BIG WINNERS AT GRUNDY COUNTY

For awhile, it seemed like Chad Bayuk was riding on a slow train.

By the end of Saturday's opening night street stock feature at Grundy County Speedway, however, the three-time track champion had to feel like he was on a tilt-a-whirl.
Dizzying?

"I'll take that ride every day of the week," Bayuk said, laughing. "it was a good night."
Bayuk won out in the 20-lap main event in a gruelling, paint-trading fight to the finish with long-time standout Randy Weese. The two were bumper to bumper and side by side over the final four laps, with Bayuk prevailing by 0.993 seconds.

Weese looked in control of the race after taking the lead from Brandon Reed on lap 6. Bayuk soon followed, but didn't make up much ground.

"Yeah, we were out back behind him for a bit," Bayuk said. "I did everything I could to kind of keep within a distance of him... just in case."

"Just in case" occurred when the yellow flag flew with four laps remaining. On the restart, Bayuk followed right behind Weese, before making a bump-and-run move to the bottom. The two ran side-by-side for one lap, before Bayuk cleared Weese.

But not for long. Bayuk appeared to get loose as they went down the front straightaway. The two made contact, but straightened out and finished the race. Third place went to Reed, ahead of Shaun Quinn Jr., Sal Lozano and Zak Chanda.

"When we got that caution it played to my favor," Bayuk said. "We got a good start. I couldn't ask for a better guy to race against than Randy Weese.

"He raced me nice and tight and clean. When I got by him, I knew it wasn't over. It's never over until the last lap. It was a good race, and a great way to start the season."
In the pure stocks class, defending track champion Dan Schmeissing has once again come out of the blocks charging.
"Three in a row on opening night," Schmeissing said. "I like to start the season that way. I always like getting that first win out of the way."

Schmeissing had a bit of good fortune when with two laps remaining, race leader Bart Brockmann broke out and had to leave the track.

"Bart has so much more power down the straightaway," Schmeissing said. "It's hard to get around him on the outside. I was ready to just take second, or maybe make a move with two to go. I'll take it.

"It was great seeing everybody out here. I mean, 20 cars tonight. This is a healthy class that's still growing."

Another frontrunner, Dylan Roberts, also broke out just before the finish. That left second place to Matt Ciara, while Dominic Matts, Colten Williams and Todd Snow completed the top five.

The Mid-Am feature saw former track champ Kevin Murphy take the lead off the pole and stay there all 25 laps. Matt Clemens was able to close the gap in the late stages, but Murphy beat him to the finish line by 0.763 seconds.

"Starting up front, you're just hoping you can take care of your tires better than some chargers from the back," Murphy said. "Track position always mean a lot, especially with this type of caliber of a car.

"I think the top eight in qualifying were within a tenth (of a second). I knew it wasn't going to be easy racing with Matt. Man, that gap wasn't getting any bigger for me. I just did everything I could, and hoped to have a little better tires than him at the end."

Dean Patterson had a strong run to finish behind the top two. Scotty Gardner was fourth, ahead of Clay Curts and Matt Chester.

In the 25-lap Big 8 feature, Franc Beldowski had a great battle with Nolan Woods before taking the lead with two laps remaining.
Smooth as silk? Not exactly.

"The race director was on the raceceiver telling people to pick lanes," Beldowski said. "It was just something that needed to be done. I let him do his thing for most of the race, but when we had two to go, I had to do what I had to do to get to the front."

Beldowski went on to beat Joshua Lundy by 0.976 seconds. Woods finished third, followed by Mike Dimand, Steve Rubeck and Keith Pierce.

Jakob Koppers got his season off to a good start by winning the 20-lap Sixers feature. The defending high school champion took the lead from Breanna Riggins with nine laps remaining and set sail.

"I felt faster today than I did last year," Koppers said. "I was trying to look for an opening, and I also wanted to get up and put some pressure on her so I could sneak by on the inside.
"I was good on the inside tonight. I try to race cleanly."

Koppers beat Riggins by 4.534 seconds. Devin Eggert was third, followed by Roger Emery, David Emery Jr., and Seth Rowe.

SUMMARY
Big 8 Late Model
Fast time: Franc Beldowski (15.576)
Heat: 1. Steve Rubeck, 2. Keith Pierce, 3. Nolan Woods.
25-lap feature: 1. Frank Beldowski, 2. Joshua Lundy, 3. Nolan Woods, 4. Mike Dimand, 5. Steve Rubeck, 6. Keith Pierce, 7. Seth Redmond.

Mid-Am
Fast time: Clay Curts (15.943)
1st heat: 1. Connor Kosowski, 2. John Ventrello, 3. Matt Lee.
2nd heat: 1. Matt Chester, 2. Dean Patterson, 3. Matt Clemens.
25-lap feature: 1. Kevin Murphy, 2. Matt Clemens, 3. Dean Patterson, 4. Scotty Gardner, 5. Clay Curts, 6. Matt Chester, 7. Landon Hocking, 8. Connor Kosowski, 9. Cameron Preisler, 10. Daniel Calhoun, 11. John Ventrello, 12. Kellen Arnold III, 13. Matt Lee, 14. Phil Speciale, 15. James Dean.

Street Stocks
Fast time: Shaun Quinn Jr. (16.704)
1st heat: 1. Peter Hernandez, 2. Zak Chanda, 3. Joshua Grenlund.
2nd heat: 1. Sal Lozano, 2. Brandon Reed, 3. Randy Weese.
20-lap feature: 1. Chad Bayuk, 2. Randy Weese, 3. Brandon Reed, 4. Shaun Quinn Jr., 5. Sal Lozano, 6. Zak Chanda, 7. Peter Hernandez, 8. Kristi Preisler, 9. Darrell Gay, 10. Joshua Grenlund, 11. Parker Shutkas, 12. Aaron Vines.

Sixers
Fast time: Jakob Koppers (19.723)
1st heat: 1. Kaylee Emery, 2. Devin Eggert, 3. David Emery Jr.
2nd heat: 2. Roger Emery, 2. Breanna Riggins, 3. Jakob Koppers.
20-lap feature: 1. Jakob Koppers, 2. Breanna Riggins, 3. Devin Eggert, 4. Roger Emery, 5. David Emery Jr., 6. Seth Rowe, 7. Kaylee Emery, 8. Cayden Hayes.

Pure Stocks
Fast time: Todd Snow (19.200)
1st heat: 1. Jackson Martindale, 2. Edward Davies, 3. Matthew Arnold.
2nd heat: 1. Mike Glenn, 2. Garrett Evans, 3. Zach Ortz.
3rd heat: 1. Bart Brockman, 2. Dylan Roberts, 3. Matt Ciara.
20-lap feature: 1. Dan Schmeissing, 2. Matt Ciara, 3. Garrett Evans, 4. Dominic Matt, 5. Colten Williams, 6. Todd Snow, 7. Mike Glenn, 8. Zach Ortz, 9. Edward Davies, 10. Andrew Randall, 11. Jackson Martinsdale, 12. Matthew Arnold, 13. Jason Turner, 14. Jeffrey Turner, 15. John Hougas, 16. Kaylee Vines, 17. Ashley Matts. DQ: Dylan Roberts, Bart Brockman, Jakob Slusarczyk.