KIDD AND SWIFT CAPTURE SUNDAY NIGHT ACTION AT SPIRIT SPEEDWAY
The Spirit Speedway went with a Sunday night rain date after rain washed out their Friday night show. Whitey Kidd III came away with his first Spirit Speedway win of the season as he dominated the Ace Overhead Door Company 600 Micro Sprint Feature event. Alex Swift put John Blanda’s No. 15 in Victory Lane for the second time this season in the Ace Overhead Door Company 270 Micro Sprint Feature event.
After handily winning his qualifying heat, Kidd drew the pole for the feature event with 2017 Champion, Matt Smith starting to his outside. What looked like a battle royale from the start never materialized as Smith suffered with mechanical issues from the wave of the green flag. Kidd had plenty of pressure in the early going from BJ Antonio, Tommy Kunsman and Mike Butler.
Butler’s night ended with a wild end over end ride down the backstretch. The driver walked away without injury, determined to return and pick up where he left off.
Mike Rutherford took over the second spot around mid-race and then battled with Kyle Spence through the closing laps. Kidd was out in front as Spence raced to the outside with Rutherford taking the inside line.
Kidd took the checkered flag with Spence taking second at the finish by inches over Rutherford. Corey Andersen had a season best finish of fourth in addition to a win in his qualifying race. In a rare Spirit Speedway appearance, BJ Antonio finished fifth, overcoming a loose hood on his No. 46 to pick up a top five. Bobby Butler finished sixth followed by Kyle Craker, who made the trip east early to take in some racing before the start of PA Midget week. Craker was behind the wheel of Scott Rupp’s No. 53. PJ Williams finished eighth followed by Jimmy Glenn and Mike Linderman.
Kidd had everyone talking as he had the left front of the No. 46 off the ground. “On that one restart, I had the whole front end completely in the air,” Kidd laughed after the win.
Alex Swift took the lead from Kyle Weiss on lap four and led the remaining sixteen laps of the 270 Micro Sprint feature event. The battle was for second as Tommy Kunsman battled with Nick Skias before winning the spot late in the race. Kunsman took a look to the inside of Swift on a late race restart but Swift was able to pull ahead. He had the added incentive when he thought it was Skias who was in second since the two drivers are in a tight battle for the point lead.
Swift led the way to the checkered over Kunsman, Skias, Ken Andreas and Andrew Locuson who came from the back of the pack to finish fifth. Lee Reinhardt, Nick Walton, Mike Rutherford, Brandon Shipley and Ryan Wozunk rounded out the top ten.
Dave McCullough led the first two laps of the Speedway All Star Bagel Stop Slingshot feature but mechanical failure sent him to the pits on lap three. Nick Vinceguerra took the lead from the disabled McCullough and drove to his first ever Spirit Speedway feature win. Ryan Davey finished second followed by Thomas Mowery, Dave Morrell and Robin McTighe to complete the top five at the checkered flag.
Jason Dunkelberger took the lead from Mark Ludwig after a side by side battle on lap four to capture the Mini Late Model twenty lap feature event. Tucker Gordner finished third.
Dana LaMothe became the third different winner in the Remax Connection 600 Novice competition as she captured her first win of the season. Three time feature winner, Kristy Hicks finished second.
Racing action returns to Spirit Speedway on Friday night with the 270 & 600 Micro Sprints along with the 4 & 8 Cylinder Enduro cars. Racing gets underway at 8pm.
