July 20, 2015 at 1:57 p.m.
Schoonover takes Mod feature at Eagle River Speedway
Schoonover takes Mod feature at Eagle River Speedway
It wasn't because Schoonover was looking for the line that had the best tack, it was simply to keep the Upper Peninsula's Jesse Aho, who is on pace to win a fourth consecutive Midwest Modified track championship, in check.
It was a late race caution that helped Schoonover win the feature.
"Tad (Schoonover) ran a smart race. He made the track as wide as he could. The tacky track really helped him move all around the track," commented Eagle River Speedway general manager Kevin Dawson.
While the night was billed as "Redneck Games, Part 2," - in light of the elimination races for street-legal cars at the end of the program - it could have been promoted as "Border Wars" night. Three of the drivers in the WISSOTA Midwest Mod were from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, one of the Wisconsin drivers resides less than a mile from the U.P. border, and three drivers hale from Eagle River. Duane Dunbar of Marenisco, Mich. won the earlier heat race.
As Schoonover brought a checkered flag home for the Badger State, Bruce Crossing, Michigan's Jordan Kurtti took a WISSOTA-sanctioned feature back to the U.P. Kurtti, the defending WISSOTA Street Stock champion at the track, won his feature.
"Not to take anything away from (Jordan) Kurtti, the best racing in this class took place in the battle for second," Dawson commented. "(Ryan) Valeria was in a nip n' tuck battle with Ryan (Glembin) and Nate (Langberg) for the second spot. It was back and forth and one great race."
Valeria held off Glembin and Langberg for the runner-up spot.
A strong contingent of drivers from all over Wisconsin took part in the Micro Sprint 600 race. Fans witnessed the 10-car field hit speeds of 95 mph in the feature. The high speeds were attributed to rain that fell the morning of the race, which gave the cars more traction in the corners
14-year-old Denver Larson of Shiocton piloted his Suzuki-powered Micro Sprint to the feature win.
It wasn't just the Micro Sprint Class that had a number of cars racing in the feature. A traffic jam of 13 cars competed in the Pure Stock feature. The class has turned into the track's least predictable.
Prior to the season many thought Tomahawk's C.J. Hedges Jr., would run away from the competition on a weekly basis. However, Eagle River's David Blackberg and Dennis Lacrosse have had their cars in the Auto Value Victory Lane this year, and have challenged Hedges to his quest to repeat as the Pure Stock track champion.
On Friday night Hedges was back in the winner's circle, holding off Blackberg to get the win.
Eagle River's Tommi Jo Springer continues on her quest to follow in the footsteps of her 12-year-old brother, Ty, and win the Junior Sprint track championship. As Ty is making his name known in the Micro Sprints, Tommi Jo continues to win in the Junior Sprints.
"It is in the Junior Sprint class that we're seeing the future of our sport," Dawson said. "Here is a class of children between the ages of 5 and 11 racing, and every single child racing is a champion."
Mike Collie in his Mercury Mountaineer edged out six other drivers to win the Spectator Race. Collie worked his way up the field in one on one racing to win the Redneck Games, Part 2.
Eagle River Speedway will host Parson's Chevrolet night this Friday. Hot laps will start at 7 p.m., with racing at 7:30.
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