Flat Rock Speedway

June 6, Gold Cup race #2

For Terry Senneker, it might've been the first time a flat tire was a good thing. A flat tire pushed Terry, who was one of the fast hot-lappers back to 11th qualifying. But good luck in the way of the invert, put him on the pole for the 100 lap, Joy Fair Memorial race. He led to just past the halfway point, sometimes by a straightaway, but once Jeff Ganus got to second the duo put on a show for the fans. Evenly matched and both driving clean, splitting lapped cars one high, one low, and side by side for laps on end. In my opinion it was one of the best late model races I've ever seen at Flat Rock and over the years, we've had some fantastic Gold Cup races.

   "If the fans don't like that show, they don't like racing! When we split those cars three wide, we were battling through there, then he got out in front (of me) ... I thought it was all over ... that's it, the fans got their show. Then we got another crack at it and he pulled away, then the next restart mine fired up, and  .. , man. Then we kept getting cautions, and we kept having to do it over and over again," said the Wayland, Mich., driver. "It was a ton of fun, Jeff (Ganus) ran me really clean and I think the highest of him. He's a heck of a wheelman and to beat him toe to toe like that ... I just feel really proud. I wish we could run together every week. I have a lot of respect for each other and that's what racing all about."

   Senneker's sponsors are: Senneker Performance, Oetman Excavating and Enterprise Iron-Metal

   It's Terry's third win in the Gold Cup. His other two happen at Toledo in the first Gold Cup of the season in 2008 and 2012. This is his first Flat Rock win. Also, he was leading points at Berlin Speedway and although they weren't planning on running there weekly, it's quite a compliment that they came to run with us and give up first place in points.

   Jeff Ganus won the open race at Toledo, his first Gold Cup win. A spin with a lap car late in the event while leading didn't help the tires much. He got a nose out on one of the restarts, but it didn't stick and he finished. 0.667 of second behind Senneker. Ganus' fastest lap according to Race Monitor was on the final restart. "It was pretty fun, we raced pretty hard. I got a little too tight in the end. He (Terry) could roll through the center better than us. I couldn't get through the center. Thanks to all the fans coming out, hope you enjoyed it," said the Constantine, Mich., driver.

   Ganus' sponsors are: Direct Detail, Senneker Performance, Sweet Manufacturing, Willow Lake Lodge and Hutter Racing Engines

   Ganus and Senneker came into tonight's event tied at 205 points. They're still tied going into race #3 at Sandusky Speedway. (you'll have to check the points, they're not out yet on the ARCA site)

   Defending track champion, Steve Cronenwett Jr. finished third. "The field is so close here, you can lap car here fast. I had to get a little dirty, I do have to apologize to anyone I roughed up coming through. Fighting an ill-handling car, trying to stay up front with the big dogs, and I'm pretty happy I did. I hope everyone here enjoyed it," said the driver of the Giles Auto Body, Roush Competition Engines, Varsity Ford

   There were 33 Late Models in the pits. There were six cars in the  25 B main (Chris Benson, Jimmy Theil and Jeff Vrsek did not start the feature). Rookie Tadek Stadniczuk and Mike Young put on just as good show for the win as Senneker and Ganus did. The pair ran side by side for a good portion of the feature with Young taking the win. Stadniczuk was second, Grant Hedges, Jimmy Ward, Derrick Sheppard and rookie Clarity Newhouse completed the field.

   Mike Young won his first SLM feature. Saturday was supposed to be a fun day and hoping to make the show. But once we got there, went through tech, and got ready for first round of qualifying – we were there Thursday to practice and struggled, so Saturday was gonna be 'see if we went in the right direction'. Once we got on the track and went to shift, the deal in transmission blew, no clutch pedal, so our day was shot. We went and helped good friend, Landon Schuster, to see if he could get the pole and missed it, so we scratch the rest of our practice and decided to start last for qualifying and get pushed started. Going out in car with no laps that day and picked up 4.5 tenths and we knew we went the right way. We were on worn out tires so really couldn't get nothing more out of car in the last chance and we made adjustments for the B Main, started fourth. We went to the front and 'bout 8 laps in we lost the brakes on the restart, was coasting around but still holding close to Tadek (Stadniczuk) so he wasn't so far away. The pedal came back with 'bout 10 laps left, I was watching Tadek get tight and pushing, so I got a run off of (turn) 4 on the bottom and kept him close but wasn't really pushing it to walk away from field and ending up winning the B Main. It was a fun and exciting day being first time in that car at the Rock, before that only drove Go Carts, ARCA Trucks, Sportsman and 4 Cylinders ...  and also getting to say I drove a LM there just like my father did. I have thank Nick and Pete at PB Fabrication for giving me the opportunity to drive for them also CGS Imaging, Todds Guns, Rays Doors, Chubbys American Grill, Denny's Time Out Tavern, Jugs Bowling Center, Harts Machine Shop, RE Suspention and of course my dad for putting all the time and effort into the race cars while I'm at work." Thanks Mike for sending me your quote.

