Kinross racing report

This past Friday night at the Kinross Speedway will be remembered by a select number of drivers and their fans for some time to come.

For a few of them it marked the night they would win their first career race. For others, it was their first in a new division, while for the latter it marked the first time they found 'Victory Lane' in a feature event this 2005 racing season.

No matter how you look at it, it was a big thing for those drivers and what better place for it to happen then on the friendly confines of the ¼ mile here in Kinross, Michigan.

Some very tight point's battles put some added emphasis on this sixth week of action which would prove to be fun for the drivers and entertaining for all the fans.

With hot and humid conditions on hand, qualifying started at 6:05 with all fifty-plus cars down pit side taking two laps under the lights.

Chuck Johnson (5) would return to the top qualifying spot in the Pure Stock Divisionafter missing that position one week ago, this time with a lap of 16.600. That lap was just 2 hundredths of a second from the current track record for this division.

Bill Cryderman (61) looked to move back into the top spot in the standings by winning his division's first race of the night -- the four car dash.

Then it was time to cue up a first-time winner!

Nicole Rader (57), was able to out-muscle the guys and hold off nine other competitors' en-route to leading every lap of the Australian Pursuit for the win. She liked the view from Victory Lane so much that she wouldn't waste any time and would later hold off some of the best in the business once again to take home heat race #1.

Randy Miller (37) would keep the trend in toe, and would capture his first win of the season in heat race #2.

Fifteen-cars would pull out of the chute ready for their 25-lap A Main feature event.

Rader and Don Etcher (1) would boast the opening two positions when the field would come down to track promoter Todd Nyberg's green flag. Etcher was able to muster the lead for the opening five laps before the wiley-veteran "Stormin" Norman Miller would take over on lap 6. That lead would not last long as by lap 10, John Clawson (35) would power his machine by.

The next fifteen laps would be ran caution free and despite the pressure of the tight competition, Clawson would not relinquish the lead and as a result would win his first-career Pure Stock feature event along with becoming the fourth different feature winner in six weeks. Miller was second, Barry Glenn (55) third, Johnson fourth and Ray Golladay Jr. (20) fifth.

After a tough start to the season, the Late Model division has bounced back and was in full action once again.

Mark Howland (33) would set fast time in his Harold Ross owned machine with a lap 13.880 seconds. The Rudyard, Michigan native (Howland) would continue to flex his muscles by grabbing the win in both the four-car dash and heat race action.

Newcomer Matt Rader (57) captured two top three finishes in both races.

Entering the feature event Howland had yet to be dethroned in his previous 2 attempts, but there was something in the air that made this night feel a little different.

Dennis Aho (75) would jump past Rader on the start and would hold onto the lead through the opening two laps. By lap three, Tim Aho (75R) would move from the second last row and past his father and into the top position.

With some highly contested racing going on through the field Tim was able to muster up practically a full straight-away lead on his closest competitor. It would take until Lap 10 before Howland was able to clear the field and into the second spot.

With time running out, the game of cat and mouse began between your top two cars.

The distance would close considerably and Howland would be within car lengths when the white flag flew but nothing was going to stop T. Aho as he held on for the checkered flag and his first feature win of the season. Howland and Mark Beaudoin (74) rounded out the podium positions.

Pee Wee Fountain (50) was the fastest of the nine highly-competitive Factory Stock cars, qualifying a speedy 15.240. Kevin Johnson (37) was close behind in second with a time of 15.280.

The theme of first-time winners continued into this division as Paul Fox (36) would win his first-two races of the season by grabbing both the four-car dash and the 10-lap heat race.

The full-field would roll out for the final race of the night with Jared Nightlinger (48) and Josh Ware (7) occupying the front row.

Hessel, Michigan's Nightlinger was able to lead the troops through the first-two circuits of the Speedway before Ware would power his truck by and into the lead. By lap 6, Todd Jackson (W5) had worked his way from the back of the pack and was now challenging for the lead.

Ware would hold charge and wheel his way to his first feature of the 2005 season while becoming the fourth different feature winner in six weeks. Cecil Piche, Fox, Johnson, Fountain, Mike Vansloten (53), Nightlinger and Paul Fox (32) would round out the field.

John Mayer (9) is lurking closer and closer to the Four Cylinder division track record, and this week he would set fast time at 17.910. The Rudyard, Michigan native would back that up with a win in the Four Car Dash.

A pair of rookies would grab wins when it came to the Australian Pursuit races. Dale Williams (7), who is a co-driver of his 1st National Bank sponsored car would grab his first-career win in the first of these races while Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native John Gardner (87) got the monkey off his back by grabbing his first Kinross Speedway victory in race #2.

Jim Beaumontt (69) won heat race #1, Steve Stec (13) won heat race #2 and J. Gardner won his second race of the night and of his career in heat race #2.

The competition would get hot and heavy but no one would be able to swap positions with Tony Rankin, won his fourth feature of the season.

Preston Nightlinger (48), John Mayer, Adam Gardner, Stec, Marco Howland (42), Brandy Clawson (35), Chris Piche (21), John Gardner and Willams took the top 10 positions.

The final race of the night would feature a full field of ladies as the Speedway held their first Powder Puff race of the season.

Following a few close calls as cars went off the back straight-away, Katherine O'Brien (57) grabbed the lead on the last lap and take the win. Shavon McKerchie (20) and Wrendy Shann (7) capped off the top 3.

The chase to the 2005 track championships and the action of our 10th Anniversary season continues this coming Friday, July 1st as we bring you our Soo Collision Firecracker 40. The night will feature a full show while the Pure Stock feature will pay $200 to the winner.

There will also be Intermission Kids rides with their favourite drivers, a drawing for two bikes courtesy of the Kinross Speedway and it is also Hessel and Cedarville Good Neighbour Night.

All the action begins with qualifying at 6 p.m. with racing to follow at 7:30 p.m.

For more info check us out online at www.kinrossspeedway.com

To get to the Speedway take exit 378 off the I-75 and follow the signs to the Fairgrounds.