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HORSTMAN SKATES TO HIS 3RD STRAIGHT

Auburn, MI – Last night, Jared Horstman (Cloverdale, OH) stayed perfect with his third straight win after the first three races of the season with Great Lakes Super Sprints.

Based on the original schedule, this should have been our third visit to TCMS, instead, GLSS pulled into Tri-City Motor Speedway for the first race of this whacky season. Being an unusual Thursday night race, there was still a great turnout of 29 cars from Ohio, Indiana, Florida and Michigan. The sun was out bright all day with a stiff breeze and temperatures pushing 95 degrees. This present from mother nature would provide us with a challenging, slick track all evening.

Hitting the track for qualifying, we quickly saw what we expected, the track conditions went away quickly in the heat of the evening as all 29 cars took their turns on the track, trying to find away to connect their engines power to the ground without burning off their tires. The great thing about racing though is that every driver has to race the same track!

As qualifying wrapped up, Ryan Ruhl (Coldwater, MI) driving the Smith Racing 71 car, sat on top of the 29 car field, with the quick time of the class at a pedestrian 13.33 second lap. Devon Dobie (Wapakoneta, OH), Mike Astrauskas (Pierson, MI), Andrew Scheid (Sparta, MI) and Brad Lamberson (Parma, MI) rounded out the top 5 cars.

In the Engler Machine & Tool Heat 1, Lamberson got out to a great start, getting around Phil Gressman (Helena, OH) and Ricky Peterson (Rawson, OH). In spite of the slick conditions, Lamberson led the field to the checkered flag in 110 seconds! Gressman grabbed the 2nd redraw spot, while Peterson, Ruhl and Justin Adams (Gibsonburg, OH) rounded out the top five.

Gregg Dalman (Bellevue, MI) led the Kistler Engines & Racing Heat 2 around to the start line. As the cars roar into turns one and two, Daggett makes contact with Eli Lakin (Buchanan, MI) and ended up with a flat rear tire, bringing out the caution flag and ending Daggett’s Heat Race. As the field goes green again, Dalman finds some moisture in his favorite part of the track and follows the bottom to the checkered flag. Dan McCarron (Brittan, MI) secures the 2nd redraw spot, while Dobie, Lakin and Nathan Barouch (Miami, FL) round out the top 5.

As the Specialty Fuels & Logistics Heat 3 rolls out, Trevor Berry (Clio, MI) leads the field to the green flag. Driving the Stambaugh Family 5M, Berry takes advantage of the clean air and doesn’t look back as he takes the checkered flag and the heat race win. Taking the 2nd redraw spot was Mad Max Stambaugh (Elida, OH) driving the Joe & Diane Seeling 97 car. Conner Morrell (Bradenton, FL), Eric Smith (Lakeview, MI) and Astrauskas rounded out the top five.

Chase Ridenour (Perry, MI) took the checkered flag driving the Greg Wheeler 16w in Campbell Performance Heat 4. Right behind Ridenour, Horstman takes the final redraw spot finishing second. Andrew Scheid secures the third spot, while newcomer Brad Strunk (Mason, OH) secures the final transfer spot to the A-Main. Linden Jones (Edwardsburg, MI) rounds out the 5th spot driving the Rocky Anderson 19 car, but he’ll have to drive his way into the A-main through the Last Chance Feature.

As the Beacon & Bridge Markets Last Chance Feature rolled out on the track, the heat of the day must have been working on the officials along with the nearly full moon. As the cars came to the start line, the tower called a jump by visiting Justin Adams (Gibsonburg, OH). Unfortunately due to bad radio reception, it took nearly 3 laps to bring out the caution. Fortunately the caution flag was yellow so it wasn’t as noticeable to everyone all the egg on our faces. After moving Adams back a row, there was a complete double file restart.

Things didn’t get much better on the restart, when the second row was already 3 wide at the chalk line. With some mis-interpretations, the green flag remained out and the race went on. Jay Steinbach (Hudsonville, MI) was the first car to the checkered, securing him a transfer spot. Daggett, Adams, Astrauskas, Jones and Barouch rounded out the final 6 transfer spots to the Main Event.

In the Perfit/Engine Pro A-Main, the track was the best it had been all night. There was some top and bottom grooves, but the racing was challenging none the less! Horstman took the lead on the first lap and led all 25 laps only being challenged by Dalman between laps 9 and 18 and Ruhl between laps 19 and the end of race. Ruhl laid down the fastest lap of the night on the 25th lap of the feature with a 12.82 second lap trying to chase down Horstman. But in the end, it wasn’t enough as Horstman took the checkered flag for his 3rd straight win. Ryan Ruhl took second and Dalman followed for third. Max Stambaugh and Ricky Peterson rounded out the top 5.

The Hoosier Hard Charger tonight was Dustin Daggett. Earning it the hard way, Daggett started 18th, worked his way to 13ths, slide off the track, went back to 18th and finished the night with a 9th place finish. Honorable mention goes to Ryan Ruhl and Linden Jones, both advancing 7 spots during the feature and Ricky Peterson, Jay Steinbach and Nathan Barouch all advancing 5 spots.

Our next scheduled race is July 25th at Thunderbird Raceway. But please check often to our website www.greatlakessprints.com for added dates. There are several races being discussed, but with tracks operating week to week, we unfortunately have to do the same. Please follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.

Thank you to our sponsors and please support them as much as you can. Without great companies supporting what we do, we couldn’t continue doing the thing we love…sprint car racing!!!

Perfit/Engine Pro
Automotive Racing Products (ARP)
Hastings Piston Rings
ACL Race Series
Engler Machine & Tool
Kistler Engines and Racing Products
Specialty Fuels & Logistics
Beacon and Bridge Markets
Addvance Heating & Cooling
Midland Steel
Environmental Waste & Recovery Service
Hoosier Racing Tires

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