Dona Marcoullier offers a challenge to leader Brandon Thirlby (14) before Thirlby drove off to the ALMS win at Mt. Pleasant Speedway Friday. (Jim Denhamer)
ALMS/UMP: Thirlby Blisters Short Field For Mt. Pleasant Win Track report MT. PLEASANT, Mich. — The Sunoco American Late Model Series (ALMS) made its second stop of the 2011 season at the Mt. Pleasant Speedway on Friday for a $2,000 to win feature. Brandon Thirlby controlled the pace to take the win in the 25-lap feature. Although low on car count because of a conflicting race in Ohio, the field was still packed with plenty of star power as 14 of the best UMP Late Model drivers from around the Midwest made the call.
Zack Olger and #15 Jon Henry race for fifth place at Mt. Pleasant. (Steve Datema) At the drop of the green, Thirlby's M14 was on a mission to get to victory lane. The Traverse City native did not disappoint the packed crowd as he set blistering laps around the three-eighths mile clay oval. Deeper in the field was a lot of jogging for positions as several drivers swapped spots in the top five. When all was said and done, Thirlby would get the huge payday and get his Thirlby Automotive Late Model into victory lane. Following Thirlby were Houghton Lake’s Dona Marcoullier, ClarkLake’s Brian Ruhlman, the defending ALMS champion, Blanchard’s Mark Andersen, and St. Johns’ Zack Olger.
Sam Epling and #27 Eric Spangler race for position at midfield at Mt. Pleasant Speedway. (Jim Denhamer) The night also got off to a blazing start as seven Late Model drivers broke the previous Mt. Pleasant Speedway Late Model track record set on May 27 this year by No. 91 Rusty Schlenk at 14.04 seconds. Those shattering the record included Olger, Epling, Marcoullier, Andersen, Thirlby, No. 23v Ryan VanderVeen, and new record-holder No. 13H J.R. Hotovy of Muskegon with a mark of 13.64 seconds.
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Big Gains for Hubbard, Pearson, Ogle - The A-Team Has Been Updated 05-15-12
Scott James battles #13 Barry Doss in heat race action at Florence (Ky.) Speedway, but in the $2,000-to-win feature, the only thing anyone saw was the tail end of James' #81 car. (Roy Walker)
After plenty of trash-talking via the electronic media between Jeff Matthews and Ivedent Lloyd last week, it was #21 Lloyd who got the final word as he reeled in #33 Matthews to win Friday's LM feature at Oclala, Fla.'s Bubba Raceway Park. (R.E. Wing)
Fans at Markleysburg, Pa.'s Roaring Knob Motorsports Comlex were treated to dual LM features Saturday - one a makeup from a May 5th rainout. (Above) Tim Senic challenges eventual regular feature winner Chuck Harper, while Jared Hawkins (below) claimed the makeup race. (Tommy Micheals)
Henley, Missouri's Jason Russell leads the way to Victory Lane in the ULMS Late Model feature at Lucas Oil Speedway Saturday. (Chris Bork)
Some fierce racing action at Lucas Oil speedway. (Chris Bork)
Dalton, Ga.'s Craig Reece returned to Dixie Speedway Saturday and led all the way to win the Crate LM victory. (Steve Hixson)
Ray Guss Jr. races last week's Quad City Speedway winner, Mike Murphy, Jr. This time, it was advantage Guss. (Chris Damitz)
With a strong motor back into his mount, Veteran Lamar Scoggins claimed last Friday's Crate LM victory at Boyd's Speedway. (Steve Hixson)
Veteran racer Lance Matthees navigates Spring Lake, Minnesota's Deer Creek Speedway before taking Saturday's WISSOTA Late Model checkers. (Jason Durst)
Racing hard at mid-pack, it's the dueling 55s of Cory Mahder (inside) and Greg Nippoldt at Deer Creek. (Jason Durst)
Ryan King (above and below) swept both the Ltd. Late Model and Crate Late Model features Saturday at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. (Chad Wells)
Still riding his wave in Iowa, Mike Murphy, Jr. in early action before taking the main event win at Davenport last Friday. (Chris Damitz)
Jason Jameson ran a gauntlet to finally capture another win Friday night at Moler
Raceway Park (see main page). (Roy
Walker)
After holding back a charge from Alex Ferree, Chub Frank drove home with a Friday night win at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (John Stivason)
Bobby Pierce, Brett Sievert, and Mike Glynn race in a tight pack in Kankakee (Ill.) Speedway's "Crosstown Cup", but (below) it was ultimately Shawn Toczek (42) here racing the high side of Mike Provenzano, who sailed to the win. (Dan Simpson)
NALMS Suspends Remaining Season
In a statement released to the racing media Monday, Northern All All Stars Late Model Series (NALMS) owners Shawn Hall and Bob Mooney relased the following statement:
To all NALMS drivers and fans,
Northern Allstars Late Model Series regrets to inform all of our drivers and fans that as of today (May 14, 2012) we will suspend all series races for the remaining 2012 season. The primary reason for the decision to discontinue the series was mainly economics. Tracks, teams and fans are having a hard time these days with the cost of living in general. With the cost of fuel, parts, tires, tickets and lodging, many people just cannot afford to travel to our shows, so we feel it's best to stop for now and try to regroup for the 2013 season.
Our series needs to be able to have at least 18 to 20 shows to cover our cost of putting on these shows and our drivers point funds. With many tracks cutting back on their special events and other tracks just choosing not to have specials at all, it's has really cut our options for race tracks down to a very few unless you are willing to travel several hours away from the Central Illinois area, and that is not cost effective for the racing teams or fans.
In closing we would like to thank all of the drivers and fans whom have supported the series over the years and we hope to be able to come back with a bigger and better season for everyone in 2013.
A-Team Leaders from 1997-2011 (Click on link for complete rundown)
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