Toledo Speedway

TOLEDO OH (5-25-2008)--  Harold Fair Jr. powered his way to victory in Sunday night’s ARCA Allegiant Air Glass City Gold Cup Late Model feature at Toledo Speedway.  The evening, sponsored by the Toledo area UAW Cap Council, also had Ron Allen score his 100^th ARCA win in the ARCA National City Bank Sportsman win, while Adam Roberts took the Michigan Legends Car feature.  Bill Daniels, representing the Cap Council, presented the trophies to the winners.

The 50 lap Late Model feature started out on the wrong foot as the front row of Dave Kuhlman and Brent Jursik collided and slid up the track and into the turn 1 wall.  Both were done for the night.  With 1 lap complete, that handed the point to Dennis Strickland.  Dennis sailed along out front until lap 20 when Brent Jack took control.  That lead was short-lived, as Jack dropped down pit road with mechanical woes just 3 laps later.  Fair Jr. had moved to 2^nd from his 8^th starting spot, inherited the lead and took off on a sprint at the restart.  Joe Bush got really quick and started to reel in Fair, but dropped back slightly, only to lose power and end his night on lap 47, just 3 laps short of the end.  At the stripe it was Fair Jr., Strickland, Jake Francis, Eric Lee and Jared Allison for the top five.  Justin Schroeder, Paul Pelletier, Joe Hawes, Ron Allen and Steve Cronenwett Jr. completed the top ten.  The final 49 laps ran all green at a blistering pace, completing the 50 laps in just over 20 minutes, even with the lap 1 red flag.  Fair Jr. blistered a lap and came up just short of Jr. Hanley’s track record, clocking in at 14:908 in time trials.  Strickland, Pelletier and Bill Litogot captured the heat races for the 19 car field. 

The wild 50 lap ARCA National City Bank Sportsman main event saw Ron Allen emerge with his 100^th career victory in ARCA competition, spanning Late Models, Street Stocks and this class.  Rookie Dave Frantz led lap 1 and it finished with rookie Jeff King looping his machine in the front straight, taking Howard Kelley Jr., Jim Froling and Greg Stilwell with him.  Greg was done for the night, while the others darted down pit road and rejoined the action.  On the restart, Chad Guinn took the lead but Allen was on the move on the high side, taking the point on lap 9.  A scary incident on lap 11 saw Tom O’Leary IV get into Brian Pelkey, giving Rich Abel no place to go.  Rich climbed the rear wheel of Andy Harding and tagged the backstraight wall hard, bringing out the red.  All drivers were ok, but the damage was pretty heavy.   The race finally got going again and Allen motored away for the win over Guinn, Froling, Kelley Jr., Scott Bross, Jarod MacZink, Jeff King, Brian Pelkey, Scott Lockenour and Tom O’Leary III.  Guinn and MacZink took the heats, while Froling set fast time at 17:359 for the 19 car field.

The yellow flag appeared frequently in the 30 lap Michigan Legends feature race of the night.  Youngster Sloan Henderson took the lead and led for 5 laps, while Cullen Camasta took over on lap 6 and stayed there only until lap 8 when Adam Roberts grabbed the lead.  Adam held on throughout the remaining 22 laps to score the victory over Ms. Sloan, Chris Perry, Chance Rice, Matt Todd, Mickey Kudlicki, Brandon Mahoney, Jake Dunsmore, Tyler Rycenga and Jerry Warden. 

Toledo jumps back into action with another double-header weekend.  Friday, May 30 is Armed Forces Appreciation Night.  All military personnel will be admitted FREE with military ID.  The Sportsman, Factory Stocks and the return of the Figure 8’s will make up the race card, with a 7:30 p.m start.

Sunday, June 1 is the make-up date for the ASA Late Model race.  The Northern division will run a 125 lap feature, with a 75 lap USPRO Late Model feature and the USA Modifieds on tap.  Race time on Sunday is 2:30 p.m.