Flat Rock Speedway

The Joy Fair 100 is the second race of the Super 6 Gold Cup Series.

I couldn't dreamed this (starting the season off with two wins). The guys worked really hard, put a lot of effort into it. I really have to thank Terry Senneker. It's been a while since I got to race with him, he builds my car … and most of the top five here … great cars. I have to thank my crew, my mom and dad, especially … they put a lot of money and time into this. To win at this place, the people and the talent, it is one of the better ones. I did say that a Flat Rock guy should win and Jimmy Thiel told me before the race to go get it (the race win) for us (the local teams). We race here each week, you'd think we'd have an advantage, but the travelers come in with top-notch equipment, they're smart guys … it's just awesome, I’m kind of speechless … I didn't really expect to (win), I just rode there … I thought we had a fourth-place car. Then the 18 (Steve Needles) started to fall off and I got to his outside and the 56 (Brian Bergakker) saw that and he dove in there and … then I got the lead, thought it would be between Terry (Senneker) and I … then Harold (Fair Jr.) … got to give him props, he ran me really clean with a lot of traffic. Man, it's awesome," said the driver of the Gibson Broach & Tool Inc.; Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C.; Southgate Hair Station; D. Slater Home Inspections; Molnar Funeral Homes; Don's Garage; G. Michael Kabot Orthodontics; Glass Unlimited; Victory Racing Parts #4.

It was the Westland, Mich., driver's second Gold Cup win … with first being in 2012 … the first Joy Fair 100. Justin is the only driver, since Flat Rock's annual 100-lap race became the Joy Fair 100 to win it twice. Also, it was the 2015 Flat Rock Late Model champion second win of the season and eighth career SLM win at Flat Rock.

Harold Fair Jr. finished second, the same position he finished in the first Gold Cup race of the season at Toledo in April. "It was fun … it was a good race. I laid back the first 50 (laps) and then we had all those yellows and it messed me up. It was a good race, second's great, the car's in one piece. It was pretty quick so …. The Royal Truck and Trailer; Senneker Performance; Classic to Current Fabrication; Francis Engineering; and Churchill Transport, it was a good run for them tonight," said the driver from Milan, Mich.

Phil Bozel, finished third. "This place is just so racy, that I just wanted to save some tires. I didn't want to go too hard early, but everyone was going hard. It's a fine line between going hard early and not having them at the end. We had radio issues in the middle of the race and I was all by myself. I cut some people short and I apologize for that … I don't like running like that. We had just enough at the end, when they said "go" and I went, made a couple good passes and ended up third. We saved enough rubber and go up there … just wish we would've had one more caution because I think we would've had a run for them at the end. I have to thank my sponsors: LeClair Racing; Sweet Manufacturing; AMSOIL; Next Generation LawnCare; All Star-Lane Automotive. The Portage, Mich., driver is in the car formerly driven by Dakota Carlson who retired after last season. Phil made up part of the two father-son teams racing tonight, with his father, Andy, finishing 11th. (Joe and Steve Hawes were the other pair, Joe finished 14th and Steve got fourth in the B main).

Defending Gold Cup champion, Steve Needles finished fourth after leading a race high 55 laps. "For being the first time thing (the car) has seen a race track I can't ask for a much better debut for this car. It was a rocket ship … if we could've stayed out of trouble there, I would've liked our chances to win for sure. It was going to be a heck of a race between us, Terry (Senneker) and Brian (Bergakker) there. That's racing, it's tight here and it's what you deal with. We can load the car in one piece, take it home and make it a little faster," said the driver of the Direct Detail; Amsdell Companies; Bicknell Racing Prod; Quickcar; Allstar Performance; Hutter Racing Engines; Earnest Performance; Senneker Performance.

It was a weird day for the Senneker team on Saturday. First, they had a flat tire on the motorhome, then the truck and hauler got stuck in the mud in the pits and had to be rescued by a front end loader, then while battling for the lead, Terry pulled into the pits with what the crew told me was a rear end problem on the race car.

Brian Bergakker finished fifth. It was his first ride in the Bob Fox owned #56 (formerly driven by Brad Riethmeyer). "The deal (to drive the car) came together in the middle of December. Bob called and said he wanted me to drive for him and I said yes. It's a good opportunity and I thank Bob for it. It's a very fast racecar, a real nice piece … he gives you good equipment and you just have to make it work," said the driver of the Diamond Racing Products; Trend Performance.

Sixth place finisher Justin Claucherty had a lot of work to do overnight on his

SAS Auto Club; KT Trucking; Complete Tree; Mid-America Motorsports; Jason's Pictures #7. The Clark Lake, Mich., driver had to go home after Friday's practice to repair the rear end and transmission. The team worked to about one in the morning to get the car ready for tonight's race.

