From Duane Turner
Sandusky, OH — (October 7, 2012) — Troy DeCaire out of Tampa, Florida made the most of some bad luck for other drivers to lead all 30 laps of the Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Super Sprints 30 lap main event at Sandusky Speedway. DeCaire was scheduled to start in the fifth position, but the loss of a couple other cars would allow DeCaire to start on the pole position.
Joe Swanson, scheduled to start third, would be sidelined when he blew his motor during hot lap sessions. Derek Snyder was to start on the pole position, but a broken steering arm would force Snyder pit-side before the green would wave. Also, Teddy Alberts would break something in the right rear suspension as the cars were lining up for the A-main.
DeCaire and championship point leader Bill Tyler would bring the field down to take the green flag. As the field took the green, the first of many cautions to plague the field would wave as Jerry Smith made contact with the front stretch wall sending him spinning. The second attempt at the initial start would have DeCaire take the early lead, followed by Tyler, and Jason Blonde. On the second lap, another caution would wave as Geoff Kaiser, and Kevin Feeney would make contact sending both drivers for spin, also collecting Scott O’Connor. The lap 2 restart, Blonde was able to slip past Tyler using the high side of the speedway, and would set his sights on DeCaire for the race lead.
By the fifth lap, DeCaire and Blonde showed they were the class of the field as the two checked out, leaving everyone else to race for the third position. Blonde would again use the high-side of the speedway, but was not able to pull alongside of DeCaire to claim the top position. On the sixth circuit, caution again for Kyle Stepke would get in to the turn four wall ending his race. A red flag would have to be displayed to allow the cars to re-fuel as too many caution laps had accumulated.
Under the red, championship contender Ryan Litt would be forced pit-side with a flat right front tire. Litt would return, but would have to re-start at the tail of the field. When the race resumed, DeCaire would would begin to check out on the field, followed by Blonde, Ryan Gillenwater, Tyler and Mike Ling. Over the next few laps, Gillenwater began to show some speed as he closed in on Blonde for the second position. Litt was also working his way back through the field, sneaking back in to the top 10.
Just past the half way mark, caution would fly again for Geoff Kaiser with a broken u-joint as he came to a stop in turn three. As the field got back underway, DeCaire would take off, leaving Blonde and Gillenwater to battle for second. Now, Tyler was being pressured by Ling for the fourth position, with a hard charging Mike McVetta and Ryan Litt who had found his way back to the front. Ling would sneak past Tyler a few laps later, and Litt would move past McVetta leaving the championship contenders to battle for the fifth position.
While the point leaders would dual, Litt used a desperation move, and deliberately made contact several times with Tyler sending him spinning on lap 20. AVSS officials were forced to make a call that would put Litt at the tail of the field for the restart. Over the final 10 laps, DeCaire would check out on the field. Blonde and Ling would sit in second and third, with Tyler, and McVetta battling for fifth. McVetta would make a high-side pass of Tyler with just three laps to go. Litt, once again came though the field, and close in on Tyler as the laps would run out. When the checkers flew, DeCaire would claim the win, with Blonde, Ling, McVetta and Tyler in the top five. Litt, Gillenwater, Mike Astrauskas, Kyle Feeney, and Hank Lower would round out the top 10. Ryan Gillenwater would set Hamilton Trucking fast time, with Mike Ling, Troy DeCaire and Geoff Kaiser winning the heat races.
In the championship point races, Bill Tyler took a nine point lead in to Sunday’s events, and would win the drivers championship by a total of 10 points. The owner’s point championship had the Wayne Stickney #99 with a slim one point lead over the 7* of Tony Swanson. Troy DeCaire would pilot the #99 to the race win securing the championship for the #99 team.
Hamilton Trucking Qualifications: 1) 45 Ryan Gillenwater 14.322 2) 99 Troy DeCaire 14.415 3) 61 Kevin Feeney 14.534 4) 7s Joe Swanson 14.592 5) 24 Bill Tyler 14.611 6) 55 Derek Snyder 14.689 7) 42 Jason Blonde 14.730 8) 07 Ryan Litt 14.789 9) 7* Geoff Kaiser 14.932 10) 3a Mike Astrauskas 14.964 11) 61k Kyle Feeney 15.001 12) 37 Hank Lower 15.102 13) 46 Mike Ling 15.200 14) 46x Scott O’Connor 15.263 15) 44 Teddy Alberts 15.299 16) 7 Mike McVetta 15.462 17) 88n Frank Neill 15.576 18) 87 Brian Gibbs 15.581 19) 66 Kyle Stepke 15.887 20) 100 Tom Paterson 16.162 21) 39 Chad Atkinson 16.213 22) 8 Jerry Smith 16.621 23) 3 Nick Landon 17.948
Heat Race #1: 1) 46 Mike Ling 2) 7 Mike McVetta 3) 42 Jason Blonde 4) 45 Ryan Gillenwater 5) 7s Joe Swanson 6) 3a Mike Astrauskas 7) 8 Jerry Smith 8) 66 Kyle Stepke
Heat Race #2: 1) 99 Troy DeCaire 2) 07 Ryan Litt 3) 24 Bill Tyler 4) 88n Frank Neill 5) 46x Scott O’Connor 6) 61k Kyle Feeney 7) 3a Mike Astrauskas DNS 100 Tom Paterson
Heat Race #3: 1) 7* Geoff Kaiser 2) 61 Kevin Feeney 3) 55 Derek Snyder 4) 44 Teddy Alberts 5) 87 Brian Gibbs 6) 37 Hank Lower 7) 39 Chad Atkinson
30 Lap A-Main: 1) 99 Tory DeCaire 2) 42 Jason Blonde 3) 46 Mike Ling 4) 7 Mike McVetta 5) 24 Bill Tyler 6) 07 Ryan Litt 7) 45 Ryan Gillenwater 8) 3a Mike Astrauskas 9) 61k Kyle Feeney 10) 37 Hank Lower 11) 88 Frank Neill 12) 39 Chad Atkinson 13) 100 Tom Paterson 14) 87g Brian Gibbs 15) 7* Geoff Kaiser 16) 61 Kevin Feeney 17) 66 Kyle Stepke 18) 8 Jerry Smith 19) 46x Scott O’Connor 20) 3 Nick Landon dns 44 Teddy Alberts, 55 Derek Snyder, 7s Joe Swanson