By T.J. Buffenbarger
LAKE ODESSA, Mich (May 13, 2022) — Gregg Dalman thrilled a capacity crowd at I-96 Speedway by charging from ninth starting spot to win the Great Lakes Super Sprint feature Friday at I-96 Speedway. While most of the fast cars were using the top of the racetrack, Dalman used the bottom of the track to take the lead from Max Stambaugh, only to lose it during a mid-race restart, and chased down Stambaugh in the closing stages of the main event to take the win.
The victory was Dalman’s first of the 2022 season and first since 2021 when Dalman charged from ninth starting position in similar fashion to win at Thunderbird Raceway.
Dalman and his team decided to only make minor changes from the heat race to the feature that ended up paying off.
“We didn’t change the car much from the heat race, we just jacked a little weight around,” said Dalman. “The car was excellent on the bottom. On the first restart when we got called back I think we were already up to third, it was good deal.”
Dalman also managed to keep his cool even when Stambaugh passed him for the lead.
“I basically told myself just dig in, dig in, just try and try to get him back,” said Dalman. “That’s what I did. I kept picking hitting my lines. When (Stambaugh) got by us, I missed the line a little bit and he got by us he got the momentum. Then I just hit my marks and we started reeling back in. Then we got into lap traffic and I knew they were up in his groove and it was over.”
Phil Gressman and Ryan Ruhl started on the front row for the 25-lap main event. Gressman took the lead but was immediately pressured by Max Stambaugh. Gressman using the top of the track while Stambaugh used the bottom. Stambaugh slid up in front of Gressman to take the lead on lap two to take the lead.
Further back in the field Dalman was already making progress from ninth starting spot picking off cars using the bottom of the racetrack and quickly closing on the leaders. Dalman closed in on Gressman and Zane DeVault racing side by side for second.
Dalman drove by DeVault and Gressman in one swoop off turn four. One lap later Dalman caught Stambaugh in slower traffic, driving under him three-wide for the lead coming off turn four.
Dalman quickly built up a sizeable advantage until the caution appeared when DeVault spun off the track between turns three and four on lap 14. This allowed Stambaugh to start right on Dalman’s back bumper. Stambaugh used this to his advantage to drive around the outside of Dalman for the lead through turns three and four.
While Stambaugh was able to pull away initially, Dalman back in on Stambaugh and setup a thrilling race for the lead over the final 10 laps with Stambaugh blasting around the treacherous cushion on the top side of the racetrack while Dalman was steady on the bottom of the racetrack.
Dalman took the lead again through slower traffic with two laps to go. Stambaugh and Dalman were nearly side by side when they took the white flag. Stambaugh charged into turn four but spun in turn four as Dalman crossed the finish line. Dylan Westbrook, Phil Gressman, Jared Horstman, and Danny Sams III rounded out the top five.
While Dalman has won some of the biggest 360 sprint car races in the state over his career, Friday’s victory at I-96 joins those top wins due to the quality of the field on hand.
“This is a this is a good one,” said Dalman. “Another ninth place starting and when and we did at Thunderbird last year This is a big one right here. We had some big names out in that field, so it felt good.”
