Toledo Speedway

SOUTHGATE MI (5-15-08)--Eric Lee might've been right in his interview after last week's win at Flat Rock Speedway. He said they found something with these new tires. For the second consecutive week, Lee won the Super Late Model feature.

"Can't ask for a better start to the season. Lapped traffic was tough, but I just patiently picked my spot around them. I want to dedicate this win to my wife, who puts up with me racing once a week, and working on the car during the week ... also all the other mothers out there. It was a nice clean race," said the driver of the Arrow Uniform Rental, Labelle Electric, Jacks Garage, D&E Landscaping, Posen Construction, Mona Vie, Dusty's Collision, Powertran Transformers, Applied Roofing, Keller Williams Realtors, Auto/Con Corp., ET Performance, Complete Prototype Services #5.

There were 27 Super Late Models in the pits, enough for a last chance race. Sean Monahan, Dave Henneberry, Bill Litogot and Jeremy Vanderhoof transferred to the feature. Heather Williams, making her first visit to the track was 5th, followed by Arnold Kirsch, Larry Smouthers and Randy Cronenwett Jr. (who took a provisional starting spot).

ROOKIE CORNER: Randy Cronenwett Jr. was our top finishing rookie tonight finishing 13th, followed by Bill Litogot in 16th, Jeremy Vanderhoof in 18th. Heather Williams and Larry Smouthers were unable to transfer to the feature. Read the Toledo article to learn more on Heather... tonight was only her second night ever of racing.

Bill Litogot has a new sponsor on his car. BlumsLanding.com. When it's finished it will be a place where veterans and their families can go free of charge. There will be two cabins when finished and is being put together by friends of the family to honor their son, Sergeant Trevor Blumberg who was killed in Iraq. So far Trevor's parents have $300,000 invested and are hoping to get the word out. They are looking for all kinds of donations, from volunteers to help build the cabins or furniture or monetary. The cabins will be located in Rogers City, Mich., in the upper part of the lower peninsula.

Randy DiMaggio won his first A division feature of the year. "Thanks to my family and crew and sponsors. I couldn't do it without you," said the driver of the #84. It was Randy's ninth career A division feature.

Rich Abel's season has had a good start. Three races at Flat Rock have netted him two wins and a second place. "The Lord has Blessed me this year. I have to hurry up and get my points, my daughter's getting married this summer and I'll be taking a week off. I want to thank whoever painted the white lines in the corner... This old guy can see the corners and know where to turn now," Abel said with a smile.

Jeremy Miller, who took a season off last year, won the Figure 8 feature. "We have to work on qualifying. The car races well. Thanks to the McComb Group and my family. If it wasn't for the sponsors we wouldn't be able to do this," said the driver of the #52. It was Jeremy's 30th career Figure 8 feature, moving him to seventh on the all time Figure 8 feature wins list.

We had a new Figure 8 driver tonight. Eddie Snorf showed up driving a #20.

TOLEDO SPEEDWAY TIDBITS:

It was a night for firsts at Toledo Speedway. We had some first time drivers in the field, a first time winner - both driver and owner, and a driver running their first race ever.

Terry Senneker was the fast qualifier and started seventh. He took over the lead when Brian Campbell tangled with another car. He increased his lead and took the checkered flag a straightaway ahead of second place finisher, Brent Jack. "This is our third try at this track. Last time I was here, I had fast time, also, but was caught up in an accident. Today I was lucky to squeak by a few of those accidents ... quite a few happened right in front of me. The car ran great all day," said the driver of the TA Gentry Supply, Waste Management, Enterprise Iron & Metal, Weller Auto Parts, Taylored Homes Mobile and Modular, Butler Engine #37.

It was Senneker's third trip to Toledo. The other two were in 2001 and 2002, both for the Glass City 200. He qualified first in 2002 and sixth in 2001. Tonight's race was the first time he's finished.

For car owner, Terry Gentry, it was also his first win at Toledo. "We've had several second places over the years. We've been coming off and on since 2001, so I'm so happy to finally get a win."

But the other Gentry entry driven by Steve Needles, didn't fair as well. Needles was caught up in an accident just before the halfway point of the race. A car racing several in front of him got loose and the cars in front of Needles checked up... he went high to miss them and rim rode the wall. He retired with damage.

Brent Jack finished second after tangling with another car early in the race and having to go to the rear. "It was a good start to the season, especially after having to go to the tail," said the driver of the Hartman Auto Body, Brent's Auto Repair, Worker's World, Vano TV-Appliance, Sebert Oil Co. #41.

Third went to Harold Fair Sr. "We bounced off the backstretch walls a couple times and ended up with a bent the steering and panard (bar, in the rear)," said the driver of the Royal Truck and Trailer #7.

Following Fair Sr., was his son, Harold Fair Jr. He probably passed the most cars, because he went to the rear twice. "They told me I passed 32 cars tonight ... in a 20 car field. I actually had fun out there," said Fair Jr., whose #71 is also sponsored by Royal Truck and Trailer.

Fifth place went to Justin Schroeder, his career best finish at Toledo. "We called Scott Baker up and he came down and helped us with the setup," said the driver of the driver of the Dr. Micahel Kabot, Victory Lane Racing Parts, Glass Unlimited, All Star Performance #4.

The Fair's had the biggest team there, in terms of cars, with three cars. Their third car was driven by Jarod Allison, from Orlando, Fla. The Orlando Speed Drome 2007 Late Model Champion, was able to race because they broke a rear end in the car while qualifying.

Allison wasn't the only driver coming up from down south. Heather Williams came up from Atlanta. Several things set her apart from the other drivers, besides the obvious thing, that she's a woman (the last time a woman ran in the SLMs on a local night at Toledo was Lori Bunge in 2005). Williams' vehicle of expertise is a motorcycle, participating in the Freestyle Motorcross division in ESPN's X Games and Great Outdoor Games.  Another thing, prior to tonight's race, she had only been to an oval track three other times - all testing (twice in the SLM and once in a midget). Tonight was her first time in an actual race ... and she starts on the pole in her heat. She led a lap or so before settling into a second place finish. "That was amazing. I had a blast out there," the enthusiastic rookie said after her heat.  Next up was the feature ... she stayed out of trouble and finished 13th, three laps down, without a mark on the car for the first night. "I brought the car home in one piece and no crashes or spins ... pretty good for my first night. Compared to the bike, this is a walk in the park. I have broke a total of 21 bones.  Most of them on the bike ... being enclosed in a car is much safer. The car's a bit underpowered, it's kind of like taking a knife to a gun fight.  I had a blast tonight!" said the driver of the #55.

She got the ride when Dan Bellaire, from Canada contacted her through her website. The driver helping her tonight was veteran driver Don St. Denis, who is currently looking for sponsorship to return to racing.

21 cars were on hand. Guy Pritchardt was at the track but crashed during the hot lap sessions and Allison were the two drivers unable to start the races. Of the remaining 19 cars ... 18 were the regular outlaw type late models and the other an ASA template car with a crate engine driven by Bob Varney. Varney won his heat race, and finished 10th in the feature. "This was a good test session for our race in a few weeks on June 1," said the driver of the #116.

John Rowloff and Steve Needles both retired because of damage from separate accidents; Paul Pelletier had miss in the engine; Ron Allen had a battery go dead.

Congrats to Jim Froling on his eighth career sportsman win. And to Dave Arnold Jr., on his fourth career Factory Stock win.