THOMAS, LOCUSON AND PARTITE GET 2018 SEASON OFF TO A GOOD START

It was the first night of the 2018 season on the Spirit Auto Center quarter mile at the Bridgeport Speedway and everyone wanted to get the new season off to a great start.  Some succeeded.  Some will return next week to try again.  But on all counts, it was an exciting and outstanding start to the new season as Luke Thomas repeated as the opening night winner in the 600s.  Andrew Locuson was the class of the field in the 270s and Rich Partite continued his winning ways on opening night to capture the Slingshot feature event.

Thirty – five 600s vied for starting spots for their twenty lap main event with $500 on the line for the winner.  Only Kyle Spence took advantage of the incentive offered by Precision Hydraulic & Air and gave up his redraw spot to start 13th on the field with the hopes of earning an additional $250 bonus   Spence fell just short of goal but it made for some great racing on opening night.

Bobby Butler and 2017 Track Champion, Matt Smith led the field to the start of the race that saw frequent interruptions from yellow flags as the field was more than ready to go racing after the long winter.  Butler led the way for the first three circuits before Smith rolled the outside to take the lead following a lap four restart.  Butler fell off the pace as Luke Thomas drove into second followed by Travis Hill, Kyle Spence and Tyler Lindsay with five complete.

Several caution flags kept the field close as Smith and Thomas raced hard for the lead with Thomas moving out in front on lap six.  Spence was up to third followed by Hill and Wayne Scott at half way.  

Spence battled with Smith and eventually took second on lap twelve.  After being involved in an early race incident, Jon Keller pitted for service and broke into the top five.  With five laps to go, Spence needed to pass just one more car to collect the $250 Precision Hydraulic & Oil bonus but Thomas had control as the field raced to the final laps.

With smoke coming from the No. 33, Smith headed to the pits with a broken chain with just one lap to go.  A late race caution saw Spence fall off the pace when the No. 25K “just shut off” but luckily, the car refired and Spence was back on the gas.  Thomas drove to the checkered for his 18th victory on the quarter mile followed by Keller in second.   Spence raced his way back to take third over Mike Rutherford and Hill.

Andrew Locuson drove the Double Down No. 21 into the lead on lap seven, passing early race leader, Mike Rutherford who was doing double duty on opening night.  Rutherford headed to the pits with mechanical issues on the next lap.

Locuson dominated for the rest of the race to collect the $500 payday.  Nick Skias drove the Widdoss No. 28 up to second from his tenth place start.  After a wreck during his qualifying race, Alex Swift and his Blanda No. 15 team worked hard on repairs and were rewarded as Swift drove from the back of the pack to a third place finish.  Kyle Weiss ran in the top five during the entire twenty lap event to finish fourth with 270 Micro rookie, young Buddy Schweibinz rounding out the top five in his first ever attempt.

Rich Partite repeated his performance of a year ago as he captured the win in the Speedway All Star Bagel Stop Slingshot feature.  Partite took the lead from David Morrell on lap three and never looked back.  Tess Horvath was Partite’s closest competitor as she finished second over Dave McCollough.

Kristy Hicks was the winner of the Remax Connection 600 Novice Feature event.

Action returns to the Spirit Auto Center Speedway this Friday at 8pm with the 600 and 270 Micro Sprints, 600 Novice and Four Cylinder Enduros.

REMAX CONNECTION 600cc NOVICE (5 laps) – 1. Kristy Hicks, 2. Matt Davis

Upcoming events

Friday, April 20 – 270/600 Micro Sprints plus 600 Novice and 4 Cylinders, racing at 8pm

Friday, April 27 – 270/600 Micro Sprints plus 600 Novice and Slingshots, racing at 8pm

Sunday, May 6 – Poker Series Hand #1 – 270/600 Micros,Slingshots and Xdel 600 Modifieds,  racing at 6pm