5/13/2024
Charleston Speedway
61 years is underway; 115 cars; Mothers were celebrated; Double Features for 2 Divisions! ---
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
5.11.2024 CHARLESTON SPEEDWAY: CHARLESTON, IL
The 61st straight season of Stock Car Racing at The Charleston Speedway is OFFICIALLY underway, and if what we saw Saturday was any indication of things to come; 2024 is sure to be exciting!
We tried getting the year started on April 27, 2024; however, Mother Nature never let us even open the gates. Then we tried again on May 4, 2024 and Mother Nature raised opposition again, just as soon as all of the Heat Races were completed. We have make-up features scheduled for every division in the coming weeks. May 11, 2024, we figured “3rd times the charm” and man was it exciting!! We started the night honoring our mother’s. Speedway staff purchased a small gift for the 1st 100 moms coming to the track, and those 100 gifts were GONE--FAST! We love all of our mom’s and know that none of us would be where we are without our Mothers. Moms were not the only ones treated Saturday night, everyone that bought a ticket enjoyed the exciting racing produced by the 115 cars that entered!
DIRTcar Modified division saw 21 entries check-in.
Qualifying results:
1.#83 Kasey Schrock 14.453
2.#99 Tim Luttrell 14.553
3.#45 Chase Holland 14.611
4.#63 Dustin King 14.623
5.#3F Rob Fuqua 14.685
The 3 heat races were won by #83 Kasey Schrock, #3F Rob Fuqua and #I70 Danny Schwartz. Our policy is to run all the cars in the A-Feature, until the number of cars signed in, exceeds 22. So, all 21 cars were slated to start the A-Feature. What a barn burner this race would prove to be. Brad Agney and his staff performed some track prep during intermission and they nailed it!! The track provided tons of passing, side-by-side racing, and hair raising slide jobs!! Chase Holland would take his #45 from his 6th starting position up to P1, but not after some extremely hard fought battles with Danny & Deece Schwartz. Holland would cross the finish line first over 2nd place, Deece Schwartz, and 3rd place, Danny Schwartz. The hard charger award would go to #63 Dustin King. After struggling in his heat race, King found himself starting 19th and drove his car all the way up to a 7th finishing position!
The DIRTcar Pro Modified saw 26 entries.
Qualifying results:
1.#24S Steve Phillips 15.186
2.#54C Mason Lynch 15.276
3.#2 Brayden Doyle 15.281
4.#40J Johnny Nethery 15.287
5.#52JR Cole Knebel 15.345
The 3 heat races would be won by #24S Steve Phillips, #27 Dalton Ewing and #2 Brayden Doyle.
26 entries triggered a B-Feature of 11 cars. #78 Maxx Emerson bested the field to claim the victory. The remaining 4 that transferred out of the B-Feature into the A were, #21JR Drew Schwartz, #27X Drake Vondohlen, #J13 Justin Coffey, and #13 Donnie Martin Sr. Not unlike the DIRTcar Modified Feature, the DIRTcar Pro Modified division was packed with lap after lap of side by side racing, challenges for the lead, and “Hail Mary” sliders! Crossing the line first would be the #2 of Brayden Doyle followed by 2nd place #121 Deece Schwartz and 3rd place #24S Steve Phillips.
The DIRTcar Pro Late Models had 13 entries.
Qualifying results:
1.#25 Dakota Ewing 14.453
2.#130 Chase Osterhoff 14.562
3.#10C Colby Eller 14.940
4.#21K Jacob Kolwyck 15.146
5.#45 Kyle McMahon 15.167
The two heat race winners would be #25 Dakota Ewing and #130 Chase Osterhoff. The heat race winners would find themselves sitting on the front row and both were looking for the WIN. After battling back and forth, and fending off challenges from #45 Kyle McMahon; Dakota Ewing in his #25 car would grab the checkered flag first. Chase Osterhoff would have to settle for 2nd, while Kyle McMahon would hang on to 3rd.
DIRTcar Stock Cars saw 8 entries.
