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Racenight Recap for Thursday Aug 15, 2019

We held our 6th racenight of the season at Laird International Raceway on Thursday Aug 15th. In the Late afternoon when cars were arriving at the track there were some heavy clouds overhead, but by race time they had moved on and the skies were clear making way for another exciting night of racing. Temperatures were perfect for racing as well. Annette Bouchard sang the national anthems, then the race program started with the Factory Stocks…

Service Rental Factory Stocks

In the factory stock division 7 cars were at the track for the night, with 6 of them out for qualifying. Fast qualifier was Jerry Ross with a time of 16.127 seconds around the 1/3 mile oval. Ed Lapish showed up as a new driver in the division with the #64 car previously owned by Parker Brockelbank.

The first race of the night was the Factory Stock first heat. Before the first lap of the first race of the night was completed, caution was out. Lapish had started on the inside of row 1, with #26 Buddy Palahnuk outside. Palahnuk got a good start and moved up front. Lapish held tight on the inside coming to the green and into corner 1, #67 Jarritt Varcoe pinched Lapish down going into corner 1, got tagged and spun in front of the rest of the field through corner 2. There was no damage and the race restarted.

The restart looked nearly the same but this time Lapish hammering on the brakes slid up the track a bit through corner 1 with Jon Diodati right behind having to hammer the brakes too. There was no collision and the race continued. With a lap complete it looked like Lapish was having handling problems and coming out of corner 2 we found out why as his left rear wheel and axle flew off the car and rolled it’s way into the infield leaving Lapish spinning. There was a bit of delay in the action as track crews removed Lapish’s car and cleaned up some oil on the track.

The race restarted with Palahnuk inside front row, and Varcoe outside. The pair ran side by side for a couple laps until Palahnuk got the advantage and moved out front to complete the race with a win. Varcoe 2nd, #01 Jerry Ross 3rd, #51 Jamie Fox 4th, #52 Jon Diodati 5th, Lapish 6th with a DNF, and Adam Lapensee 7th, also with a DNF.

In heat 2, Lapish and Diodati were missing. We found out later that Diodati had engine problems and was done for the night. Five cars took to the track. Caution was out again before a lap was complete in the heat. Lapensee went up and off corner 1 into the grass on the start. On the restart, Lapensee spun again and went off the track again this time inside corner 2 into the infield. The flagman Ron Schmidt opted not to pull the caution. Lapensee came back onto the track a lap and a half later, then exited.

Palahnuk started inside front this race, with Varcoe outside. Varcoe was seen sliding out of the corners a few times, and that allowed Fox to get ahead of him. The 8 lap race ended with Palahnuk taking his second win, Fox 2nd, Varcoe 3rd by a nose over Ross 4th.

The five were back out again for the feature. Palahnuk once again started at the pole, this time with Fox outside. Right from the start, the official scorer Michelle Boudreau noted that Palahnuk was over-running his qualifying time by more than a quarter second and after three laps was subsequently shown the black flag and was disqualified. Palahnuk spun around the track a few more times and finally left. The race ran caution free with Ross taking the victory, Varcoe 2nd, Fox 3rd, and Lapensee 4th.

Ross continues to lead in the points battle in the division with 222 points. Fox moved up to second in the division 40 points behind, and Diodati fell back one place 60 points behind the leader after being unable to run in the second heat or feature during the night.

Northern Fencing Super Late Models

In the Super Late Model division #50 Rob Hiiemaa was fast qualifier of seven cars, with a time of 14.219 seconds.

The #2 of Zak St. John started the first heat at the pole, with #91 Keith King outside. St. John held the lead for the first three laps of the race with #61 Dustin Jackson first trying to work inside, then on lap 4 Jackson shifted to the outside and passed St. John on the front stretch. Hiiemaa then went to work on St. John for a couple laps and took up second spot. The race was quick and caution free. Jackson took the checkers, Hiiemaa 2nd, St. John 3rd, #90 Jay Palumbo 4th, King 5th, #21 Jake Irwin 6th, and #3 Shawn Ritchie 7th.

The second heat started similar to the first. This time St. John held on to the lead for four laps before getting passed by Jackson. St. John lost 2nd spot to Jay Palumbo on lap 7 of the 8 lap race. Jackson snagged his second late model win of the night, Palumbo 2nd, St. John 3rd, Hiiemaa 4th, King 5th, Irwin 6th, and Ritchie 7th.

All seven were out again later in the night for a 20 lap feature. Jackson and King started up front. Jackson jumped to the front right at the green flag and immediately began to open a lead on King. King maintained 2nd place until lap 11 when he was passed by Palumbo. At about that same time, Jackson with a large lead was running into lap traffic of Ritchie and Irwin who were running side by side. Jackson was slowed down, allowing Palumbo to catch up. On lap 14, going into corner 3, Palumbo went in a bit fast and tagged Jackson in the left rear, sending Jackson for a spin into 4. Palumbo had torn up the front right body on his car and had to leave the track for the pits to get loose body metal pulled off. Palumbo returned for the green and restarted outside of row 2.

Jackson restarted inside front row, with King outside. Right after the green, before another lap was complete, King came off the backstretch fast, flew off the bank between corner 3 and 4 and hit the tire barrier hard, in front of the beer gardens. The red flag was pulled out and Superior EMS crews tended to King while his car was pulled pitside. After the race King said, “I went to hit my brakes into the corner and the pedal went right to the floor.” King wasn’t hurt badly and his car suffered a damaged rad, front bumper, and sheet metal.

Once King was tended to, and his car was removed racing resumed. Hiiemaa started outside Jackson this time. A lap in, and Jackson was out front again. Hiiemaa could barely keep up with Jackson and at the end, Jackson had a three or four car lead to take his third win in the division for the night. Hiiemaa placed 2nd, Palumbo 3rd, St. John 4th, Irwin 5th, and Ritchie 6th, with King in 7th with a DNF.

