| xc | Spartan June 24 Slugfest races
Rand Thomson Jun.27.2012 Spartan Speedway hosted Round No. 2 of their Sunday Slugfest specials with the Stan Perry “The Godfather” Late Model 75 on June 24. This race marked just the second appearance of the outlaw bodied Super Late Models this season with a nice field of 15 first class machines. Stan Perry, who resided in Edgerton, Oh., was a fan favorite and regular competitor at Spartan. Stan tragically lost his life in 2007 at the age of 60 after racing at Spartan that same evening. Competing at Spartan this Sunday in his honor were Stan’s son Bud, his son in law, Jack Landis, and Brian Nester who was driving a car with Stan’s familiar white and green No. 10 including Stan’s name on the roof. In addition to the Late Models, the support races this evening were the Spartan Stocks and the Pony Stocks on both the oval and in a special Figure 8 feature. At the drop of the green, pole sitter Evan Barrett, from Jackson, led the first 3 laps followed by Dave Stehouwer in his familiar patriotic No. 33 colors. Stehouwer, who has raced at Spartan since the 70’s, and probably has more laps here than anyone else in the field, took the lead followed by Bud Perry, Andy Bozell, and fast qualifier Justin Claucherty. Sentimental favorite Nester, who nearly won the Spartan ARCA Gold Cup race last month, pulled into the infield on Lap 26 with steam pouring from under the hood. Brian competed the prior night at Flat Rock in the Joy Fair Memorial 100, and his engine just couldn’t handle the strain of back to back long distance races. Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famer, Andy Bozell moved into second on the restart and glued himself on the rear bumper of Stehouwer and those two were the story for the remainder of the event. Lap after lap, the two leaders ran bumper to bumper, with Stehouwer using the middle groove and Bozell trying to get a nose under him in turns 1 & 2. The two veterans made contact multiple times, with Andy never getting far enough alongside to complete the pass, and Dave using his momentum and pulling back in front coming out of turn 2. As the laps wound down, Stehouwer made his car as wide as possible, and when the white flew, Bozell gave him one last shot in the quarter panel in frustration as they drove to the checker. After the race, Dave said “I sure like beating Andy Bozell; I thought I gave him a lot of room, but looking at my quarter panel, he didn’t think so. Means a lot to win the Stan Perry race, Stan always raced me hard and clean.” The Boss Snow Plow Pony Stocks A feature saw Aaron Taylor win his first of the season in a thrilling finish with Mike Westphal. Taylor and Westphal ran side by side for several laps with Taylor winning by inches in a photo finish. In the B feature, Ron Fizzel took his Saturn to the win over RJ Miller, and Dexter Marciniak. The Lipari Spartan Stocks also had both A & B features with Todd Foote winning the 30 lap A in his Candy Apple red Chevy over Josh Trammell and Damon Place. The Spartan Stock B feature saw first time winner Craig Stephens pulling ahead by a few feet on the last lap for the win over Rob “Oil Can” Newman as the two ran side by side for the last several laps The last race of the evening was the Pony Stock Figure 8 15 lap feature. Frankly, when I saw six cars lined up, I wasn’t expecting to see much excitement. Well, Edson Rowley III sure proved me wrong, as the Jonesville driver started dead last and thrilled the crowd with his daring passes and ultra aggressive driving style. Edson, who enjoys racing on road racing tracks like Waterford Hills, as well as ovals, seemed to thrive on the Figure 8 course, turning right as well as left, and had the crowd cheering his exciting win as he kicked up dirt and slid sideways through the corners. Speaking with him after the race, he said they had just put the engine in the car the night before. It was obvious to me that Edson is someone who has fun, loves to entertain the fans, and really “gets it.” |
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