Earl Miles, past Modified Track Champion, came home, both to the Springport Motor Speedway and to the Corrigan Oil Winner’s Circle. The Valvoline Instant Oil Change Modifieds made their return to the speedway, after a one year hiatus, and it appeared that they picked up right where they left off. A number of wily veterans made up the field, with a couple of rookies having a chance to cut their teeth on the big 3/8-mile track. Charlotte’s Wayne Haughton set fast time, while sophomore driver, Dusty Carl, of Battle Creek, took the heat win. North Central Missouri’s Shawn Lee and Leslie’s Ken Buchner brought the field down for the green with Buchner taking the lead on lap one. Carl, running in second, issued the challenge for the lead, then brought out the caution with mechanical difficulties. On the restart, Buchner ran away from the pack, as Jackson’s Earl Miles worked his way into the second spot ahead of Horton’s Darel Woolsey. Buchner received a speeding ticket and was sent to the rear, handing over the lead to Miles. Bill Butler, of Charlotte, made the pass on Woolsey for second, while Haughton caught Woolsey and made the pass for third with five laps to go. Butler and Miles battled for the top spot, as Haughton spun into the front stretch wall, bringing out the caution. This set up a three-lap shootout for the win, with Miles able to hold off Butler for the win. Woolsey, Buchner, and Leslie’s Craig Willett rounded out the top five.

    The Performance Automotive NW Sportsman division was full of surprises, as Charlotte’s Dane Long made his first appearance since the late 90’s, and veteran racer, Dave Thorburn, of Leslie, came out of retirement to run the Springport Motor Speedway. Long set fast time with Mason’s Scott Sigman taking the heat win. Jackson’s Chuck Goostrey and Thorburn set the pace for the 20-lap feature, with Sigman taking the lead from Thorburn on lap one. Sigman pulled away, while Long charged through the field, leaving Thorburn to defend the third position. Steve Oberst, of Okemos, made his way around Thorburn, and tried to reel in the leaders, leaving Thorburn and Charlotte’s Matt Kirchen to duke it out for fourth. Long caught Sigman at the halfway point and made the pass two laps later. Long had his hands full, as Sigman tried first the high side then the low side to get around Long. Thorburn and Kirchen were dicing it up for fourth, with Kirchen finally making the pass in the waning laps. At the stripe, it was Long, Sigman, Oberst, Kirchen, Thorburn, and Goostrey.

    Thirteen Boss Snow Equipment Pony Stocks made the field for the 20-lap feature, with rookies, Misty Allen and Matt Vainner, both of Lansing, sitting on the front row. Allen took the lead as the green flag waved, with Todd Metz Sr., also in his rookie year, charging to take the lead away on lap two. Metz put some breathing room between himself and the rest of the field, as Charlotte’s Garry Sanfilippo, Eaton Rapids’ J.T. Leach and Edson Rowley III, of Jackson, began to reel him in. Rowley caught Metz, going three-wide at the line with a lapped car in the middle but Metz was able to hold on to the lead. Caution waved and Metz was able to run away from Rowley on the restart, but Rowley caught the leader and took away the top spot with eight laps to go. G. Sanfilippo ran a distant third, while his father, Tony Sanfilippo, sat in fourth, as Allen and McBride tried to take the spot away. Lansing’s Bill McBride fought his way into the top five, as Rowley put all but three cars down one lap by the finish. As they crossed the line, it was Rowley, Metz, G. Sanfilippo, T. Sanfilippo, and McBride. Vainner tallied the heat win.

    The Pure Stock division continues to grow, with the addition of a number of both front wheel and rear wheel drive cars. Jackson’s Jeremy Lutz made it a clean sweep, taking both the heat and feature win for the division. Dansville’s Mark Carson took the lead on the start of the 15-lap feature with Spring Arbor’s Jonathan Smith quickly issuing the challenge for first. Carson and Smith tangled on the front stretch, with both going to rear of the field. Lutz inherited the lead, as C.J. Ewing, of Concord, worked his way up through the pack, picking off Charlotte’s Josh Sattler for second. At the halfway point, caution waved, giving Ewing the break he needed. Ewing and Smith closed up on Lutz’s bumper but had nothing for him on the restart. A three-wide battled ensued for the fourth spot, with Munith’s Matt Patrick able to hold off the other challengers. Lutz made his second Corrigan Oil Winner’s Circle visit of the evening, with C.J. Ewing, Smith, Patrick and Carson rounding out the top five.

    A familiar face and crowd favorite of the Springport Motor Speedway, Maurice Randall, took the win in the Mini-Cup series 25-lap feature. Maurice was promoter of the speedway for the 2007 and decided to step back into a race car for the 2008 season. It was obvious that he hadn’t lost his touch, as he set fast time (after breaking the track record at Kalamazoo), got caught up in traffic during the heat race, but set an impressive pace during the feature. Kalamazoo’s Scott and Tim Phillips shared the lead, as Randall worked his way up through the field to sit in third by lap eight. Randall got around T. Phillips on lap 14, got caught behind a lapped car on lap 17, reeled S. Phillips in by lap 22 and took the lead one lap later, going on to visit the Winner’s Circle after his popular win. T. Phillips, Leslie’s Jim DeBaecke, and Detroit’s Ed Welch came home as the top five. The Phillips each took a heat win.

    Please join us each and every Saturday night for exciting racing action at the Springport Motor Speedway. Saturday, May 24th, will feature the Valvoline Instant Oil Change Modifieds, Performance Automotive NW Sportsmans, Pure Stocks, and Boss Snow Equipment Pony Stocks. The May 31st show will include Performance Automotive NW Sportsmans, Pure Stocks, Boss Snow Equipment Pony Stocks, plus VROA and the MCR Dwarfs. For more information, check out our website at www.springportmotorspeedway.com. As always, we’ll see you at the races!