Toledo Speedway

FLAT ROCK, MI: (8-22-09): Red and yellow were the colors of the night Saturday at Flat Rock Speedway as numerous incidents throughout the night made for a long evening. A good crowd turned out for the Stoney Creek Auto Parts/Monroe Evening News Kid's Night on a cloudy and cool night. Dan Ford Jr., Jeremy Miller, Lonnie York and Chance Rice took their respective feature wins. Kevin Butzin of Stoney Creek presented the trophies to the victors.

The rescheduled 100 lap ARCA Street Stock feature (rained out August 8) was slowed by the caution flag on numerous occasions.  Through it all, current point leader Dan Ford Jr. chalked up the win in a very competitive event.  Tadek Stadniczuk took the lead on the start, with the yellow coming out after lap 1 when Clyde McKee tagged the back straight wall.  Tadek held on to the lead on the restart and ran strong out front. Ford Jr, working his way from 11^th spot, took control of the race on lap 22 and set a quick pace as Dennis Strickland, fast qualifier Ron Allen and Tim Moore, along with Randy DeMaggio, began to make their way to the front of the pack.  Moore made a good move to grab the point on lap 55 from Ford, but Dan came back on lap 66 to take the lead back and never relinquished the number 1 spot.  Strickland and Moore tangled with 9 laps to go, sending them to the tail and setting up a 2-car duel for the win.  DeMaggio applied pressure to the leader in the late stages and finished second to Ford, who pocketed $1000 for his efforts.  Stadniczuk recorded his best-ever finish with third, Jeff Kurzyniec came from 23^rd spot to take fourth and Allen recovered from a flat tire early in the race to take fifth spot.  Derek Wiley, David Kind, Arnold Kirsch, Chad Guinn and Greg Studt completed the top 10 finishers.  Front runner Scott Selmi fell out of the contest just past the lap 70 mark after running in the top 5 for most of the night.

Lonnie York grabbed the lead from Glenn Gregg on lap 4 and sped to victory in the 35 lap ARCA Street Stock B Main contest, which was also filled with yellow flags.  York withstood the late race challenge of Darrell Krause on his way to the win.  Troy Brehmer, John Huebner Sr., Billy Cronce, James Pankow, Anthony Camilli, Chris Fitzpatrick, Rayce Metdpenningen and Paul Falkenburg were next in line at the stripe.  Ron Allen's quick time for the 51 car field was a lap of 13:265, while Fitzpatrick led the B field at 13:808. 

The 50 lap ARCA Figure 8 feature was action-packed and stopped several times for numerous incidents.  Dennis Whisman took the lead at the start and appeared headed to the big win, but was tagged by Nick Bradley at the intersection on lap 44 in a heavy collision, bringing out the red flag.  Both drivers were fine, but Whisman's machine sustained major damage.  Early in the event, a 5-7 car freight train diced back and forth around the entire Figure 8 course as Whisman, Greg Studt, Robbie Loving, Billy Earley, Gary Cronenwett, Jeremy Miller and Jeremy Vanderhoof played bumper tag and battled for position.  Whisman's misfortune gave Miller the lead with just 6 laps to go.  The red came out again when Cronenwett got tangled up with Sam Hall, sending Gary into the wall.  At the checkered flag, Miller held off Loving on a drag race to the stripe, with Vanderhoof third, Earley fourth and Studt fifth, followed by Jerry Lee, Whisman, Stephanie Bradley, Nick Bradley and Cronenwett.  Lee and Whisman took the heat wins.  Vanderhoof set the Loving Auto Care fast time at 20:522.

A great 2 car battle for much of the race turned into a single car sprint to the flag as Chance Rice took the win in the 30 lap Michigan Legends Car feature race.  Tony Monge and Rice staged a classic battle for much of the race, battling back and forth on the ¼ mile paved oval.  Rice took control around lap 23 and Monge's night ended 2 laps later when something broke on his car, sending him to the infield in a shower of sparks.  Rice sailed to the victory over Brandon Mahoney, Tyler Rycenga, Matt Todd, Levi Rouster, Ben Rouster, Christopher Porce, Gary Joppich, Keera Allen and Rick Kassube.  Ben Rouster, Mahoney and Rice were the heat race winners. 

Figure 8 driver Jeremy Fragassi capped off the night by taking the Rollover contest.  Over 800 kids were on hand to take in the racing card, which offered free admission to kids 14 and under and a free hot dog, chips and a drink, courtesy of Sherwood Foods, Seyfert's Snacks and the Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group.  A large contingent of employees and their families from UAW Local 3000 were also on hand Saturday night.

Only 2 point races remain in the 2009 season, and the action returns to Flat Rock Saturday, August 29 with Glass Unlimited Night.  The ARCA Moran Chevrolet/Miller Lite Late Models return, and will be joined by the Figure 8's and Street Stocks.  The ARCA 4 Cylinder championship race will also be part of the race card, which begins at 7 p.m.