Lake Odessa, MI – Just hours after 40-50 mph winds jeopardized our season opener, Dustin Daggett of Portland, MI, takes home the feature win in front of a large home town crowd!
Racing in early May in Michigan is always a roll of the dice on whether you will get a race in or not. So we always schedule a rain date for our Season Opener to increase our odds of racing! This year was no different with areas around Michigan getting 3-4 inches of rain on May 3rd. On Friday morning it looked as though we would have a window of opportunity to race that night…and then the strong wind advisories were posted. Wind gusts up to 50 mph and potentially 60 mph were expected in the afternoon. We rolled the dice and planned on racing and were blessed with a beautiful Spring evening!
By the time the pits opened we had 10 sprint cars already in the gates and by the time we put heat in the motors around 6:05 pm we had 30 sprint cars registered and ready to do battle on the sprint car friendly track at I-96 Speedway.
The track crew at I-96 Speedway has always given us a great track to race on. With the winds earlier wrecking havoc on the track and the chaos of opening night, the drivers and teams were rushed to stay on schedule. But they were rewarded with a great track for qualifying.
Phil Gressman (Helena, OH) rolled out in the 6th group and set fast average time for the night 102.1 mph! Devon Dobie (Wapakoneta, OH) was 2nd at 101.6 mph, Linden Jones (Edwardsburg, MI) 3rd at 101.0 mph, Ryan Ruhl (Coldwater, MI) 4th at 100.7 and coming out in the 10th group, “Mad” Max Stambaugh (Elida, OH) was 5th quick at 100.6 mph.
With the Heats set, Brad Lamberson (Parma, MI) leads the Kistler Racing Parts Heat 1 around to the start line. Called for a jump the caution quickly comes out and Lamberson is moved back, putting Stambaugh on the pole. With a good start, the GLSS season has officially started. Chase Ridenour (Perry, MI) jumped out to a quick lead and takes the checked flag in under 2 minutes averaging 101.7 mph in 8 laps. Followed closely by Stambaugh, Gressman and Michael Summers (Warsaw, IN) filling the 4 transfer spots to the A-Main.
The Campbell Performance Heat 2 was led around the track by Andy Chehowski (Coldwater, MI). With a clean start, Joe Swanson (Etna Green, IN) takes the lead and never looks back. Finishing 2nd and taking the 2nd redraw spot was Daggett and rounding out the other two transfer spots were Dobie and Andy Teunessen (Kalamazoo, MI).
Leading out the Kistler Race Engines Heat 3 for his first visit to I-96 Speedway was Zane DeVault (Plymouth, IN). As the field goes green, the caution quickly comes out and DeVault is called for a jump and sent back, moving Gregg Dalman (Bellevue, MI) to the poll and another restart. In a new car for 2018, Dalman went coast to coast for the win as newcomer Danny Sams III (Northport, FL) nabs the other redraw spot for second! Taking the other two transfer spots were DeVault and Jones.
Andrew Scheid (Sparta, MI) leads the Specialty Fuels & Logistics Heat 4 around the track for our final Heat Race. Jumping out to a quick lead was Ruhl and he was able to hold off the Hoosier Rocket (Brett Mann) Goshen, IN who came in second. Scheid stays strong with a 3rd place finish and Bill Jacoby (Village, FL) cruises into the final transfer spot.
With 30 cars, we took the top 4 cars from each of the 4 heat races, leaving 4 spots to fill from the B-Mains. Leading out B-Main #1 was Alexis Adgate (Middleville, MI) and Conner Morrell (Bradenton, FL). Grabbing the 2 transfer spots were Morrell and D.J. Lamance (Delton, MI). Leading out B-Main #2 was Chehowski and Eric Smith (Lakeview, MI). With a great run, Joe “Dirt” Geibe and Chehowski punched their tickets to the A-Main.
With the A-Main filled, the top 8 spots were drawn by young fans on the front stretch. Sitting on the pole for the feature was Kid Rocket Ridenour with Swanson to his right. Daggett and Mann, Ruhl and Sams, Stambaugh and Dalman filled out rows 2, 3 & 4 respectively. Just missing the redraw were top qualifiers Gressman and Dobie putting them in row 5 and almost certainly setting up a great show.
Pushing off for the feature and due to some mis-communication our cars were treated unexpectedly to a greasy track. After a few trips around the track, the field was in order and the fans were treated to a 4 wide salute. With the festivities out of the way and inspite of the miscommunication the track was in awesome shape and we were ready to race!
Ridenour and Swanson brought the field around at a good clip and we had a clean start. The field roared down the front stretch and cleared turns 1 & 2 cleanly. In lap 9 we had our first caution, giving us Ridenour, Daggett, Swanson, Stambaugh and Gressman in the front 5 positions.
As the laps rolled by, a couple more cautions came out. In the 18th lap, as Stambaugh was trying to get around Gressman, Stambaugh ran out of real state coming out of turn 2 and went off the backstretch. Getting back on the track, Stambaugh then brought out the caution and was sent to the tail.
In lap 22, just as we were 45 seconds from finishing, Ridenours car looked like it bobbled and Daggett and Gressman got around him. At the flagstand, Daggett takes the checkered flag as Gressman narrowly holds off Ridenour and Ruhl and Sams.
For a full listing of results, go to www.greatlakessupersprints.com or glss.rocks.
Our next race will be at Tri-City Motor Speedway on May 25th, kicking off our Memorial Day Triple Header. Racing at Merritt Speedway on Saturday, May 26th and Crystal Motor Speedway on May 27th. For up to date information follow us on Facebook and keep checking the website.
Thank you to Great Lakes Super Sprints Sponsors
Kistler Racing Products, Kistler Engines, Campbell Performance, Engler Machine and Tool, Environmental Waste & Recovery Services and Specialty Fuels & Logistics.
- Barry Marlow on May 06, 2018
- Article Date: 5/4/2018 by Barry M. Marlow