The first annual Ed Gressel Memorial Race was completed on Saturday night, April 22nd with the running of the fifty lap finale that paid the winner ten grand. And after quite honestly, two nights of less than scintillating Modified feature racing, things fell into place perfectly on Saturday and the fans on hand as well as those watching on tv were treated to an excellent fifty lap feature race that saw winner Jake O'Neil start eighth, fall back out of the top ten early and then make a determined charge that would see him take the lead on lap thirty one and then drive on for the win. There wee three different leaders during the race and several drivers that made concerted charges up through the field as track conditions proved conducive to multi lane racing and much passing after the surface was less than ideal the first two nights of this event.
A large field of Stock Cars would share the racing platform with the Modifieds on this night and a very late charge by Colorado driver Angel Munoz would see him make a daring high side pass that would result in victory for himself over Aaron Esparza.
The Modified dash was a part of the program and after much work by track and USMTS officials, they managed to raise $5,000 or more for the dash winner if he would agree to move back in the field for the feature. Thursday night winner Tanner Mullens did win the dash and agreed to start twelfth instead of on the pole for the main with the provision that if he would win the feature from that spot, his win would be worth another five or six thousand dollars(I have seen various figures published so am not totally clear on just what was the final figure.) However, that number would prove inconsequential anyway, since Mullens never challenged ever for a top ten finish however his choice still made him the second overall high money winner of the feature and since he is not chasing USMTS points, the damage was minimal.
Forty nine Modifieds would sign in for the third night of racing here at 81 with their part of the program being similar to the previous two nights. Five heats and a pair of B Features would set the field for the longest feature race of the weekend. A significant early development was the mechanical breakdown for Friday night winner Tyler Wolff while leading a heat race. This would significantly alter his night with him being forced to accept a provisional start after he failed to qualify through a B Feature. He would, however, make a strong charge up through the field and wind up seventh at the end of the night. .
Dereck Ramirez would be quick qualifier for the night at 17.846 seconds and with a more racy track this night, four of the five quick qualifiers in their groups would make the main without having to run a Jeff Broeg B Feature.
However, everyone wished to run the fifty lap main and the provisional starts were doled up in even larger numbers on Saturday with thirty two drivers starting the main event. Ramirez would start on the pole and would take the early lead over Will Krup after they battled side by side for the front position. An early bobble would see Jake Timm, who started third, flying through the infield and losing a great number of positions but he would shine before the event was over. Dan Ebert and Jason Hughes would battle for the third spot for a number of laps while Krup would keep Ramirez honest by occasionally challenging for the lead.
Of note and on the move in the early going was Terry Phillips and Tom Berry Jr, both of whom wee heading for the front. The first twenty four laps of the race ran off nonstop until Hughes slowed after contact with the wall, just one lap short of halfway. Phillips was using a high line in the corners that was clearly working for him and one lap later, at the halfway point, he was up to second. Continuing his charge, on lap twenty eight he drove past Ramirez to take over the lead and looked to be the driver to beat.
However, there was one driver that was even quicker than T.P. and that was O'Neil. After fading back in the pack early, he found a line that worked for him and he put on quite the charge, cracking the top five my the halfway point and then continuing to head to the front.
A beneficial yellow on lap twenty eight for a spin allowed the pack to tighten up and when they resumed racing, Jake went flying by both Berry Jr and Ramirez and into second. Phillips had nothing for him either and on lap thirty one, O'Neil drove into the lead. Phillips had nothing for O'Neil as Jake pulled away and when Darren Fuqua slowed with a flat tire on lap thirty nine, Phillips dove into the infield with serious and terminal mechanical issues and he was done.
O'Neil would pull away on the green but the battle for second heated up as Berry Jr. and Krup fought for the spot. with suddenly Timm, who had fought his way back up from the twentieth spot after his early gaff, passed Ramirez for fourth. Also on the charge was Cayden Carter who actually snuck past Timm for fourth before the final yellow flew with just four laps to go when Ramirez slowed with a flat tire.
The four lap race to the finish found O'Neil pulling away from the field once again with Berry Jr slipping into second. Timm pulled off yet another charge as he went to the banking and slipped past Krup at the end to take the third spot. with Rodney Sanders another completing a big charge as he cracked the top five.
Besides the big charge through the field by the winner, there were several other noteworthy advances by other drivers including Berry Jr. form tenth to second, Sanders fourteenth to fifth, Carter from sixteenth to sixth and Wolff from twenty fifth to seventh. These wee all earned by hard racing and not due to the fact that many drivers dropped out of the contest as the track prep did hit it right on Saturday night.
The thirty six car Stock Car field was reported to be the largest ever at 81 Speedway for the class, which is just starting to get a foothold in this part of the Sunflower state. However, it is not a sanctioned class by anyone at this point so there are cars running both Hoosier and American Racer tires and a number of cars that are running some healthy sized spoilers on the back and even a couple of Super Stockish looking cars. Nevertheless, at the end it was a legitimate Stock Car that would take home the top honors.
Four heats and a B Feature were needed to set the twenty four car field for the fifteen lap main event. The Stock Car drivers were perhaps just a bit too anxious for their big race as the early laps were marked by some wild driving and quite a bit of contact between the various competitors. Four yellows marked the first five laps and yet there was some great battling for the lead through all this.
In fact, after Scott Lehman took the early lead, there was a three wide battle for the top spot which resulted in Joey Richmond taking a wild slide backwards down the front chute. Fortunately, the pack was able to avoid him and strangely, the restart would see no one penalized and all three still in the front spots. However, on lap four, Aaron Esparza would pass Lehman to take over the lead.
The driver on the charge was Angel Munoz though, as after being as far back as ninth in the running order following the leaders' tangle, by the halfway point of the race he was up to second with only Esparza holding him back.
The track was icy slick by this point and while on lap after lap Munoz would dive under Esparza, he couldn't fine the traction get get under the leader. One late yellow set up a four lap spring to the conclusion of the race. Munoz again tried the low line but still he had no success. Finally, perhaps out of desperation, the Colorado driver went to the top side of the track, a lane that the Stock Cars were not using.
Immediately he found benefits as he closed in on Esparza and with a great run off turn four, he boldly squeezed between the concrete and Esparza and as the drivers saw the white flag, Angel blew by for the lead. Esparza had nothing for him and Angel pulled away on the final tour to take a thrilling win. Esparza settled for second with Landon Maddox third as despite a rockem sockem race, only five drivers failed to finish. Munoz started out the evening with a very nice looking race car but by the time he took the win a fender was ripped loose and his hood buckled when he took off too fast on a restart and tagged a car in front of him. Nevertheless, the win was his.
A good sized crowd was on hand for third straight night of cool and windy Kansas weather. Thanks to the Sartain's as well as G.M. John Allen plus all the usual suspects from the USMTS for their help this week. We were certainly fortunate this weekend as while we might have done some shivering the past few days, at least we saw three nights of racing and that's something not many folks in the Midwest could claim this weekend.
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