By Gerry Keysor
Jared Horstman Mike Campbell photo
Lima OH
May 27, 2016
Memorial Day weekend brings the unofficial start to summer, and the traditional triple header for the K&L Ready Mix NRA Sprint Invaders. The 360 sprints took to the highbanks at Limaland Motorsports Park for the 17th Annual Memorial Cup, presented by Anheuser Busch Sales of Lima, with #17 Jared Horstman, picking up the win. The K&N Filters UMP Modifieds feature was won by #16 Jeff Koz, and the Bud Thunderstock feature was picked up by #22T Tony Anderson.
Kicking off the night was the 5 lap McDonalds Dash for Cash featuring the Bud Thunderstoks this week. #67 “Chili Dog” Eddie Shaner grabbed the $100 dash win courtesy of Lima/Allen County McDonalds restaurants.
Features were led off by the NRA Sprint Invaders. #B20 Butch Schroeder and #49T Gregg Dalman would lead the field to green with Schroeder grabbing the early advantage. Elida Ohio’s Max Stambaugh in the family owned #5m would move to 2nd early before fading to finish 4th. A lap 3 red flag for #11 Tim Allison tipping over would be the only caution in the 25 lap A Main with Allison able to refire and rejoin the field. #2 Kyle Sauder methodically picked his way through the field from his 8th place starting position to grab the lead on lap 8, but all eyes were on Horstman, as he headed up to the high side of the track and began his march to the front. On lap 12, Horstman would throw a big slidejob on Sauder for the lead but Sauder crossed over and regained the point with Horstman in tow. As the duo made their way through lapped traffic, Horstman would use the lapped car of #11 Tim Allison as a pick to grab the lead from Sauder for good on lap #20. Horstman would win over Sauder, with Schroeder, Stambaugh, and #85 Dustin Daggett rounding out the top 5.
Next up were the K&N Filters UMP Modifieds in their 20 lap A Main. A Pair of 18 cars, driven by Randy Lines and Ryan Sutter would lead the field to the green flag, after a spin on the intial start causing a complete restart. Lines would grab the early advantage, but Sutter would stay close with defending track champion, Jeff Koz in the Jared and Wendy Bennett owned #16 in 3rd. Sutter would grab the lead from Lines with Koz working the high side to make it a 3 way battle for the lead. Koz would work by Sutter, but #9 Ken Schrader would start his march to the front, getting by Sutter for 2nd on lap 14. Schrader, the longtime NASCAR competitior would grab the lead briefly from Koz with a lap 16 slidejob, but Koz would cross back over, with the 2 running wheel to wheel through lap 17 when Schrader tried again to get by Koz, this time using the middle of the track and drifting high thru turn 4, leaving no room for error for Koz, who would “thread the needle” between the turn 4 wall and Schrader’s car, getting a great run off the corner and pulling away to grab his 3rd win of the season in defense of his 2015 track championship. Schrader would be 2nd, with Sutter 3rd, #11H Mike Hohlbein 4th, and #L5 Casey Luedeke completing the top 5.
Completing the Memorial Cup event were the Bud Thunderstocks in their 15 lap A Main. The current points leader #22T Tony Anderson and #21D Bob Daugherty would bring the field to green with Anderson leading Daugherty on the bottom of the track while #82 Chris Douglas would head to the high grabbing the 2nd spot. Anderson seemed to have the race well in hand even after restarts bunched the field back up, but on lap 12, Anderson narrowly avoided disaster, as he nearly collided with #32 Scott Boyd Jr, as Boyd went a lap down. This would allow Douglas to close in for one final challenge on the high side, but the cushion let Douglas down in turn one, as he would skim the wall, losing precious momentum, and allowing Anderson to get away for the win. Douglas would come home 2nd, with Daugherty 3rd, after a hard fought battle with 4th and 5th place finishers #00 Dean Pitts, and #67 Eddie Shaner.
The K&L Ready Mix Sprint Invaders hit the track at Waynesfield Raceway Park on Saturday May 28th and Eldora Speedway on Sunday May 29th for the remainder of their triple header weekend. find details at www.waynesfieldracewaypark.net, and www.eldoraspeedway.com
Limaland Motorsports Park is back in action next Friday with 4 Banger Friday, presented by St. Rita’s Health Partners, and featuring 4 classes of racing action, including the K&L Ready Mix NRA Sprint Invaders, the K&N Filters UMP Modifieds, the Bud Thunderstocks, and special guests 4cylinder Tough Trucks, brought to you by Ulms Inc. Visit www.limaland.com for more details
