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Another night of hard racing is in the books, as the points race continues to take shape at the M40 Speedway.  With yet another great car count on hand, the Great Lakes Super Cup cars made their first of three visits to the track.  It was also Kids Night at the speedway, as there was a dunk tank, and a blow-up kids maze that the kids were able to jump on, and enjoy.  There was even a ride along for five lucky fans, who got to see racing from a different perspective.

Tim Phillips (No.8) would spoil the party for the younger drivers in the Mini Cup series, as for some of them, it was their first time ever on the track.  Phillips would make his way to the front of the fourteen car field , only after a caution a third of the way through, re-stacked the field, after early race leader Todd Wilfong (No.36), spun coming out of turn two.  Phillips took the lead and never looked back, going on to win his first feature of the '09 season.

" The car was great, I didnt think I would ge through the No.42 ( Tyler Minix ) and the No.99 ( Morgan Baird ), these younger kids are running great this season ", said a joyful Phillips.  The 48 year old veteran driver went on to thank M40 Speedway for their hospitality, and the great fans of the M40 Speedway.

The Pure Stocks had a double disqualification in their B heat, as Terry Loffman (No.38) would get his first victory of the season.  In the A heat, fast driving Burney Arnett (No.98) would pull ahead of Rick Reed (No.12) to capture his first heat win of the season, and third overall win.

The feature would have more of Arnett's fast driving as he made his way to the front, but Tony Stewart (No.14) would get there first and solidify the top spot with a dominating performance.  Stewart drove strong throughout the race, to go to the winner circle for unbelievably, only the first time this season.  Arnett held on for second place over Cody Dale (No.83).  Rick Reed would hold on for fourth over Josh Highbaugh (No.51).

" The car was real loose at the end, but we were running hard and it didn't matter ", said Stewart.  He went on to say, " We are doing what we need to do to get up front ".  Stewart wanted to thank his mom, dad, and crew ( Aaron, and Rob ), and also his sponsor ( Afdent Dental ).

The Pro-Stocks were back in action after taking the previous week off.  Fred Reed (No.32) would get right back on track, winning his fourth heat race of the season, and fifth win overall.  Reed held of a hard charging John Ferrier (No.0) to get the win.

The B heat had a mix-up of miscues.  John Foote Jr. (No.61v) led the whole heat race until being spun near the end of the race.  Foote was unable to continue, as was almost the entire field, giving the victory to Mitch Dewitt (No.42), who was a first timer at the track.

Speaking of first times, fast qualifier Gary Wyrick (No.36) put on a dominating performance in the feature, making his way to the front and driving away for his first feature win of the season, third overall.  Wyrick was dominating in the feature, as the only challenge of the race came late from Mickey Cornwell (No.7).  After a late caution flag with only three to go, Cornwell was at Wyrick's back door.  Wyrick held off the veteran driver to take his hard fought win.  John Ferrier got past Gary Chapman (No.31) for the third spot, with Fred Reed rounding out the top five.

" I couldn't catch him, the caution helped cool the tires, but it was his ( Wyrick ) night ", said Cornwell.

" I knew Mick was coming, and I thought he would get around me...made me real nervous ", said Wyrick.  He went on to say, " We put a little more work in the car, I figure that's what made us better.  We brought out our A game, it was a good feature ".  Wyrick wanted to thank his dad, mom, and crew.

" Hes a great driver, he had us on needles and pins, the kid can drive ", said Wyricks father ( Gary Sr. ).

The Late Models rolled out onto the track last, with a familiar face making his way to the winner circle.  After a couple of weeks of problems and bad luck, Jeff Ganus (No.5) got his ride back on track as he cautiously made his way to the front of the Late Model feature to do battle with early race leader, Brandon Zachary (No.16).  Zachary could not hold off the hard charging Ganus, as Ganus would take the lead and cement the victory.  Zachary would hold on for the runner up spot.  Corey Pressler (No.32x) would outrun fast qualifier Ron Coburn (No.42), to finish in third, while Eric McGlaughman (No.68) had a strong fifth place finish.

" Brandon was tight, so I waited to go under him out of the turns.  It took a while...this motor was small in this car and didn't get out of the corner as fast as expected ", said Ganus, in the post race inspection.  Ganus thanked car owner Steve Brown, and crew ( Jason Mullins, Lee Slaton, Bill Brown, Bill Brown Jr., and Red ),he also thanked all his sponsors ( Armstrong International, Team Spirit Automotive, and Cheers Lounge ).

In the heat races, Corey Pressler hed off Brandon Zachary for his third heat win of the season, fourth win overall.  In the A heat, " the Slasher " Rick Slusher (No.4) would get his first heat win of the season, holding off Jeff Holden (No.51) in a hard fought race/.

It was a great night of racing, during the intermission, five young fans got to enjoy an on track look at what the racing action is really like as two of the trucks in the Pure Stock division set-up for ride along made a couple wishes come true.  These lucky fans enjoyed a five lap make shift race from the passenger side of the racing machines.  Along with the giant blow-up kids maze, dollar hot dogs, Natcho Trouble the clown, the dunk tank ( where the kids could have a chance to dunk a driver ), the fans also had a chance to catch free frisbees thrown out to the crowd, as well as sunglasses.

M40 has once again put on a wonderful show, with every fan going home happy.  This venue continues to get better as the weeks pass.

This week at the track, there will be a regular program of the Late Models, Pro-Stocks, Pure Stocks, and Mini-Stocks.

In the coming weeks, June 26th, will be Mid-Season Championship Night.  Teckworks Trophy Night for all four divisions.  See the points race heating up at the half way point of the 2009 season.

July 3rd, will be Independence Day at the track.  Come join M40 Speedway for their full 4-in-1 show.

On a personal note, I would like to send out a speedy recovery wish to my friend R.J, who had sustained some minor injuries this past Friday night.  Without guys like you working on these cars, the drivers would not see victory lane.