Full night of action at Laird
Friday, June 08, 2012 by: Brad Coccimiglio
It was a week later than planned but the first race night of the year is officially in the books at Laird International Raceway.
The night saw a track record along with the return of some familiar faces to the track.
The night opened with a track record in the Factory Stock division after Kyle Jarrett turned a lap time of 15.740 and saw the return of the likes of track veterans Rick Ellis and Dennis Uhlman among others.
In the Super Late Model Division, the action was tight throughout much of the 25-lap feature with brothers Chris and Corey Furkey battling for the lead for much of the race with Keith King and Terry McClelland not far behind. The all-Furkey battle was cut short after a caution on lap 23. With the caution out, Darcy Reid made contact with Chris. Chris left the track with a flat tire but did not make it back in the allotted three laps because of further damage to his car.
With his brother out of the running, Corey held off the field to take the first feature win of the 2012 season. King finished second and McClelland placed third.
Rick Leonard and King won the heat races while Corey Furkey was the fast qualifier with a lap time of 14.072, just ahead of brother Chris’ time of 14.177.
The Laird Modifieds saw its share of wheel-to-wheel action as well. Feature winner Jake Irwin was forced to hold off Uhlman for the latter-half of the race. It came after Irwin forced a three-wide position on the backstretch that also involved veteran driver Nick Kozak, who was running first at the time. Irwin weaved his way past Kozak and Ulhman and put himself in top spot for the rest of the race. Kozak would eventually finish fourth while Ellis would finish third.
Ellis and Irwin won the heat races while Kozak was the quick qualifier with a time of 15.061.
Kyle Jarrett took the Factory Stock feature race with Jamie Foxx placing second and Bill Cryderman third. Jarrett and Jason Praysner won the divisional heat races.
The Outlaw Modified division was a driver performing double-duty take home the feature win as Terry McClelland, who also ran in the Super Late Model Division, take home the feature as well as the heat race. Keith King, also running in both the Outlaw Modified and Super Late Model divisions, was the fast qualifier with a time of 14.515.
The Xtreme Four Division saw Taylor Babcock take the feature win under somewhat strange circumstances. With the race nearing its midway point, ad just three cars running at the time, 11-year-old Dustin Jackson was black-flagged after his car began smoking on the track. While getting the black, Daniel Bibeau thought that he, not Jackson, was getting the flag and proceeded to the pits as well, leaving just Babcock on the track. Babcock had built up a sizeable lead at the time of the black-flag.
Jakob Bourdage won the lone Xtreme Four heat race after passing Babcock on the final lap. Bourdage was the fast qualifier (17.179).
The Factory Four Division was the lone division not to get a feature race in. The race was called after a group of cars came together going into turn three. Brent Fewchuk’s car took the worst of it as the No. 3 car lit on fire just coming out of turn three. Fewchuk was able to exit the car. He was checked out by on-site medical personnel. Rebecca Fewchuk, also involved in the incident, was looked at by medical staff following the incident but no serious injuries had been reported at the time. The race was eventually called and will be run next week.
Tyler Praysner won the lone Factory Four heat race while also running the fast qualifying time in the division (18.838). The Factory Four feature will open the show when the racing schedule resumes at Laird on June 14.
