8/10/2019
GLSS-Great Lakes Super Sprints
RUHL BAGS 30TH CAREER WIN
Hartford, MI - Ryan Ruhl (Coldwater, MI) takes the checkered flag in the new Smith Motorsports 71H 360, and secures his 30th career win at Hartford Motor Speedway. Mad Max Stambaugh (Lima, OH) finished 2nd and secured the Engler Machine & Tool Hard Charger Award moving up 9 spots from a 11th place start.
It was a chamber of commerce type of day in Hartford and a beautiful night for racing. With 22 cars signed in, Andrew Scheid (Sparta, MI) rose to the top in qualifying setting quick time with an average lap speed of 103 mph in just 15.033 seconds. Following close behind were veterans Gregg Dalman (Bellevue, MI), Brett "Hoosier Rocket" Mann (Goshen, IN) and Dustin "Double D" Daggett (Portland, MI) and sophmore Linden Jones (Edwardsburg, MI) rounding out the top five spots and only seperated by 213 thousandths of a second.
In the Kistler Engines and Racing Parts Heat 1, Brad Lamberson (Parma, MI) and Garrett Saunders (Lakeville, IN) led the field around to the chalk line. As the field past the flag stand, Lamberson was out front with Rookie of the Year candidate, Saunders tucked in behind him and solidly in 2nd. Lamberson and Saunders held all challengers at bay and secured the 2 re-draw spots and giving Lamberson the win. Phil "the Ohio Gas Man" Gressman moved up from 7th to finish 3rd, while Scheid and Daggett rounded out the top 5.
Ricky Peterson (Rawson, OH), driving the Terry Busche 16B leads the Campbell Performance Heat 2 around the track to the start line. Ruhl, starting next to Peterson, gets a good run and is out front quickly and takes the checkered flag and the heat win with Peterson finishing 2nd and securing both drivers a spot in the redraw for the feature. Dalman holds off Stambaugh as they finish 3rd and 4th respectively and Jay Steinbach (Hudsonville, MI) rounding out the top 5 positions.
Leading out the Perfit/Engine Pro Heat 3, Chase "Kid Rocket" Ridenour (Perry, MI) and Josh Shantz (Waterloo, ONT) come to the chalk line and Ridenour is gone. Smoothly moving through the corners, Ridenour looks uncatchable. Mann had other ideas as he chipped away at Ridenour's lead. At the checkered flag, Ridenour edged out Mann, while Shantz, Kyle Poortenta (Woodland, MI) and Eli Lakin (Buchanan, MI) rounded out the top 5 positions.
Drawing a one in the redraw, Lamberson secures the pole position with Saunders securing the outside of the front row. After the fan favorite 4 wide Salute, Lamberson and Saunders settle in and bring the field around to the start line.
Saunders gets a great run around the outside and leads the race for the first 7 laps. In lap 8, Ruhl gets around Saunders for the lead. Saunders stays with Ruhl and it appears this will be a heavy weight fight the rest of the way. Unfortunately for Saunders while still running 2nd, he suddenly loses power and comes to a stop in front of the flag stand after 11 completed laps.
The caution was just what the doctor ordered for the guys running in the middle of the field. Points leader Gressman was the first to take advantage, as he picked off 2 spots and was running 3rd. Stambaugh was the man on the move though, getting up behind Peterson and Gressman and following them through traffic. Stambaugh picks off Gressman and then exchanges spots with Peterson in lap 21 and sets his sites on Ruhl.
Stambaugh continued to move closer to Ruhl, but it wasn't to be tonight as the white flag flew, Ruhl would not be denied running his first race with the Smith Motorsports new 360 cu in motor. Ruhl took the checked with a 2.1 second gap over Stambaugh. Peterson, Dalman and Lamberson crossed the line to lock themselves into the top.
The green flag flew tonight at 9:30 pm for the GLSS A-Main Feature. Even after a caution came out, Ruhl took the checkered flag at 9:40 pm. A great race with 2 and 3 wide passing all through the feature. It was an exciting race to witness and the crowd expressed their likes as they could be heard cheering over the car engines as we stood in the infield.
Great Lakes Super Sprints will be back in action Saturday, August 10th at the fun Thunderbird Raceway near Muskegon, MI.
Thank you to our marketing sponsors, Beacon and Bridge Markets, Addvance Heating & Cooling, Specialty Fuels and Logistics and Hoosier Midwest. Also to our race sponsors, Kistler Engines and Racing Products, Campbell Performance, Perfit/Engine Pro and Engler Machine and Tool.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the current pictures and activities. For our schedule, points and results go to our website at www.greatlakessupersprints.com.
Article Credit: Barry M. Marlow
Submitted By: Barry Marlow
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