Racing Every Friday Night at 7:30 P.M.
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6 Champions Crowned at
Murray County Speedway and One Retirement
The final regular season night at Murray County Speedway was
Friday evening. Farmer's Union Insurance of Marshall was
championship night sponsor and they brought a fun crew. The
group not only livened up the action, but sold Got Hope can
coolers to help fight cancer and were all wearing pink for the
occasion. At the end of the night, 6 drivers got done what they
started back in April, a track title. Several classes had to be
decided on the final night, which made it extra exciting for the
fans that filled the stands. While there still is one more
Saturday night special to round out the season on September 4th,
it was also the finale for the track announcer. Jeff Erickson,
the voice of Murray County Speedway for nearly 15 years, called
his final race. He announced to the crowd at the beginning of
the night that this would be his last season in the booth. The
drivers along with track promoter Josh Schaffer came to the
frontstretch at intermission to present him with a checkered
flag signed by many of the regulars of MCS.
First National Bank Hornets
Last year's champion, Jeremy Winter, started the night off with
a heat race win in the 2 car. Winter has enjoyed another good
season and especially good last few weeks, but would have to
settle for runner up this season. Jacob Hoflock began to show
last season that he was ready to contend for a title in his 2nd
year of racing. He started the season with a win, did it
several more times in 2010, and then ended the same way.
Hoflock from the front row kept all behind him to secure the
2010 First
National Bank Hornet championship.
DeRuyter Pallets Sportsmen
Trevor Holm had a breakout season in his young driving career.
While suffering though the ups and downs or racing last year,
Holm came back in 2010 to shine. The driver of the 17 car from
Chandler got the heat race win in the DeRuyter Palletts
sportman's class on Friday. It didn't take him long to win in
2010 and came out strong on the final night to put an
exclamation point on his season and track title by winning the A
feature. Brycen Johnson in the 41J would have also been in
contention for that title if not for missing a few nights during
the year. Johnson won the most races in the class this season
and finished 2nd behind the champ in the finale on Friday.
Hadley Liquor Store USRA Hobby
Stock
It came down to the last race and the last lap for the
Hadley Liquor Store Hobby Stocks. Eric Gillette and Matt
Lange have been door to door this last month of the season.
Gillette was going for the three peat as a track champion
while Lange was gunning for his first. Gillette, Brad
Snyder and Jeremy Van Ede won the heat races to open the
night. Gillette and Lange earned the spots on the front row
and the 12 of Gillette got the early advantage. Lange
stayed right behind the 12 hoping for an opening. Neither
one needed to win the race, it was all about which would
finish in front of the other to determine the title as just
one point separted the two young drivers. Jeremy Van Ede,
who should be a future contender for the title got by the 84
for second place. Lange almost got the spot back on a
restart after caution, but remained in third and ended up
finishing as runner up to Gillette in the end. The 12 car
won the title and the race with Van Ede 2nd on the night.
RH Sealcoating USRA B
Modifieds
Another class that needed to be settled was the RH
Sealcoating B modified. It was between Jeremy Smith,
the defending three time champion and Nick Johannsen.
Johannsen got a scare early when clutch problems kept
him in the back of the heat race and his championship
hopes in jeopardy. Smith won the heat with Johannsen
getting last. Fortuneately for fans of the 1 car, the
clutch issue was resolved before the main event. Smith
started on the inside pole while Johannsen was on the
outside. Once again it was about who finished in front
of the other. The only problem would have been if
Johannsen got second and Smith 3rd. It would have been
a tie breaking mess for the officials. Johannsen got
the advantage from the start and led lap one. Smith
tried nearly every line he could to get a shot at the
lead and a fourth consecutive title. No one else got in
the way as both cars kept those spots and left it up to
themselves to win. Johannsen was just too fast and it
was ultimately one point that separated two spectacular
drivers. Johannsen won the race and the title while
Smith had his streak stopped.
CarToyz USRA Street Stocks
The CarToyz
stock car race for the track champ had been
close, but Brent Fagen came into the night knowing
just a start in the feature race would secure him a
three peat. Rich Greogire and Troy Winter won the
heat races. The Farmer's Union Insurance crowd was
really pulling for John Schmidt to win on Friday.
Schmitty hadn't won in 2010 and was hoping to cap
off the season with his first. The 2S fans were
particularly noisy for their driver and cheered him
every time he went around the track, even on non
racing laps. With Fagen and Rich Greogire on the
front row, it would be tough for anyone else to
win. Fagen lead early with Schmidt coming up to
second. The 66 of Elijah Zevenbergen put together
some remarkable laps to get by Schmidt and get right
next to Fagen. With a couple of laps to go, the 66
and 48 were coming in contact with each other. It
turned out to be the most exciting finish of 2010.
On the last lap in turns 3 and 4, heavy contact
between the two left Zevenbergen helpless and Fagen
fading back to third. John Schmidt took advantage
of the duel and slipped underneath to steal one
away. The crowd went crazy. Greogire grabbed
second and capped off a fine year by finishing
runner up. While Schmidt went to Finishing Touch
Victory Lane, Fagen celebrated with a burnout on the
frontstretch.
Pete's Small Engine
USRA A Modifieds
The finale for the Pete's Small Engine A mods
wasn't as exciting as the others, mostly because
Don Gerrittsen Jr had the title wrapped up
before even coming to the track. That didn't
keep him from trying to win one more though.
Gerristtsen Jr won the heat race with Mike
Steensma finishing second. The only question
would be can he hold off the 10 car in the
feature? He did. Gerrittsen Jr capped off
a dominating year in the A mods and kept the 10
car behind him to celebrate his title with
another win. Al Barber finished the season as
the runner up in the point standings.
One more night of racing
at MCS features the B Mod
Nationals on Saturday September
4th at 5:30. For more
information visit the track
website www.murraycountyspeedway.net
The racing banquet will be
December 4th at Key Largo on
Lake Shetek.
Pictures are take by Randy Beers of
the Wheel / Herald RACE RESULTS FOR
AUGUST 27, 2010
Hornets - A Feature -
Hornets - Heats 1
Sportsmen - A Feature -
Sportsmen - Heats 1
USRA Hobby - A Feature
USRA Hobby - Heats 1
USRA Hobby - Heats 3
USRA B-Modifieds - A Feature
USRA Stock Car - Heats 2
USRA Modifieds - A Feature
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