By T.J. Buffenbarger
Hartford, MI — (September 4, 2015) — Even though it had been almost 10 years since visiting Hartford Speedway Kyle Sauder looked as sharp as ever around the massive half mile oval picking up the feature victory Friday with the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP. Sauder took the lead from Ryan Ruhl while negotiating slower traffic and held on following a late race restart for the victory in the CH Motorsports car.
For Sauder ripping around Hartford’s half mile was like putting on his favorite pair of shoes after not wearing them for a long time.
“I love this place. It’s big and fast. Ryan (Ruhl) made me work for the win tonight,” said Sauder. “These guys are pretty good up here, and just to come up here once a year and win is great. I’m just glad to get CH Motorsports with Terry Hendricks in victory lane.”
Linden Jones and Gregg Dalman started on the front row for the 20-lap main event. Brett Mann made an aggressive move at the start to make it three wide through turns one and two to lead the opening lap. Ryan Ruhl pounced on Dalman to take over the second spot and immediately started to apply pressure on Mann for the lead when Joe Geibe came to a stop on the front stretch with front end damage. Geibe was forced pit side and was unable to continue.
Ruhl put pressure on Mann for the lead immediately following the restart. Mann was able to hold Ruhl at bay for one lap until Ruhl successfully executed a side job on lap three to take the lead off of turn two. Two laps later Sauder moved past Mann into second. Then while Mann and Dustin Daggett were racing for third the duo made contact on the front stretch on lap six with Mann sliding to a stop and Daggett forced pit side with damage to his car. Both cars suffered too much damage to continue.
Ruhl motored away from Sauder during the restart. Ruhl maintained a sizeable advantage until encountering slower traffic on lap 11. With five laps to go Ruhl approached a slower car and drifted up the track in turns three and four, allowing Sauder to take the lead. Ruhl went for a while ride through the grass in turn one, somehow holding onto second spot.
Two laps later a scary incident took place when 69 year old Jim Lingar slammed head on into the water barrels in turn four. Amazingly Lingar exited the car under his own power and after a moment to collect his thoughts accepted a golf cart ride back to his pit area.
This setup a three lap dash to the finish. Ruhl took a couple of looks under Sauder, but using the top side of the race track Sauder kept up his momentum and went on to victory. Ruhl held on for second with Dalman, Chase Ridenour, and Kyle Pitts rounding out the top five.
Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by APR
Hartford Speedway
Hartford, MI
Friday September 4, 2015
Comp Cams / Lane Automotive Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 2. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 3. 23 – Joe Geibe, 4. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 5. 27 – Brad Lamberson, 6. 16B – Dakota Busche, 7. 22OZ – Aaron Shaffer, 8. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 9. 1A – Mark Aldrich.
Kistler Racing Products Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 83 – Kyle Sauder, 2. 19 – Brett Mann, 3. 19J – Linden Jones, 4. 49T – Gregg Dalman, 5. 4 – Craig Karazim, 6. 73 – Dustin Shriver, 7. 7K – Kyle Pitts, 8. 70 – Jim Lingar.
Engine Pro Feature: (20 Laps): 1. 83 – Kyle Sauder, 2. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 3. 49T – Gregg Dalman, 4. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 5. 7K – Kyle Pitts, 6. 4 – Craig Karazim, 7. 73 – Dustin Shrive,r 8. 19J – Linden Jones, 9. 22OZ – Aaron Shaffer, 10. 1A – Mark Aldrich, 11. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 12. 16B – Dakota Busche, 13. 70 – Jim Lingar, 14. 27 – Brad Lamberson, 15. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 16. 19 – Brett Mann, 17. 23 – Joe Geibe.