Early rain showers didn't stop the show at Kalamazoo Speedway this week. The crew was determined to give the fans the entire scheduled show. This week the show was back in full force with the focus on the Cyber Mania. The Michiana Vintage Racers and Old Timer were out to show off their amazing vehicles. After a few green flag laps for the fans the cars were loaded back into the trailers. The officials didn't waist any time getting the program underway. Heat races were smooth going with little incidents despite the humid weather which can lead to heated drivers. The Pure Stocks were first to go and with a sixteen car lineup the racing was bound to be interesting. Only a lap or two into the race an accident in the middle of turn one and two put a few of the faster cars out of the race. Steve Brown No. 5 eased his car back to the pits once his left front tire came off the rim. In the end it was James "Jimmy" Wheaton No. 80 who had the car to beat. With his first feature in two years his win was extremely welcomed. "Cars good, a little loose but fast. It was good up high so it was the only place to go." The Sportsman feature was fast and clean for most of the race. The yellow flag was only seen a couple times and after many weeks of hard wrecks many of the drivers drove away with clean racecars. The winner was last years point champion Courtney Weston No. 23. One could describe his season so far as consistent. He has had many second place finishes some harder to take than others. With his first feature win of the year Courtney and his family were excited to finally take one home. "Car was a little tight but not bad. It's probably as good as it was a couple weeks ago... I kept changing up the restarts a little bit hopping I would fool them. Never heard nobody, never felt nobody and I don't think I could push on the gas peddle and harder than I did two weeks ago." The Modified feature looked like a cat and mouse chase. The leader and winner of the race was Mark Shook No. 14. His lead over Michelle Sexton No. 7 was only by a few car lengths. The distance didn't seem to change one way or the other and one little mistake could have changed the race completely. Mark's steady driving gave him his second feature win for the season and he was all smiles about it. "The car was pretty good. We struggled in qualifying but the feature went for us so it's pretty good." Did you feel any pressure from behind? "Every time you're in the lead you always think that you hear something so I was all tensed up and my eyes were really big just waiting for something." The Late Model feature was a chance to see where everybody was at for the150 lap Klash race this Wednesday. Andy Bozell No. 83 found the lead in the early parts of the race and was being pressured by Steve Needles No. 14. Steve's team member Terry Senneker Jr. No. 37 was also in the mix. In the middle of turn one Steve lost control and spun directly in front of Terry, who narrowly missed him and destroying both vehicles. With Steve out of the picture Terry went to work on the inside of Andy. The cars were so tight that neither one was handling right through the turns. Terry ended up in the side of Andy. Terry suffered only a scrape from the contact and was able to pull away and take the win. "It's really hot and slippery out there and we were already a little bit free. Same thing happened to Steve Needles right in front of me. He just got right next to Andy and just like a cup car when they crowd each other going down into the corner the air gets taken right off the side of them. Same thing happened to me and it was either spin out or get into him a little bit and I didn't want to spin out. I didn't mean to get into Andy on purpose, he is a first class driver and I know he wouldn't get into me on purpose either." The Cyber Stock feature was the main event for the night. A large lineup was geared up and ready to go. Their heat races were so early in the evening that the drivers had a little time to cool down and get focused for their twenty lap feature. Not even one lap into the race a good competitor was taken out of contention. Nick Layman No. 5 was turned sideways in the back straight and had to be towed to his pit. A few quick cautions allowed the eventual race winner Dale Leonard No. 94 to move fast through the crowd and win for the third time this year. "I thought it went really quick. I have a new car owner this week and he kept me in it and maybe we can work a little bit more towards the points now. Didn't change anything from the last time we raced. Had about three weeks off to clean it but left it the way it was." Wednesday August 12 will be the Kalamazoo Klash XVII The Biggest & the Badest Outlaw Super Late Model Race in the Midwest, Period! This is the One! Saturday August 19 will see the Enduro Race #4, Belle Tire's Enduro Nationals, Cyber Stock Nationals, Powder Puff Race #2 and Free Bus Rides Don’t miss any of the action!