Great Lakes Super Sprints
I-96 Speedway
Lake Odessa, Michigan
Friday, April 13, 2022
Qualifying Filight A
1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 14.579[2]
2. 14H-Zane Devault, 14.699[3]
3. 27-Brad Lamberson, 14.813[4]
4. 25M-Ryan Ruhl, 15.011[15]
5. 49T-Gregg Dalman, 15.639[5]
6. 70-Eli Lakin, 15.772[9]
7. 84-Kyle Poortenga, 15.885[7]
8. 33-RJ Payne, 16.125[1]
9. 19-Jett Mann, 16.197[8]
10. 87-Logan Easterday, 16.237[14]
11. 07-Shane Simmons, 16.359[6]
12. 66-Chase Dunham, 16.419[16]
13. 86-Keith Sheffer Jr, 16.508[10]
14. 16B-Craig Ronk, 16.606[11]
15. 0-Brayton Phillips, 16.651[17]
16. 3A-Mike Astrauskas, 16.675[13]
17. 88N-Frank Neill, 16.936[12]
Qualifying Flight B
1. 24D-Danny Sams III, 14.905[13]
2. 7C-Phil Gressman, 15.054[17]
3. 71H-Max Stambaugh, 15.058[5]
4. 17-Jared Horstman, 15.141[14]
5. 9-Liam Martin, 15.197[10]
6. 46-Ryan Coniam, 15.243[6]
7. 16C-Tyler Rankin, 15.308[9]
8. 21-Linden Jones, 15.529[2]
9. 85-Dustin Daggett, 15.669[1]
10. 10S-Jay Steinebach, 16.229[12]
11. 13T-Andy Teunessen, 16.519[11]
12. 55-Matt Cogley, 17.067[7]
13. 5NC-Jac Nickles, 17.314[3]
14. 15-Dan Nanticoke, 17.539[4]
15. 31-Jim Girard, 17.543[8]
16. 8-Justin Ward, 17.743[15]
17. 38-Max Frank, 18.336[16]
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[4]
2. 27-Brad Lamberson[3]
3. 49T-Gregg Dalman[2]
4. 84-Kyle Poortenga[1]
5. 86-Keith Sheffer Jr[7]
6. 88N-Frank Neill[8]
7. 19-Jett Mann[5]
8. 0-Brayton Phillips[9]
9. 07-Shane Simmons[6]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 25M-Ryan Ruhl[3]
2. 14H-Zane Devault[4]
3. 66-Chase Dunham[6]
4. 70-Eli Lakin[2]
5. 16B-Craig Ronk[7]
6. 87-Logan Easterday[5]
7. 3A-Mike Astrauskas[8]
8. 33-RJ Payne[1]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 24D-Danny Sams III[4]
2. 71H-Max Stambaugh[3]
3. 16C-Tyler Rankin[1]
4. 9-Liam Martin[2]
5. 13T-Andy Teunessen[6]
6. 85-Dustin Daggett[5]
7. 5NC-Jac Nickles[7]
8. 38-Max Frank[9]
9. 31-Jim Girard[8]
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 7C-Phil Gressman[4]
2. 21-Linden Jones[1]
3. 46-Ryan Coniam[2]
4. 17-Jared Horstman[3]
5. 10S-Jay Steinebach[5]
6. 55-Matt Cogley[6]
7. 15-Dan Nanticoke[7]
8. 8-Justin Ward[8]
B-Main (12 Laps)
1. 85-Dustin Daggett[7]
2. 86-Keith Sheffer Jr[1]
3. 10S-Jay Steinebach[4]
4. 13T-Andy Teunessen[3]
5. 88N-Frank Neill[5]
6. 3A-Mike Astrauskas[10]
7. 8-Justin Ward[15]
8. 87-Logan Easterday[6]
9. 38-Max Frank[14]
10. 07-Shane Simmons[16]
11. 0-Brayton Phillips[18]
12. 55-Matt Cogley[8]
13. 15-Dan Nanticoke[12]
14. 31-Jim Girard[17]
15. 16B-Craig Ronk[2]
16. 5NC-Jac Nickles[11]
17. 19-Jett Mann[9]
DNS: 33-RJ Payne
A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 49T-Gregg Dalman[9]
2. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[7]
3. 7C-Phil Gressman[1]
4. 17-Jared Horstman[16]
5. 24D-Danny Sams III[8]
6. 46-Ryan Coniam[12]
7. 85-Dustin Daggett[17]
8. 9-Liam Martin[15]
9. 10S-Jay Steinebach[19]
10. 86-Keith Sheffer Jr[18]
11. 66-Chase Dunham[10]
12. 16C-Tyler Rankin[11]
13. 71H-Max Stambaugh[3]
14. 25M-Ryan Ruhl[2]
15. 27-Brad Lamberson[4]
16. 70-Eli Lakin[14]
17. 13T-Andy Teunessen[20]
18. 3A-Mike Astrauskas[22]
19. 14H-Zane Devault[5]
20. 88N-Frank Neill[21]
21. 21-Linden Jones[6]
22. 84-Kyle Poortenga[13]