Fort Wayne, IN (May 26, 2019) – In spite of the best efforts
by Hartford Speedway and Butler Motor Speedway, the Lane Automotive Sprints On Dirt
powered by King Engine Bearings / MSD Ignition / Motul races were both rained
out.
Watching the Hartford weather Friday morning, it was already
looking grim. Then, faced with morning
rains, already saturated grounds, a forecast for evening showers, and the
distance teams need to travel, owner/promoter Tim Dibble announced shortly
after noon that it was in everyone’s best interest to cancel the show. Although a difficult decision, especially after
being rained out for its season opener a week earlier, it was the right
decision.
Weather predictions for Saturday showed Butler Motor
Speedway was facing a narrow period of rain in the evening. Unfortunately, Mother Nature apparently
wasn’t watching, and around 2:30 PM a strong storm moved through dumping a
large amount of rain in a short time. Faced
with a considerable amount of standing water and a prediction of more rain to
come, promoters Denny Donaldson and Bob Garrett had to make a frustrating
decision to cancel the show. The race
was already a make-up date for the May 11 rain out at Butler.
Sprints On Dirt thanks both Hartford and Butler for their
hard work and support. Along with SOD,
they are struggling with weather woes this season.
SOD at Butler over the falls without a barrel, race rescheduled
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Fort Wayne, IN (May 12, 2019) – With rain percentages
looking better and better as the day went on Saturday, the first 2019 Lane Automotive
Sprints On Dirt powered by King Engine Bearings / MSD Ignition / Motul race at
Butler Motor Speedway looked good. Unfortunately,
Mother Nature apparently wasn’t watching the percentages.
As pit gates opened and the pits filled with cars, intermittent
sprinkles started. Just as SOD sign in
was winding down, rain increased, and it soon became clear to everyone watching
weather radar on their phones that we wouldn’t get the show in. After having put in a long week prepping for
the race, Promoters Denny Donaldson and Bob Garrett had to pull the plug and
cancel the show.
Butler and SOD officials went to work to replace the date,
and within a short time, it was agreed to reschedule the race for Saturday, May
25. It will be a two-day weekend for SOD
competitors with Hartford Motor Speedway on the schedule for Friday, May 24.
Chad Blonde (2nd), Ryan Ruhl(1st), Zane DeVault (3rd)
ERIE, MI (May 5, 2019) – The Lane Automotive Sprints On Dirt
powered by King Engine Bearings / MSD Ignition / Motul traditional season
opener at Crystal Motor Speedway, rained out a week ago, went off under a sunny
day Saturday. Ryan Ruhl was impressive in winning his Engler Machine & Tool
heat race and the twenty-five-lap feature.
In the feature, Ruhl took the lead from the pole at the
start, but the caution flag came out causing a complete restart. On the second start Ruhl and Joshua Turner
(Osseo, MI) battled side by side with Turner using the top of the track to grab
the early lead. But Ruhl (Coldwater, MI)
had his Smith Motorsports Krieger-powered, Maxim hooked up on the lower groove
and quickly moved into the lead. As the
race went on, Ruhl got stronger and stronger, turning laps near 98 mph on the Crystal
oval.
2018 SOD champion Chad Blonde (Litchfield, MI) used a slight
miscue by Turner to take second. Blonde
had a couple shots at Ruhl on the high side on restarts, but Ruhl was just too
strong and motored away to win by a wide margin. Blonde held on for second while Zane DeVault
(Plymouth, IN), last year’s SOD opener winner, was impressive in finishing
third in former SOD competitor, now car owner Greg Wheeler’s 360 ride. Turner took fourth and second-generation
driver Ricky Ferkel (Mt. Pleasant, MI) had a strong showing to finish fifth. Tyler Gunn (Napoleon, OH), easy winner of the
King Engine Bearings heat race, recovered from a spin and charged from last to
finish sixth.
Gremlins made the night difficult for some veteran drivers
as former SOD champions Brett Mann (Goshen, IN) and Steve Irwin (Fenton, MI) both
had engine problems. Michigan Motor
Sports Hall of Fame member Jason Blonde (Litchfield, MI) suffered the same
fate.
