From Matt Prieur, Greese Monkey Graphics Photo
Birch Run, Michigan (Friday, September 3, 2010): The first Feature of the night was the 30-lap Main Event for the Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints Series and leading the field to Series Chief Starter, Tony Postma’s green flag was the front row of Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame Driver, Jeff Bloom and Home Track favorite, Curt Shumaker from near-by Ortonville, Michigan and it would be Shumaker beating the legendary driver to the first corner to take the early lead.
Shumaker stretched out his lead in a hurry while the rest of the field jockeyed for position behind the early race leader. His lead was wiped out though on lap nine when debris was spotted in turn one to bring out the first caution flag of the evening. On the restart, Shumaker again jumped out to a huge lead as Bloom tried in vain to follow him around the fast 4/10s (0.400) mile progressively banked d-shaped paved oval.
Bloom regrouped and slowly but surely began reeling back in the race long leader while Current Series Points Leader, Kevin Feeney, who started eighth, started his charge towards the front and tagged behind third place driver, Jim Swain and the two began reeling in the top two machines. Soon they were joined by another Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame driver, 73-year-old Hank Lower when a second caution for debris flew just past the ½ way point on lap 16.
This bunched up the field once again with Shumaker leading Bloom, Swain, Feeney, and Lower back to the green flag. But again it would be Shumaker with a great restart pulling away from Bloom and the rest of the field. Again the caution flew when Jeff Rankin lost a motor going into turns one and two and again this placed the field right back on Shumaker’s rear nerf bar and yet again, Shumaker shot out to the advantage.
Fast Qualifier and Two-Time Feature Winner this season at Dixie, Ryan Litt started his charge towards the front from his ninth starting spot as he cracked the top five with 10 laps to go. But all the while, Shumaker kept building his lead with each passing lap and despite some last minute lapped traffic, the hometown favorite kept his cool the entire race.
When all was said and done, the former Super Late Models driver at Dixie in his Premium Truck and Auto Body Chevrolet would lead all 30 laps and the Ortonville, Michigan veteran would go on to score his first career Feature Win in the Three Rivers, Michigan based series after over 10 years of trying with the last several years even more difficult due to his partial schedule within the series!
Bloom finished second over Swain while Lower beat Litt for fourth as Litt finished up the Top Five. Feeney slipped back to sixth as Dave Baumgartner, Chad Goff, a third Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame member, Bill Tyler, and John Boy Hotchkiss wrapped up the Top 10.
Earlier in the afternoon, Litt Won the AutoParts2020.com Fast Qualifier award with a lap around the 4/10s mile measured at a 12.466 as the Track Record remains intact as 2005 Champion Cameron Dodson, now a regular in the USAC Silver Crown Series, will hang onto the All-Time Track Record for another year as he turned a 12.183 back on July 1st, 2005. Bloom, Goff, and Shumaker were the Three Heat Race Winners for the night.
(NOTE: Due to the Labor Day Holiday Weekend, ALL Winners Photos will be Available in the mid / late morning hours of Tuesday, September 7th, 2010.)
TRACK: Dixie Motor Speedway DIVISION: Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper Super Sprint Series
DATE: Friday, September 3, 2010 EVENT: Labor Day Holiday Celebration
Pos. Start Car # / Driver / Hometown Sponsor / Make Laps Status
1 2 71 Curt Shumaker / Ortonville, MI Premium Truck and Auto Body / Chevrolet 30 Running
2 1 26 Jeff Bloom / Bangor, MI Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway / Chevrolet 30 Running
3 3 46 Jim Swain / Union City, MI Courtesy Car and Truck / Chevrolet 30 Running
4 5 37 Hank Lower / Angola, IN Hogue Engines / Chevrolet 30 Running
5 9 07 Ryan Litt / Lyons, ON BS&B Radiators / Chevrolet 30 Running
6 8 42 Kevin Feeney / Oxford, MI Dowker Racing Engines / Chevrolet 30 Running
7 4 81 Dave Baumgartner / Temperance, MI Dri Bar / Chevrolet 30 Running
8 10 99G Chad Goff / Whitmore Lake, MI RaceStatus.com / Chevrolet 30 Running
9 7 24 Bill Tyler / Parma, MI Dowker Racing Engines / Chevrolet 30 Running
10 12 75 John Hotchkiss / Potterville, MI Premium Truck and Auto Body / Chevrolet 30 Running
11 14 3A Mike Astrauskas / Pierson, MI Alliance C.N.C. / Chevrolet 30 Running
12 15 23 Scott O’Connor / Delaware, ON Xpress Canada / Chevrolet 30 Running
13 13 44 Teddy Alberts / Kent City, MI Enginuity Crankshaft Repair / Chevrolet 30 Running
14 17 14 Doug Miller / Pierson, MI Dowker Racing Engines / Chevrolet 29 Running
15 11 20 Kyle Flint / Litchfield, MI Flint Trucking / Chevrolet 24 Mechanical
16 6 99R Jeff Rankin / Coldwater, MI Harry’s Transmissions / Chevrolet 18 Engine
17 16 35 David Price / Battle Creek, MI Custom Transport / Chevrolet 3 Mechanical
18 18 31 Phil Rutledge / Ann Arbor, MI Extract Products / Chevrolet 2 Mechanical
Lap Leaders: 26 Jeff Bloom POLE, 71 Curt Shumaker 1-30
Cautions: 3 for 0 Laps
Time of Race: 15 Minutes, 49.284 Seconds
DID NOT START: 07W Jacob Wilson