Ownedale, MI — (June 14, 2015) — The rain was coming and the track was fast but it was the drivers who put on a great show for the fans and beat out the impending showers. With the smell of burgers grilling in the background, the point battles were brewing on the track.
The Jr. Stocks led off the night and heat race positions were set by qualifying. The fastest qualifier was the 3 of Curtis O’Connor. The points leader, Mercedes Kosha in the 27, held off O’Connor to pick up the Heat win. In the feature Kosha and O’Connor battled for the lead most of the race and it was O’Connor besting the 27 for the win. It was O’Connor’s first win of the season and third different winner in the Jr. Stock Division. First year drivers Devin Spicer in the 58, Darick Spicer in the 28s and Brady Hohman in the 17 have shown a ton of improvement over the past few weeks and will be challenging for wins soon.
Bartnik Services of Cass City was having fun watching the night of racing from the infield until the Pro Stocks took to the Bullet in their feature. A huge wreck on the front stretch wiped out almost half the field. Mike Essex in the 52 took a ride flipping and joining his grandson Zack Essex as a member of the upside down club at the Bullet. Also involved in the wreck was two time defending champion the 01 of Randy Radabaugh, Steve Trollman in the 92 and the Hooked on Dirt powered 78 machine of Kevin Scoviac. All the drivers walked away unscathed. After Bartnik Services got the mess cleaned up it was the g18 of Chad Bieri who took home the feature win. Tim Near in the 71 finished second and the 43 of Ken O’Connor rounded out the top 3. O’Connor and the 9k of Dale Kaake Jr picked up heat wins.
The Hobby Stocks made their return to the Bullet and showed some serious speed and driving skills. This week featured some drivers returning to the Bullet. Andre Bergevin in the 74, the 99 of Dustin Beauchamp and Nate Hurley in the 11 all made their debuts in the Hobby Stocks. Hurley who usually is in a Late Model, showed to be a quick study and picked up a heat race win with Mike Spencer in the 37 winning the other heat. In the feature the 57 of TJ Gilbert held the lead most of the race but a late move in the final laps by Spencer vaulted him to the lead. Spencer went to the high side and made it stick and pass Gilbert and pick up the feature win in exciting fashion that brought the fans to their feet. Gilbert who was the fastest qualifier finished second and fan favorite Gene Carson in the 42 brought it home in third.
The UMP Stock Cars took to the track with a points battle brewing between four cars. Points leader Jeremy Spencer in the 36 looked strong early winning the first heat race but broke in the feature and pulled off. TJ Gilbert in the 57 built up a sizable lead over the first half of the race but in the closing laps the 55 of Mike Vandecar closed the gap and was right on Gilbert’s bumper over the final few laps. Gilbert held him off for his first feature win of the year with Vandecar finishing second. The 18D of Fred Dow finished third after battling side by side with the 84 of Eric Watz who came home fourth. Rick Badgley won the second heat race.
The finale of the night featured some of the State’s best UMP Modified drivers returning to the Bullet. In the first heat race the 14b of Chris Barton held of two time defending champion Chad Spencer in the 39 and big hitter, the 87 of David Mielke , to pick up the heat win. The crowd went wild when Charlie Mihacsi in the 3 won the other heat race. In the feature the track was bad fast and featured the mods using both lanes to fly around the Bullet. Off the start it was Spencer battling with Jeff Champagne in the 37 for the lead. As Spencer took the lead Barton, Mihacsi, Mielke and Justin Kuhl in the 78 battled behind him. Kuhl having a great run moved into third position before pulling off late. Mielke got around Barton and stalked Spencer. Over the closing laps Mielke got around Spencer and picked up the win in what was a fantastic feature to end the night. Spencer finished second and Barton came home in third. Chaz Pray in the 511 and the 5 of Tanner Pray made their return to the Bullet, with Chaz finishing fourth.
Next weekend will feature the return on the Late Models for some Father Day Weekend Racin’. The following weekend with be a double your fun with the return the MTS Sprint Cars Saturday Night and the Boggin’ at the Bullet on Sunday! It has been an exciting start to the season at the Bullet and you won’t want to any of the action. See you Saturday at the Bullet. For more information visit SilverBulletSpeedway.com or Facebook at SilverBulletSpeedwayMI.