4/29/2019
Tri-City Motor Speedway
4/26/2019 Race Results
04/26/2019 2019 Opening Night Winners
- ARP Late Models: #6m Dona Marcoullier
- Suspension MAXX Street Stocks: #M65 Rick Spencer
- Allstar Performance IMCA Modified: #27 Matt Szecsodi
- Members First Credit Union Pro Stocks: #69 Nate Murphy
- Thornton Brothers Sewer and Septic Service Bomber Stocks: #7 John Staszak
Veteran Drivers Marcoullier, Spencer, Szecsodi, Murphy, Staszak Victorious at Tri-City Motor Speedway 2019 Season Opener.
04/26/2019 (Auburn MI) Brisk winds and cold temperatures would not interfere with the 2019 season opening events at Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn Michigan Friday night. 100 drivers, many out to compete for the first time this year, were eager to attack the 3/8th mile clay oval and capture that first win early.
New Late Model title sponsor American Racing Products (ARP) saw 18 drivers compete in the 30-lap main event. TCMS Late Model track record holder #6m Dona Marcoullier, who had captured his preliminary heat race earlier in the night, drew the coveted pole position alongside Midland’s #19 Derrick Hilliker as the field took the green flag. Marcoullier immediately outpaced the field as he built a straightaway lead on Hilliker and the rest of the field. A caution on lap 16 would bring the field back to the rear bumper of the Houghton Lake driver, Marcoullier. On the restart, Hilliker would dive to the bottom to steal the lead from Marcoullier. That lead would be short-lived as #9 Isaac Wolfgang, running inside the top five, would suffer a power issue on the front stretch collecting a few cars and displaying another caution flag with thirteen laps remaining. Caution flags would rule the second half of the event. Marcoullier would use the same move Hilliker had made a lap earlier to regain the lead before #76 Torrey Ahrens slid off the track bringing out another caution to slow the field. Point Championship contender’s #21d David Hilliker and 2018 Champion #4t Andrew Terrill would make contact with each other while racing inside the top five. This sent both to the pits and out of the event. This left the final green flag laps and the win to be settled between Marcoullier and Derrick Hilliker. Marcoullier ended up holding off Hilliker and the rest of the field to take another opening night win. Hilliker, who is running for a point championship, settled for second. #24 Alex Hupert, #11x Ryan Lanphierd (who fought back from an earlier caution that sent him the rear of the field late), and #21 Steven Hilliker survived to take home top five finishes. Wolfgang won the other preliminary qualifying heat race.
Allstar Performance has become the new class sponsor for 2019 TCMS IMCA Modified division. The nationally sanctioned class of Modifieds pulled in 24 competitors on Friday night. Three qualifying heat races were won by 2018 Champion #79 Nate Jones, 2018 runner-up #27 Matt Szecsodi, and Midland driver #42 Craig Vance. The Last Chance feature was dominated by former National USAC Quarter Midget Champion #18 Chase Burda. The field of twenty cars, led by Beaverton, MI #4s Toby Steele and Clio’s #33 Todd Matheson, took the green flag for their 20-lap penultimate race of the evening. Matheson took full advantage of his front row starting position to pull ahead of Steele and lead the initial thirteen circuits before 2015 Champion #7d Myron DeYoung took his turn at the front. He was in the midst of a hard-fought multi-driver dual that included Jones, Szecsodi, #08 Jacob Flickinger, and Vance. DeYoung would find a rut in turn three that upset the handling of his machine which narrowed the lead battle to be settled between Jones and Szecsodi. The dual would not disappoint as both driver swapped the lead over the final two laps with Szecsodi stealing the win by inches over Jones at the finish. Behind Jones came Matheson, Vance, and Flickinger.
The Thornton Brother Sewer and Septic Service Bomber Stock division looks to have a promising 2019 race season as a robust field of 18 front-wheel drive cars started the 20-lap feature. #03 Josh Charbonneau shot past pole sitter #15k Paul Streeter Jr. at the drop of the initial green flag. #01tk Brad Treichel, #27 Trenton Fenner, and #7 John Staszak all kept the pressure on Charbonneau over the course of the race. However, on lap eighteen, Charbonneau would find fluid on the track which caused him to drive off of turn number two and into the water barrels. The crash would end Charbonneau’s hopes of a feature win and handed the lead over to defending class Champion #7 Staszak. He was unchallenged over the final laps and picked up the win. Treichel held on to finish second with #29 Devin Badour, #22w Kyle Whaler, and #84 Mark Williamson taking top five positions at the checkered flag. Staszak and Charbonneau also won their respective preliminary heat races.
A strong field of Members First Credit Union Pro Stocks took their first green flag of the 2019 season. Front row starters #57 TJ Gilbert and #316 Teri Lynn Murphy battled amongst each other over the first half of the twenty lap feature. They would swap the lead six times before Coleman MI native #69 Nate Murphy made his winning pass on lap nine. He was able to beat 2018 Pro Stock Champion #K11 Kendall Morrison, 2019 rookie #x5 Eric Lake, Murphy, and Gilbert to the finish. Morrison also won his heat race along with #27 Rob Westergard.
The Suspension MAXX Street Stock division is always a crowd favorite at TCMS. Their 20-lap features typically showcase three and four-wide racing. Friday night was no exception. Mount Pleasant driver #41 Ryan Nethers led the initial lap before a spin would send him to the rear of the field. Nethers spin gave the lead over to #37 Mike Spencer. Spencer, fresh off his feature win last Saturday at Crystal Motor Speedway, led the field until a handling issue caused him to slide his car off of the front stretch and flipping onto his roof. Spencer was okay but his night was over. That was the break that multi-time TCMS Champion #M65 Rick Spencer needed as he would inherit the lead. He would motor his racing station wagon to victory lane ahead of #7r Dave Newcomb, #20 Kyle Thomas, B-Main winner #10f Mike Findlay Jr., and Nethers. Nethers, R. Spencer, and M. Spencer captured qualifying heat race gold.
Next week at Tri-City Motor Speedway fans get the opportunity to vote for their favorite cars in each division. Late Models, IMCA Modified, Pro Stocks, Street Stocks, and Bomber Stocks will pack the pit area along with the return of the Walker’s Ideal trophies Mini Wedge drivers! For more information and instantaneous race results visit www.tricityracetrack.com
Article Credit: Roger Williams
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