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Sternberg Best’s Field in 55-lap Kenny Blondel Street Stock Memorial at Winston

Rothbury, Michigan (Friday, July 24th, 2015): The summer racing season continued this past Friday at the fast 3/8ths (0.375) mile high-banked dirt oval of the Winston Speedway located in Rothbury, Michigan. The 7 in 1 racing program was headlined by the 55-lap Street Stock Kenny Blondel Memorial presented by Port City Racecars. The Late Models, UMP DIRTcar Modifieds, Michigan Dirt Modifieds, Bombers, Four-Cylinder Warriors, and Young Guns were all in action as well.

Ronnie VanNatter picked up his sixth win of the season in the Young Guns division‘s 10-lap A-Main feature. 16-year old Chelsey Allen and 15-year old Gabe Flores started on the front row. Flores jumped out with the early advantage. However on lap 4 his car would suffer mechanical issues forcing him to relinquish the lead to VanNatter who went on from there to take home the checkered flag. 15-year old Hedi Barnhard finished second. 13-year old Devon Midkiff, Flores, and Allen completed the top five. Flores was the winner of the heat race.

Josh Grabe and Steve Fairbanks led out the 12-lap feature for the Michigan Dirt Modifieds. Grabe pulled away with the lead after the first lap of the race. That turned out to all he would need to accomplish, as he was able to lead every single lap eventually picking up the victory. This was the 34-year old Muskegon, Michigan native’s seventh win of the year in the Grabe Well Drilling #G5. Fairbanks finished just behind in second. Ted Cooper Jr., Steve McClees, and Brett Strunk rounded out the top five. Grabe also picked up the lone heat race.

The 55-lap Street Stock Kenny Blondel memorial made its way out next. Sadie Klein and Josh Sternberg led the field down to the starter’s green flag. It was Sternberg getting the early lead after the first circuit. He would maintain control of the top position until lap 12 when his younger brother Robbie Sternberg worked his way up to take the lead away. But only for one lap as Josh would rebound on the very next time around to regain the lead. He would again maintain control until he broke on lap 19. This gave Robbie the lead which he would hold for the rest of the event going on to pick up the win.

This was the second win in a row for the 23-year old Muskegon, Michigan driver, behind the wheel of his Stern’s Towing #73. Derek Poland took second. Klein, Chuck Smith, and Paul Namey finished off the top five. Robbie Sternberg also won the heat race.

The 20-lap UMP DIRTcar Modifieds hit the racing surface led by the front row consisting of Aaron Morey and Steve McClees. Morey would be the first to take the lead in the early going. He would also turn out to be the only driver with the lead, as he led the entire feature from green to checkered. This was the West Olive, Michigan native’s second win of the year in his Port City Racecars #2k. Greg Smith finished second. McClees, Kevin Cavanaugh, and Luis Conley capped off the top five. Jeff Erickson Jr. won the heat.

The Late Models were next up with the running of their 25-lap A-Main. Alan Vochaska and Steve Fairbanks kicked things off on the front row when the green flag waved. Fairbanks took lead after lap 1. Despite several cautions, and restarts Fairbanks would not be denied as he held the lead through everything the field could through at him, leading every single lap, and picking up the win. This was the first win of the year for the 42-year old native of Twin Lake, Michigan. Kyle Borgman was the runner up finisher. Vochaska, Lowell Webster, and Matt Christiansen rounded out the top five. The heat wins went to Vochaska and Borgman.

15-year old rookie Morgan Smith and 12-year old rookie Evan Shotko made up the front row for the 20-lap Bomber feature event. The green flag waved and Smith took the early lead. However on lap 9 she would spin in turn 4. This gave the lead over to Dan Wilson Jr, and he pull out with the advantage and never look back from there going on to make the visit to victory lane. This was the sixth win of the year for the 36-year old Muskegon, Michigan driver in his A&A Manufacturing #57. Robb Sternberg was the second place finisher. Nate Triick, Shotko, and Mike Fekken completed the top five. Sternberg and Mike Roe earned the heat race victories.

Results Summary:

Late Models -

Heat 1 - (10 Laps)

1. 34-Alan Vochaska[3] ; 2. 62-Chops Barnhard[6] ; 3. 4-Jason Playter Jr.[8] ; 4. 99-Larry Passenier[1] ; 5. 30-Bob Bray[2] ; 6. 1-Eric Midkiff[7] ; 7. 02-Jeramy Lange[5] ; 8. 64-Bob Shirk[4]

Heat 2 - (10 Laps)

1. 72-Kyle Borgman[4] ; 2. 17-Kevin Nelson JR[1] ; 3. 51-Steve Fairbanks[7] ; 4. 10-Matt Sprague[6] ; 5. 7C-Matt Christiansen[3] ; 6. 7-Lowell Webster[2] ; 7. 44-Rob Taylor[8] ; 8. 3-Mike Pickard[5]

A-Main 1 - (25 Laps)

1. 51-Steve Fairbanks[2] ; 2. 72-Kyle Borgman[4] ; 3. 34-Alan Vochaska[1] ; 4. 7-Lowell Webster[12] ; 5. 7C-Matt Christiansen[10] ; 6. 1-Eric Midkiff[11] ; 7. 02-Jeramy Lange[13] ; 8. 99-Larry Passenier[5] ; 9. 17-Kevin Nelson JR[6] ; 10. 10-Matt Sprague[3] ; 11. 4-Jason Playter Jr.[8] ; 12. 44-Rob Taylor[14] ; 13. 62-Chops Barnhard[7] ; 14. 30-Bob Bray[9] ; 15. 3-Mike Pickard[16] ; 16. 64-Bob Shirk[15]

UMP Modifieds -

Heat 1 - (10 Laps)

