Bridgeport, NJ – It was Precision Hydraulic & Oil Night when Chad Sandt picked up his first ever victory at the Spirit Auto Center Speedway when he won the twenty-five lap Hyper Racing EVO Injection 600 Micro Sprint feature after taking a provisional for the start. It’s been a long time coming but Nick Walton earned his second 270 Micro Sprint win – a win that came nearly eleven years after the first trip to Victory Lane. Shelby McLaughlin was the winner of the All Star Slingshot feature event on opening night and after missing week two, McLaughlin returned to pick up the win in the third week of Friday night competition.
Sandt drove an amazing race to pick up his first ever win at the Spirit Auto Center Speedway. Sandt has competed at Spirit in the past – primarily for special events. Friday night didn’t seem like it was going to be one of Sandt’s better races when he had to use a provisional to start twenty-sixth in the line-up.
Ernie Miles III and Jasper Zeigafuse led the field to the green flag with Zeigafuse grabbing the lead. Zeigafuse has little experience at Spirit but led the way through a lap four restart when Connor Gross moved the No. 14 out in front. That left Zeigafuse to battle for second with Billy Koch who took the spot on lap seven but Zeigafuse battled back.
As the race approached the halfway mark, no one really noticed the No. 33 driving into the top five. The drivers noticed – you could hear many of them describe being passed by Sandt. As Sandt sped by, his fellow competitors took notice of the speed of the No. 33.
Gross led through halfway but the caution waved for the spun car of Frank Holmes and the field lined up for the double file restart. Sandt ran in second but had to restart in third because the lap was not scored.
After two attempts to score the lap, the field was back under green with Sandt racing into the lead on lap fifteen. Eddie Barber III used several great moves to take over second as Steven Bracall moved into third with the Cobbs Mills No. 10b.
The top five was changing – sometimes several times on the same lap.
Ultimately, Sandt pulled away from the field and took his first Spirit checkered flag. Bracall took second in the closing laps followed by Koch, Barber and Joey Amantea who was making his first Spirit start of the season. Ziegafuse and teammate, Michael Nolf finished sixth and seventh with Gross, Brandon Pavel and Damon Paul rounding out the top ten. Paul rebounded from an earlier incident that saw the No. 144 start from the rear of the field.
It was an emotional win for Nick Walton in the 270 Micro Sprints.
Walton had stepped away from racing when he started his family. Now he was able to share his Victory Lane with his wife and children.
Walton lost a heartbreaker the week before when he was leading the race and mechanical issues took him out of the race before the finish – not the case this week as the Ed Tyers No. 16T ran to perfection. It was July of 2010 when Walton won his first race at Spirit. There were seasons in between where he didn’t race at all or competed sporadically.
Walton showed his appreciation to his family as well as the Tyers family. He also remembered Danny Serrano, Pops Conover and the Andreas family after his win.
Alex Swift finished second after winning the first two features this season. Logan Diehl overcame some issues in his heat to race into a third place finish over Shea Wills and John Wagner, Jr. Dom Pomponi, Adam Bubeck, RJ Witcraft, Tom Landwher and Jimmy Wagner rounded out the top ten.
Defending champion, Nick Skias demonstrate speed in the Palmucci No. 16p until mechanical ills sent him to the pits early.
Shelby McLaughlin was the opening night All Star Slinsgshot winner on opening night and she again showed her ability with a second win – this one in a different car.
After a complete restart, Amanda Angstadt battled with defending track champion, Ryan Davey for the lead. Angstadt led the way through the first twelve laps with McLaughlin taking the lead on lap thirteen. Angstadt had a second chance at the lead on a late race restart but McLaughlin prevailed. Angstadt went on to finish second with last week’s winner, Michael Beckett finishing third. Davey finished fourth with Rookie Slingshot competitor, PJ Bozowski racing home with a fifth place finish in just his third race. Dave Morrel, Scott Phillipp. Ryan Harris, Mike Sommers and Zach Merola rounded out the top ten.
No racing at Spirit Auto Center Speedway this Friday and racing switches to Sunday for the first hand of the 2021 Poker Series. The 600 and 270 Micro Sprints, Slingshots and Xcel 600 Modfieds will be on the schedule for Sunday’s events. Warm-ups are scheduled for 6pm with racing to immediately follow.
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