From Must See Racing
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (July 4, 2025) – The humor in a Canadian winning with the Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series on American Independence Day wasn’t lost on Ryan Litt Friday night.
After a fierce early battle with Dorman Snyder, Litt flexed his muscle and pulled away at Kalamazoo Speedway, driving to his fifth career victory and first of the season by a dominant 4.488-second margin.
The veteran from London, Ontario took the lead on the initial start from the outside pole and led 33 of 40 laps at the three-eighths-mile oval to capture the checkered flag with his No. 07 BS&B Radiator-sponsored Diablo Chassis sprinter.
Litt was the easy leader when a lap-four caution waved for woes to Tom Geren’s No. 13, but a double-file restart allowed Snyder to use the momentum of the outside lane to scoot past on the fifth circuit.
Snyder finally cleared Litt on lap seven, but the early toll on his tires caught up with him shortly after. Once Litt got back past on lap 12, he steadily increased his lead and there was no catching him.
In fact, Litt had as much as a half-track lead on runner-up Jason Blonde at times during the second half before pulling back the reins to conserve his tires down the stretch.
“It was a really technical track, especially with the weather conditions today,” Litt said post-race. “The cars were sliding all over the place. We had a pretty good car all day, qualified well, second in the heat. I knew it was going to be a tough start with Jason [Blonde] there. I got him a little bit on the start, and clean air helps significantly.
“Yeah, pretty much a perfect day.”
Litt admitted the challenge he got from Snyder early on wasn’t an expected one, but that the battle was fun nevertheless.
“I honestly had no idea the top was going to be that fast, and he was pushing really, really hard, and it made me step up my game to catch up to him,” Litt said of Snyder. “Hats off to them, they were flying all day, and like I said, I really had to step my game up to even get back up to them.
“He had the top working, and I had the bottom working, so it actually played in my favor. Cool to win here and on the Fourth of July. I guess we spoiled the party a tiny bit,” he laughed.
After starting from the pole, Blonde was second ahead of five-time series champion Jimmy McCune, with Joe Liguori crossing fourth as the final car on the lead lap. Snyder faded to fifth at the finish.
Litt kicked off the night’s action with the fastest time of 11.578 seconds (116.600 mph) in qualifying, before a pair of 10-lap heat races served up a blistering appetizer for the main event.
The first heat saw Blonde make a last-corner pass of Schultz to take the win by .050 seconds, while McCune fended off Litt in the second heat in a thrilling battle that saw the pair touch wheels coming to the white flag.
In other racing action, Charlie Baur and Andrew Bogusz split the pair of Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights crate sprint car features that served as the main undercard to the national sprint car program.
Must See Racing national sprint car teams get a week off before their next race at Ohio’s Midvale Speedway, set for Saturday, July 19 as part of a stretch of two races in five days in the Buckeye State.
For more information on Must See Racing, visit www.mustseeracing.com.
RESULTS: Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series; Kalamazoo (Mich.) Speedway; July 4, 2025
TTI Machine Qualifying (best of two laps): 1. Ryan Litt, 07, Litt-11.578; 2. Jason Blonde, 42, Nosal-11.825; 3. Joe Liguori, 68, Liguori-11.839; 4. Dorman Snyder, 99, Stickney-11.843; 5. Jimmy McCune, 88, McCune-11.889; 6. Charlie Schultz, 9s, IBT-11.954; 7. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-12.143; 8. A.J. Lesiecki, 8a, Reiser-12.271; 9. Rick Holley, 98, Reiser-12.304; 10. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-12.348; 11. Tommy Nichols, 55, Nichols-12.606; 12. Tom Geren, 13, Carter-13.468; 13. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-NT.
Heat #1 (10 laps): 1. Jason Blonde [4], 2. Charlie Schultz [2], 3. Dorman Snyder [3], 4. A.J. Lesiecki [1], 5. Tom Geren [5], 6. Rick Holley (DNS), 7. Jeff Bloom (DNS).
Heat #2 (10 laps): 1. Jimmy McCune [2], 2. Ryan Litt [4], 3. Joe Liguori [3], 4. Kevin Mingus [5], 5. Bobby Komisarski [1], 6. Tommy Nichols (DNS).
Perfit A-Feature (40 laps): 1. 07-Ryan Litt [2], 2. 42-Jason Blonde [1], 3. 88-Jimmy McCune [5], 4. 68-Joe Liguori [3], 5. 99-Dorman Snyder [4], 6. 9S-Charlie Schultz [6], 7. Z10-Kevin Mingus [9], 8. 8A-A.J. Lesiecki [8], 9. 7-Bobby Komisarski [7], 10. 55-Tommy Nichols [11], 11. 13-Tom Geren [10], 12. 98-Rick Holley (DNS), 13. 26-Jeff Bloom (DNS).
Lap Leader(s): Ryan Litt 1-4, Dorman Snyder 5-11, Ryan Litt 12-40.
Hard Charger: 88-Jimmy McCune (+2)
Charlie Baur and Andrew Bogusz each took home trophies from Kalamazoo Speedway on a Fourth of July Friday night, splitting the spoils of twin features for the Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights.
In the first feature, Baur put the demons of his two missed opportunities at Owosso Speedway two weeks earlier behind him, taking control on the initial start from the outside pole and managing his American Racer tires to perfection.
The 19-year-old from Fenton, Mich., led the 20-lapper from start to finish in a caution-free opening act for his long-awaited first career Midwest Lights victory in his 25th series start.
After twin features at Owosso saw Baur passed on a late restart and then suffering a blown tire in the nightcap, it was evident by his emotion in victory lane that redemption was sweet indeed.
