To say that Ricky Baker was proud of winning two features and the overall title Saturday in the inaugural Junkyard Dog Triple 30s at Grundy County Speedway would be an understatement.
As he and his car sat on the tech area scales, Baker's face showed the emotion.
"It's awesome," Baker said. "Hopefully they keep this race going. To be the first one, with everything Larry Schuler has done for me during our longtime friendship... this is really cool."
The event is named after the No. 30 "Junkyard Dog" Camaro that in 1976 Schuler drove to track titles at Grundy County Speedway, Illiana Speedway and Wisconsin International Raceway. Schuler's total of 43 feature victories was tops in the country that season.
Schuler, who is still active and a regular top runner at Grundy, competed in Saturday's triple-feature event, which is part of the Six-Pack Summer Shootout for super late models.
The first race was won by long-time veteran Rich Bickle, who took the lead from Schuler on lap 6 and led the rest of the way.
Bickle was challenged ferociously during the last half of the race by D.J. Weltmeyer, and beat him in a side-by-side finish by 0.130 seconds. Eddie Hoffman was third, followed by Baker, Anthony Danta and Schuler.
Bickle had more to battle than just Weltmeyer.
"The sun was really bad off of Turn 2," Bickle said. "But the worst thing was that this thing wouldn't turn in the middle at all. He gave me the bumper there a couple of times to let me know he was there, but I have to thank the 16 (Weltmeyer) for not dumping me.
"Me and his dad (Dave Weltmeyer) have always been great friends. That was respect, right there."
Race 2 saw another side-by-side finish, this time between Baker and Weltmeyer. Baker took the lead from Danta on lap 18. The difference between Baker and Weltmeyer at the finish was an equally astonishing 0.134 seconds. Danta, Hoffman, Schuler and Scott Koerner completed the top six.
"I was so free that whole race," Baker said. "All we did after the first one was swap the right side tires over. That and I changed the shim in the left front bump stop, and the car went from screaming tight to screaming loose.
"When D.J. barely tapped me, he got me free and moved me up. I really didn't have a choice but to race him (on the outside). I don't think I could have done it all night, but we had just enough to hold on."
For Weltmeyer, a former track champion, the back-to-back second-place efforts were a shining example of professional racers being able to compete side-by-side without chaos.
"It was fun. I'm just trying to race people how I want to be raced," Weltmeyer said. "If they can keep me in the racer like I'm doing with them, my time will come."
Bickle was in the front row for the third race and grabbed the early lead, but Baker made what would be the winning pass on lap 18. He went on to beat Bickle by 0.272 seconds. Danta, Hoffman, Koerner and Caleb Adrian were third through sixth.
Baker took home $3,500 for winning the overall title. Danta, Hoffman, Bickle and Weltmeyer completed the top five in overall points.
A dramatic finish in the pure stocks feature saw Jakob Slusarczyk swoop in from the outside in the final turn to beat Dominic Matts by 0.018 seconds. Todd Snow was inches behind in third, followed by Dan Schmeissing, Dylan Roberts and Matt Ciara.
"How did I do that? I have no idea," Slusarczyk said, smiling. "I think the track was a little loose tonight. I was doing everything I could, but I didn't want to get him dirty or spin him out or anything crazy.
"At the end there, I just stuck my foot in the gas and turned left. We've had one photo finish before, and this is the closest one now."
Richard Bischof III followed up a heat race win with a wire-to-wire victory in the Super Cups feature. It was the first of Bischof's career. He held off a continual challenge from second-place Mak Regnerus.
"Oh, my goodness, I thought that Mak was chained to my bumper there for a while," Bischof said. "He was there no matter where I looked. Inside, outside, straight behind me, he was an awesome competitor and made me earn every lap. That was great."
Breanna Riggins took the lead from Roger Emery on lap seven and ran a smooth race to the finish to claim the Sixers feature. It was a nice bounce back from a sub-par heat finish.
"In the heat race we were trying to stay patient," Riggins said. "They were side-by-side and I didn't know what lane to pick. I didn't want to put them three-wide.
"It was just a heat race. We had the whole night ahead of us. In the feature we did the same thing, staying patient, but we were able to get down on the bottom quickly."
SUMMARY
Super Late Models
Fast time: Eddie Hoffman (14.462)
1st 30-lap feature: 1. Rich Bickle, 2. D.J. Weltmeyer, 3. Eddie Hoffman, 4. Ricky Baker, 5. Anthony Danta, 6. Larry Schuler, 7. Kyle Shear, 8. Scott Koerner, 9. Clay Curts, 10. Jake Weinreich, 11. Caleb Adrian, 12. Scotty Gardner Jr., 13. Alex Weber, 14. Dennis Lyp.
2nd 30-lap feature: 1. Ricky Baker, 2. D.J. Weltmeyer, 3. Anthony Danta, 4. Eddie Hoffman, 5. Larry Schuler, 6. Scott Koerner, 7. Clay Curts, 8. Jake Weinreich, 9. Caleb Adrian, 10. Rich Bickle, 11. Scotty Gardner Jr., 12. Kyle Shear, 13. Alex Weber.
3rd 30-lap feature: 1. Ricky Baker, 2. Rick Bickle, 3. Anthony Danta, 4. Eddie Hoffman, 5. Scott Koerner, 6. Caleb Adrian, 7. Larry Schuler, 8. Clay Curts, 9. D.J. Weltmeyer, 10. Kyle Shear, 11. Jake Weinreich, 12. Scotty Gardner Jr., 13. Alex Weber.
Pure Stocks
Fast time: Dominic Matts (19.205)
1st heat: 1. Andrew Randall, 2. Jackson Martindale, 3. Jason Turner.
2nd heat: 1. Garrett Evans, 2. Aaron Vines, 3. Matt Ciara.
3rd heat: 1. Bart Brockman, 2. Dominic Matts, 3. Mike Glenn.
25-lap feature: 1. Jakob Sluszarczyk, 2. Dominic Matts, 3. Todd Snow, 4. Dan Schmeissing, 5. Dylan Roberts, 6. Matt Ciara, 7. Mason Meister, 8. Aaron Vines, 9. Garrett Evans, 10. Bart Brockman, 11. Jackson Martindale, 12. Andrew Randall, 13. Jason Turner, 14. Phillip Arnold, 15. Mike Glenn, 16. Kaylee Vines, 17. Jeffrey Turner, 18. Colten Williams, 19. Matthew Arnold.
Sixers
Fast time: Breanna Riggins (19.976)
Heat: 1. Roger Emery, 2. David Emery Jr., 3. Breanna Riggins.
20-lap feature: 1. Breanna Riggins, 2. Roger Emery, 3. David Emery Jr., 4. Seth Rowe, 5. Kaylee Emery.
Super Cups
Fast time: Camden Grommes (19.567)
Heat: 1. Richard Bischof III, 2. Mak Regnerus, 3. Camden Grommes.
20-lap feature: 1. Richard Bischof III, 2. Mak Regnerus, 3. Camden Grommes, 4. Kenny Slavicek, 5. Makayla Hall.