Tadek Stadniczuk had a rear end problem also with his car during Friday's practice. The team worked hard overnight to fix the problem, only to have the clutch go out during Saturday's practice. "I really like to thank my crew for their hard work last night and today at the track," said the driver of the Forest View Lanes; 1 Stop Speed Shop; E.S. Billing Solutions; Wayward Bar-Grill; Bedford Dental.

Jimmy Thiel made the 24-car field in his Dusty's Collision sponsored #09. The Lincoln Park, Mich., driver broke the rear end on the parade lap and he was unable to start the race. (weird theme that ran through the pits this weekend with the rear ends).

Defending Flat Rock Late Model champion, Paul Pelletier had a brake caliper shatter in the accident he was involved in and had to park is Fraza Forklifts; Jaimes Industries; Dusty's Collision; ABC Plumb; L & M Hardwood; Blue Water Air Compressors.

Other drivers who didn't finish the 100 laps were: Jeff Vrsek (Performance Engineering; AMSOIL-Pat O'Dell; Diamond Pistons; Trend Performance; Penske Shocks) and Corey Duane (Duane's Roadrunners) both suffered damage in a wreck and Chris Benson who dropped out with unspecified problem.

First time driver at the track for the Joy Fair 100. Billy Shannon, a Kalamazoo Speedway regular, showed up. He was the last driver to make the race, finishing fifth in the Last Chance race in his City Cab; Farm Bureau Insurance Angela Shannon Insurance Agency #21. With all the late cautions, he was the recipient of the lucky dog several times and finished 15th on the lead lap.

A field of 28 cars were in the pits, a terrific field considering the race was run on Memorial Day weekend. It's the smallest field since the Stan Yee 150 in 2008. Between the two races an average of 34 cars have competed. The entry form said that if there were over 32 cars, a B main would be run. In a real nice move, the promotors still ran the B main in which Tom O'Leary IV won his first career LM feature. "We got wrecked out in the Last Chance race, tore up some stuff. Not where I want to be, we should've been in the A main, but I'll take a win in the B main and go home. I enjoy racing here."

Kevin Stahl was entered and at Friday's practice where his car suffered clutch problems.

The B main has been part of the Joy Fair 100 and Stan Yee 150 since 2014. In every race except one, it was their first LM feature victory for the winner. Only Tadek Stadniczuk has repeated (2015 for the 150 and 2016 for the 100) as the B main winner, but the win in 2015 was his first career LM feature win. (The other B main winners (2014 Lori Hall (100), Jeff MacZink (150); 2015 Mike Young (100), Tadek Stadniczuk (150); Tadek Stadniczuk (100), Nick Grodi (150))

Street Stocks:

Multiple time SS A division champion, Dan Ford Jr. was on hand today and won the A division feature. It was his first win in three years (Aug. 20, 2013), but for most of that time he wasn't racing. "I just want say thanks to Tom Graham for allowing me to be his driver. I also want to dedicate this win to my friend and former crew chief Don Lane who passed away last summer. Don was a great racer and an extremely good chassis man. My sponsors are Dani's Transport, H. Domie Enterprises, RFS landsapes, D&D Welding. Thanks." It was the 23rd career ARCA SS A division win, tying him with Tim Moore for fifth all time (and three wins behind his brother Regan who is in fourth).

For a while now I've been wanting to do the ancestry of some of the cars racing. I know there's a few out there that have been out there racing for a good long while. So the first one is Dan Ford's winning car. "The car I am driving is my 1995 and 1996 Young Country Championship car. It was driven by my brother, Regan in 1997 and 1998 … it was sold to Carl Bumgardner in 1999, Carl let me drive it again in September of 1999, and I broke the track record in the car. It was then sold to Tom Selmi in 2000. Then it was sold to Dave Tanner in 2001. Dave raced it until 2013 and it was sold to my current car owner Tom Graham. Basically, it's the Young Country car that I had so much early carreer success in. Also, the car I drove to set the track record of 12.96, the only street stock to run a 12 second lap (Editor note: A record that still stands (12.968 secs.). Who says a car has to be new to be fast…Dan's is 22 years old, can anyone out there beat that?

Chris Weber won his first career B division feature. "We're back after about eight years, supporting Autism. My son has Autism, so we brought the car back with our friends to promote Autism awareness. What a way to come back after eight years, awesome. My kids and family are here … thanks everybody. Glad to be back."

Alex Kennedy won his first career street stock.

It's been a great first two weeks of racing with many first-time winners. And I can't remember any of the cars being taken off the track on a wrecker.

The racing this year, fantastic! Here's the link to the Joy Fair 100, but Mike tapes most of the races: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSr0lUqT0PQ&feature=share

Clarity Patton (formerly Newhouse) has changed her number to #22 this season to closely match the number of her late model (which is #2).

