[saycheese]

It was an emotional night at the Angola Motor Speedway this Saturday night. Long time driver and Angola crowd favorite, Stan Perry, passed away after a tragic accident Friday night at the Spartan Speedway. Emotion filled the Speedway, and each driver wanted to win races to dedicate their victories to the long-time veteran, Stan Perry. With the chance of rain, wind gusts, and chilly weather, some fans were a little “iffy” to come out to the track. The fans who did make it to the Speedway, however, got their money’s worth and then some!

The action was kicked off by the Wild and Crazy Mini Stock series. Kedrin Holldiay, who led every lap in last week’s feature except the final lap, set the fast qualifying time. He was given good competition by Jerry Slone who finished second in qualifying. Holliday started at the back of the 12 man field in the feature event, but raced out to a quick lead at the beginning of the race. Holliday took the checkered flag in the 15 lap feature without ever giving up the lead. Jerry Slone ran a strong race and finished second, followed by Jim Musser who finished third.

The 10 man field in the Street Stocks was paced by Dick Margo, who qualified first. Tony VanAllen qualified second quick, with Tommy Little placing third in qualification. These three drivers paced the 20 lap feature event as well. Tony VanAllen took the lead and was trailed by Little and Margo. He pulled out ahead of the field, but with three laps remaining, a caution evened the playing field. VanAllen was able to hold off Little and Margo, who finished second and third respectively.

Twenty Modifieds showed up to the Angola Motor Speedway, all with hopes of winning the 30 lap feature event that capped off a great night of racing. Brad Springer set fast qualifying time, with Kale Asztalos second and Erik Schaeffer third. The race began slowly, with three cautions in the first nine laps. The rest of the race was action packed and good hard racing! With only a few laps to go, Brian Nester was making a good run at the lead. At the beginning of a restart, he was clipped by Kale Asztalos, who was running fourth at the time. Asztalos showed great sportsmanship and tapped, which gave Nester his spot back. Nester passed Jason Deitsh to take over second place and was making a hard run at the leader, Johnny Belott. On the last lap, coming out of turn four, the two drivers were side by side! Belott edged out Nester by only 0.086 seconds to take the feature victory. Jason Deitsh finished third in the event. With this race coming after the Super Late Models race, nobody thought this race could compare to what they had just seen. They were wrong, this race proved to be just as exciting and promises to bring the same intensity and action packed racing next week!

Many heavy hitters from the Tri-State area showed up for the $2000 to win Super Late Model event at the Angola Motor Speedway. Twenty-two drivers showed up hoping to win the purse from as far as three hours away. Fans didn’t have to wait for the feature for exciting racing. Jack Landis set a new Angola Motor Speedway record on the new Hoosier 970 tires during qualifying with a time of 14.275. He was followed closely by Mike Kugler and Brent Jack respectively. The 75 lap feature was, as many fans said, “some of the best racing we’ve seen in 15 years here at the track.” Alan Terry raced out to an early lead in the race and showed some great racing skills to hold off the other drivers. After three laps of hard racing, Scott Hantz passed Terry on the 8th lap of the race. Jack Landis, racing with a heavy heart after the passing of his father-in-law Stan Perry, ran hard to get to third place after starting 11th. He and Alan Terry battled for several laps before Landis finally took over second place. Now, with twenty some laps to go, the two odds on favorites were racing for the $2000 prize. Every time it looked as if Landis was going to pass, Hantz held him off. Hantz took the checkered flag just 0.301 seconds in front of Landis. Alan Terry rounded out the top three. The three racers showed the fans some of the best racing many of us have seen at the Speedway. On a night that looked as if the weather could doom the race, it ended up being a memorable night! Stan Perry would have been proud of the way the race went. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Next week should be just as exciting as this week was. The short track truck series comes to the Angola Motor Speedway for a 50 lap feature. All other classes will be racing as well. Come out and enjoy the racing action, or you could miss out on a night like Saturday! Be there!