Toledo Speedway

(Toledo, Ohio—August 15, 2014):  Hometown favorite Nick Bailey scored his first-ever win in the Miller Lite 100 presented by Grogan’s Towne for the ARCA Discount Tire Gold Cup Series and Main Event Late Model Series Friday night at Toledo Speedway. Dakota Carlson, Dennis Whisman and Jeremy Vanderhoof were crowned 2014 champions.  A surprise visit by NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski was met by a loud ovation as Brad thanked the fans for supporting racing. Brennan Stafford of Northwest Ohio Beverage presented the Gold Cup to Nick in the post-race celebration.

The Miller Lite 100 presented by Grogan’s Towne had just what a race fans wants—6 lead changes, side by side and sometimes 3-wide racing, drama and twists and turns that kept the outcome in doubt for much of the race.  A field of 23 Late Models started the 100 lap contest, and the original start was called back when Brad Riethmeyer tagged the backstretch wall.  The red flag came out, the field re-set and Don St. Denis took his #20 to the lead on the green, followed by Nick Bailey and Harold Fair Jr.  Dakota Carlson, the winner of the first 2 races at Toledo this season and the DTS Drive Train Specialists fast qualifier (14:946), joined the lead trio for a great battle up front.  Fair took the lead on lap 15 with a 3-wide move down the back-chute, with Bailey low, Fair high and St. Denis sandwiched in the middle.  Fair powered by to grab the point, but Bailey came right back and snared the number 1 spot on lap 21.  Several contenders pitted early, including Scott Hantz and Johnny Belott.  Bailey, Fair and Carlson began to pull away from the field by lap 26, the same lap Dennis Strickland slowed and pitted, as did Frank Jiovani.  Fair dropped out on lap 37 while running strong when a belt came off his engine.  And things began to get even more interesting….

With Fair gone, Bailey and Carlson set a torrid pace.  With the lead duo approaching 3 cars that were about to go a lap down, Carlson darted low and briefly edged out front, but Dakota got crossed up and looped his machine in turn 3, tagging the foam blocks.  With heavy damage, Carlson’s night was done and his bid for a sweep at Toledo now gone.  With the field bunched, Bailey and now Brent Jack led the double-wide restart.  The race took another strange twist as Jack broke an axle on the restart, scattering the field.  8 cars went down pit road for repairs.  On the next try, St. Denis jumped back out front, with Bailey on his bumper.  The two battled hard for the lead and on lap 75, Bailey stood on the throttle, went to the 2^nd groove and stormed into the lead.  Drew Charlson, who ran a solid race, began to close in on Bailey in the final 10 laps but Nick had control of the race and zipped to his initial victory.  Charlson’s fine run gave him second spot, Hantz recovered and got up to third, St. Denis was fourth and Mike Mazzagatti, in only his 2^nd Toledo race, took firth spot.  Scott Pemberton recovered from a late race stop for a tire change to get sixth place.  Joe Hawes ran steady and took seventh, with Chris Benson, Nick Grodi and Bryan Clay rounding out the top ten.  Nick Katterhenry, Lori Hall, Strickland, Dave Stehouwer, Carlson, Jack, Belott, Steve Hawes, Fair Jr., Jiovani, John Flynn, Alex Rosenberry and Riethmeyer completed the running order.

With the top 4 point men encountering tough nights, Carlson had enough of a cushion to claim the 2014 Discount Tire Gold Cup title.  Mike Pyman of Discount Tire greeted Carlson and will award Dakota with $1000 bonus, a championship jacket and a Gold Cup at the annual awards banquet.

Dennis Whisman had a great night and visited the 7-Up Winner’s Circle twice, winning 2 features and a championship at Toledo.  The title is for the ARCA R & M Recycling X Car class.  Dennis nosed by Archie Padgett on lap 12 and sailed to victory in the 30 lap season finale for the group.  A great battle with Padgett, Whisman and Studt up front saw those 3 battle back and forth in great race action.  Whisman took the win, with Studt second, Padgett third, Dave Golembiewski fourth and Rich Abel fifth, followed by John Rabideau, Lonnie York, Justin Rodriguez, Joe Rozek and Craig Osenbaugh.  Studt set quick time at 11:561.  The heat winners were Padgett and York.

An action-packed, lap after lap drama unfolded in the 25 lap ARCA Praxair Figure 8 Season Championship race.  Whisman trailed Jeremy Vanderhoof by 10 markers going into the feature, which is the difference of 2 positions.  Robbie Loving grabbed the lead at the start, nosing by his son, Race, for the point.  Whisman moved up lap by lap, and each time he did so, Vanderhoof did the same to keep a 5 point cushion.  With just a few laps left, Ian Jezylo got tangled up at the intersection and his car stalled.  Robbie quickly ran into the traffic and tagged Ian’s car, ending his night and giving Whisman the lead and Dennis stayed in command to grab the win.  Vanderhoof got to second and cemented his 2014 title in the process.  Dan Apperson was third, Randy Roberts fourth and Scott Apperson fifth, followed by Race Loving, Robbie Loving, David Katafiasz and Jezylo.  Scott Apperson and Vanderhoof grabbed the heat race wins.

The evening wrapped up with the Grogan’s Towne Grocery Getter Road Rage race with mini vans!  The road rage race concept of not passing the pace van went away quickly, as the track tech staff turned the event into Roller Derby mixed with Demolition Derby!  Plenty of damage was done to the vehicles as the racing program came to a close.

Toledo Speedway will be dark Friday, August 22, with no racing scheduled.  Saturday and Sunday, August 23-24, the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience will be at Toledo.  Here’s your chance to ride or drive a stock car!  Call 855-22-RUSTY to make your reservation for next weekend!

Friday, August 29 is the date for the Burge Wrecking Night of Destruction at Toledo!  The School Bus Figure 8 race, Boat Figure 8, Train Figure 8, the ARCA Aramark Sportsman championship race on the ½ mile and much more is planned.  Buy your ticket NOW by calling the track at 419-727-1100 today.  All tickets are general admission.  The gates will open at 5:30 and racing begins at 7:30 p.m.