Six months of pent-up driving energy was let loose all over Auto City Speedway Saturday. Even Mother Nature seemed ready for racing to get started. It was a perfect day for racing.
“Weather is everything,” Track Owner, Joe DeWitte said. “This is a great night.”
The Auto City Modifieds kicked off the evening with a 20 lap feature. Chuck Silva took the lead early on and found a good line on the track, with Mods Rookie Timmy Near No.71 and Fast Qualifier No.78 Travis Eddy close behind. Halfway through the event, Eddy found an opening in turn two that took him around Near and Silva, all the way to the checkered flag.
No.21 Robby Johnson followed Eddy’s lead and brought home his first win of the season in the Auto City Super Stock/Pro-Late Model feature. The Super Stock field was 15 strong at the starting line. 2008 Champion Terry Bogusz led a third of the race, until a few unfortunate events forced Terry and four others to throw in the towel for the night. Johnson slid into the lead after that and held off hard charges from No.14 Bob Varney the rest of the race. This show was a crowd pleaser to the very end as a rookie from the Karting world, Josh “Never Say Die” Hobson, crossed his first short track finish line in reverse after spinning in turn four and refusing to give up his number nine spot.
Jordan Lechota won the first Pure Stocks Heat Race of the evening in his No.J1.
“It feels like all the hard work over the winter has paid off,” Jordan said. “It’s a great boost of confidence to start the year with.”
Lechota ran hard in the top four of the Pure Stocks’ 25 Lap Feature until mechanical problems forced him to retire for the night. Car No.M15, Lonnie Saumier Jr., took the lead in the 18th lap and held onto it all the way to the finish line.
The Street Stocks feature winner was Fast Qualifier No.9 Jim Miller, Jr. The No.50 car of Michigan MotorSports Hall of Famer Jay Woolworth gave Jr. a run for his money, until engine trouble took Woolworth out in turn one of the sixth lap. The Miller duo monopolized the rest of the race and took first and second for the feature.
No.888 Chad Lamson had a great run in the Figure 8 division, winning his first feature of the year.
In the Hornets Division, Miss Paige Amy in her No.1, gave the crowd an incredible show and brought home her first feature win at Auto City. Amy’s best friend, Holli Purdue, was there to see the big win.
“It’s AMAZING!” Holli said. “She drove her heart out on the track tonight. She’s been working so hard for this. I’m so happy for her!”
Next week, Auto City Fans can expect more of the same fantastic racing and great entertainment.
“We have all six divisions running again next week,” Track Owner, Joe DeWitte said. “Folks need to come on out and let me help them have a good time. Auto City gives a tremendous value to their entertainment dollar. They just have to come out and let me prove it to them!”
