Toledo Speedway

Toledo, OH—August 19, 2016: Tyler Roahrig scored the victory in Friday night’s Miller Lite 100 for the ARCA Royal Truck and Trailer Late Model Gold Cup/Main Event Racing Series feature at Toledo Speedway. .Steve Needles locked down the Royal Gold Cup title, while Ron Allen took the 50 lap ARCA R & M Recycling “Silver Cup” for the ARCA Aramark Late Model Sportsman cars.

A total of 25 Late Models were on hand for the final tune-up prior to the Glass City 200 on September 17. Qualifying began with a wild incident when John Flynn slid down the back chute and into the infield grass, slamming into the foam blocks and concrete barriers, flipping over in the process. John emerged from his car under his own power. 2 of the pre-race favorites, JR Roahrig and Jeff Ganus, both encountered mechanical issues during practice and were scratched for the evening.

First-time Toledo visitor Brandon Lyons took a liking to Toledo, setting the DTS Drive Train Specialists Fast time at 15:255. The 12 car inversion put Nick Grodi and Nick Bailey on the pole of the 100 lap event. Bailey shot into the lead on the start, but Steve Needles powered his way around Nick on lap 2 to take the point. By starting the contest, Needles clinched the Gold Cup title, but had the win on his mind. That ended on lap 16 when his car quit and coasted to a halt, bringing out the yellow flag. On the re-start, Frank Jiovani zipped into the lead and held that spot. The yellow came out again on lap 22 when Harold Fair Jr. and Brent Jack tangled in turn 3. Both cars went pit side for repairs and did return. Joe Hawes also got tangled up in the incident and was through for the night.

The restart put Tyler Roahrig on the outside lane alongside Jiovani. The duo ran door to door until Tyler nosed out front. The yellow again came out on lap 28 when Jack’s car went up in smoke. Lyons had moved up to third spot, but he went to the pits on the yellow with a flat tire. Roahrig held a comfortable margin over the field until the lap 42 yellow when Jiovani’s car stopped on the front straight. Racing resumed and at lap 50 the top 5 were Roahrig, Scott Hantz, Alex Rosenberry, Lyons and Fair Jr. The last half of the race went without a yellow flag, allowing Tyler to build up a nearly 4 second lead on Hantz. Fair was on the move in the closing stages, getting to third. At the checkered flag, Tyler posted his first Toledo win over Hantz, Fair Jr., Lyons, Rosenberry, Dave Stehouwer, RJ White, Bailey, Jiovani and Nick Grodi. Will Sahutske, Dennis Strickland, Jimmie Ward Jr., Jack, Joe Hawes, Needles, Emerson Huffman, John Sandquist, Jason LaDuke, Dakota Carlson and Steve Hawes were next in the order of finish. Chris Benson’s car would not start and did not make the call for green. Carlson qualified 10^th with a miss in the engine and was slated to start 3^rd. Dakota opted to start at the tail of the field and made only a few laps as he called it a day with engine woes.

The top 5 finishers each collected $400 bonuses from former racer Guy Pritchard, who was on hand to watch the event.

Needles’ #18 was pushed out onto the track and Steve was congratulated by Carl Bumgardner from Royal Truck and Trailer on his Gold Cup championship.

A field of 17 ARCA Aramark Late Model Sportsman hit the track for their “Silver Cup” 3-race Series finale, sponsored by R & M Recycling. Just 1 yellow flag appeared during the 50 lap feature race. Levi Mansfield took the lead on the start of the race, with Tom O’Leary IV (in Howard Kelley’s #11) in his tracks. Tom dipped low on lap 12 to take the lead, with Mike Young following O’Leary by, putting him second. Fast qualifier Jim Froling (17:421) was on the move and went to the high side of the lead duo to take up the battle for the top spot, but his car quit running and coasted around, ending his bid for the Silver Cup title on lap 18. The race resumed and O’Leary and Young ran door to door for the next 6 laps. Mike was credited with the lead on lap 20, but O’Leary stayed even with Mike for several laps and finally Young edged by Tom, setting sail to the checkered flag for the big win. Ron Allen, who had mechanical troubles during his heat race, just made it out to start the race and came home second, and in the process captured the R & M Recycling Silver Cup title over Froling. O’Leary IV was third, Greg Stilwell fourth and Kent McCloskey fifth, followed by Chad Stilwell, Andy Harding, Kyle Worley, Dan Grigsby and Craig Osenbaugh. Mansfield, Gerald Wheaton, Froling, Jeff Myers Jr. and Joe Rozek completed the running order. Kevin Stahl Jr. and Kenny McKay Jr. did not start the event. McKay tagged the turn 2 wall in practice when something broke on his machine. Kenny was ok. Young and Grigsby took the heat race wins.

The final Friday night race of 2016 is set for Friday, August 26. It’s the LKQ Pick Your Part “Night of Destruction”, featuring the School Bus Figure 8 race! The track will also host Autograph Night, where fans can walk onto the track and meet the drivers.

A pair of track championships will also be decided as the ARCA Aramark Late Model Sportsman cars will battle in a 40 lap main event on the ½ mile, while the ARCA Factory Stocks will stage a 25 lap feature on the short track. Also on the track schedule is a Figure 8 Train Race, Boat Figure 8 race and a Flag Pole Race!

Tickets are now on sale at the track office Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by phone at 419-727-1100. All seating is general admission for this event.

The pit gates open at 3:30, practice begins at 5, the front gates and ticket office open at 5:30, time trials are at 6:15, the on-track autograph session is at 6:45 and racing begins at 7:30 p.m. The rain date is Friday, September 2.