  Craig Everage had a V-6 engine in his car this week. Unusual because most cars run V-8s. The V-6 get a weight break. The car had a problem with the fuel pump and he was unable to finish the feature.

   Congrats to Tim Moore on his second win of the season. "I want to thank my crew for their hard work and my family. His sponsors are: Kevin Fischer Northend Scrap, A-lot Sealcoat, Downriver Hydro, DTS Drive Train, Dow Engines, Bayou Bar and Grill, Downriver Coney Island, Yost Collision (Christine Micallef-Smith), Fastime Racing.

  Nick Shanks finished fourth and would like to welcome his new sponsor, Propane Services on board. His other sponsors are Absolute Taxidermy and Wiley Coyotte Grill.

  Aaron Greathouse had his career best A main finish, ninth.

Rookie Roundup:

   If any of the other rookies would like to send me a couple lines how your night went, it's a great way to get your sponsors mentioned (actually anyone that wants to send me a couple lines can get their sponsors mentioned). Any division at Flat Rock or Toledo.

   Ray Monreau has graduated ... after having to start last in every race this year because of his age, tonight he got permission from the officials to start where he qualified. The young Canadian driver got a career high fifth place finish in his Xpress Group, Hallmark Memorial, Highland Tool, Rivard Snowplowing, George Newman Jr Graphics, Double R Reworks #03.

   Clarity Newhouse on her night ... June 6th racing at Flat Rock Speedway was quite an adventure. My performance was full of ups and downs that made the day feel more like being on a roller coaster than a race track! I'm grateful to my sponsors, Quick Lane of Plymouth at Blackwell Ford, JD Racing Indoor Karting and Sunny Media Group for their support as I develop my racing skills. 

   It was my third race ever and my driving has definitely improved since the first race. But I felt more like a rookie than the first time because I did some rookie things that set me back. The first one was I got so excited about the two lap qualifying session that I wasn't looking and missed the flag, realized I'd done something wrong and slowed down instead of focusing on making a second lap. So my qualifying speed was slower than Thursday's practice time. Fortunately it didn't matter regarding the 100 lap race because the competitors in the field were so fast that even the racers on the bubble posted super fast qualifying times.

June 13

  Justin Schroeder won his first race of the season. "Finally got the win last night at Flat Rock! After really letting my guys down qualifying I'm glad we got to celebrate a win. Really cool to win in front of a packed house with my little man's (Michael) first trip to victory lane. Thanks again Canton Tree and Cement, ABC Plumbing, Victory Racing Parts, Glass Unlimited, and Doc Kabot, ‎Senneker Performance, ‎JRI Shocks by Senneker."

From Frank Jiovani,

  "Moran Motor Sports started the year very optimistic, we had a string of bad luck and then ended last Saturday with our best finish of 2015.

  To start the year with a top 10 at Toledo was our goal, and we did just that. With a sixth place finish we started the Gold Cup season strong. The fast pace continued opening night at Flat Rock with a battle for the top spot.

  The next race was rained out followed by a rear end failure the next week. We also struggled at the Joy Fair 100 with setup.

  We turned everything around last week with a 2nd quick qualifying time and 2nd in the feature.

  I want to thank Dick "Magic Man" Barker and Pat Moran for letting me drive their great equipment, my crew for their hard work all winter long and all of my sponsors who this would not be possible without. Moran Chevrolet, Gemini Electric, Comfort Temp Heating and Cooling, 4th Street Auto, PAC Racing Springs, Ultra Grand Slam Sport Fishing Charters, Quick Fuel Technology, Shadowoods Race Emgines, JV Auto Repair, Diamond Pistons, Valvoline USA"

  We had a surprise visitor to Flat Rock in the form of the defending Late Model Champion for Kalamazoo, Bubba Brooks. With his track closed last weekend, Flat Rock was the nearest track running Late Models, so they loaded up and came to race. He was doing very well in the feature but dropped out of the race while running sixth with seven laps remaining.

  Congrats to Dennis Whisman Jr. on his first Figure 8 heat win at Flat Rock, "I want to thank my sponsors Affordable Transmission, VP Racing Fuels (of Flat Rock), Father and Son Muffler Clinic, Robert A Mucha Atty. at Law, Leppen Chiropractic, Mike's Barber Shop, Freeze Frame Photos and My Crew: Dennis Whisman Sr. Howard Kelley, Sam Hall, Joe Whisman and Rich Lee."

  Think we had another first time winner, but forgot to write it down. If it was you, let me know and I'll put it in the next article.

  For those of you who would like to watch the YouTube videos, please follow this link to Mike Miller's videos for Flat Rock and Toledo. https://www.youtube.com/user/10yearnascarfan/videos

I like hearing from the drivers/teams/families. Send me your tidbits to icechips@hotmail.com or message me on Facebook www.facebook.com/icechips Every thing I get by Wednesday night will go in that week's article, anything else I'll put in the following week. Thanks to everyone that sent me something to make this article interesting.