REMAX CONNECTION 600 NOVICE – 1 – Dana LaMothe, 2 – Kristi Hicks, 3 – Heather Harris
MINI LATE MODELS
1 – Jason Dunkleberger, 2 – Mark Ludwig, 3 – Tucker Gordner, 4 – Randall LeMaster
1 – Jason Dunkleberger, 2 – Mark Ludwig, 3 – Tucker Gordner, 4 – Randall LeMaster
SPEEDWAY ALL STAR BAGEL STOP SLINGSHOTS
1 – Nick Vinciguerra, 2 – Ryan Davey, 3 – Thomas Mowery, 4 – Dave Morrell, 5 – Robin McTighe, 6 – Rich Afflerback,
7 – Dave McCullough
1 – Nick Vinciguerra, 2 – Ryan Davey, 3 – Thomas Mowery, 4 – Dave Morrell, 5 – Robin McTighe, 6 – Rich Afflerback,
7 – Dave McCullough
OVERHEAD DOOR COMPANY 600 MICRO SPRINTS
1 – Whitey Kidd, 2 – Kyle Spence, 3 – Mike Rutherford, 4 – Corey Andersen, 5 – BJ Antonio, 6 – Bobby Butler,
7 – Kyle Craker, 8 – PJ Williams, 9 – Jimmy Glenn, 10 – Mike Linderman, 11 – Jermain Godshall, 12 – Mark Landwher, 13 – Sam LaMothe, 14 – Wayne Scott, 15 – Tyler Lindsay, 16 – Nick Havens, 17 – Mike Thompson, 18 – Josh Conover, 19 – Dana LaMothe, 20 – Gary Bozowski, 21 – Tommy Kunsman, 22 – Mike Butler, 23 – Travis Hill, 24 – Matt Smith, 25 – Hunter Metzger, 26 – Tyler DeVault, 27 – Ed Barber III DNQ – Steve Bracall, Jon Keller, Joe Dopke, Nick Walton, Joe Bednarek, Heather Harris, Nathan Smith, Ryan Neal, Dave Damaio, Rebecca LaMothe, Kristy Hicks, John Barnett, Pat Ely
1 – Whitey Kidd, 2 – Kyle Spence, 3 – Mike Rutherford, 4 – Corey Andersen, 5 – BJ Antonio, 6 – Bobby Butler,
7 – Kyle Craker, 8 – PJ Williams, 9 – Jimmy Glenn, 10 – Mike Linderman, 11 – Jermain Godshall, 12 – Mark Landwher, 13 – Sam LaMothe, 14 – Wayne Scott, 15 – Tyler Lindsay, 16 – Nick Havens, 17 – Mike Thompson, 18 – Josh Conover, 19 – Dana LaMothe, 20 – Gary Bozowski, 21 – Tommy Kunsman, 22 – Mike Butler, 23 – Travis Hill, 24 – Matt Smith, 25 – Hunter Metzger, 26 – Tyler DeVault, 27 – Ed Barber III DNQ – Steve Bracall, Jon Keller, Joe Dopke, Nick Walton, Joe Bednarek, Heather Harris, Nathan Smith, Ryan Neal, Dave Damaio, Rebecca LaMothe, Kristy Hicks, John Barnett, Pat Ely
270 MICROS
1 – Alex Swift, 2 – Tommy Kunsman, 3 – Nick Skias, 4 – Ken Andreas, 5 – Andrew Locuson, 6 – Lee Reinhardt,
7 – Nick Walton, 8 – Mike Rutherford, 9 – Brandon Shipley, 10 – Ryan Wozunk, 11 – Zack Curtis, 12 – Jonathan John
13 – John West, 14 – Kristen Landwher, 15 – Cody West, 16 – Brian Zawaski, 17 – Ed Tyres, 18 – John Wagner Jr,
19 – Tom Landwher, 20 – Buddy Schweibinz, 21 – Kyle Weiss, 22 – Will Maurer, 23 – Jenn Avery DNS – Jayson Conover
DNQ – Matt Hoffman, Junior Ramer
1 – Alex Swift, 2 – Tommy Kunsman, 3 – Nick Skias, 4 – Ken Andreas, 5 – Andrew Locuson, 6 – Lee Reinhardt,
7 – Nick Walton, 8 – Mike Rutherford, 9 – Brandon Shipley, 10 – Ryan Wozunk, 11 – Zack Curtis, 12 – Jonathan John
13 – John West, 14 – Kristen Landwher, 15 – Cody West, 16 – Brian Zawaski, 17 – Ed Tyres, 18 – John Wagner Jr,
19 – Tom Landwher, 20 – Buddy Schweibinz, 21 – Kyle Weiss, 22 – Will Maurer, 23 – Jenn Avery DNS – Jayson Conover
DNQ – Matt Hoffman, Junior Ramer
Upcoming events
Friday, August 3 – 270/600 Micro Sprints plus 600 Novice, 4 & 8 Cylinder Enduros, racing at 8pm
Friday, August 10 – 270/600 Micro Sprints plus 600 Novice and Slingshots, racing at 8pm
Friday, August 17 – 270/600 Micro Sprints plus 600 Novice, 4 Cylinders & Mini Late Models, racing at 8pm
Friday, August 24 – No Racing
Sunday, August 26 – Poker Series – 600 & 270 Micros, Slingshots and Xcel 600 Modifieds, racing at 6:30pm