From CDR
Much better weather greeted Craig Dollansky and the Big Game Treestands #7 team this time at I-96 Speedway in Michigan as they returned for the event that was rained out on May 21st. In seven appearances at the big half-mile located outside Lake Odessa, ‘The Crowd Pleaser’ has a great track record that includes a victory in 2007 and a runner-up performance in last May’s event.
With 25 sprinters signed into the pit area on the hot and sunny Memorial Day, Dollansky piloted the Aggressive Hydraulics Maxim to the 9th fastest lap at 16.183 seconds to earn a front row starting position in heat race competition. Battling a very narrow track, Dollansky started outside pole in the third heat and finished 2nd to earn a spot in the dash. The four pill inversion in the 6-lap dash would not benefit the driver of the Karavan Trailers #7 as he started seventh and lost one spot to finish 8th.
Prior to the start of the A-Main, the track was completely reworked to widen the surface out and promote better racing action. When the green flag waved on the 30-lap feature, a huge seven car pile-up would bring out the red and force a complete restart. Two more cautions by lap 11 would see Dollansky hold the sixth spot for the double-file restart at which point he would race around Jason Meyers to crack the top five. Racing action continued until two laps to go when Kraig Kinser flipped. On the ensuing restart, Dollansky raced up to third but another caution before the lap was complete would erase the strong restart. ‘The Crowd Pleaser’ raced around Donny Schatz one lap later until another caution and a vicious crash for Paul McMahan stopped the feature. On the final restart, Dollansky maintained the 3rd position in the green-white-checkered finish to post another strong result at the half-mile.
Two nights of racing in Kansas await the Big Game Treestands #7 team this coming weekend as they take on Belleville High Banks on Friday and Lakeside Speedway the following night.