From Duane Turner
Mason, MI — (May 15, 2015) — With five classes on the card at Spartan Speedway, some new faces would emerge in Victory lane. Jimmy McCune from Toledo, OH would lead that group of new winners with his victory in the Sawyers Chevrolet Spartan Sprint car division. Zach Parish and Trey Chmielewski would win the Bandolero events, while Tony Monge took the Michigan legends checkers. Laura Beckner would see her first pony stock A-feature victory, with Jerry King winning the B-feature. Joey Barnhart claimed the spartan stock A-feature, and James Gokee Jr took the B-feature.
The Parts Place Napa Bandolero Bandit feature would see Zach Parish lead the field for most of the event until the final stages when Nate Jenkins would challenge, and take the lead on the final lap. A caution with half a lap to go would give Parish the lead back where he would pull away with Jenkins, and Faith Schuch in the top three.
The Junior Bandits feature event would see Jon Parish lead most of the race, with Trey Chmielewski, Danika LaPoint and Kylie Beckner close behind. On the final lap, Parish would spin with the checkered flag in sight setting up a one-lap shoot out for the win. On the restart, Chmielewski would lead the field until turn four when LaPoint would make a bid for the lead, but make contact with leader Chmielewski sending both in to a spin in turn four. With nowhere to go, the top five cars would all be collected. After scoring was settled, Chmielewski would take the win, with Beckner, and Parish in the top three.
The Sawyers Chevrolet Spartan Sprints began their 25 lap feature with Gary Sherman leading the field on the opening lap followed by Doug Dietsch and Jimmy McCune. Jimmy McCune would move to the high side, while Anthony McCune would stay low, making it a four car battle for the lead. On lap six, Anthony McCune goes to the high side to take over third, but would make contact with his uncle Jimmy a half lap later resulting in Anthony hard in to the turn one wall ending his evening. After the restart, Sherman would hold the point with Dietsch on his outside. At the half way point, Jimmy McCune would slip under Dietsch to take over second and set his sights on race leader Sherman. Two laps later, McCune would take the point using the high side of the speedway. Dietsch would take over second just a few laps later as the leaders entered lapped traffic. Over the final 10 laps, Dietsch would put pressure on McCune, but in the end, McCune would take the win followed by Dietsch, Sherman, John Turnbull and Jim Heeney in the top five.
The Sawyers Chevrolet Michigan Legends would start their 25-lap feature with Greg Rudzik on the pole. When the green waved, Rudzik would set the early pace until contact from behind would send the top three cars spinning in turn four. Rick Kilbourn would set the pace after the restart, but Tony Monge would use the high side to take the lead on the second lap. A spin at the half way mark would bring out the caution and bunch the field back up. On the restart, Josh Dietz and Rudzik would slip in to second and third. With ten laps to go, the top three would be nose to tail. The trio would race nose to tail, and would finish that way with Monge taking the win. Dietz, Rudzik, Rick Kilbourn, and Mason Ludwig in the top five.
Wayne Parkhurst would take the early lead in the Boss Snow Equipment Pony Stock A feature, with Laura Beckner and DJ Marciniak in tow. At lap 12, Beckner would use the high side to take the point. Behind her, cars were three wide racing for position. When the dust settled a bit, Lex Jarecki would be second, with Wayne Beckner in third. A couple laps later, Wayne Beckner would move in to second, and would find himself chasing his wife. With laps winding down, the top four would race side by side, and at the finish Laura Beckner would take the win, with Jarecki, and Wayne Beckner in the top three.
The Boss Snow Equipment B Feature early leader Shelby Gokee would have ten cars in tow. Jerry King would take the point on lap three. On lap seven, Bob Pierce would take over second while King extended his lead. RJ Miller would sneak in to third at the half way mark. A caution on lap 13 would move Pierce to the tail for running under his qualification time. With two laps to go, RJ Miller would pull side by side with the leader, but King would hold on for the win. Miller would be second, with Troy Andrews third.
The Lipari Foods Spartan Stock A-feature would have Mike Findlay take the early lead with Dale Spenser and Shane Miller close behind. A lap three restart, Pat Dent would make a move and take over second, then take the lead one lap later. Under caution, Dent would come to a stop, and hand the lead back to Findlay. With eight laps in, Spenser would take the point, but Joey Barnhart would take it from him one lap later. Dane Long would follow in to second, and John Kennedy in third. With ten laps to go, Long would spin coming out of turn two, ending his evening. The restart would see Barnhart lead Kennedy and Jordan Harvey. The remaining laps would see Barnhart and Kennedy pull away with Barnhart taking the win. Kennedy, Harvey, Spenser and Findlay in the top five.