There is a 11 car per class requirement to qualify, so these drivers would line-up for their heat race according to pill draw. #K67 Braiden Keller would fend off a hard charging #99K Jerrad Krick to pick up the heat race win. The feature event would not go the way Keller wanted. Jerrad Krick would wrestle the lead away from Braiden Keller and looked to have smooth sailing, until a late race pass on a lapped car caused Krick to nearly be “parked” in turn 1. Fortunately for Krick, the caution was thrown for a spun car in turn 4, stripping the lead from Keller and giving back to Krick. With the late race lead, and clean air, Krick picked up his 2nd Feature win of the night. #5 Ryan Taylor was sneaking around the bottom and a late race bobble cost Keller P2 which Taylor was more than happy to take from him. After battling for the lead, Keller would have to settle for 3rd.
The DIRTcar Stock Car Make-Up Feature from May 4th, 2024 was held right before intermission and Jerrad Krick picked up right here he left off in 2023…Winning.
DIRTcar Factory Stock saw 13 entries.
Qualifying results:
1.#42 Jesse Simmons 16.400
2.#27 Mike Reitz 16.580
3.#65 Wally Kerst 16.690
4.#11S John Strawser 16.942
5.#25M Dalton Mickle 17.023
The two heat races would be won by #42 Jesse Simmons and #90 Lee Joseph Hall. The Feature event saw Jesse Simmons and Lee Joseph Hall on the front row with Wally Kerst and John Strawser in the 2nd row. When the green flag dropped, Wally Kerst was obviously on a mission. He was relentless on the cushion, seemingly not lifting corner after corner, lap after lap. Kerst took the lead from Simmons early on and never looked back picking up his first victory of the 2024 season. Lee Joseph Hall would find his way around Jesse Simmons to take away 2nd, but had nothing left to challenge Kerst. The DIRTcar Factory Stock division is packed with a ton of fast cars and great drivers, 2024 is destined to be a great season for this division!
DIRTcar Hornets saw an astounding 33 entries!!!
Because the DIRTcar Hornets prefer not to qualify, the 3 heat races were lined up by pill draw. The 3 heat races were won by #44 Alex Wilson, #44DD Airn McRill and #26J Danny White Jr. The B-Feature had 18 cars competing for one of the top 5 spots. When the checkered flag fell, #44E Evan Eckhoff, #04 Steve Stine, #11ME Tristan Fulk, #35 Lynn Lash and #28L William Thomas would take the top 5 spots and transfer into the A-Feature. After a lap one hiccup, the Hornet feature provided some of the closest side by side racing we’d seen all night. These guys know how to put on a show. #26J Danny White Jr. Worked his way through traffic to the top spot and never looked back. #44DD Airn McRill was able to hang on to his P2 starting position and finish 2nd while #DA28 Jimmy Dutlinger was able to navigate traffic from his P8 starting position to finish P3. Hard Charger award goes to #44E Evan Eckoff for advancing all the way up to 5th from his 16th starting position.
The DIRTcar Hornet Make-Up Feature from May 4th, 2024 was also completed just before intermission and #26J Danny White Jr. started the night out by picking up his first win of the 2024 season.
Our DIRTcar Kid Modz division saw 1 entry, 2023 Charleston Speedway Track Champion Keatin Lyons in his #3X hot rod. Keatin would pick up both the heat race win and feature win! We like to celebrate the youth of our sports as we all know, the youth is our future. Congrats Keatin!
Be sure to check out, and purchase a few of the MANY photos that were taken at the Speedway right here:
www.yorkphotography.smugmug.com
ALL Photo credits to York Photography.
Next on the schedule is Championship Auto Racing and 2 more Make-Up Features including DIRTcar Factory Stock and DIRTcar Pro Late Model, from the May 4th event that was rained out.
DON’T MISS A MINUTE OF THE ACTION, GRAB A FRIEND AND JOIN US ALL…………..AT THE CHARLESTON SPEEDWAY!!!
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