9/1/2017
GLSS-Great Lakes Super Sprints
HORSTMAN TRACKS DOWN DOBIE FOR 11TH WIN
Auburn, MI – Jared Horstman overtakes Devon Dobie in the 18th lap to capture his 3rd straight win at Tri-City Speedway this season and his personal best of 11th feature wins of the year.
What was a beautiful sunny clear day in Central Michigan, turned out to be a chilly one this evening, however a great setting to finish out the last race in Michigan for the season. A season that had more traveling and more races than the inaugural season and a season that took its toll on a number of members cars (with 6 out).
However as always, Tri-City Motor Speedway gave us a fast, smooth track for qualifying. Jared Horstman, (Cloverdale) set a new sprint car track record with a 10.934 second lap or roughly 116.5 mph average. Devon Dobie, (Wapkoneta, OH) posted a 10.967 second lap which was also under the old track record but good enough for second fastest tonight. Chase Ridenour, (Perry, MI), Kyle Poortenga (Woodland, MI) and Robert Huisken (Marne, MI) would round out the top five.
A little excitement during qualifying as Mike Dunlap (Wapakoneta, OH) came around into turn 3 on his first qualifying lap, and lost the front right wheel. The wheel bounced off the racing surface and cleared the fence at the top of turn 4 and flew into the woods. Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI) who was in the same group came around the backstretch under power and came to a stop on the transponder loop with a dropped lifter valve and was done for the night.
Rolling out for Heat 1, Chris Pobanz (Sebewang, MI) leads the group around to the chalk mark in turn 4. With the green flag out, Pobanz took advantage of his pole spot and held off Ridenour, Huisken and Horstman for the first lap. But Ridenour gets around and him in lap 2 for the lead. Running second, Pobanz held off the dualing Huisken and Horstman who were fighting and swapping spots behind him. At the end Ridenour wouldn’t be caught, winning the heat, with Horstman, Huisken, Sean Hosey (Clarksville, TN) and Ralph Brakenberry (Pigeon, MI) rounding out the top 5.
Noah Dunlap, our 2016 Rookie of the year, leads Heat 2 around the track. As they approached the chalk line Noah’s dad Mike, who was starting last because of the wheel deal was a little anxious to get up and catch his son, jumping a couple rows. With a slow yellow being thrown, the cars were lined up for a complete restart. Knowing he was being pushed, Noah jumped the second start but the caution flag didn’t come out and he was docked 2 spots at the end of the heat.
With the excitement between the Dunlap family playing out, Dobie was methodically working his way up through the field and taking and keeping the lead in lap 5 from Noah Dunlap who finished 2nd. Mike Dunlap who started 7th worked his way up to 3rd and Poortenga and Joe Geibe (Sturgis, MI) rounded out the top 5. Taking the top 3 for the re-draw, Poortenga made the re-draw when Noah Dunlap was moved back 2 spots.
After the re-draw on the front stretch with 6 young fans, the field was set for our feature event. Drawing a 1, Dobie and Poortenga led the field around for the start. As they crossed the line after 1 lap, Dobie, Ridenour and Poortenga were quickly out front. In lap 5, Ridenour coming out of 2 in the backstretch, made an uncharacteristic 360 degree spin. As he stayed on the peddle and was able to keep going, the caution was thrown as a safety precaution with the rest of the field quickly coming out of turn 2 and now sending Ridenour to the tail.
On the single file restart, Horstman got a good run on Dobie and took the lead. Determined to re-take the lead, Dobie kept Horstman close and got his chance to take over the lead in lap 6. Poortenga was able to keep the charging Husiken, Hosey and Geibe behind him and at times reel in the dueling leaders. In lap 18 in heavy lap traffic, Dobie got pinned on the line he took and Horstman was right there to capitalize taking back the lead for good. Horstman took the win, with Dobie, Poortenga, Ridenour and Huisken rounding out the top 5.
The highest finishing hard charger was Horstman who started 5th and took the checkered flag. Behind him starting 10th was Geibe who worked his way into a 6th place finish and Cody Howard (Millington, MI), who started 12th, smoothly worked his way into a top ten finish at 8th. Ridenour, worked his way back 6 spots for a 4th place finish, however since he started 3rd, he is the unofficial hard charger!!
Check out the full results on our website www.greatlakessupersprints.com and follow us on Facebook for up to date postings and pictures.
Our final race of the season will be at Waynesfield Raceway Park, Sunday, September 3rd. This race will be an exciting all winged sprint car race featuring 360’s, 410’s, 305’s and lightening sprints. This is the make up race that was rained out on July 3rd. It will be interesting how close the 360’s will come to the times they posted on the track in July, with the first 26 cars all under the track record!
I personally would like to thank my wife, Liat Marlow for stepping in and taking care of the behind the scenes business for me tonight at Tri-City. I was unable to make the final race because I am Texas with a crew doing emergency fueling. I can’t express how much it means to have her support as well as the support of the staff and teams that have been supporting the series. Thank you from the bottom of my heart…allowing me to continue to do both of my passions – sprint cars and disaster relief!
Article Credit: Barry M. Marlow
Submitted By: Barry Marlow
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