By Aaron Fry
Fenton, Michigan’s Steve Irwin scored his first MPD Racing BOSS win of 2021 Saturday night. Driving the Flying Zero Racing mount, Irwin had to survive a plethora of early caution flags, one long red, then, fittingly for the night, a final last lap caution as Irwin raced under the checkered flag to score the win on Industrial Resourcing Group night at Fremont Speedway.
Twenty-nine traditional sprint cars signed in for the night. Split into 3 qualifying groups, Parker Frederickson, Irwin and Mike Miller quick timed their respective heat race groups. Frederickson was overall quick time with a 15.045 second lap. The three heat races ran caution free with Cody Gardner, Ricky Lewis, and Carmen Perigo claiming the wins. Local hero John Ivy won the 12 lap B-Main.
Irwin and Perigo brought the field to green for the 25 lap main event. The initial start saw Steve Little spinning down the front straight after contact. He was able to restart. Perigo would jump out to the early lead with Irwin in tow. Another 3 caution flags would fly before 5 laps were complete. Once the field spread out, Perigo and Irwin distanced themselves from the field. Perigo would lead through lap 12 when Irwin found the bite to drive around for the lead and eventual win.
The race’s only red flag came on lap 14 when Drew Rader went for a wild ride in turn 1. Unfortunately, Isaac Chapple became a victim in the incident when Rader’s 74 machine came down on him. A lengthy red allowed Chapple to make repairs as paramedics extricated Rader, transporting him to a nearby hospital for evaluation. Rader was released at 11 am Sunday morning and is back home.
Back under green, Irwin motored away from the field, leaving no doubt he was the class of the field this night. A yellow flew on the last lap as Irwin crossed the finish line as Tyler Gunn spun in turn 2. The final finishing order behind the top 3 were scored off the completion of lap 24. Perigo held on for second with Mike Miller, Matt Westfall and Jesse Vermillion completing the top 5. Dallas Hewitt, Cody Gardner, Mike Galajda, Dustin Ingle and Cody White rounded out the top 10.
BOX SCORE
MPD BOSS Sprint Cars
Saturday, August 14, 2021
Fremont Speedway
ARP Fasteners Qualifying
Group 1: 1. 34-Parker Frederickson 15.045 ; 2. 23s-Kyle Simon 15.567 ; 3. 21B-Ryan Barr 15.651 ; 4. 9-Cody Gardner 15.715 ; 5. 68G-Tyler Gunn 15.853 ; 6. 9x-Ricky Peterson 16.140 ; 7. 13-Jeremy Duposki 16.198 ; 8. 18d-Bobby Distel 16.467 ; 9. 27s-John Ivy 16.510 ; 10. 75-Jerry Dahms 17.009
Group 2: 1. 0-Steve Irwin 15.277 ; 2. 2di-Dustin Ingle 15.390 ; 3. 74-Drew Rader 15.449 ; 4. 33M-Matt Westfall 15.477 ; 5. 11L-Ricky Lewis 15.689 ; 6. 87-Paul Dues 15.860 ; 7. 73-Blake Vermillion 15.873 ; 8. 5-Jesse Vermillion 15.953 ; 9. 21-Larry Kingseed Jr 16.367 ; 10. 2-Mike Galajda 16.409
Group 3: 1. 82-Mike Miller 15.345 ; 2. 52-Isaac Chapple 15.419 ; 3. 53-Steve Little 15.429 ; 4. 21-Carmen Perigo 15.551 ; 5. 26w-Cody White 15.627 ; 6. 24L-Lee Underwood 15.752 ; 7. 3J-Trey Jacobs 15.858 ; 8. 18-Dallas Hewitt 15.905 ; 9. 4-Andrew Heitkamp 17.793
TCB Speed – Heat 1: 1. 9-Gardner[1] ; 2. 68G-Gunn[5] ; 3. 21B-Barr[2] ; 4. 34-Frederickson[4] ; 5. 23s-Simon[3] ; 6. 9x-Peterson[6] ; 7. 27s-Ivy[9] ; 8. 18d-Distel[8] ; 9. 75-Dahms[10] ; 10. 13-Duposki[7]
TheCushion.com – Heat 2: 1. 11L-Lewis[5] ; 2. 33M-Westfall[1] ; 3. 74-Rader[2] ; 4. 5-J.Vermillion[8] ; 5. 0-Irwin[4] ; 6. 2di-Ingle[3] ; 7. 73-B.Vermillion[7] ; 8. 87-Dues[6] ; 9. 2-Galajda[10] ; 10. 21-Kingseed[9]
Hoosier Tire – Heat 3: 1. 21p-Perigo[1] ; 2. 82-Miller[4] ; 3. 53-Little[2] ; 4. 52-Chapple[3] ; 5. 26w-White[5] ; 6. 18-Hewitt[8] ; 7. 3j-Jacobs[7] ; 8. 24L-Underwood[6] ; 9. 4-Heitkamp[9]
MSD Ignitions – B Main: 1. 27s-Ivy[1] ; 2. 73-B.Vermillion[2] ; 3. 2-Galajda[8] ; 4. 3j-T.Jacobs[3] ; 5. 24L-Underwood[6] ; 6. 18d-Distel[4] ; 7. 87-Dues[5] ; 8. 4-Heitkamp[9] ; 9. 21-Kingseed[11] ; 10. 75-Dahms[7] ; 11. 13-Duposki[10]
MPD Racing – A Main: 1. 0-Irwin[1] ; 2. 21p-Perigo[2] ; 3. 82-Miller[4] ; 4. 33M-Westfall[8] ; 5. 5-J.Vermillion[12] ; 6. 18-Hewitt[18] ; 7. 9-Gardner[5] ; 8. 2-Galajda[21] ; 9. 2di-Ingle[17] ; 10. 26w-White[15] ; 11. 52-Isaac Chapple[13] ; 12. 21B-Barr[9] ; 13. 53-Little[11] ; 14. 68G-Gunn[7] ; 15. 9x-Peterson[16] ; 16. 74-Rader[10] ; 17. 27s-Ivy[19] ; 18. 23s-Simon[14] ; 19. 11L-Lewis[3] ; 20. 34-Frederickson[6] ; 21. 3j-Jacobs[22] ; 22. 73-B.Vermilliion[20]
Bonus Awards:
The Bridge Restaurant – Hard Charger: 2-Galajda +13
Accu-Force Shock Dyno – Hard Luck: 52-Chapple
Apple Metal Polishing – Lucky Draw: 11L-Lewis
Hoosier Tire Bonus – Free Tire: 0-Irwin
All Pro Heads – Perseverance: 27s – Ivy
Cowen Truck Line – Steel Block: 18d-Distel
All Star Performance – Sweet Move: 74-Rader