HAYES HAULS IN GRAND PURE STOCK WIN AT M-40

by Ted Beebe
Jones, MI (July 27) Friday night at M-40 Speedway the Old Hat Brewery & Grill Pure Stocks were in the spotlight as the feature winner came home with a cool $1,000 top prize. Ty Hayes has been running Late Models at area tracks for the past several years but on this night he was behind the wheel of the winning Pure Stock. Also in action Friday night were the Dave's Concrete Late Models (won by Jeff Ganus for the 2nd week in a row) & the Ausra Equipment Co. Pro Stocks (won by Rodney Smith). The Franger Gas Mini Stocks had the night off.
     Prior to July 20 Phil Bozell had never set fast time in qualifying. This week marked his 2nd consecutive fast time honors in Late Model time trials with a 12.893 (104.708 mph). Young Mr. Bozell was joined in the 12s by 3 other drivers. For the 5th time this year, (& 2 days after he turned 16 & got his driver's license) Chris Shannon turned the speediest Pro Stock lap at 13.683 (98.663 mph). The top 6 Pro Stocks were in 13s & a mere .237 separated their qualifying efforts. Jason Rhoades has been "The Man" in Pure Stock qualifying this year. His 14.816 (91.118 mph) set the benchmark for his class for the 6th time. A pair of other drivers were in the 14s too.
     Other preliminary action saw Late Model heats claimed by Fred Reed & Rick Hahn Jr. with Al McGlothlen breathing down Hahn's neck just .040 behind at the wire! Pro Stock heat winners were John Ferrier, Rodney Smith & Al Maurer (just nipping Alex Pratt by .058 seconds). Maurer came back to win the consi over Gabe Hess & Phil Ausra. Pure Stock preliminary action had "Father Knows Best" in heat 1 as Scott Rozner rolled to the win .302 ahead of his son Travis Rozner. Roland Barnes & Bill Pierce were also heat victors. Chad Wilkins scored the "Survival of the Fittest" B-main & was followed by Thad Chartrand, Pam Rhoades & Tim Pletz, the top 4 & only ones to finish the 12 lap affair.
     The Pure Stocks had some big money up for grabs as the Brown family hosted a 50 lap feature paying $1,000 to win. At the end of 50 laps Ty Hayes came home with the fat pay check with Greg Musser in hot pursuit only .218 behind the winner. 3-10 went to Jason Rhoades, Allan Rhoderick, Rick Reed, Tim Thurston, Lou Stremme, Jerry Holmes, Roland Barnes & Cody Dale. Unfortunately, the other 1/2 of the 20 car field were all DNFs as they were unable to go the distance.
     For the 2nd week in a row Jeff Ganus drove his Late Model to the Lane Automotive Victory Lane with over 1/2 second separating him from the rest of the field. Phil Bozell charged through the field to grab the runner-up spot ahead of Jeff Vochaska, Matt Weenink, Bill Hartman, Roger Northrop Jr., Al McGlothlen, Doug True, Tom Wright, & Matt Krywosinski rounded out the top 10.
     The Pro Stock 35 lap feature was a close one as the top 4 were within 6/10 second of each other at the end. Rodney Smith scored his 1st feature win of the year here. Jeff Ganus was only .318 away from scoring feature wins in 2 classes on the same night! Brandon Zachary, Cory Pressler, Robbie Ferrier, Mickey Cornwell, Fred Reed, Chris Shannon, Steve Smith Jr., & Rich Mersereau rounded out the top 10.
     It was also Michiana Racers Hall of Fame Night. George Blunier, Ron Koehler, Jiggs Meyers, Mike Salay, Cindy Stremme, Stan Suski, Sandy Westphal, Bill Wingate, & Ralph Yarbrough were all celebrated on this night as they earned an induction into the Michiana Racers Hall of Fame.
     August 3 will be a full 4-in-1 show. August 10 will be the Pro Stock Jones with the winner taking home $10,001! Our other regular classes have the night off but the Pro Stocks will be joined by the Short Track Truck Series. The fast high banked 3/8 mile paved oval is located north of Jones & south of Marcellus, MI on M-40 Hwy. For more information, visit us on the web at www.m40speedway.com. If you can't be at the track on race day, you can still listen on radio station 99.9 FM or be interactive with the live Internet broadcast: live@m40speedway.com for live play by play action, trivia questions, & other fun by yours truly, Andy Jack, Jason Seltzer & our computer guru Jon answering your e-mails.

The fast high banked 3/8 mile paved oval is located just north of Jones & just south of Marcellus, MI on Highway M-40. For more information, visit us on the web at www.m40speedway.com.

Randy Ellen Photos  HERE - HERE and HERE If you have not been to M40 it is a must do trip to see the great facility and fantastic racing. Win tickets here soon.