AUBURN, MI - Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI) won the 2018 GLSS Championship and was determined to defend and win the 2019 Championship. With struggles early in the season, Daggett won a couple features, but didn't seem to be as comfortable as he was last year.
Beating Phil Gressman (Helena, OH) was a daunting task going into the Championship race on Friday. Daggett did what he could by winning the $2,500 A-Main Feature on Friday. Daggett shaved 58 points off Gressmans lead, but that wasn't enough, crowning Phil "the Ohio Gasman" Gressman the 2019 GLSS Champion!
The Great Lakes Sprintacular's first feature rolled out with 22 non-wing cars of the MTS Sprints. In the first lap, Stevie Irwin broke a front wheel hub and went for a wild ride after making contact with an infield tire, flipping hard! He was transported to the hospital for observation. Irwin ended with a broken collar bone, sore and badly bruised.
At the end of an exciting 25 lap feature, Daggett took the checkered flag after going topless with the non-wing field!!! This gave Daggett his 2nd straight feature win at Tri-City Motor Speedway in 2 nights! Brian Ruhlman, John Ivy, Ty Tilton and Steve Little rounded out the top 5.
With $5,000 to win Saturday night, all the drivers had visions of taking home that big check! With 25 cars starting the A-Main, the field went 30 laps, green flag to check! The show was an exciting one for the fans watching the leaders weave and bob thru the field at over 100 mph!
As the checkered flad dropped, Daggett won his 3rd feature in two nights, grabbing his largest single race payout! Max Stambaugh (Lima, OH), Ricky Peterson (Rawson, OH), John Ivy (Fremont, OH) and Brad Lamberson (Parma, MI) rounded out the top 5 finishers.
Thank you to all of our drivers, tracks and fans for a great season! We only ended up with 1 rain out this season, completing 22 races. We raced at 8 different tracks in Indiana and Michigan and we have had 8 different feature winners. He had 533 total of cars, giving us a 24.2 car average this year.
A special thank you to Comp Cams, Perfit Corporation (Engine Pro) and Midland Steel for their support to help make this event possible!
Thank you to our marketing sponsors, Beacon and Bridge Markets, Addvance Heating & Cooling, Specialty Fuels and Logistics and Hoosier Midwest. Also to our race sponsors, Kistler Engines and Racing Products, Campbell Performance, Perfit/Engine Pro and Engler Machine and Tool.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the current pictures and activities. For our schedule, points and results go to our website at www.greatlakessupersprints.com.
From T.J. Buffenbarger
AUBURN, Mi. (August 31, 2019) – Dustin Daggett completed a clean sweep of the entire weekend of feature racing at Tri-City Motor Speedway by winning the Great Lakes Super Sprints and Lane Automotive Michigan Traditional Sprints main events on Saturday.
Backing up his victory on Friday with GLSS at Tri-City Daggett polished off the weekend by taking the lead at the midway point of the MTS feature and followed it up by passing Ricky Peterson on lap 16 and cut through lapped traffic to win the GLSS feature on Saturday. Daggett scored $8,750 for his three victories over the weekend.
Michigan Traditional Sprints
Steve Little and Chad Wilson started on the front row for the 25-lap main event. Little and Wilson made contact just before the start before Little drove around the top to take the lead. Ivy moved up to second around Wilson and started pressuring Little for the lead when the red flag came out for Steve Irwin flipping in turn two. Irwin exited the car under his own power and walked to the ambulance after his wild ride.
Little held off Ivy after the restart until he missed his line between turns three and four and allowed Ivy to lead lap three. One lap later Chad Wilson cruising around the very bottom of racetrack was able to pass both Little and Ivy to lead lap four. Wilson and Ivy continued to race back and forth for the lead with Ivy retaking the top spot on lap eight.
Further back in the field Daggett and Ruhlman were moving up from eight and tenth starting spots respectively. Lap ten saw them racing with Ty Tylton three wide for third and quickly closing in on Wilson and Ivy.
Daggett gained momentum as the race went on and drove by Wilson and Ivy to take the lead on lap 13. From there Daggett drove away as Ruhlman moved up to second trying to keep pace. Daggett quickly disposed of slower cars and drove away for the win over Ruhlman, Ivy, Tilton, and Little. Ian Hunter hard charger honors picking up 10 spots finishing 12th.
Great Lakes Super Sprints
Ricky Peterson led the start of the GLSS main event with Brad Lamberson keeping pace while Daggett and Max Stambaugh for the third spot. Peterson started to overtake slower cars on lap five at a furious pace. Lap seven saw Daggett dispose of Stambaugh for third and set sights on Lamberson for second. By lap 11 Daggett drove by Lamberson using the top of the track in turn two and set his sights after Peterson for the lead.
With Daggett closing Peterson started to show sparks from his rear brakes while navigating through traffic. Behind the lead duo Stambaugh passed Lamberson for third place and tried to keep the leaders in sight.
On lap 16 Daggett had the opening he needed in turns three and four to take the lead. Peterson tried to drive back under Daggett off the corner but could not make the pass. After taking the lead Daggett overtook slower cars at a frantic pace that secured his third win of the weekend during the non-stop main event that only took seven minutes and 52 seconds to complete. Stambaugh drove by Peterson for second spot. Peterson, Ivy, and Lamberson rounded out the top five.
- Barry Marlow on Sep 01, 2019
- Article Date: 9/1/2019 by TJ Buffenbarger & Barry M. Marlow