Quincy, MI – Great Lakes Traditional Sprints presented by Perfit rolled into Butler Motor Speedway for the first non-wing show there in over ten years. Drew Rader (Findlay OH) battled Steve Irwin (Fenton, MI) for the last 14 laps of the feature to take the checkered flag and his first win with GLTS.
Steve Irwin rolled out 13th for qualifying, but set fast time with an average lap time of 15.479 seconds which was an average speed around the Battle Grounds of 87.24 miles per hour. Rader was second quick with a 15.563 second lap. Mike Asstrauskas (Pierson, MI), Gage Etgen (Celina, OH) and Keith Sheffer, JR (Jerome, MI) rounded out the top five qualifiers.
In the Engler Machine & Tool Heat 1, Steve Irwin moved up from 4th to take the checkered flag and the win. Sheffer, Astrauskas, Max Frank (Williamston, MI) and Mike Galajda (Fenton, MI) rounded out the top five cars.
Etgen started 3rd in the Rocket Headers Heat two but was able to take the lead in lap 3 and held Rader off to secure the win. Rader finished .885 seconds behind Etgen with Brian Ruhlman (Clark Lake, MI), Travis LaCombe (Grand Haven, MI) and Tom Davies (Elkhart, IN) rounding out the top five.
In the PErfit/Engine Pro feature, the two Ohio natives, Rader and Etgen, lead the field around to the green flag. Rader and Etgen were 1 and 2 after the first lap and Egten kept Rader reeled in for the first 10 laps. Then like a tag team, Steve Irwin gets around Etgen in lap ten and Irwin moves into second.
Rader is able to hold off Irwin and takes the checkered . Steve Irwin finished behind Rader by only .904 seconds while Sheffer, JR, Astrauskas and Ruhlman round out the top 5 spots. Irwin moved up from his 5th starting spot to earn the Hoosier Hard Charger award.
Our next races will be Friday, June 18th at I-96 Speedway and Saturday, June 19th at Silver Bullet Speedway. For current events and pictures, follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@GLSprints) and for our full schedule, results and our points race, go to www.greatlakessprints.com.
Thank you to our sponsors and marketing partners, PErfit/Engine Pro, Rocket Headers, Engler Machine & Tool, Beacon & Bridge Markets and Hoosier Racing Tires.
- Barry Marlow on Jun 13, 2021
- Article Date: 6/13/2021 by GLTS Staff