From the (E) Mail bag and Facebook. Anyone interested in getting in this section send me something at icechips@hotmail.com or www.facebook.com/icechips

Ray Morneau

"We are so happy to have the points lead in our Xpress Group, Hallmark Memorial, Scooter Pro, Rivard Snow Plowing, Highland Tools, Double R Reworks, CNR Auto and Tire, Expressway Trucks, JR Graphics but of course it is only the second night … lol. I drove a Pro Late Model at Delaware, it was a really, really fun learning experience plus I got the day off school! Hahaha … It was much different than a street stock which was fun to try and find the similarities and differences to the way you drive a PLM. We qualified sixth … had to start at the back because we were a rookie and moved to eighth in first race. The second one we were going by fifth but got together and bent the boer bars ending our night. We were happy with it being my first time in a PLM and second time on Delaware."

Joe Hawes Racing

1. Our day started out with a broken transmission in the first practice. That limited Joe to a quick scuff session and a 2 lap qualifying run. He still managed to clock in at 11.98 and missed locking into the race by 2/100's of a second. We ran the rest of the night with no clutch, and only 4th gear.

  Joe started on the pole of the last chance race and finished 2nd to Andy Bozell securing a starting spot in the 100.

  The car started out very tight in the race, and Joe ran in the 18th to 22nd position for most of the first half. With some cautions and the car getting better, he ran as high as 12th with 20 laps to go. In the end, Joe drove the ABC Plumbing and Drain Dodge to a 14th place finish after a tough night. Not quite the finish we were looking for, but all in all a decent night with all the problems.

Steve missed the cut for the 100, and also experienced clutch problems throughout the night. He eventually dropped out of the B Main after the clutch finally gave out.

  We'll get these problems sorted out for the next race, and be back looking for those checked flags.

Colin Barron Racing

1. Congrats to Colin for getting his first top-10 finish in an A-Main, finishing in 10th ! It wasn't easy though. After posting a pretty good practice time of 13.89, he went out to qualify and slightly over-drove his two laps, looking to get a little more, but could only manage a 14.02, good enough for 15th out of 31 cars. In the third heat he started fifth and was going for second when contact with another car caused him to spin. With nothing more happening, he managed to finish fifth. Starting 15th in the feature, he drove a really smart race by not letting the car get away from him. Heads-up driving kept him out of a few spins in front of him; protecting the inside also kept a few behind. The car seemed pretty good on both the inside and outside groove, but pretty loose overall. It was a fun race to watch, with the 103 battling with good cars like it should. Have a little bit of work to do to repair the bumper, but overall a good night.

  "It was one of the hardest cars to drive, but also the most fun", Collin said after climbing out of the car.

  Have to give a shout out to all of our advertisers- Becky Hernandez, 31 Senior Executive Director, Mills Gymnastics, Matco Tools- Jamie Szawara, Designs By Kayla Co, MAC Tools- Kurt Miller, and Michigan Message Professionals.

From Opening night….

Late Model winner, Justin Schroeder — "It was an awesome race, I have to really thank Frankie (Jiovani), we got three wide and he could've roughed me up. We talked earlier after he beat me for fast time and I told him, get out there, and get a gap between some people and decide it between us. Man, it was awesome … lapped cars were all over the place, it ended up working out in my favor … What an awesome night. I have to thank my guys, we rebuilt the car over the winter, to come out like this is awesome. With 10 to go I could see the lapped cars and (Scott) Pemberton was kind of running up where I couldn't get underneath him, and it was hard to get to the outside, so I dove in there and it stuck. The lapped cars really helped. I didn't think I'd get Frank (Jiovani), but when I did my dad's on the radio saying "Go! Dig! Dig! Dig!" … I wasn't going to let off, rubbing is racing. It was awesome. I have to thank all my new sponsors. Gibson Broach & Tool, Inc (Livonia, MI), Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. (Livonia, MI), Southgate Hair Station (Southgate, MI), D. Slater Home Inspections, Molnar Funeral Homes (Southgate, Brownstown, and Wyandotte), Don's Garage (Westland, MI), G. Michael Kabot Orthodontics (Farmington Hills), Glass Unlimited (Westland, MI), Victory Racing Parts … and my mom and dad. Happy Mother's Day! … and my wife.

It was a night of firsts, and Schroeder, who won the Late Model Champion in 2015 and has won X LM races had his own first… he won his first opening night feature. It's also his first win since Aug. 2015.