Garrett Saunders (Lakeville, IN), a standout in Plymouth
(IN) Speedway crate Pro Sprints, made his unlimited sprint car debut as team
mate to Zane DeVault. On the opposite
end of the spectrum, Kent Gardner (Fenton, MI) returned to SOD competition
after a twenty-six-year absence!
Crystal owner/promoter Ron Flinn, new SOD owner Dave Muzzillo,
and their staffs did a great job to kick off the 2019 season in front of a
great crowd.
Qualifying – Benic Enterprises Fast Masters (fast qualifiers)
FORT WAYNE, IN (April 29, 2019) – For the third time in the
last four years, the Lane Automotive Sprints On Dirt powered by King Engine Bearings
/ MSD Ignition / Motul traditional season opener at Crystal Motor Speedway scheduled
for last Saturday had to be postponed.
Predicted day-time temperatures in the 40s and night-time in the 20s were
bad enough, but predictions of 3” of snow starting at 5 PM left Crystal owner Ron
Flinn no choice.
Learning from the past, a rain date for the opener was setup during season scheduling, the race will be held this Saturday, May 4th. Pit sign in begins at 4:00 PM and racingstarts at 7:30 PM.
Remember to stay up to date on race status, by signing up
for RainedOut text alerts on the SOD website.
Allstar
Performance (Better Luck Next Time Sponsor)
COMP Cams
(Lucky Dog Sponsor)
Benic
Enterprises (Crew Chief of the Year Sponsor)
Allstar
Performance (Sportsman of the Year Sponsor)
Motul
(Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Sponsor)
King
Engine Bearings (SOD Series Rookie of the Year Sponsor)
Noizee 1
Motorsports (Special Awards)
SOD 2019 contingency marketing partners are:
Allstar
Performance
BR
Motorsports
Diversified
Machine Inc. (DMI)
Hepfner
Racing Products (HRP)
Keizer
Aluminum Wheels
King
Racing Products
Maxim
Racing
Pyrotect
Racing Cells
Racing
Optics
Rod End
Supply
Saldana
Racing Products
Schoenfeld
Headers
Simpson
Racing Products
Ti22
Performance
2019 SOD season opener at Crystal loaded!
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FORT WAYNE, IN (April 25, 2019) – The 40th Lane
Automotive Sprints On Dirt powered by King Engine Bearings / MSD Ignition /
Motul season opens with SOD’s traditional opening race venue, Ron Flinn’s Crystal
Motor Speedway, this Saturday, April 27, loaded with talented drivers.
Last year, Zane DeVault, Plymouth, Indiana, drove to his
first SOD victory by just 0.03 seconds over hard-charging 2018 SOD champion
Chad Blonde (Litchfield, MI) and Matt Foos (Fremont, OH). Not only was the racing exciting, but SOD’s
“Beyond Limits” format proved itself with DeVault winning with a 360 engine
over Blonde’s 410 and the 305 of Foos.
While there has been a lot of talk about having lost ageneration in racing, things are looking brighter for the future. Zane DeVault, 2018 Butler champ Boston Mead,micro sprint champion Keith Sheffer Jr., Butler standout Tylar Rankin, and 2nd generation SOD competitor Zac Broughman have all notified SOD that they will be racing at Crystal. Also competing will be Quentin Blonde. The nephew of Chad, Quentin was impressive with SOD late last season picking up three consecutive hard charger awards.
Not to be outdone, veteran drivers Chad Blonde, pavement standout and Chad’s cousin Jason Blonde (Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame member) will compete at Crystal. Joining them will be 2017 SOD champion Steve Irwin and Ryan Ruhl who is off to a quick start this spring and always a threat to win at Crystal. Jay Steinebach has progressed from 9th to 6th to 3rd in points over the last three seasons and will be shooting for the championship this year. Top twelve 2018 points finishers Ricky Ferkel, Justin Ward, Mark Aldrich, Mike Schumacher, and Eric Smith are expected at Crystal. Robert Bulloch, away from sprint cars in 2018, returns to SOD competition as Steinebach’s team mate.
Don’t miss all the excitement as the 40th Sprints
On Dirt season begins. In case the
weather doesn’t cooperate, a Saturday, May 4, rain date is already in
place. To stay up to date on race
status, sign up for RainedOut text alerts on the SOD website.
