E-mod and Sprint Championship Night By Lynda Yates
Sandusky, OH. Sep 09, 2008 - Trans-Tec sponsored racing at Sandusky Speedway this past weekend where the track crowned two division champions. Sprints and Modifieds each battled it out for top honors with Scott Hart clinching the title in the Sprints and Kenny Phillips taking it for the Modifieds.
Five divisions all ran preliminaries with Heat wins going to Jeremy Champion (Spectator Stocks) Mike Sheppard (Pure Stocks) Mike Sims (Sportsman) Bernie Cook Jr. and Andy Carroll (Modifieds) and Zach Gibson and Todd Buchanan (Sprints).
The first feature of the evening was the Linden Propane Pure Stocks. Dustin Hennig and Kenny Calhoun set the pace for 20 laps of door to door racing. Calhoun was scored the leader by a nose at the end of the first lap. Mike Sheppard was in second with Hennig in third the next lap. Hennig fell off the pace, allowing Gary Perram to slide into third on lap three. Sheppard passed Calhoun on the high side of lap four to take the lead. The only caution was out on lap six for Ron Jones as he slowed on the front stretch trying to exit to the pits. Sheppard led on the restart with Calhoun fighting to stay in second. Stephen Schlea joined the top three as he took over third on lap nine. At the half way point is was Sheppard, Calhoun, Schlea, Perram and Clayton Karl. Schlea passed Calhoun on lap 12 for second. The four car battle for third on lap 17 still had Calhoun hanging on strong. Schlea was gaining ground on the leader with Schlea just running out of time, giving the win to Sheppard.
The final point’s run of the summer for the Sprints were next. They were pushed out next with “Hollywood” Mike McVetta and Todd “The Flying Five” Buchanan bringing the field out of turn four for the green. McVetta shot out to an early lead. Todd Buchanan and Tim Buchanan took over second and third. The caution was out on lap seven for Josh Burdette slowing on the backstretch. He was able to restart tail when racing continued. McVetta led followed by Todd Buchanan, Tim Buchanan, Zach Gibson and point leader Scott Hart. The top five remained the same at the half way mark. The caution was out again for Burdette on lap 18. Burdette decided to take his ride pitside with his night over. McVetta’s gap was diminished again on the restart of lap 18. Gibson took over third from Tim Buchanan on the restart. The caution was out again on lap 22 for troubles for Todd Buchanan, as he slowed on the front stretch. He was sent to tail for bringing the yellow out giving the top three back to McVetta, Gibson, and Tim Buchanan. The top remained unchanged the final laps, giving McVetta the win and Scott Hart the Championship.
The Five Star Bodies Sportsman were next. Kenny Sharp and Randy Dawson were the front row cars on the drop of the green. After a complete restart for a spin in turn three, Kenny Sharp took the lead. Sharp led followed by Tom Clingan and Nick Buckles. The caution was out again for Ricky Grudier spinning in turn one of lap three. Clingan shot under Sharp to take the lead away in turn two of lap three. Buckles took over third with a low line pass in turn three. Mike Sims joined in as he landed in third with a pass in turn four. The next yellow was thrown on lap six for Kenny Sharp driving off turn four. He was able to restart tail and remain in the race. Clingan led with Sims and Buckles door to door on lap seven. Sims took over second on lap eight with Sims eyeing the leader. Ten laps down and ten to go, Sims passed under Clingan in turns three and four. The red flag was waved on lap 12 for cleanup. With nowhere to go, Greg Sharp slammed into the drivers door of Buckles after Clingan and Buckles got together in turn one. All drivers were reported as okay with Sharp done for the night. Surprising, Buckles was able to restart as officials charged him for the incident and went to the tail. Sims led followed by Clingan, Dawson, Rollie Alvers and Roger Briere on the restart of lap 12. The top remained the same as Sims swept the night for the Sportsman and took home the checkers.
The Modified’s last point’s race of the season was up next. Bernie Cook and Andy Carroll were one and two for the start. Cook led the first lap and led until lap eight when Carroll made an outside pass in turn two to take over the lead. With a race under all green flags, Carroll took command and was never really challenged as he led the rest of the race. At the half way point, it was Carroll, Cook, Todd Bachman, Bill Burba and Nick Grodi. Burba passed Bachman on the backstretch of lap 17 to take over third. The top remained unchanged as Carroll took home the checkers with Kenny Phillips finishing sixth, high enough to keep on top of the points and take home a back to back Modified championship.
The final feature was the Top Line Welding Spectator Stocks. Mark Resor and Julia Buckles took the green for the bunch with Louis Ralston scored the leader after a jumble in turn four. The caution was out the next lap for Resor slowing on the front stretch. Resor was pushed into the pits unable to rejoin. Ralston led on the restart only to lose it in turn to Jeremy Champion. Kevin Jaycox made his way into third by lap three. Jaycox lost ground and a position to Justin Cranmore on lap five in turn four. Half way home it was Champion, Ralston, Cranmore, Jaycox, and Buckles. Cranmore made his way into second, passing Ralston with four laps to go. Champion held on and took home the feature win followed by Cranmore and a last lap pass for third by Jaycox.
Next weekend, Reed’s Salvage brings another big championship night to the speedway. MSA Supermodifieds will make their final appearance of the summer. Sportsman, Pure Stocks and Spectator Stocks will also crown their 2008 Track Champions with their final point’s race of the season. Racing will start at 6:30pm.