LT Harper would jump out to the early lead in the Lipari Foods Spartan Stock B-feature. Darrell Taylor, James Gokee, Rick Gokee, and Tyler Hawkins would stay close. With the top six all running two by two, James Gokee Jr would move in to second, and quickly challenge for the lead. On lap ten, Gokee would take the point. On a restart, Hawkins would take the lead from Gokee Jr, with the top two pulling away. Five laps later, Gokee Jr would take the lead back. With just a few laps to go, Hawkins would close back in on Gokee Jr, but would be unable to mount a challenge for the win. Hawkins would settle for second, with Mark Carson, Brian Boesel, and Mike Westphal in the top five.
Event Summery:
Sawyers Chevrolet Superstore Spartan Sprints
Qualifications: 1) 88 Jimmy McCune 12.661 2) 44 Anthony McCune 12.432 3) 0 Doug Dietsch 12.700 4) 12 John Turnbull 12.756 5) 37 Gary Sherman 12.822 6) 31 Don Hamilton 12.990 7) 17 Jim Heeney 13.170 8) 21 Mike Stutsman 13.389 9) 00 Joe Irwin 13.678 10) 56 Mark Irwin 13.895
Heat Race 1: 1) 37 Gary Sherman 2) 44 Anthony McCune 3) 12 John Turnbull 4) 88 Jimmy McCune 5) 0 Doug Dietsch
Heat Race 2: 1) 17 Jim Heeney 2) 21 Mike Stutsman 3) 00 Joey Irwin 4) 56 Mark Irwin 5) 31 Don Hamilton
Feature: 1) Jimmy McCune 2) 0 Doug Dietsch 3) 37 Gary Sherman 4) 12 John Turnbull 5) 17 Jim Heeney 6) 21 Mike Stutsman 7) 56 Mark Irwin 8) 00 Joey Irwin 9) 44 Anthony McCune 10) 31 Don Hamilton dns
Sawyers Chevrolet Michigan Legends
Heat Race #1: 1) 9 Josh Dietz 2) 92 Tony Monge 3) 54 Rick Kilbourn 4) 17 Greg Rudzik
Heat Race #2: 1) 31 Mason Ludwig 2) 23 Mitchell Huber 3) 13 Gordon Brodeur 4) 44 Lori Hall 5) 71 Lyn Hall 6) 11 Rich Michalak
Feature: 1) 92 Tony Monge 2) 9 Josh Dietz 3) 17 Greg Rudzik 4) 54 Rick Kilbourn 5) 31 Mason Ludwig 6) 13 Gordon Brodeur 7) 44 Lori Hall 8) 71 Lyn Hall 9) 23 Mitchell Huber
Lipari Foods Spartan Stocks
Qualifications: 1) 35 John Kennedy 14.024 2) 7l Dane Long 14.081 3) 45 Joey Barnhart 14.128 4) 6 Pat Dent 14.360 5) 7 Jordan Harvey 14.439 6) 9 Bryan Jenks 14.755 7) 07 Dale Spenser 14.925 8) 5 Shane Miller 14.928 9) 10 Mike Findlay 14.959 10) 87 Tyler Hawkins 14.967 11) 5w Mike Westphal 15.064 12) 33 Brian Boesel 15.091 13) 77 Mark Carson 15.150 14) 74 James Gokee Jr 15.191 15) 31 Rick Gokee Sr. 15.299 16) 17 Darrell Taylor 15.408 17) 11 David Kelley 15.617 18) 51 LT Harper 15.738 19) 10 Evan Jenks 16.201
Heat Race #1: 1) 7 Jordan Harvey 2) 10 Mike Findlay 3) 6 Pat Dent 4) 45 Joey Barnhart 5) 5 Shane Miller 6) 07 Dale Spenser 7) 7l Dane Long 8) 9 Bryan Jenks 9) 35 John Kennedy
Heat Race #2: 1) 31 Rick Gokee Sr 2) James Gokee Jr 3) 87 Tyler Hawkins 4) 33 Brian Boesel 5) 5w mike Westphal 6) 51 LT Harper 7) 10 Evan Jenks 8) 11 David Kelley 9) 17 Darrell Taylor
