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Dalman Goes Wire to Wire to Win at Thunderbird Raceway

Dalman goes wire to wire to win his 1st GLSS Feature

6/18/2016 – Thunderbird Raceway, Muskegon, MI

360 Winged Sprints

After being closed for over a year and under new ownership, Thunderbird Raceway was the home of our second race for the weekend. Pulling into the pits, it was easy to see all the work put into the facility and after walking up to track there was a buzz amongst the drivers! Many had never been to Thunderbird and if they had, it has been over 10 years since the track has seen sprint cars on it!
With 4 other tracks running sprints in our region and with 7 GLSS members not able to run for various reasons, we ended up with 11 cars in the pits on Saturday, June 18th. However the pits were packed with other classes and the stands were full as well! With an 11 pm curfew, the evening moved along quickly.
With the early start we decided to forego qualifying and we used everyone’s pill draw to determine heat line ups. Getting on the track the cars found a groove on the top and the bottom. Heat race 1 was taken by points leader #85 Dustin Daggett, followed by #16 Ryan Ruhl and #11 Trey Smith. Heat race 2 was won by #11R Chase Ridenour, #49t Gregg Dalman and #57 Mike Dunlap.
After the Heat finishes the top 6 finishers did a redraw, giving Dalman the pole with Dunlap next to him followed by Ruhl, Daggett, Ridenour and Smith. As the cars fired on the track and got lined up in front of the large crowd, the evening was perfect and the stars and the moon aligned. The green flag dropped and Dalman took off, never be challenged again!
Dalman found a great line and traction on the bottom of the track and 2nd place Dunlap was cruising around the track in the middle. Knowing they needed to reel Dalman in somehow, Ridenour, Ruhl and Daggett tried every combination in their bags. Trying to gain some traction and speed the 3 Amigos found a cushion at the top of turns 3 and 4. However the speed they gained on top wasn’t reeling Dalman in who was on a rail and auto pilot cruising the bottom of the track.
Five minutes and 41 seconds after the green flag flew, the checkered flag dropped!!! It was an awesome show of skill and maneuverability while keeping their foot on the peddle! Looking at the Thunderbird staff smiling ear to ear and hearing the crowd yelling and clapping, we were all treated to a great night of racing at the new Thunderbird Speedway.
6-18-2016 Results:
A Feature 25 laps

1. 49T-Gregg Dalman[1]; 2. 57-Mike Dunlap[2]; 3. 11R-Chase Ridenour[5]; 4. 85-Dustin Daggett[4]; 5. 16-Ryan Ruhl[3]; 6. 31-Andy Teunessen[7]; 7. 46-Robert Huisken[8]; 8. 19J-Linden Jones[10]; 9. 84-Kyle Poortenga[9]; 10. 11-Trey Smith[6]; 11. 37-Noah Dunlap[11]
   Heat 1 8 laps
2. 85-Dustin Daggett[3]; 2. 16-Ryan Ruhl[2]; 3. 11-Trey Smith[1]; 4. 31-Andy Teunessen[4]; 5. 84-Kyle Poortenga[6]; 6. 37-Noah Dunlap[5]
   Heat 2 8 laps
3. 11R-Chase Ridenour[2]; 2. 49T-Gregg Dalman[1]; 3. 57-Mike Dunlap[4]; 4. 46-Robert Huisken[3]; 5. 19J-Linden Jones[5]

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