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NICKLES SWEEPS MICHIGAN DOUBLE HEADER

Muskegon, MI – With 187 cars checked in to race at Thunderbird Raceway Saturday, Great Lakes Lightning Sprints presented by Maxima Racing Oil parked together in the front parking lot to save space in the pits. Jac Nickles (Harrod, OH), who won the night before at Mt Pleasant, wouldn’t let parking get between him and his goal of another win as he took the checkered flag for a clean sweep of the weekend.

Taking the track for the first time for all but two of our drivers, qualifying was a “getting to know you” kind of experience for the drivers. When qualifying ended, it was a father and son who stood together at the top of all qualifiers. Matt Cogley (Findlay, OH set fast time with a 14.313 second lap or an average speed of 85.5 mph around the 1/3 mile bull ring. Matt Cogley (Findlay, OH) would have crossed the line in the same picture with his dad setting an average lap time of 14.326 seconds. Bill Dunham (Bellevue, MI), Thomas Parker (Wayland, MI) and Mack Erickson (South Boardman, MI) rounded out the top five.

In the Engler Machine & Tool heat race 1, Justin Ward (Benzonia, MI) started 6th and was able to drive up front and take the checkered flag for the win. Mack Erickson and Bud Schrader (Benzonia, MI) came in 2nd and 3rd securing their spots in the redraw, while Bill Dunham and Matt Cogley rounded out the top five.

Jac Nickles dominated the Cheney Creek Construction Heat 2 from the drop of the green flag to the checkered flag. The question was who would take 2nd and 3rd for the final two redraw spots. Brendon Cascadden (Traverse City, MI) started 5th and he battled forward to take second. Lindsey Erickson did her best to hold Cascadden off, but took the checkered in third place, but grabbed the final redraw spot. Alex Cogley and Thomas Parker would round out the top 5.

In the Maxima Racing Oils A – Main Feature, Ward and Nickles led the field around to take the green flag. As the flag dropped, Ward and Nickles cars came alive. Nickles took the lead by putting in a blistering 13.847 second lap which was the fastest lap all night. By the 4th lap, Nickles was weaving through lapped traffic. Nickles led the way around the track with only 5 cars on the lead lap when Nickles took the checkered flag, 7 seconds and a half a lap ahead of 2nd place finisher Cascadden. Ward, Mack Erickson and Alex Cogley rounded out the top five and finished on the lead lap.

Congratulations to Jac Nickles on the back to back feature wins on Independence Weekend! Great job to all the rest of the drivers who put on a great show for the fans! Zero cautions thrown all night is a team effort and made for a lot of exciting racing. Our next scheduled race is Saturday, July 10th at Merritt Speedway. For current events, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. For a complete schedule, results and points go to our website at www.greatlakessprints.com.

Thank you to our great sponsors, Maxima Racing Oils, Engler Machine & Tool, Cheney Creek Construction, Beacon & Bridge Markets, Perfit Corporation and Hoosier Racing Tiress,

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