In the Late Model points championship, Hiiemaa maintains first place with 215 points. Ron Raynor Jr. was missing during the night and slipped from 2nd in the division to 4th, now 52 points behind Hiiemaa. With his wins for the night Jackson has moved up to 2nd in the division, 33 points back. Jake Irwin retains his third place position, now 45 points back from the leader.

NAPA Auto Parts Michigan Modifieds

In the Michigan Modified division 9 cars were out for the night, of which 8 qualified. Glen Irwin, father of Jake Irwin, was driving the #21 Modified for the night. Doing double duty for the night were Dustin Jackson in the #27, Jarritt Varcoe in the #67, and Jay Palumbo in the #90; with Jackson and Palumbo both running a Late Model during the night, and Varcoe running a Factory stock. Dustin Jackson was fast qualifier with a time of 14.899 seconds.
Racing in the division consisted of two 8 lap heats, and a 20 lap feature, all without a single caution flag.

In heat 1, Jackson took the win, with division points leader #84 Mark Laakso 2nd. Barbeau Michigan driver #7 Josh Ware pulled 3rd, Palumbo 4th, #79 Roddy Bolduc 5th, #4 Michael Carbone 6th, Varcoe 7th, Irwin 8th. Also up on the track for hot laps was #83 Sean Sikes who left the track before the green flag flew.

In heat 2 Varcoe, Ware, and Sikes were missing leaving 6 cars to race. This time it was Palumbo that pulled up first at the finish, Jackson a close 2nd, Laakso 3rd, Bolduc 4th, Carbone 5th, and Irwin 6th.

Eight cars were out for the feature, missing was Varcoe. Carbone started up front with Laakso outside. Carbone lost positions in the first lap and Laakso found Palumbo challenging for the lead. The pair raced side by side for the first half of the race until lap 10 when Palumbo finally got the advantage and moved to the front. A couple laps later Laakso got passed by Ware, then Jackson. Ware was able to keep up with Palumbo but didn’t have enough to get beside and challenge for the win. Laps ran out, and Palumbo had his second win for the night in the division. Ware was 2nd, Jackson 3rd, Laakso 4th, Bolduc 5th, Irwin 6th. Carbone left the track early and was credited with 7th, Sikes also had a DNF and was credited with 8th.

Mark Laakso remains as leader in points in the modified division now with 187 points. Laakso finished ahead of Roddy Bolduc in each race, widening his points lead in the division over Bolduc to 18 points from 14 going into the race night. With the absence of John Ross for the night, Michael Carbone has moved into 3rd place in the championship battle, 69 points back.

Atomic Blonde Factory Fours

In Factory Four action Brent and Rebecca Fewchuk dominated. Six cars were out to qualify with #99 Rebecca Fewchuk being the fast qualifier with 17.899 seconds. Rookie driver Owen Brown was also out in the #95, his first time driving a car. Owen, almost 12, going into grade 7, is the grandson of Paul and Dina Seabrook. Paul is the official that works at the track entrance each race night, and drove at Laird for many years before, so Owen will have some good advice coming his way in future races.

In the first of two 8 lap heats, the 7 four bangers were joined by four Enduro cars #72 driven by Randy Larrett, #82 Joey Wierzbicki, and new driver #71 Justin McGreggor. The fourth Enduro, #16 was on track but didn’t have a transponder and the driver was unknown to the officials at the time of writing. The enduro cars are not officially scored. Up front for the start were #88 Kayla Kurnell, and #42 Jack Lannigan. On the second lap of the race, Brown found himself at the top of corner 3 and slid down the bank off the track towards the track entrance. Caution was out and Brown quickly got back up on track. During the same caution the #16 car had stalled on the front stretch just past the flagstand and was pushed to the pits.

On the restart, #3 Brent Fewchuk quickly moved up to take the lead and soon his sister Rebecca followed up in second. The race concluded with officially Brent & Rebecca taking 1st & 2nd respectively, #12 Jason Kurnell 3rd, #12 Jason Kern 4th, Lannigan 5th , #17 Caleb Foster 6th, and Brown 7th a couple laps down.

Heat 2 was caution free. Brent and Rebecca repeated their first heat results finishing 1st and 2nd. Kern finished 3rd, Lannigan 4th, Foster 5th, Kurnell 6th, and Brown 7th.

In their caution free 15 lap feature, Brent took up first position within the first lap and rode it to the end for the checkered flag, his third of the night. Rebecca found 2nd on lap 4. Kern took over 3rd place on lap 11 from Lannigan who finished 4th. Foster a lap down finished 5th, Kurnell 6th, and Brown 7th.

In points, Kern opened his lead over Kurnell slightly from 8 points going in to the night to 13 points after the night, with and accumulated total for the season of 145 points.

Photos for the racenight can be found on this website at http://lairdinternationalraceway.myracepass.com/gallery/?g=17392

Intermission Activities

Intermission included a quick school bus race, another nickel toss for the kids followed by a school bus ride and some draws. Two bikes were won by Samantha Otway 7, and Addisson Haynes 8. Addison was a bit big for the smaller bike she won. She said, “I’m probably going to give it to my cousin.”

About 2 dozen kids also won new backpacks, just in time for back to school!

Racing action at Laird International Raceway is winding down for the season, with just one regular season race to go next Thursday Aug 22, and then our finale, the Northern Stars Invitational and season championship on the weekend of Sept 13 & 14 (with a rain date of Sept 15th if needed).

Gates open at 5:30 on Thursday Aug 22nd, Qualifying at 6:00 pm, Opening ceremonies at 7 and racing starting right after that.

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