ROB SHAW IS “TOP DOG” ON NIGHT III. MARTIN, BIELONG, VOLLUZ & HEWITT ARE VICTORIOUS!
On an Awesome night, the grandstands were loaded with fans honoring the Eaves Family with Jimmy’s & Jeff’s get in Free Night. It was Rob Shaw’s night to be “TOP DOG” as he took top honors on night III of the series event for Pro 4 Stocks! Eldon Hemken took the early lead in the 15 lap feature event with Jacob Rexing right alongside. Meanwhile Shaw who started 8th had quickly moved into the top five with Trevor Isaak & Travis Bittle. Lap after lap the top five was like a rush hour traffic jamb as 1st through 5th could have been covered with a blanket. Isaak would work his way to the front on lap 7 with heavy pressure every lap. A late race caution would set up a 3 lap dash to the end with Isaak on the point, Shaw & Rexing set to pounce. On lap 14 Shaw made his move to the outside and on the back stretch they were wheel to wheel banging fenders. Shaw was able to get by coming out of turn four and would go on to win by a car length and gain important points for the Top Dog Final on July 29th! Isaak was second followed by Rexing, Ryan Emig & Hemken faded to fifth.
In the PureStocks Jake Hewitt scored his second feature win of 2011 in a hard fought battle making a pass on the highside to lead only the last two circuits. Bryan Baker who led the most laps would settle for second, Dustin McClintock third followed by Randy Dietzel & Brian Crawford.
A nice field of 21 UMP Super Late Models was on hand including Dave Eaves racing on the night his family was honored. Mike Schulte, Aaron Kleine and Brian Wolfmeier took heat race wins. Frankie Martin won the dash setting up a front row pole position start for the twenty five lap main event. The race would get off on the wrong foot as a car on the outside row had a shifter problem causing the row of cars to stack up looking more like domino’s. The mishap would put a quick end to the night for Ray Emling, Paul Roider & Mike Harris all sustaining to much damage to continue. Once cleared the track was ready and so were the racers. Kleine and Martin would battle wheel to wheel for many laps with Mike Schulte then Mike Hammerle both taking turns getting into the action. On lap twenty four Kleine would make one last charge at Martin but his car wouldn’t hold the line and Martin pedal home for his second feature victory this season.
A last turn crash by Tim Ratajczyk ruined a top 5 finish for him and brought out the yellow right after Martin crossed the line. Hammerle, Schulte and Wolfmeier rounded out the top five.
The UMP Modifieds were up next and would not disappoint. Brian Bielong from Summerfield Il would pull off a Green to Checker win in a heated battle sometimes three wide with Bielong on the bottom Steve Lach in the middle and Dean Hoffman banging the wall on the highside. In the end Bielong had just enough horsepower to score his third feature win at Belle-Clair in five attempts. Hoffman and Lach were second & third. Aaron Kleine & Brett “The Kid” Korves fourth and fifth.
Last up on the beautiful night were the UMP Sportsman. The second Eaves Family racer #44 Brian Eaves racing in honor of his brother Jeff would start sixth in the main event but would retire early late in the race with a mechanical problem. Jimmy Clark and Joe Volluz would put on a classic battle from start to finish with Volluz finally taking his first checkered feature win of the year. Clark was second with Jon Ripperda racing on the edge from twelth to third. Justin Ketrow fourth and C J Simpson fifth.
Join us Wed. June 29th for the UMP Summer Nationals, See the website for details. www.belleclairspeedway.com