1. 1E-Jeffery Erickson Jr[7] ; 2. 01-Steve McClees[1] ; 3. 2K-Aaron Morey[6] ; 4. 14C-Kevin Cavanaugh[3] ; 5. 88-Greg Smith[2] ; 6. 89-Brian Kiester[9] ; 7. 34-Luis Conley[8] ; 8. 4J-Paul Johnson[10] ; 9. 3-Mike Petersen[5] ; 10. 87H-John Hammerle[4]

A-Main 1 - (20 Laps)

1. 2K-Aaron Morey[2] ; 2. 88-Greg Smith[3] ; 3. 01-Steve McClees[1] ; 4. 14C-Kevin Cavanaugh[4] ; 5. 34-Luis Conley[7] ; 6. 87H-John Hammerle[10] ; 7. 89-Brian Kiester[6] ; 8. 3-Mike Petersen[9] ; 9. 1E-Jeffery Erickson Jr[5] ; 10. 4J-Paul Johnson[8]

Michigan Dirt Modifieds -

Heat 1 - (8 Laps)

1. G5-Josh Grabe[1] ; 2. 01-Steven McClees[4] ; 3. 11-Ted Cooper Jr[3] ; 4. 66-Steve Fairbanks[6] ; 5. 0-Renton Joling[2] ; 6. 5-Brett Strunk[5]

A-Main 1 - (15 Laps)

1. G5-Josh Grabe[1] ; 2. 66-Steve Fairbanks[2] ; 3. 11-Ted Cooper Jr[3] ; 4. 01-Steven McClees[6] ; 5. 5-Brett Strunk[4] ; 6. 0-Renton Joling[5]

Street Stocks -

A-Main 1 - (55 Laps)

1. 73RJ-Robbie Sternberg[2] ; 2. 13-Derek Poland[6] ; 3. 8-Sadie Klein[3] ; 4. 85-Chuck Smith[1] ; 5. 74-Paul Namey[9] ; 6. 07-Billy Frey[7] ; 7. 44-Cody Broersma[8] ; 8. 83-Josh Sternberg[5] ; 9. 6-Mark Farber[4]

Bombers -

Heat 1 - (8 Laps)

1. 37S-Robb Sternberg[2] ; 2. 57-Dan Wilson Jr[1] ; 3. 15-Nate Triick[4] ; 4. 63-Brandon Spring[6] ; 5. 34F-Mike Fekken[3] ; 6. 83-Sean Greene[5]

Heat 2 - (8 Laps)

1. 21-Mike Roe[1] ; 2. 37-Morgan Smith[2] ; 3. 22-Evan Shotko[3] ; 4. 38-Wes Beebe[5] ; 5. 4-Duane Townsend[6] ; 6. 12-Nick Malinoski[4]

A-Main 1 - (15 Laps)

1. 57-Dan Wilson Jr[3] ; 2. 37S-Robb Sternberg[5] ; 3. 15-Nate Triick[6] ; 4. 22-Evan Shotko[2] ; 5. 34F-Mike Fekken[8] ; 6. 21-Mike Roe[4] ; 7. 4-Duane Townsend[9] ; 8. 12-Nick Malinoski[11] ; 9. 37-Morgan Smith[1] ; 10. 63-Brandon Spring[12] ; 11. 38-Wes Beebe[7]

Warriors -

Heat 1 - (8 Laps)

1. 04-Dave Redmon[5] ; 2. 3-Terry Woodard[2] ; 3. 29-Brian Hammond[1] ; 4. 2-Buck Spencer[7] ; 5. 97-Chris Gagnon[6] ; 6. 82-Mindi Holy[3] ; 7. 14-Gary Larabee[4]

Heat 2 - (8 Laps)

1. 7H-Bob Halberstadt[2] ; 2. 1K-Kristina Johnson[5] ; 3. 10-Melissa Sprague[1] ; 4. 77-Don Fenner[7] ; 5. 5-Randy Woodbury[4] ; 6. 18-Chad French[3] ; 7. 5*-Ryan Hamm[6]

A-Main 1 - (15 Laps)

1. 5*-Ryan Hamm[14] ; 2. 2-Buck Spencer[3] ; 3. 04-Dave Redmon[5] ; 4. 97-Chris Gagnon[9] ; 5. 29-Brian Hammond[7] ; 6. 82-Mindi Holy[11] ; 7. 10-Melissa Sprague[8] ; 8. 18-Chad French[12] ; 9. 14-Gary Larabee[13] ; 10. 5-Randy Woodbury[10] ; 11. 7H-Bob Halberstadt[1] ; 12. 3-Terry Woodard[6] ; 13. 77-Don Fenner[4]

Young Guns -

Heat 1 - (6 Laps)

1. 16-Gabe Flores[1] ; 2. 36-Ronnie VanNatter[4] ; 3. 3-Heidi Barnhard[2] ; 4. 1-Devon Midkiff[5] ; 5. 24-Chelsey Allen[3]

A-Main 1 - (12 Laps)

1. 36-Ronnie VanNatter[5] ; 2. 3-Heidi Barnhard[1] ; 3. 1-Devon Midkiff[4] ; 4. 16-Gabe Flores[2] ; 5. 24-Chelsey Allen[3]

Finally, it was time for the Four-Cylinder Warriors main event. Bob Halberstadt and Don Fenner led the field down to the green flag to kick off the 12-lap race. Halberstadt was the early leader. Until lap 6 when Buck Spencer would make the pass for the lead. He would stay there until lap 10 until he would be challenged by Ryan Hamm who was able to take the lead for himself, and go on from there to be the first to checkered flag. However he would later be disqualified after the post-race inspection. Buck Spencer, Dave Redmon, Chris Gagnon, and Mindi Holy rounded out the rest of the top five. Redmon and Halberstadt won the heats.

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