Kinross Speekpark kicks off stock car season

The Sault Area Racing Association opened its 2007 race season with Friday night racing under sunshine and clear blue skies. A large turnout of both cars and fans congregated at the Kinross Speedpark for a great night of racing. Members of the United States Coast Guard from Sault Ste. Marie presented the colors during a nice opening ceremony for the evenings activities.

With much anticipation, the fastest four Late Models took to the track for the 4 car dash. Tim Aho and Bill Bond raced to the finish side by side with Bond taking the first checkered flag of the new race season. The Factory Stock 4 car dash saw Pee Wee Fountain lead all four laps while earning the victory. The Pure Stock dash had Mike Babcock holding off a hard charging Ray Golladay Jr. for the win. The 4 Cylinder dash saw Adam Gardner taking the lead early and pulling away from the pack for the win.

The Pure Stock Australian Pursuit saw some exciting racing action. Ken Van Dusen survived a tap from Randy Miller to win from the third starting position. Barry Glenn started at the back and passed all cars but one to finish second. The 4 Cylinder Pursuit saw lots of three and four wide racing. Ashley Pietrangelo came across the finish line three wide winning by a bumper length over Jake Irwin and Larry Miller.

The ten lap Late Model heat had Denny Aho leading the first lap. George Wilson brought out the first yellow when his car broke causing him to slow and stop on the backstretch. Matt Rader brought out the next yellow flag with a spin in turn one and two. The restart saw Tim Aho tag the front stretch barrier hard coming out of turn four ending his race early. Bill Bond and Curtis Anderson put on a great battle with Bond eventually taking the victory.

The Factory Stock heat race had the field running in its starting formation for the first few laps. Cecil Piche pulled away from the field with some hard racing going on behind him. The yellow was brought out once when Pee Wee Fountain got into the back of the Kary Saddison truck causing Fountain to spin out. After the restart, Piche again had the field covered and raced to the checkered flag. Saddison finished second, and Paul Fox third.

The Pure Stock heat saw a spectacular spin by the fast car of Mick Pieri on the backstretch causing a big cloud of dust. Great racing resumed and the only other incident was a spin by Nicole Rader in turn one. John Clawson got the lead and held off both Barry Glenn and Ray Golladay Jr. while taking the victory.

The 4 Cylinders had enough cars to warrant two heat races. Ashley Pietrangelo moved to the front and began pulling away in the first heat before being black flagged for breaking the 1/4 second rule. Tony Rankin took over the lead and pulled away from the pack to take the win. Don Dangler finished second, and James Orr third. The second heat race had Jake Irwin leading the first lap, and Brandy Clawson leading the second. John Mayer move his way into the lead with Eric Fountain and Clawson close behind. These three cars had a great race and finished in that order.

Race officials chose three cars from each class for the "Best Looking Car Award" contest. After intermission, the crowd was asked to vote with cheers on their favorite cars in the contest. The crowd favorites were Bill Bond with his Late Model, Paul Fox with his Factory Stock, Mike Babcock with his Pure Stock, and John Mayer with his sharp looking 4 Cylinder.

The first feature of the evening was filled with Late Models. Tim Aho was the early leader before Bill Bond got by him for the lead. Bond stretched out his lead to about a half a lap over Curtis Anderson for the win. Tim Aho finished third.

The Factory Stock feature had Kary Saddison and Cecil Piche leaving the field behind. There was good racing for third when Dean Eggart got into the back of Pee Wee Fountain spinning both the Fountain and Paul Fox cars, bringing out the yellow and sending Eggart to the back. After the restart, Saddison and Piche again pulled away from the pack finishing first and second respectively. Pee Wee Fountain finished third.

The Pure Stock feature had lots of three wide racing and great driving from everyone involved. Nicole Rader built a big lead only to be black flagged for breaking the 1/4 second rule. Barry Glenn, John Clawson, and Ray Golladay Jr. ran nose to tail and put on a great show. These three cars raced hard and clean with Glenn taking the victory. Clawson finished second, and Golladay Jr. third.

The 4 Cylinder feature had a tremendous wreck coming to the green flag. Most of the field got together when cars started piling up from about the second row back. Moe Syrstad took several hard hits while being bounced around in the accident. Don Dangler, started near the back of the field and had no where to go coming out of turn four. He hit the pile up with a hard impact and was shook up in the crash. The race was called and postponed to a future date. Track officials requested medical assistance to the track as a precautionary measure for any injured drivers.

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

(Submitted by: Steve Lawson)