May 18, 2015 at 3:03 p.m.
Large crowd turns out for rebirth of TNT Motor Speedway
Large crowd turns out for rebirth of TNT Motor Speedway
The season started with a car rolling over twice. Another race had the two leaders collide coming off Turn 4 on the final lap - and those were only the heat races.
When the dust settled, Jerry Grasse won the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature, Jordan Kurtti took the WISSOTA Street Stock main event, Cory Allen captured checkered in the TNT Pro Truck class, Jered Cech took the Micro Sprint 600 main event, Tyler Lundberg was victorious in the Pure Stocks, Louis Malluege claimed the Stinger feature and Alysah Kreager won the Junior Sprint class.
In the WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature, George Truscott of Greenland, Mich., jumped out to an early lead. While 10 other cars fought it out in traffic, Truscott continued to build his lead until Jonathan Miller spun in Turn 4 and Guy Carley collected the outside retaining wall behind him, bringing out the caution on Lap 14. Miller and Carley, along with Tad Schoonover, were collected in another incident in Turn 1 on the restart, slowing the field again.
When the field went back to green, Grasse drove to the inside of Truscott for the lead with Jesse Aho on his bumper. Truscott retired with mechanical issues a couple of laps later and Grasse went on to win the feature. Earlier in the evening, Dan Melton of Rhinelander and Aho won the Midwest Mod heat races.
The WISSOTA Street Stock feature looked like Nate Langberg's to lose. The Tomahawk driver ran away from the pack in the heat race and looked to be the one to beat in the feature. But Kurtti, a multi-time track champion, quickly reminded the fans that he is the driver to beat in the class. Kurtti passed Langberg on the second lap to take a lead he would not relinquish. Langberg rode in second much of the way, but was passed for the runner-up spot in the final lap by Brit Bromann.
While most of the classes showed how close the competition is going to be, one driver looked to be the clear favorite in the Pure Stocks. Lundberg, from Rhinelander, battled through traffic to win his heat and held off the hard-charging of Herb Dettman and David Blackberg to win the feature. Rhinelander's Jason Melton won the second Pure Stock heat, and would have given Lundberg a run in the feature if not for a flat tire midway through the feature.
This year TNT Motor Speedway welcomes the alcohol-burning, motorcycle engine-propelled Micro Sprint 600s. These winged sprinters showed how fast they can run on the high-banked oval. Even with Shiocton's Denver Larson was hitting speeds of over 90 MPH, Cech, from Sugar Camp, showed Larson and the hundreds of fans watching that it takes more than speed to win. As the race was winding down, Cech got on the inside of Larson in Turn 4 to take the lead and the win.
The Junior Sprints also made their debut at TNT Motor Speedway. Wausau's Alysha Kreager took both the heat and the feature.
While the features were entertaining, two of the more talked about races occurred in the heats.
On the final lap of the Cylinder Stinger heat Charlie Gross got hit from behind by Elliott Reid in the middle of Turns 3 and 4. The contact sent Gross's car into a slide and, eventually, into a barrel roll. Gross' car tumbled side-over-side twice before coming to rest on its wheels. Gross was able to refire the car and drive away from the accident scene. He started, but did not finish the feature.
Meanwhile, at the front, it was all Malluege. The Merrill driver cruised, winning both the heat and the feature.
In the Pro Truck heat race John Johnson Sr. of Lac du Flambeau and track operator James Koga were locked in a tight battle for the lead throughout the race. Coming out of Turn 4 on the final lap Koga's truck appeared to get loose and Johnson slammed into the side of him, sending both trucks spinning. The caution flew as a result of the spin, reverting scoring back to the last completed lap. Johnson was deemed at fault for the accident and Koga was credited for the win.
Koga appeared to be cruising for a clean sweep in the class until late in the Truck feature when Allen took the low side exiting Turn 2 to take the lead and the win.
The return of racing to TNT Motor Speedway opened up with a parade lap of over 40 cars in memory of Robert 'Fireball" Schroeder.
Racing returns to TNT Motor Speedway this coming Saturday night. Hot laps start at 6:30 p.m. with racing at 7:15.
Comments:
You must login to comment.