans wishing to return home to watch the fireworks, the races will move up an hour with qualifying beginning at 5 p.m. and racing to follow at 6 p.m.

All results are unofficial as top finishers in the feature races must pass tech inspections following the race. Official results and updated points standings will be posted on the LIR website, which can be accessed at www.lairdraceway.com.

PHOTO: Robert Hiiemaa (#50) holds off George Wilson (#67) through the final laps of the late model feature.