Bridgeport, NJ – Competitors and fans alike were happy to return to the Spirit Auto Center quarter mile on Friday night after Mother Nature was the only one who raced in the last three out of four scheduled events.
Defending Hyper Racing EVO Injection 600 Micro Sprint Champion, Connor Gross raced to his first Spirit victory of the 2022 season while Alex Swift was the first driver to be a repeat winner in the 270 Micro Sprints. Amanda Angstadt fought off a persistent Michael
Beckett for her third win of the season in the All Star Slingshots while Braydon Morrision’s win streak in the Junior Slingshots grew to five over the largest field of Juniors to date.
It was the luck of the draw that put Connor Gross and Anthony Tramontana side by side on the front row for the start of the 600 feature event. Gross quickly grabbed the lead as Billy Koch raced by Tramontana for second. Past champion, Matt Smith joined Gross and Koch, making it a three car battle for the lead. Smith moved into second and challenged Gross for the lead on lap five.
With a sweeping move to the outside, Smith blasted into the lead and immediately started to distance himself from the rest of the field. Smith led the way over Gross, Koch, Tramontana and Gary Bozowski through lap ten.
Coming through turn four to complete lap twelve, the left rear wheel came off of the No. 33, ending Smith’s bid for victory.
Gross and Koch led the field to the restart and picked up where they left off at the start. Bobby Bracall made it a three car race for the lead just before halfway. Bracall was involved in a multi-car incident early in the race and raced his way into the top five before halfway. Gross led Bracall, Koch, Robert Pierce and Bozowski through lap fifteen there was a three car race for the lead and another three car race for fourth.
Gross led the way to the checkered followed by Bracall, PJ Williams who grabbed third on the final lap, Koch, and Bozowski. Williams also raced his way from the back of the field due to an early race incident. Robert Pierce, Dylan Kontra, Fred Heinly, Bubba Hughes and Ethan Bill rounded out the top ten.
Polesitter, John Wagner, Jr. led the field of 270s for the first four laps before defending 270 Champion, Alex Swift raced into the lead on lap five. By lap seven, the leaders were racing through lapped traffic. Swift took the crossed flags from starter, Kevin Golden with Wagner and Lee Nardelli racing for second.
Swift drove away to a comfortable lead to capture his second win of the season over Wagner, Nick Skias, Lee Nardelli and Tyler Grau. Nick Walton finished sixth followed by Tom Landwher, Dom Pomponi, Jimmy Wagner and George Naredelli completed the top ten at the finish line.
Amanda Angstadt grabbed the lead on the start of the All Star Slingshots and then had to deflect the repeated challenges from Michael Beckett throughout the twenty lap event. Beckett threw everything but the kitchen sink at the leader but Angstadt prevailed.
Angstadt raced to the win over Beckett, Ryan Davey, Scott Phillip and John Redner.
Brayden Morrision remains undefeated in the Junior Slingshots, taking his fifth win over Buffalino. Chase Gular finished third. Buffalino, Gular and Doklan were making their first ever starts on the Spirit quarter mile. Weston Doklan finished fourth followed by Cody Williamson. Buffalino, Gular and Doklan were making their first ever starts on the Spirit quarter mile.
Action returns to the Spirit quarter mile next Friday night for the 600 and 270 Micro Sprints but the All Star and Junior Slingshots will have their first Saturday matinee before the start of Saturday’s racing program on the 4/10th mile track.
HYPER RACING EVO INJECTION WINGLESS 600s (25 laps): 1. Connor Gross, 2. Steve Bracall, 3. PJ Williams, 4. Billy Koch, 5. Gary Bozowksi, 6. Robert Pierce, 7. Dylan Kontra, 8. Fred Heinly, 9. Bubba Hughes, 10. Ethan Bill, 11. Anthony Tramontana, 12. Sam Lamothe, 13. Rich Deck, 14. Brett Conkling, 15. Maddie Boyd, 16. Robert Miles, 17. Ryan Boyd, 18. Olivia Haworth, 19. Gabe Gerber, 20. Connor Sheffield, 21. Chris Fenimore, 22. Rebecca Lamothe, 23. Matt Smith, 24. Pat Bealer, 25. Jackson White
DNQ: Luke Fogg, Steven Fleetwood, Chris Turner, Jonathan John Bailey
WINGED 270s (20 laps): 1. Alex Swift, 2. John Wagner Jr., 3. Nick Skias, 4. Lee Nardelli, 5. Tyler Grau, 6. Nick Walton, 7. Tom Landwher, 8. Dom Pomponi, 9. Jimmy Wagner, 10. George Nardelli, 11. Steve Burger, 12. Hope Karlesses, 13. Charles Cobourne, 14. Tommy Rinck, 15. Dan Wright, 16. Joe Dopke, 17. Dustin Dash
DNS: Jonathan John, Trevor Waegel, Alex Lester
ALL STAR SLINGSHOTS:(20 laps) 1. Amanda Angstadt, 2. Michael Beckett, 3. Ryan Davey, 4. Scott Philipp, 5. John Redner, 6. Chase Bixler, 7. PJ Bozowski, 8. Cole Armstrong, 9. Andrew Williams, 10. Ryan Harris, 11. Nick Bilello
DNS: Wayne Nether
JUNIOR SLINGSHOTS:(15 laps) 1. Brayden Morrison, 2. Christopher Buffalino, 3. Chase Gular, 4. Weston Doklan, 5. Cody Williamson
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