B-Feature: 1) 74 James Gokee Jr 2) 87 Tyler Hawkins 3) 77 Mark Carson 4) 33 Brian Boesel 5) 5w Mike Westphal 6) 11 David Kelley 7) 51 LT Harper 8) 31 Rick Gokee Sr 9) 10 Evan Jenks 10) 17 Darrell Taylor
A-Feature: 1) 45 Joey Barnhart 2) 35 John Kennedy 3) 7 Jordan Harvey 4) 07 Dale Spenser 5) 10 Mike Findlay 6) 5 Shane Miller 7) 7l Dane Long 8) 9 Bryan Jenks 9) 6 Pat Dent
Boss Snow Equipment Pony Stocks
Qualifications: 1) 7 Lex Jarecki 16.237 2) 27 John Ward 16.302 3) 33 Brian Boesel 16.440 4) 47 Wayne Beckner Jr 16.481 5) 23 Tyler McGhan 16.498 6) 21 Ryan Gordon 16.562 7) 9 Laura Beckner 16.577 8) 17 DJ Marciniak 16.618 9) 57 Randy Kretzinger Jr 16.728 10) 13 Wayne Parkhurst II 16.732 11) 11 Brian Beckner 16.772 12) 21 Carter Trudgeon 16.843 13) 5 Ryan Hollister 16.889 14) 30 RJ Miller 16.959 15) t17 Trina Newman 17.034 16) 27 Josh Finner 17.091 17) 15 Jerry King 17.152 18) 7h Shawn Hornus 17.342 19) 36 Will Slaughter 17.568 20) 3 Bob Pierce 17.635 21) 95 Jamie Logie 17.679 22) x15 Shelby Gokee 17.992 23) 33 Aaron Taylor 18.395
Heat Race #1: 1) 47 Wayne Beckner Jr 2) 27 John Ward 3) Brian Beckner 4) Laura Beckner 5) 21 Ryan Gordon 6) 7 Lex Jarecki 7) 33 Brian Boesel
Heat Race #2: 1) t17 Trina Newman 2) 5 Ryan Hollister 3) 57 Randy Kretzinger Jr 4) 21 Carter Trudgeon 5) 13 Wayne Parkhurst II 6) 30 RJ Miller 7) 17 DJ Marciniak
Heat Race #3: 1) 3) Bob Pierce 2) 01 Troy Andrews 3) 27 Josh Finner 4) x15 Shelby Gokee 5) 36 Will Slaughter 6) 15 Jerry King 7) 7h Shawn Hornus 8) 96 Jamie Logie 9) 33 Aaron Taylor
B-Feature: 1) 15 Jerry King 2) 30 RJ Miller 3) 01 Troy Andrews 4) 27 Josh Finner 5) 21 Carter Trudgeon 6) 7h Shawn Hornus 7) 36 Will Slaughter 8) x15 Shelby Gokee 9) 3 Bob Pierce 10) 95 Jamie Logie 11) 5 Ryan Hollister 12) t17 Trina Newman 13) 33 Aaron Taylor
A-Feature 1) 9 Laura Beckner 2) 7 Lex Jarecki 3) 47 Wayne Beckner Jr 4) 33 Brian Boesel 5) 27 John Ward 6) 13 Wayne Parkhurst II 7) 17 DJ Marciniak 8) 11 Brian Beckner 9) 21 Ryan Gordon 10) 57 Randy Kretzinger Jr
The Parts Place Napa Bandoleros
Heat Race #1: 1) 36 Jon Parish 2) 58 Trey Chmielewski 3) 16 Danika LaPoint 4) 18 Cameron Leasure 5) 11 Kylie Beckner 6) 3 Cody Hall
Heat Race #2: 1) 42 Nate Jenkins 2) 52 Logan Haughton 3) 10 Mike Findlay Jr 4) 01 Faith Schuch 5) 7 Zach Parish 6) Richelle Michalak
Bandit Feature: 1) 50 Zach Parish 2) 42 Nate Jenkins 3) 01 Faith Schuch 4) 14 Richelle Michalak 5) 52 Logan Haughton 6) 10 Mike Findlay Jr
Junior Bandit Feature: 1) 7 Trey Chmielewski 2) 11 Kylie Beckner 3) 36 Jon Parish 4) 18 Cameron Leasure 5) 16 Danika LaPoint 6) 3 Cody Hall