Flat Rock Speedway

It was a night of firsts for Justin Schroeder at Flat Rock Saturday night.

He won his first career Late Model feature, which also was the first stock car feature he had ever won... and it was first Stan Yee Memorial Race. "I knew right away that the car was going to be good. It worked so well anywhere I put it. It worked better on the bottom, but also worked well on the top. I'm just so happy," said the driver of the Glass Unlimited, Dr. G. Michel Kabot, Victory Racing Parts, All Star Performance, Baker Performance #4. "I want to thank my parents and Scott Baker. He made a lot of great calls tonight. Our team is a family effort so I also want to make sure I thank Grandma and Gramp and Uncle Dave." His previous win of any type was about six years ago when he raced go-karts.

Second place went to Ricky Kargel. "We had a good run tonight. I want to thank Kenny Ahlgren for his help. I had a great time out there tonight," said the driver of Mike's Barber Shop, Mallery Ignitions, Klotz #18.

Third went to defending track champion, Dennis Strickland, who was also the last car on the lead lap. "We'll take third after everything that happened tonight. After being involved in that crash on the start the car pulled to the left. I just saved my tires until the end and it paid off," said the driver of the Complete Battery, Autosport Development #90.

Ron Allen was the fourth place finisher, the first car down a lap. "Qualifying is really killing me. I tore it up bad in that opening lap wreck and the crew worked really hard to get it back on the track," said the driver of the S&J Asphalt, Worthington Poured Walls, National Engine #69.

Chris Benson finished fifth. "I couldn't believe I finished fifth. The car was so loose. It was a good run and it's in one piece... guess that's all I can say," said the driver of the Gorno Ford, Tom's Collision, Michaels Jewelry Buyers, BTS Inc., Gentle Touch Oil Change #51.

The big one happened on the second attempt on a start. Eleven of the 24 starters received some sort of damage or spun to avoid the melee. Surprisingly everyone got going again, with the exception Rob Randa and Jarod Allison (from Florida). Although not involved in the wreck, fast qualifier Dan Ford Jr. also retired to the infield with engine problems.

The Back Luck of the Race #1 award goes to Paul Pelletier who was running second with six laps to go when the car experienced a fuel pickup problem. In the "accident" Paul's car was hit in the rear and unknown to the crew, the pickup was knocked askew.

The Back Luck of the Race #2 goes to Division Points Leader Eric Lee who was led from 48 laps before being passed by Justin Schroeder just after the halfway point. A slow leak in his tire curtailed his efforts. He was running fourth when the final caution came out on lap 147. He went in to change the tire and finished 13th. He received $133 for leading on lap 33.

Dan Ford Jr. drove Eric Lee's backup car to the fast qualifying time of the event, but after that his luck changed. The engine was missing during practice and qualifying and the team didn't want to put any laps on the engine so Dan pulled off after taking the green.

Rick Knowles made his first in a SLM since the 2007 version of the 150-lap race. He drove Stan Yee Jr.'s backup car to a ninth place finish. Stan Yee Jr.'s finished 12th.

Ed Hage made one of his infrequent starts, his last being several seasons ago. Near the end of the feature he clobbered the wall with the rear of the car, bounced off the wall and continued happily along as if nothing happened. The rear was pretty crinkled, but didn't seem to bother him much ... he finished the race in 15th place.

Dick Barker returned to competition for the first time in 2008. Sponsorship has curtailed his racing this year. With Mike Jaynes not being in competition this season, Barker was able to don his familiar number #45... he finished eightHarold Fair Jr.'s day ended when his car lost oil pressure.

Twenty-eight SLMs were in the pits. Those not making the feature were: Bill Litogot, Jeff MacZink, Kevin Butzin and Steve Peters. Darrell Howard Jr. arrived just in time to run the consi after working on his engine all day trying to make the race, it was to no avail as the car was still smoking and he parked it without ever turning a lap.

This last week of July might become Tim Moore's favorite weekend. He won this past weekend and his last win before that was July 28, 2007. He has now won at least once during the season since 2003 and now has a total of eight career ARCA Street Stock A division wins. "I wasn't sure if I could hold them (Regan Ford, David Kind and Dan Ford Jr.) off ‘cause of older tires I was running, but it worked out. The car was working pretty good. With the bad luck I have been having lately its nice to get a win out of it. I want to thank my parents and friends and my pit crew ... thanks to my sponsors Possuches, Curt, Tony, Clamdiggers, MAACO and Dow Engines" said the driver of the #83.

Jimmy Rae won his second consecutive B division feature of the season. "I finally figured out the car the last couple races. That was a close finish at the end. I want to thank Chris (Burkhardt) for racing me clean tonight. I want to thank my wife, family, Moran Group and Greater Detroit Auto Auctions. I'm very proud to be able to win on the Stan Yee Sr. Memorial night," said the driver of the #1.

Returning after a couple years layoff was Harold Davis Jr. And what a return it was, winning his first race back. His last win was on a non points X car race on Sept. 19, 2005 (bus night). His last points win was July 13, 2002. "First time out for us this year. I want to thank my friend Jimmy for the bump earlier (haha)," said the driver of the #129.

Brian Norton drove Scott Selmi's car this weekend. Scott injured his hip during the week and was unable to drive. Brian finished 12th. Scott hopes to be back for the 100-lapper (Aug. 2)

Greg Studt won his 19th career Figure 8 race at Flat Rock. This brings his total ARCA wins to 32 wins (11 more Figure 8 wins at Toledo and two SLM wins at Flat Rock)..

Nick Bradley made his first Figure 8 start of the season at Flat Rock and finished 12th.

Trackside Tidbits, by Debi Domby icechips@hotmail.com