Battles for first highlight week 12 at Kinross

Week twelve at the Kinross Speedpark again seen perfect weather for racing and a huge crowd for "Michigan Auto Race Fan Club" night.

The action started off with the Factory Stock 4 Car Dash. The field quickly dropped to three when Cecil Piche developed a transmission fluid leak in his car during the warm up laps. Josh Ware started on the front row and led all four laps for the win.

The Pure Stock dash followed and John Clawson held off all challenges and took the checkered flag and the win.

The fastest four 4 Cylinders came out on the track next and it took less than one lap for action to begin. The cars went three wide on lap one and Ron Etcher had his passenger door ripped off of his car. Racing continued after the yellow for debris on the race track, with Adam Gardner taking the victory. After the checkered flag, Etcher spun the Dean Eggart car and was black flagged for the evening.

Mick Pieri led several laps in the Pure Stock Australian Pursuit before getting together with Randy Touchtone going down the backstretch. Touchtone got by the very loose Pieri and went on for the victory, starting from the second position.

The 4 Cylinder Pursuit was another great race with John Thompson passing the five cars in front of him and holding on for the victory.

The Late Model drivers voted at the drivers meeting to race a second heat in place of the 4 Car Dash, allowing drivers not in the dash some more track time. The first heat turned into a three car battle with Tim Aho the winner. Bill Bond, out of Bay City Michigan, brought his beautiful Late Model to the park and finished second, with George Wilson third.

The Factory Stock heat race had an early battle between Pee Wee Fountain and Mike Fox for the lead. Fox eventually took the lead and ran a perfect race while taking the victory. Josh Ware finished second, and Cecil Piche third.

Heat number one of the Pure Stocks had Randy Touchtone taking an early lead and racing to the checkered flag for the victory. The field ran single file most of the race with Chris Brady finishing second, and Nicole Rader third.

The second Pure Stock heat was similar to the first with Ray Golladay Sr. leading the entire race and taking the win. Randy Miller made a last lap challenge but finished second. John Clawson finished third.

The 4 Cylinder cars came out on the track next with Larry Miller pacing the field in the first heat. Miller tried a super slow start, but his plan appeared to backfire when Kaye Eddington took off like a dragster when the green flag dropped. She built a big lead when back in the pack, John Thompson hit the Preston Nightlinger car not once, but three times before both cars went nearly head on into the cement retaining wall. Nightlinger got his car off of the wall, and used it in retaliation to drive the Thompson car into the wall again for a second hard hit. Thompson got out of car and was black flagged for showing his displeasure. Nightlinger was parked for the evening. When racing resumed, Erica Pietrangelo appeared to run the last few laps wide open and took the lead from Eddington. This was Erica’s first win in her 4 Cylinder, with Eddington finishing second. Larry Miller finished third.

The second 4 Cylinder heat had Adam Gardner getting a great start and running away with the victory. There was great racing back in the pack, with Brandy Clawson finishing second, and Tony Rankin third..

The last race before intermission was the second heat for Late Models. Kevin Jackson led early before Denny Aho and Bill Bond touched in turn three spinning Bond and bringing out the yellow. After the restart, George Wilson eventually got by Jackson on the outside and held on for the win. Bill Bond finished second, and Tim Aho third. Intermission had the return of Squeeky and his clown car attempting to make some hot laps around the 1/4 mile track. Tech official Darryn Laitinen pulled the car over on the front stretch and they performed an entertaining skit.

The first feature of the evening had the Late Models taking to the track. The field ran side by side for three laps before Tim Aho took the lead from Kevin Jackson. The first yellow flew when George Wilson came into turn three too fast and spun himself out when he tried to avoid contact with the car ahead of him. Wilson restarted at the back. A few more laps went by before Bill Bond touched Kevin Jackson on the front stretch causing Jackson to spin into the infield. Bill Bond restarted at the rear of the field. Tim Aho worked his way into the lead when another caution was shown for the spinning car of Robert Hiiemaa in turn two. Hiiemaa took responsibility for the spin and went to the back. The race turned into a great three car battle with Tim Aho leading Bill Bond and George Wilson. Aho got loose in turn two and allowed Bond to get by on the inside and hold on for the win. Aho finished second, and George Wilson third.

The Factory Stock feature again saw a battle between Pee Wee Fountain and Mike Fox for the lead. Fox eventually got away from Fountain and built a huge lead. Late arrival to the track had Josh Maitland starting scratch on the field. There were some anxious moments as the field began to close in on his position. He showed some real class and moved up high on the track allowing the leaders to race by without incident. Mike Fox went on to his first feature win and performed a spectacular burnout in front of the grandstand. Pee Wee Fountain finished second, and Paul Fox third.

The Pure Stock feature had Mick Pieri leading for several laps before the first yellow when Chris Brady spun. After the restart, John Clawson worked his way to the lead. There were two more cautions, the first was when Nicole Rader broke an a-arm and stopped on the backstretch. The second was for a spin by Ray Golladay Jr. in turn two. When it was all over, John Clawson was the winner with Larry Young Jr. second, and Randy Miller third.

The 4 Cylinder feature saw another slow start with Larry Miller leading the field to the green. John Mayer came from the sixth starting position and led the first lap. He was eventually passed by Dean Eggart with the Gardner brothers right on his tail. These three cars put on a good, clean race with Eggart taking the victory. John Gardner finished second, and Adam Gardner third.

Racing action resumes again this Friday at Kinross Speedpark. For more information, log onto www.kinrossspeedpark.com.

(Submitted by: Steve Lawson)