This weekend was the second of the Pro-series races in the Great Lakes region. All last week we received so much rain that it blew the track out. The track crew worked on the track as much as possible to get it ready for this race. By Friday afternoon practice was available. This weekend being father’s day weekend turn-out was down a little with 66 entries. Saturday morning came and it was overcast with a chance of showers. imagine that after all the rain we have had the past 4 to 5 weeks! Racers were starting to practice and sure enough a slight shower. Enough to temporarily postpone practice. After about 45 minutes of sprinkles we waited out the drying of the track. The plan was to have 4 qualifiers Saturday and the mains on Sunday. It was around 12:30 and we started qualifying. There were 7 heats, 1 heat of Sportsman buggy of 7 racers. 1 heat of Sportsman truggy with 7 racers. 2 heats of Open buggy with 18 racers. 1 heat of Open truggy with 10 racers. 2 heats of Pro buggy with 14 racers and 1 heat of Pro truggy with 8 racers. Competition was very good with racers like Kevin Wilson, Shane Racer, Mo Denton, Joe Laws and other local hot shoes attending the event. Qualifying went well with virtually no issues with the program. We finished up in a timely matter even after the delay from the weather. The TQ’s went to Sabby in Sportsman buggy. Lil George in Sportsman truggy. Keith Chinn in Open buggy. Bill Connard in Open truggy. Kevin Wilson in Pro buggy and Shane Racer in Pro truggy.

Sunday’s racing was going to be a steamer with the weather getting into the 90’s. There was only minimal practice of 5 minutes for all the “A” main contenders. Open buggy would be up first with the “B” running. The contenders would be Mark Jones qualifying 16th overall. Torry Snow in 15th, Charles Garton, Mark Waggoner, Ky Layfield and Josh Johnson holding down the top position in the “B” main. This would be a 15 minute main and was looking to bump the top two finishers. Josh Johnson jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. While the second place was jockeying for position between Charles Garton, Mark Waggoner and Ky Layfield hot on their heels. After 15 minutes it would be Josh and KY finishing first and second with Mark Waggoner only 22 seconds back in third place. Very close race between second and third finishers. Josh and Ky would be bumping up to the “A” main. The remain finishers were Torry and Mark Jones finished. But Charles had issues and was unable to finish the whole 15 minutes.

Second main would be the “A” Sportsman truggy. Qualifying positions were Fred Jones in 7th. Joe Hein in 6th. Will Berisford, Sabby, Ross Subasic, Eric Spelock and your top qualifier Lil George. The main started and it looked as though Lil George was going to take an easy win until he had a little problem during the 5th lap with the tube! This is when Eric took the lead and win without having any issues with the track or traffic. Lil George would make his way back to second without much problem and would slowly catch Eric, but not have enough time before the end of the 20 minute main. George just need a few more minutes and it would have been a close race between them. Sabby finished third a few laps back with Ross a few more laps back. Joe, Will and Fred had problems and did not finish the race.

The third race would be the “A” main Open truggy. 10th qualifier would be Kneisley!!!!!!!. 9th would be Mark Jones. Then Mark Waggoner, Rodney Foley, Koby Kubrin, Big Dog, Chris Chimplewski, Eli Ezrow, Chad Wallace and TQ would be Bill Connard. The race started and after about 8 to 10 minutes the race was called due to computer problems! We would have to rerun the race after the rest of the program was finished.

Fourth race would be the Pro truggy “A” main. Qualifying 8th would be Joey Lucas. 7th was Mike Marshall. Dave Taylor, Gus, Andrew Michael, Mo Denton, CJ Weaver and the TQ would be Shane Racer. The race started and again it looked as though Shane would walk away with the easy win. Not to be because after 14 laps an outer hinge pin in the rear pulled out to prematurely finish his race. Mo Denton would take the top spot only to have issues also. He would suffer a servo failure after lap 59 to end his run for the win. CJ was in second and now would take the lead and not look back. After 45 minutes it was CJ for the win, Gus, Andrew, Joey that finished 45 minutes respectfully. Mike, Dave, Mo and Shane was unable to finish the main.

The fifth race was up now being the Sportsman buggy “A” main. Qualifying order would be as follows with Brennan Wilson at the 7th position. Will Berisford at the 6th position with Craig Aston, Jake Baker, Gerard Dylan, Lil George and Sabby with TQ. As the main started sabby got into trouble and crossed the line in third place. Lil George took advantage of the problem and was in second with Gerard Dylan taking the top spot. Lil George and Gerard battled it back and forth, but Gerard had a better pit man and won out in the long run. The finishing order would be Gerard Dylan with the win followed by Lil George, Jake Baker Brennan Wilson all finishing the main. Sabby and Will Berisford had problems and were unable to finish. Craig Aston did not start.

Sixth up for the day was the Pro buggy “A” main. With 2 racers bumping from the “B” main there would be a total of 12 racers competing for the number one spot. Starting in the 12 position from the bump up was Ky Layfield. 11 position was Josh Johnson. 10th would be DC Smith then Chris Chimplewski, Rodney Foley, Big Dog, Brian Beckholt, Jordan Wilson, Eli Ezrow, Bill Connard, Chad Wallace and the TQ was Keith Chinn. The start of the 30 minute main was a little may-lay of cars. Crossing the line first was the 5th place qualifier of Jordan Wilson, followed by Brian Beckholt and Keith Chinn. After a couple of laps the TQ car of Keith regained the lead and didn’t look back. With 12 cars in this main it was doubtful that all would finish. With that said only 5 finished. Keith would be number one followed by Bill, Jordan, Rodney, and Big Dog. Chris and Ky, who bumped up from the “B” had 29 minutes on the track. The rest of the field was DC, Eli, Chad, Josh and Brian.

This was originally the last main of the day, except for the Open truggy “A” main computer glitch problem earlier in the day. With 14 racers and this being the premier race of the day with the best contenders and 45 minute main. The spectators would get a show of some of the best talent of this weekend’s racing event. Starting in the 14th position, way behind the leader would be Gary Duxbury. Nick Bocklage (track proprietor) would be starting 13th. Shane Racer, who had problems qualifying would be in the 12th spot. The rest of the field would be Stoffer, Joe Laws, Dan Yourga, CJ Weaver, Cody Hogle, Eric Shoen, Jason White, Gus, Mike Marshall, Mo Denton and Kevin Wilson (TQ). Kevin would get a terrific start and cruise to a victory only to be challenged briefly by Shane and Mo. Surprisingly 9 racers would finish the 45 minute main. Kevin with the win followed by Mo, Joe, Mike, Dan, Gus, Gary and Stoffer all making 45 minutes. Stoffer only 21 laps back from Kevin. The rest of the racers with problems finishing in the following order. Nick, Eric, Shane, CJ, Jason and Cody only making 6 laps with car problems.

Now the last main of the day. This was a re-run from earlier in the day. It was the “A” main Open truggy. Same qualifying order as before. With the horn sounding off for the start of this race the number 5 qualifier of Big Dog would cross the line for the first 2 laps, then drop back to 6th position. Big dog would give the lead up to Chad Wallace followed closely by Bill Connard and Eli. Chad would have some problems toward the end of the 30 minute main and was unable to finish. This placed Eli into second gaining on Bill. After the dust settled it was Bill taking the top spot followed by Eli, Chris, Big Dog, Koby, Rodney, Mark Waggoner all finishing the 30 minute main. Kneisley!!!!!!!!, Chad and Mark Jones were unable to finish.

Overall a fun race weekend and some really competitive racing. The track layout was fun and technical. The weather held out (a little warm 90’s).