31 sprints filled the pits at LPS Saturday for the 400 to start May the 4th be with you promotion. Heat race 1 had Rylan Gray winning it over Brandon Spencer, Nic Harris and Mason Giddens transferring. Heat race 2 had Brayden Fox winning it over Zack Pretorius, Blake Vermillion and Kyle Shipley making the A. Heat race 3 was loaded with Seth Parker, Tye Mihocko, Geoff Ensign and Harley Burns transferring. The final heat went to Jesse Vermillion over Anton Hernandez, Kyle Johnson and Shane Cottle. The final chance to make the A was the B main and victorius was Mitch Wissmiller, Lee Dakus, Aaron Davis and Gabriel Gilbert making the 25 lap A. Rylan Gray and Brayden Fox drew the front row from the invert of a spin 1. Both drivers looked very strong early as the track had a big cushion and still moisture on the bottom. Rylan looked fast on the bottom and Brayden had the middle going. A scary incident during the A Blake Vermillion went flipping into turn 1 battling in the middle of the pack. We are very thankful that he was okay. On the restart with 5 laps to go the front four cars were using the bottom lane and it was Spencer go time. Brandon found something on the high side and he went from 5th making strong moves in just 3 laps to take the lead and he would hold on for one of the most exciting finishes of the year. There were all kinds of passing in the 25 lap A. Shane Cottle worked his magic as he came from 16th to 3rd. At the finish it was Brandon Spencer, Tye Mihocko, Shane Cottle, Brayden Fox, Seth Parker, Geoff Ensign and Mitch Wissmiller.
The UMP Mods had 14 entries and the fast times in their groups were Joey Iliff and Jerry Bland Jr. The invert spin for the heats was a 2. Matt Mitchell won heat 1 over Derek Losh and Cody Wright. Jerry Bland Jr. won heat 2 over Jimmy Hayden and James Weintraut. This setup the A main with a front row of Jerry Bland Jr. and Matt Mitchell. The 2M looked strong in the Diamond and was able to get to the top spot. By lap 10 Derek Losh had made it to 2nd and he was going after his hometown buddy Matt. Matt would be able to hold on for the win and took the checkers on Lap 15 because it started to pour on us ending our night short. Following Matt at the finish it was Derek Losh, Jerry Bland Jr., Jimmy Hayden, Tyler Loughmiller and Wes McClara. Next Saturday at LPS we will start with the makeup Super Stock A main and then go into the regular program which will be our normal classes and the Lentz Paving Indiana RaceSavers also. The Bomber Makeup will be the following weekend and the Mod Lites will do a double feature the next time they come to LPS in June. Thanks to all the teams and fans who came to LPS for a great night.
- Jill Spiker on May 07, 2024
- Article Date: 5/7/2024 by Kenny Clark