Jeff Metdepenningen scored his first career Street Stock A division feature. He had won an after the season non-points race (on the fall School Bus race night) several years ago. "It's awesome… I was watching these guys and thought, man I'd like to get out there and race with them … Finally got a chance to do it. That's the way to race (running side by side) … I've watched Greg (Studt) for the last few years and have a lot of respect for him. The top four or five guys can do that (run side by side without touching). I want thank my crew, my boys, brother, Stan gives me some help, the Good Lord Above … oh and of course my wife. She's not here today.

And the next first time winner was Wilburn Parks, who took home the win in the Street Stock B Division. According to Gary Lindahl, it was his first checker flag at Flat Rock. "It's been a long time coming.

Dennis Whisman Jr., Figure 8 — I've been waiting for this moment for 16 years but I never thought it would come this quick and I can't thank enough the people who helped me to get here. The number one person who got me where I'm at now is my dad he has taught me everything that I know right now and there's a lot to learn also I would like to thank Richie and Mindy Lee, my uncle Joe, Eugene 'The Big Machine", Jeff Minnick, my Mom and my girlfriend Brooklynn and all my sponsors: A-1 Transmissions, Leppen Chiropractic, Marks Toy Box, Mikes Barber Shop, Robert A. Mucha and thank you everyone else who congratulated me on my win."

  This and That

Joe Vanderhoof won his first Figure 8 heat in his first point's race (he raced with the buses last year). He's sponsored by Jesse's Discount Party Store. And in case you're wondering, he's James Vanderhoof's brother and multiple Figure 8 champion, Jeremy Vanderhoof's cousin.

Brian Moore won his first Street Stock B division heat).

Rookie driver, Nick Sullivan was competing in his Street Stock race. Not only that but it was his first race on an oval. Nick comes by way of running open wheel road course cars for the last three seasons. He has a great car, Rich Frantz's old car. He's sponsored by Sully's Speed Shop, Maniacis, Katies Kreations and Lime Light Motorsports (he's LM driver Paul Pelletier's neighbor). He stayed out of trouble and finished 14th in the A division feature.

One more for the first timers. David Liaff made what I think is his first Street Stock start. I'll have to check this week because I'm guessing he's related to the Liaff that used to run at Toledo. David was doing quite well, until he was black flagged in the feature for going too fast and finished seventh in the B division feature.

Returning to Street Stocks was former A Division champion, Grant Hedges. He finished eighth in the A division feature

Steve Chartrand returned to the Figure 8 division but wasn't able to start the feature.

Clyde McKee and Alex Kennedy tangled in hot laps with Clyde getting the worse of things. The car needed many bolt-on pieces on the left front replaced on his S&P Guns and Ammo, Alliance Catholic Credit Union, ADAY Roofing, Blossom Florist, Patrick Signs, Dr. Leppen Chiropractic, Mac's Towing #4.

• From Team Pages and email

1. Looking for items for this section. Send it to me at icechips@hotmail.com or message me on Facebook. If you have a Facebook page or website, send that too and I'll go grab it.

Joe Hawes Racing:

1. The first race night of the season presented challenges for the team. We worked on the set up and made several changes but never really found a good handle on things.

  Joe finished 2nd in the 2nd heat race after leading from the green and getting beat to the checker flag by Steve Cronenwett jr on a last lap pass.

  Joe started 14th in the feature and managed to bring the 53 home in 11th after an up and down race.

  Steve started the 54 in the feature, but dropped out with a mechanical problem on lap 2.

  We will return for the Joy Fair Memorial 100 in this weekend.

  Congratulations to the 4 team and Justin Schroeder on the feature win.

Team 103 (Caleb Barron)

1. Overall a very smart race driven by Caleb in the season opener. Barely missed the A-Main, but he learned a lot driving in this B-Main race, and showed a ton of patience, while still knowing when it was the right time to go. We are working out a few details in our new chassis setup for this year, but we made big strides all day long. A great crowd on hand made for a GREAT autograph session, where we handed out close to 50 TEAM 103 candy/sponsor goodie bags and pictures. Meeting the fans, especially the young, aspiring future race car drivers, is one of our favorite things to do!

  Yes, Caleb was the fastest car in the race based on qualifying times. He could have started seventh, but we chose to start in the back to let things "sort out" a little in the beginning. (You'll see why we decided to do this pretty quick in the video!) Note: Video here: www.facebook.com/becky.adamshernandez/videos/10155271173086873/

  Overall, a fun night of racing, and not a scratch on the car!

      BIG thanks to our Ms. Becky (and our Ms. Ella!) (www.beckyhernandez.com) for Facebook Live'ing this race, braving the still-chilly night air on the hill to help cheer us on, advertising on the car, and for the wonderful commentary!

      And as always, thanks to everyone for your continued support of TEAM 103!

  I can be reached at icechips@hotmail.com or message me at www.facebook.com/icechips