Laird crowns mid-season champions

It took over two weeks but Laird International Raceway was finally able to crown their mid-season champions on Monday night.

After rain forced the cancellation of the Mid-Season Championship the previous two Thursday nights, LIR got back into the swing of things on Monday night with a full show of action.

Action kicked off with Late Model racing as the top four qualifiers – George Wilson, Chris Furkey, Jeremy Van Hoek and Rob Sartini – found themselves in the Fast Car Dash. Sartini started the race on the pole and held the lead from start to finish while Furkey finished in second spot.

The Late Model Division only ran one Heat Race prior to the 50 lap feature and George Wilson took the victory after Chris Furkey spun out in turn four on the final lap. At the time of the spin, Furkey was leading Wilson and looked as though he would be taking home the heat win.

While Wilson took the win, the heat was not without some drama as the No. 47 car of Brad Lavergne had issues and came to a standstill on the front stretch. While parked the No. 37 of Rick Leonard ran into the back of Lavergne's car after not being able to avoid it. Leonard did make his way into the feature race.

In the feature, Sartini again looked as though he was locked in and took an early lead, although Wilson moved his way up from further back in the pack and eventually found his way into second spot. Wilson did all this despite having car trouble through much of the night.

Late in the race, Wilson's opportunity arose as a puff of smoke arose from Sartini's car causing the No. 98 to leave the race with engine issues. Wilson led the race the rest of the way and took home the 50-lap feature.

In the Modified Division Jordan Sims took home the first heat race while 'Black Jack' Kevin Oicle beat out Sims for the second heat race victory.

In the feature race, with Sims and Oicle in the midst of a heated battle for the points title in the division, Sims was forced to leave the race after a crash, caused by Wes Speers. The crash, which led to Speers being black-flagged, also forced Sims to leave the race. From then on, Oicle battled Nick Jobst for the victory and eventually took the win, although Jobst turned in a fine effort.

After seeing his consecutive feature victory streak stopped at eight two weeks ago, Steve Kent showed he was back in the saddle and prepared for anything the Factory Stock Division would throw at him.

Kent beat out Bill Butler to win the first heat race of the night and proceeded to chalk up a second place finish in the second Factory Stock heat race of the night, finishing just behind Chris Jones, who claimed top spot.

Kent's best was saved for the 30-lap Factory Stock Feature. After seeing an 11-car field start the race, Kent made his way through the field, thanks to some solid driving as well as a number of cars being forced to drop out.

The field was eventually dwindled down to four cars. Kent beat out second-place John Fragale and third place Bill Butler to take home the victory, his ninth feature win of the season.

In the Stock Four Division, Dave King made a triumphant return by winning both of the division's heat races.

The Stock Four feature race found itself with a twist as the field ran the race in the opposite direction. Ironically enough, the winner turned out to be Scott Syrette, who won the last Stock Four feature to be run in the opposite direction.

Syrette beat out a hard-charging Kevin Walker and Mike Hearty for the win. Hearty was eventually awarded second place and Cody McLean third due to Walker being disqualified for his car being too light.

Laird will run their usual schedule this week with action being set for Thursday night. Qualifying is set for 6 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.

LIR also has their Summer Extravaganza coming up on Aug. 20. The Extravaganza will feature a full racing schedule as well as various events set for throughout the day. More information can be found on the Laird Raceway website at www.lairdraceway.com.