By Mike Strevel, Jen Peterson photo
Auburn,Mi. In front of a near standing room only crowd in Auburn, Michigan; the Speed Pro Season Championship feature was picked up by Dain Naida of Belleville,MI. The Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP season championship race held at Tri City Motor Speedway Saturday evening was an incredible finale for the 2012 season.
Gregg Dalman of Bellevue MI captured the 2012 SOD championship after 13 years of competing in sprint cars, this was his first ever championship.
A field of 28 winged sprint cars made the second appearance of the season at the racey 3/8 mile oval. The outside front row starting Naida raced hard with pole sitter Jared Horstman the first handful of laps before 2012 champion Dalman made an incredible pass for the lead on lap nine. After hard contact with a lapped car on lap 18 Dalman dropped back to fourth and Naida inherited the lead. Dalman suffered some front end damage, mainly to his nose wing. However this didn’t slow the driver of the Fausey Racing 49t as he battled his way back to second and was closing on eventual winner Naida as the checkers flew.
In Tri City victory lane Naida thanked the dedicated crowd who enjoyed the show on a very chilly night and thanked the Tri City staff who promised that the feature would start earlier than normal and it did with a 9:00 PM push off of the 20 car feature field! The Belleville driver thanked Miles Hill and Glenn Styres, along with the hard working crew that got him to victory lane.
Dalman brought his car back out to Tri City victory lane where he was officially introduced as the 2012 Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP Champion. He thanked his dedicated crew and sponsors and was very happy to state that this was his first championship in 13 years on sprint car competition. The veteran driver will be honored at the 2012 banquet on Friday evening November 2.
The top five finishers of the evening for the Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP feature were—Naida, Dalman, Jared Horstman, Jamie Collard and Ryan Ruhl, who started 16th.
Heat race wins were captured by Dalman, Dustin Daggett, Ryan Grubaugh and Naida, the Brodix Heads dash went to Shawn Dancer and Andy Teunessen took the B-main victory. Veteran driver Jim Lingar had a nasty flip in his heat race the car was done for the evening, however the veteran Indiana driver was okay.
Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP Results-
Saturday September 22, 2012
Tri City Motor Speedway–Auburn, MI
Car Count 28
Heat Races (Top 16 in passing points transfer to the “A” Feature)
Engler Machine and Tool Heat Race #1 (8 laps): 1. 49t Gregg Dalman 2. 7x Jamie Collard 3. 21t Troy Chehowski 4. 27k Ryan Kirkendall 5. 22t Tank Brakenberry DNS 2t Ralph Brakenberry, 81L Keith Love
Allstar Performance/Comp Cams Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 2m Dustin Daggett 2. 49 Shawn Dancer 3. 7 Darren Long 4.16 Ryan Ruhl 5. 10s Jay Steinbach 6. 16c Greg Wheeler 7. 70 Jim Lingar
Butlerbuilt Seats Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 00 Ryan Grubaugh 2. 5 Keith Dempster 3. 2G Joe Geibe 4. 88 Mike Daggett 5. 46 Robert Huisken 6. 20A Andy Chehowski 7. 26 Davey Brown DNS
Hoosier Tire Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 07x Dain Naida 2. 17 Jared Horstman 3. 10 Brett Mann 4. 31 Andy Teunessen 5. 89 Chris Pobanz 6. 1 Chad Blonde 7. 4 Eric Smith
B-Main (Top four finishers transfer to the A-Main)
Engine Pro B-Main (10 Laps): 1. 31Andy Teunessen 2. 10s Jay Steinbach 3. 16c Greg Wheeler 4. 46 Robert Huisken 5. 20A Andy Chehowski 6. 81L Keith Love 7. 1 Chad Blonde 8.4. Eric Smith 9. 22T Tank Brakenberry 10. 26 Davey Brown- DNS 2T Ralph Brakenberry, 70 Jim Lingar
Brodix Heads Fast Car Dash (4 Laps): 1. 49 Shawn Dancer 2. 10 Brett Mann 3. 7 Darren Long 4. 2G Joe Geibe
Engine Pro ASCS Sprints on Dirt Presented by ARP “A” Feature
“A” Feature (30 Laps): 1. 07x Dain Naida 2. 49t Gregg Dalman 3. Jared Horstman 4. Jamie Collard 5. 16 Ryan Ruhl 6. 00 Ryan Grubaugh 7.2m Dustin Daggett 8. 5 Keith Dempster 9. 7 Darren Long 10.88 Mike Daggett 11. 31 Andy Teunessen 12. 49 Shawn Dancer 13. 10 Brett Mann 14. 21t Troy Chehowski 15. 46 Robert Huisken 16. 10s Jay Steinbach 17. 16c Greg Wheeler 18. 2g Joe Geibe 19. 27k Ryan Kirkendall 20. 89 Chris Pobanz
Engine Pro Lucky Dog: Joe Geibe