SANTOS SAILS TO TOLEDO KING OF THE WING; NESTER TOP SPEED TOP DOG
SANTOS SAILS TO TOLEDO KING OF THE WING; NESTER TOP SPEED TOP DOG
July 21, 2017: Bobby Santos blitzed the field to win the 40 lap Royal Purple King of the Wing Sprint Car Shootout Friday night at Toledo Speedway. Brian Nester was the winner in the companion event, the 50 lap NSTA Top Speed Modified feature event.
Santos powered into the lead on the start, beating fellow front row starter Derek Snyder to turn 1. Bobby put the hammer down and built up a ½ lap lead, only to have it erased by a pair of yellows. While Santos powered away, a pack of 6-8 cars actually went 4-wide into turn 2 as the action heated up behind the leader. 3rd running Aaron Pierce dropped out with 10 to go. Santos was not to be denied as he zipped to the win over Snyder and Jimmy McCune, who took to the outside lane and put on a dazzling display as he passed 3 cars on the final lap to gain third spot. David Byrne was fourth and West Coast racer Johnny Giesler was fifth. Kyle Edwards, Jason Conn, Anthony McCune, Jason Blonde and Tristen Spiers completed the top ten finishers in the 20 car field.
Edwards did the unthinkable in time trials, as he set a new 1-lap mark at Toledo with an amazing lap of 12:142. Byrne, Santos and Giesler took the heat race wins.
A 12-car inversion made for some great racing in the 50 lap NSTA Top Speed Modified feature race. Sean McPherson took the lead on the start until Tim Burkett took the point. Tim’s lead, however, was short-lived, as Brian Nester, who started 11th, took the number 1 spot. Nester took off from the rest of the pack and built up a good lead and was headed to the win, but a lap 34 red flag stopped things when Bob Sibila Jr. had a mechanical failure and tagged the foam blocks and wall in turn 3. Bob was ok but he was done for the night. Nester just sailed away on the restart and grabbed the victory over fast qualifier Travis Eddy (16:547), who started 12th and got to second at the stripe. Burkett was third, Danny Jackson fourth and McPherson fifth, followed by Evan Foster, Jamie Sites, Damon Breedlove, Jonathan Martin and Ralph Baxter III. A total of 20 Mods were on hand for the event.
Friday, July 28, another top open-wheel show is on the race card at Toledo Speedway as Hemelgarn Racing and Super Fitness present the Rollie Beale Classic for the USAC Silver Crown Cars. The 100 lap race will pay tribute to the late Rollie Beale, a Toledo native. Rollie was the 1973 USAC Sprint Car champion and a former USAC Series director. Members of Rollie’s family will be in attendance Friday night. The 2016 event was cancelled due to rain.
Fans will also be treated to a vintage race car display and exhibition July 28, while the Thunder Roadsters touring series will make their first-ever visit to Toledo. The ARCA Aramark Late Model Sportsman division has also been added to the race schedule. An open-wheel Racer’s Reunion is also planned, and the track will host City of Toledo Employee Night for this event.
Fans can save $5 per ticket with an advance ticket purchase. All seating is general admission. Tickets may be purchased by phone by calling the track office at 419-727-1100, visiting the track office or by downloading the ticket order form at www.toledospeedway.com. Most major credit cards are accepted for orders.
The July 28 time schedule shows practice at 4:30, time trials at 6:15 and racing at 7:30 p.m. The spectator gates will open just before the start of practice Friday night.