“We needed this so badly, for me, for our team, for our sponsors … this is everything we’ve been working toward,” Baur said in victory lane. “We put on a show at Owosso and didn’t come away with anything to show for it, so tonight was about finishing the deal. We’ve been hustling around traveling for so long now and come so close, so to finally win one of these things is huge.
“It’s been a different game for us recently; we’ve never had to manage the tires as much as we have this season, so it’s a skill I’ve definitely had to work on,” he added. “I always like to run on the edge, so saving has been a bit difficult for me … but I’m just grateful to finally have this moment, and hopefully it can be the first of many.
“We finally got the monkey off our back!”
Henes chased Baur for nearly the entirety of the first main, until a tire issue in the closing stages saw him lose second place to three-time Kalamazoo track champion Lucas Krick on the final lap.
Krick came home a career-best second, with Henes filling out the podium ahead of Bogusz and Keegan Weese.
A five-car invert for the second main event – shortened to 15 laps due to multiple tire issues from the first race – put Baur back in the third row and his longtime friend and rival Andrew Bogusz in the same outside front-row starting spot that Baur won from previously.
Bogusz put together a mirror performance, jumping to the lead on the opening circuit and never looking back for his second Midwest Lights win of the season and the seventh of his career.
It marked a strong bounce back for the Shelby Township, Mich., teenager after what he called “a weekend to forget” last time out at Owosso.
“It feels absolutely great to be back in victory lane,” said Bogusz afterward. “I love coming to this place; it’s where I got my first Lights win and with the multi-groove racing … there’s just always a show for the fans here.
“I knew J.J. was coming at the end. I could hear him behind me,” Bogusz added. “I just had to play a bit of defense and keep clicking [laps] off.”
Henes was closing on Bogusz in an attempt to steal the second act away, but simply ran out of time.
“I just needed a couple more laps,” Henes lamented. “The sun went away and we got a lot faster.”
Weese completed the podium for the second feature, followed by Baur, who could only muster fourth after his win earlier in the evening. Krick was the final driver in the top five at the checkered flag.
Henes was the fast qualifier after a lap of 12.229 seconds in group time trials to open the program.
The Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights season continues Saturday night, July 19 at Midvale Speedway, the tour’s debut at the Ohio speedplant.
For more information on Must See Racing, visit www.mustseeracing.com.
RESULTS: Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series; Kalamazoo (Mich.) Speedway; July 4, 2025
TTI Machine Qualifying (best of two laps): 1. Ryan Litt, 07, Litt-11.578; 2. Jason Blonde, 42, Nosal-11.825; 3. Joe Liguori, 68, Liguori-11.839; 4. Dorman Snyder, 99, Stickney-11.843; 5. Jimmy McCune, 88, McCune-11.889; 6. Charlie Schultz, 9s, IBT-11.954; 7. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-12.143; 8. A.J. Lesiecki, 8a, Reiser-12.271; 9. Rick Holley, 98, Reiser-12.304; 10. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-12.348; 11. Tommy Nichols, 55, Nichols-12.606; 12. Tom Geren, 13, Carter-13.468; 13. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-NT.
Heat #1 (10 laps): 1. Jason Blonde [4], 2. Charlie Schultz [2], 3. Dorman Snyder [3], 4. A.J. Lesiecki [1], 5. Tom Geren [5], 6. Rick Holley (DNS), 7. Jeff Bloom (DNS).
Heat #2 (10 laps): 1. Jimmy McCune [2], 2. Ryan Litt [4], 3. Joe Liguori [3], 4. Kevin Mingus [5], 5. Bobby Komisarski [1], 6. Tommy Nichols (DNS).
Perfit A-Feature (40 laps): 1. 07-Ryan Litt [2], 2. 42-Jason Blonde [1], 3. 88-Jimmy McCune [5], 4. 68-Joe Liguori [3], 5. 99-Dorman Snyder [4], 6. 9S-Charlie Schultz [6], 7. Z10-Kevin Mingus [9], 8. 8A-A.J. Lesiecki [8], 9. 7-Bobby Komisarski [7], 10. 55-Tommy Nichols [11], 11. 13-Tom Geren [10], 12. 98-Rick Holley (DNS), 13. 26-Jeff Bloom (DNS).
Lap Leader(s): Ryan Litt 1-4, Dorman Snyder 5-11, Ryan Litt 12-40.
Hard Charger: 88-Jimmy McCune (+2)
RESULTS: Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights; Kalamazoo (Mich.) Speedway; July 4, 2025
Maxima Racing Oils Qualifying (best of two laps): 1. J.J. Henes, 36JR, Henes-12.229; 2. Andrew Bogusz, 17, Bogusz-12.406; 3. Charlie Baur, 23, Baur-12.485; 4. Lucas Krick, 9, USA Earthworks-12.659; 5. Keegan Weese, 37, Henes-12.755; 6. Brandon Lemmerman, 64, Henes-12.967; 7. Matt Double, 14X, USA Earthworks-13.929.
A-Feature #1 (20 laps): 1. 23-Charlie Baur [2], 2. 9-Lucas Krick [1], 3. 36JR-J.J. Henes [3], 4. 17-Andrew Bogusz [7], 5. 37-Keegan Weese [4], 6. 64-Brandon Lemmerman [5], 7. 14X-Matt Double [6].
Lap Leader(s): Charlie Baur 1-20.
Hard Charger: 17-Andrew Bogusz (+3)
A-Feature #2 (20 laps): 1. 17-Andrew Bogusz [2], 2. 36JR-J.J. Henes [3], 3. 37-Keegan Weese [1], 4. 23-Charlie Baur [5], 5. 9-Lucas Krick [4], 6. 64-Brandon Lemmerman [6], 7. 14X-Matt Double [7].
Lap Leader(s): Andrew Bogusz 1-15.
Hard Charger: 17-Andrew Bogusz (+1)