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The Ohio Gas Man Wins 2nd Feature of Season

Muskegon, MI – Taking advantage of the great track conditions and showing the great Thunderbird Raceway fans how he got his name “the Ohio Gas Man”, Phil Gressman (Helena, OH) took the checkered flag ahead of the 2017 GLSS Champion, Jared Horstman (Cloverdale, OH) and 2018 GLSS Points Leader, Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI)!

With 32 cars at I-96 Speedway Friday when our show was cancelled due to heavy rains, we were able to have a strong showing of 29 cars Saturday night from Canada, Ohio, Indiana, Florida and Michigan. The rain did however give us a fast, dust free track at Thunderbird Raceway for our only visit this season after we were rained out there on June 16th.

Rolling out in the second group of the first flight of cars, Brett Mann (Goshen, IN) road the rim to set fast time of the night with an average lap time of 11.73 seconds or 110.5 mph. Mitch Brown (Brantford, ON), Daggett, Steve Irwin (Fenton, MI) and Chase Ridenour (Perry, MI) rounded out the top 5 qualifiers in the first flight. Horstman set fast time of the 2nd flight with an average lap time of 11.795 seconds or 109.9 mph. Gregg Dalman (Bellevue, MI), Brad Lamberson (Parma, MI), Trey Smith (St Joseph, MI) and Kobe Allison (Lima, OH) rounded out the top 5.

Michael Summers (Warsaw, IN) and Ridenour lead the Kistler Engines Heat 1 out for the first race of the night. As they came around through turn 3, Summers took off and as the caution was coming out for a jump, Tyler Fitzpatrick (Goshen, IN) lost his steering and his car glanced off the front wall and he hit head on into an earthmover tire at the entrance of turn 1, launching and flipping the car, coming to rest on his side. Fitzpatrick was ok, but his car was done for the night.

With the cars refired and the field reset, with Summers being moved back 2 spots, Daggett and Ridenour brought the field around to the chalk line. With a clean start, Daggett led as they finished the first lap. Mann starting in the 4th spot was in 3rd and battling Ridenour for 2nd as they completed 2 laps. As Mann was running on the rim of turn 2, the 19 car made contact with the wall, flipping Mann hard and coming to rest upside down. As emergency crews reached the car, fuel was pouring on Mann as he hung trapped in the car. Needing to get Mann out, the crews flipped the car back on the tires. Mann was helped out of the car safely but sustained 4 broken ribs.

Going green flag racing again, Daggett took the checkered flag with Jake Brown (Brantford, ON) taking the 2 redraw spots and Ridenour and Summers taking the remaining two transfer spots.

In the Campbell Performance Heat Race 2, Jared Lamberson (Parma, MI) and Gressman lead the field around to the flag stand. With a clean start, Gressman is quickly out front with Mitch Brown trying to reel him in. Going green flag to checker, Gressman takes the checkered with a second to spare over Brown with both securing the 2 redraw spots. Danny Sams III (Englewood, FL) moved up from 5th to finish 3rd and Lamberson secured the 4th and final transfer spot.

Andrew Scheid (Sparta, MI) and Allison rolled out the field in the Kistler Racing Parts Heat 3. As they take the green flag, Scheid gets a good start and takes the lead after 1 lap. Horstman gets around Scheid for the lead, but can’t shake Scheid. As the checkered flies, it’s Horstman and Scheid for the 2 redraw spots and Brad Lamberson (Parma, MI) taking 3rd and Allison securing the 4th and final transfer spot.

In the Specialty Fuels & Logistics Heat Race 4, Joe Geibe (Sturgis, MI) and Andy Chehowski (Coldwater, MI) bring the final group around to the start. Geibe gets out front early and is able to hold Dalman off for 4 laps. But in the 5th lap, Dalman gets around Geibe for the lead where he finished. Starting in 6th, Connor Morrell (Bradenton, FL) methodically worked his way up to 2nd to grab the final redraw spot. Geibe and Chehowski hold on for 3rd and 4th and the final 2 transfer spots.

With the front 8 rows of the feature filled, Troy Chehowski (Coldwater, MI) and Irwin lead out the B-Main to decide who will fill the final 4 spots. Irwin took the checkered flag, leading the whole race. Kyle Poortenga (Woodland, MI) worked his way up to finish 2nd with Chehowski and Smith filling the final 2 spots.

The top 2 cars from each heat race earned a spot in the redraw which took place at the flagstand where young fans from the crowd drew for each driver, starting with fast qualifier and working their way down. Jake Brown earned the pole and Phil Gressman would start in the second spot. The two 14 year olds making the redraw, Andrew Scheid and Connor Morrell would start 4th and 8th respectively.

Brown and Gressman set the field for the feature. Once all cars were lined up, they formed the ever popular 4-wide fan salute. With the festivities done, it was time to get down to business and the field was set to go.

With a clean start, Gressman led the field into turn 1 with Brown and Daggett going 2nd and 3rd. It was an exciting start and there was 3 wide passing as the field jockeyed for position. All was going well until lap 7 and 8 as the leaders caught the back of the field. Gressman riding high on the track had little trouble getting into the lapped traffic, however Brown and Daggett were using the bottom in turns 1 and 2 and were having trouble getting around the back cars. In lap 9, Brown had to suddenly check up at the bottom of 1 & 2 as a lap car apparently was on the brakes. Coming out of 2 on the back stretch, as Brown was on the gas and making a move to get around the car, he caught the right rear tire which launched him in the air. Unfortunately, as Brown came down, the car bit in side ways and flipped and came to a rest on its side at the entrance to turn 3. Brown was out of his car and not happy, but ok.

Getting the field lined up, the green flag flew and Gressman was out front and securely in control. Horstman, who started 6th was on the move and battling Daggett for 2nd. He eventually got around Daggett for 2nd and set his sights on Gressman. Daggett never went away challenging Horstman in turns 1 and 2 as Horstman would get some room in 3 and 4.

As the white flag is waved the field continued to battle for their positions. At the checkered flag it was Gressman, Horstman, Daggett, Mitch Brown and Gregg Dalman. Kobe Allison who started 15th, worked his way into 7th and secured the Engler Machine and Tool Hard Charger award!

For a full listing of results, go to our website at www.greatlakessupersprints.com . For update events and news, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Our next race will be Friday, August 31st at Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn, MI, which will be our final points race where we will crown a new champion for 2018. Then Saturday, September 1st we will be presenting the Inaugural Great Lakes Fall Sprintacular for $5,000 to win and $500 to start. Also racing will be the Lane Automotive MTS Traditional Sprints and the North Coast Vintage Oval Racers.

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