Posted by Grundy County Speedway on 8/1/2005, 3:49 pm
Board Administrator

NICK BARAN NEW WINNER AT THE GRUNDY COUNTY SPEEDWAY By Andy Grod Seventeen year old Nick Baran, from Plainfield, led from wire to wire to win his first ever late model feature Friday night at the Grundy County Speedway, in Morris, Illinois. “I’ve got to thank Glen Baran, who runs things and my dad Scott who is the crew chief on the car. Without their help, I wouldn’t be here.” After qualifying tenth in the twenty-three car field, Baran lined up on the outside of the front row and pulled ahead of Pat McCabe to the take the point at the drop of the green. By lap four, Baran had a four-car advantage as McCabe, Tom Smith and Duane Pierson fought for the second spot, with Tom Knippenberg a close fifth. Eddie Hoffman Jr made his present known as he moved in behind Pierson by lap eight, then slowly picked off Pierson, Smith and McCabe to take over the number two spot at the half-way mark, but by the time Hoffman was able to get clear of the pack, Baran had pulled away by some eight car lengths. Dicing through lapped traffic for the final ten circuits, Hoffman was able to close a little, but Baran was able to hold on to a five car length lead over Hoffman as he sped under the checkered flag. A tight battle for third place went down to the wire as Pat Kelly and Dave Weltmeyer were able to get past Smith on the final laps to claim third and fourth place money. Smith finished fifth followed by McCabe, Pierson and Tom Knippenberg. In the 25 lap Mid-American feature, Ryan Finley moved around John McMahon on the second go around, with Josh Higgins moving into second one lap later. As Finley and Higgins began pulling away from pack, Jerry Einhaus Jr moved into fourth behind John Senerchia, with Josh Nelms and Jeremy Bloomberg all in a tight formation. With ten laps remaining, Einhaus had moved into third, but had a long way to go to catch the leaders, but a caution for the spinning Stacy Kelley allowed Einhaus to close in on Higgins’ bumper. Einhaus was able to overtake Higgins for second and then set his sights on Finley, going to the inside and taking over the top spot as they raced down the back stretch. A tangle involving several of the top runners stopped the action with one lap remaining. Higgins and Jay Mikel spun, with Mikel having the front of his car ripped off when Jake Finney tried to avoid the spinning cars and just clipped Mikel, causing heavy damage to Mikel’s number ten machine. With Finley jumping into the pits, Einhaus took the green and led the field to the checkered for the seventh time this season in his Al’s Garage - WMC Inc Millwirghts Fabricators – Oval Engineering – Appleton Rack and Pinion sponsored Chevy. Nick O’Dell took second place, followed by Peoria’s Billy Tuckwell. Senerchia held on for a fourth place finish followed by Finney, Kelley and Tony Brutti. A duel between defending track champion, Rick Dawson and last week’s winner Chad Proctor went down to the wire in the Street Stock 20 lap main, with Proctor taking the lead on the final lap to score back to back victories in his Bill’s Speed Shop – Judi’s Embroidery racer. “I owe the win to my brother John and Bill’s Speed Shop. They worked hard all week getting the car ready and I couldn’t he happier.” Brandon Clubb, from Coal City, looked like he had the race in the bag, taking the front on lap three and holding a five car length lead, but the car began sputtering and went up in smoke, just three laps from the end. Ricky Baker, from Plainfield, took home a season best third place showing, followed by Joe Graziano, Justin Claypool and Ed St Pierre. Nick Clubb took home the mini-stock feature event, first holding off a challenge from Danny Heath, and later keeping in front of Alex Clubb to the checkered flag. Todd Gladkowski finished third followed by Jason Claypool and Joe Mosier. In the 12 lap Street Stock Semi-feature, a big crash involving Caleb Koger, Frank Sabella and Tim Erdman stopped the action just as the green came out, causing a complete restart. When the green again flew, Fred Mahr, Trevor Tichy, Ron Vandermeir Jr and Chad Bayuk battled up front, with Vandermeir taking the lead on lap six. Vandermeir was able to hold off Bayuk for the win, with Craig Matteson taking third and Ray Brackett sliding across the finish line in fourth to claim the last transfer spot to the feature. Racing continues every Friday night at he Grundy County Speedway, your Friday night race place, with time trials at 6:45 and the first race slated for an 8 pm start. The Grundy County Speedway is located just north of I-80, on Rt 47, at the Fairgrounds in Morris, Illinois. RESULTS 30 lap Late Model Feature: Nick Baran, Plainfield, 2. Eddie Hoffman Jr., Wheaton, 3. Pat Kelly, Morris, 4. Dave Weltmeyer, Dyer, Indiana, 5. Tom Smith, Posen, 6. Pat Kelly, Joliet, 7. Duane Pierson, Lockport, 8. Tom Knippenberg, Channahon 1st 10 lap LM Heat: 1. Scott Koerner, Joliet, 2. Dan Odell, Morris 2nd 10 lap LM Heat: 1. Scott Dunning, Bolingbrook, 2. Gary Raven, Hometown 3rd 10 lap LM Heat: 1. Pierson, 2. Tom Knippenberg Fast Time: Billy Knippenberg Jr: 15.427 25 lap Mid-American Feature: 1. Jerry Einhaus Jr., Seneca, 2. Nick O’Dell, New Lenox, 3. Billy Tuckwell, Peoria, 4. John Senerchia, Orland Park, 5. Jake Finney, Sycamore, 6. Stacy Kelley, Minooka, 7. Tony Brutti, Manteno, 8. Jeremy Bloomberg, Hampshire, 9. John McMahon, Lockport, 10. Josh Higgins, Morris 1st 10 lap MA Heat: 1. Finney, 2. Tuckwell 2nd 10 lap MA Heat: 1. Higgins, 2. Jay Mikel, Oswego Fast Time: Einhaus: 15.806 20 lap Street Stock Feature: 1. Chad Proctor, Kenosha, Wisconsin, 2. Rick Dawson, Lemont, 3. Ricky Baker, Plainfield, 4. Joe Graziano, Plainfield, 5. Justin Claypool, Morris, 6. Ed St Pierre, Channahon, 7. Chris Sanda, LaGrange Park, 8. Karl Kwaz, Joliet, 9. Randy Weese, Morris, 10. John Ventrello, Morris 12 lap SS Semi-Feature: 1. Ron Vandermeir Jr, Joliet, 2. Chad Bayuk, Crest Hill, 3. Craig Matteson, Morris, 4. Ray Brackett, Coal City, 5. Fred Mahr, Downers Grove, 6. Trevor Tichy, Oswego 1st 10 lap SS Heat: 1. Frank Sabella, Joliet, 2nd 10 lap SS Heat: 1. Ron Vandermeir Jr, Joliet, 2. Guy Baumann, Homer Glen 3rd 10 lap SS Heat: 1. Kwaz, 2. Kent Harmann, Braidwood Fast Time: Kwaz: 17.566