Montpelier, IN – Dustin “Double D” Daggett (Portland, MI) raises the checkered flag in victory at Montpelier Speedway in Border Wars 3, where the National Racing Alliance (NRA) and the Great Lakes Super Sprints (GLSS) came together and put on a great winged sprint car race in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
Making our first visit to Montpelier Speedway and our second visit to Indiana this year, we had a great field of 31 cars…in spite of a few teams that stayed home with engine problems and a few teams missing due to family vacations!
After all the teams received hot laps around the ¼ mile track, the cars were lined up to qualify in groups of 3. Rolling out in the first group, Jared Horstman (Cloverdale, OH) hit all his marks and came away setting fast time and breaking his own track record of 12.336 seconds. Devon Dobie (Wapakoneta, OH) rolled out in the second group and was able to secure 2nd quick for the night at 12.383. In the 3rd group, Daggett was able to secure the 3rd quick time of 12.433.
While qualifying, the clouds cleared away and with the sun and heat put pressure on the track holding up, making it harder for the remaining teams to match the earlier times. When qualifying wrapped up, Hud Horton (German Town, OH) and Phil Gressman (Helena, OH) would round out the top 5 finishers with a 12.56 and 12.576 seconds respectively.
Matt Foos (Fremont, OH) and Andrew Scheid (Sprata, MI) bring the first group of cars to the chalk line in Heat 1. As the green flag flies, Foos gets a good run and beats the field in to turn one. Gressman gets around Scheid and after one lap its Foos, Gressman, Scheid and Horstman. In lap 2, Gressman gets around Foos for the lead and a charging Horstman is able to go high around Scheid and Foos for 2nd. Foos and Scheid were able to hold their position for 3rd and 4th respectively and force the rest of the field to the B-Main.
In Heat 2, Aaron Robnolte (Uniopolis, OH) and Jake Brown (Ontario, CA) lead the group around to the green flag. Brown jumps out to the lead and leads wire to wire. Randy Hannagan (Pittsboro, IN), moves into 2nd and holds that position to the checkered flag. Dobie held off Linden Jones (Edwardsburg, MI) and Michael Summers (Warsaw, IN) for 6 laps, then sliding wide out of turn 4, Dobie made hard contact with the front wall breaking a torsion bar and some other damage. Taking the 3rd and 4th transfer spots were Summers and Robnolte.
Mitch Brown (Ontario, CA) and Noah Dunlap (Wapakoneta, OH) lead the 3rd Heat race around the track to the start line. Brown gets out quick and leads the whole race, the battle was for the 2nd re-draw spot and the 4th transfer spot. Jeff Williams (Belle Center, OH) was able to hold onto 2nd for a couple laps, then Gregg Dalman (Bellevue, MI) was able to get around him in the 3rd lap and Daggett got around Williams in the 4th lap and Conner Morrell (Bradenton, FL) was able to get around him in the 5th lap for the last transfer spot. At the finish line, Daggett was able to get around Dalman for second and the last re-draw spot.
In the 4th and last Heat race, Danny Sams III (Northport, FL) and Kyle Sauder (Archbold, OH) lead their group of cars around to the flag stand. Sams got a good run and got out to the early lead. Sauder was able to hold off Horton until the 4th lap. Shawn Dancer (Delphos, OH) got around Kyle Poortenga (Woodland, MI) early and held on for the last transfer spot.
We had 13 of the 15 remaining cars make the call for the last chance race (B-Main). Brandon Ferguson (Sidney, OH) blew out his oil pan gasket and Kyle Poortenga was having an electrical issue and neither car was able to make it out to run the B-Main. Brad Lamberson (Parma, MI) and Jones led the B-Main around the track to the start line. On the opening lap as the leaders were charging into turn 4...on the back stretch, Tony Bures (Bristol, IN) was setting up to go into turn 3. When Jared Lamberson (Parma, MI) ran out of track and hit Bures right rear tire, launching Lamberson high into turn 3…cartwheeling Lamberson off the track and coming to rest on all 4 tires. As the red comes out on the track, Lamberson emerges from his car unscathed but with a sore right hand. This was Jared’s first time flipping a car…not exactly the birthday present he was hoping for on his birthday today!!!
With a full restart, Brad Lamberson got out front fast and was able to keep out front from green flag to checker. Williams and Andy Chehowski (Coldwater, MI) secured the 2nd and 3rd transfer spots, but the 4th transfer spot was hotly contested. Joe Geibe (Sturgis, MI) was able work his way up into 4th from the 7th starting spot. Starting in the 8th spot, Dobie had methodically worked his way through the field and on the last lap of the 12 lap B-Main, Dobie was able to go high and got around Geibe by the time they were coming out of turn 4. Filling the last transfer spot with Lamberson, Williams and Chehowski.
After a brief intermission and giving the B-Main transfer teams a little time to get their cars set up and filled with fuel, the 20 cars making the A-Main were rolled out and fired. Once the cars were lined up, one of the highlights of every one of our races is the 4 wide salute to the fans and crowd in the stands. With the festivities over, the cars were quickly back in line and awaiting the green flag to drop.
As the green flag flew, Daggett used the clean air in front to beat Hannagan into turn 1, building a 4 car length lead after 1 lap. With some incredible driving, the field of 20 cars were navigating the top, the middle and the bottom of this ¼ mile track. After a little over 3 minutes of racing, a caution was thrown for Morrell. Morrell did a complete 360 degree turn coming out of turn 2, but was able to control the spin and kept racing down the backstretch. With the caution being thrown, Morrell was sent to the back and the field was brought around by Daggett as the green flag once again flew.
Daggett was able to keep some distance on Hannagan but behind the two leaders, Horstman who started 8th and slipped to 9th on the initial start had worked his way through the field and was pushing Hannagan from behind and finally got around him in the 17th lap. With Hannagan out of the way, Horstman started working on Daggett as they weaved in and out of lapped traffic. With 4 laps to go, Horstman came out of turn 4 on Daggett’s bumper. Daggett was able to hold off Horstman the rest of the way and took the checkered flag with a 4 car length lead. Horstman crossed for second with Hannagan crossing for 3rd. Starting 16th and finishing in 4th was the Hard Charger, Dancer and rounding out the top 5 was Gressman.
For anyone not on hand at Montpelier tonight, they missed a great race! Starting the feature were 20 cars from Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Canada and ending the feature were all 20 cars that started. The patience and skill this group of drivers displayed was a real treat for everyone on hand and the crowd was rewarded with some great winged sprint racing!
Our next race will be at Hartford Speedway on Friday, August 3rd and then moving down to Plymouth Speedway on Saturday, August 4th for our last visit to Indiana for the 2018 season. For news and complete race and points results, go to our website at www.greatlakessupersprints.com and be sure to follow us on Facebook for updates and pictures.
- Barry Marlow on Jul 29, 2018
- Article Date: 7/28/2018 by Barry M. Marlow