In one of the final races of the 2023 season at Toledo Speedway, photo finishes and tight racing would highlight a festival of racing in the ASA STARS National Tour Hearn Industries Glass City 200 presented by DTS Drive Train Specialists and Courtyard by Marriott! Jesse Love would take his first win in the Glass City 200 after a runner-up finish in 2022, Josh Bunting would ice his championship run in the Safety-Kleen Factory Stocks, and Howard Kelley Jr would take a wild win in a race that would tie up Ron Allen’s record 11th championship win in the Salenbien Excavating Late Model Sportsman division.

Starting under a beautiful day in Toledo, fans were delighted by warm weather and appearances by the Bob Senneker Bluebird #84. 

The pre-race crowd would feature appearances by many alumni of Toledo Speedway, ASA, and the Glass City 200. Dennis Strickland, Johnny VanDoorn, Chuck Roumell, Terry Jones, Fred Campbell, Steve Bunge, Dick Barker, Brian Norton, Scott Hansen, Tim Ice, Dave Kuhlman and Terry Senneker Jr. are only some of the names who attended the race.

Pre-race, Toledo Speedway Track Owner/Promoter and ARCA President Ron Drager would present Bob Senneker an ARCA Gold Card, engraved with the #84 as a nod to his famous number.

Salenbien Excavating Late Model Sportsman

In the Salenbien Excavating Late Model Sportsman division, a three-wide finish between the top three finishers would mark one of the best feature events of the season so far, as Howard Kelley Jr would stand outside of Ron Allen and Jim Froling to the line. 

Kelley Jr would win by less than half-a-car, barely eking out one of the most exciting finishes of the year.

Kelley would lead every lap, but never pull to a lead of more than five car lengths over the course of the 25-lap feature. Froling and Allen would mix for second through a majority of the race, with Kyle Worley occasionally vying for places as well.

At the finish, Kelley Jr would win by just .064 seconds over Ron Allen. Jim Froling would slot in third, followed by Kyle Worley just .399 seconds back of the leader.

Andy Harding in the #78 would close out the top five in the last Salenbien Excavating Late Model Sportsman event of the 2023 season.

Ron Allen wins the 2023 Salenbien Excavating Late Model Sportsman season championship, picking up his 11th championship in this division!

The annual Flat Rock/Toledo Awards Celebration will be held Friday evening, October 27 at the Toledo Speedway Bar/Grille. 

Safety-Kleen Factory Stocks

In the Safety-Kleen Factory Stocks division, Josh Bunting iced his championship run by taking the 25-lap season championship feature. With three drivers in contention for the championship, Bunting put on a strong performance to take the win as well as the championship.

Josh Bunting would take the win over Brad Turner in a photo finish, as the #72 of Turner would pull to the side of Bunting just before the finish line.

This is the first championship for Josh Bunting. In victory lane, all four members of the Bunting family - Josh, Logan, Matt, and Ayden - would celebrate in victory lane.

The annual Flat Rock/Toledo Awards Celebration will be held Friday evening, October 27 at the Toledo Speedway Bar/Grille. 

ASA STARS National Tour Hearn Industries Glass City 200 presented by DTS Drive Train Specialists and Courtyard by Marriott

After finishing in the runner-up position for both the 2022 ARCA Menards Series Shore Lunch 200 presented by CGS Imaging as well as the 2022 Glass City 200, ARCA Menards Series points leader Jesse Love came back to Toledo Speedway on Saturday and took his first ever win at the track in the ASA STARS National Tour Hearn Industries Glass City 200 presented by DTS Drive Train Specialists and Courtyard by Marriott.
Love captured the victory after a chaotic first two stages, filled with cautions as well as tight racing between many of the biggest talents in short track racing.

Kyle Crump and Cole Butcher swapped the lead for the first 50 laps of the night, with a great deal of side-by-side racing accounting for five lead changes between the two drivers before lap 50. 

Butcher would eventually win out, taking the lead and the stage win by lap 75 over Jesse Love, Kyle Crump, Ty Majeski, and Gio Ruggiero.

Butcher would lead until the second red flag of the night on lap 138, where disaster would strike for Kyle Crump. His car would impact the turn one barriers, ending his night all too early after leading laps earlier in the afternoon.

Soon after, Ty Majeski, Cole Butcher, and Gio Ruggiero would all run out of fuel in quick succession on lap 140 - just ten laps to go in the second stage of the night. 

This would give the lead to Jesse Love, who would hold steady, take the stage 2 win, and remain in the lead for the race’s final 60 laps.

Love took the victory by 2.216 seconds over Nova Scotia-native Cole Butcher, who led a number of laps and took the first stage of the night.

Chase Burda would finish in third place just a week after taking the season championship in the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour title, ahead of Bubba Pollard and Andrik Dimayuga (in just his third ever race in the United States).

Austin Nason would come home in sixth, followed by Billy VanMeter, Scotty Tomasik, Gio Ruggiero, and Logan Bearden.

Noah Gragson, making a big return to the ASA STARS National Tour, would come home in 11th after an unscheduled pit stop under green.

Ty Majeski would retire on lap 150 due to engine issues, coming home in 13th.

Jesse Love would take his first trip to Monroe Asphalt Winners Circle in Toledo after a highly-eventful two runner-up performances at Toledo in 2022.

For the full ASA STARS National Tour schedule, plus Super Late Model rules and other information, please visit the series website at www.starsnationaltour.com, and be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: STARS National Series | Twitter: @racewithstars | IG: @starsnational).

Up Next

Coming up next is the ARCA Menards Series championship finale at Toledo Speedway! This national racing event will prove to be a huge one, as the ARCA Menards Series closes its season out at its home track.

Jesse Love will look to become the first driver in Toledo Speedway history to both win the Glass City 200 and an ARCA Menards Series race at Toledo in the same year, while also looking to potentially win his first season championship over some national and international stars, including Andres Perez de Lara and Frankie Muniz.

The ARCA Menards Series crowns a champion on Saturday, October 7th with the Shore Lunch 200 at Toledo Speedway. This historic race has created many memorable moments over the years as a season finale, with big finishes and a high amount of action. Tickets for this event are available now at local Menards stores! You can click here to learn more about where to pick up your tickets for this championship event. You can also follow along with Toledo Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.