Jedrzejek clinches title at Lorain County Speedway
Bob Stascak | The Chronicle-Telegram
SOUTH AMHERST — With the Midwest Supermodified Association season championship all but wrapped up, Tim Jedrzejek came to Lorain County Speedway Saturday night just needing a decent finish in the night’s 30-lap feature to clinch the PPG Vibrance Supermodified point title.
Easier said than done.
A broken motor on the Independence driver’s Reed’s Salvage roadster in qualifying suddenly put the points crown up for grabs. And North Ridgeville’s Dave Shullick Jr. and Lorain’s Charlie Schultz, second and third, respectively, in the standings, were right there ready to take advantage.
But thanks to a crew that worked feverishly though the evening to replace the blown power plant, Jedrzejek was able to start the feature and finish 10th — good enough, barely, to win the championship. Schultz had to “settle” for the feature win.
South Amherst’s Bob Dawson lead early in the Supermodified feature. Sandusky’s Jack Smith, Middleburg Hts.’ Randy Burch, Schultz and Amherst’s Denny Fisher rounded out the top five.
Schultz rocketed into the lead on Lap 8 and began to pull away from Dawson. The field was tightened up on Lap 24 when Burch, Tim Buchanan, Fisher and Tim Ice spun on the backstraight and Shullick Jr. went to the pit area with a flat left front tire. Fisher was unable to rejoin the race, out due to a bent left front axel.
Fisher’s loss was Jedrzejek’s gain. With an unproven engine in his car, Jedrzejek was struggling, going a lap down to Schultz. The accident allowed him to make up enough ground for the 10th-place finish.
On the restart Schultz charged out in front of Dawson once again, opening a sizable lead en route to his third MSA feature win at LCS.
“This is the first time I’ve been able to smile all night, that’s for sure,” said Jedrzejek. “We started out running well in practice and were set on being patient. Then the motor just went sour. Thankfully Reed’s Salvage supports this deal enough that we had a spare motor in the trailer.
“We didn’t get much of a chance to dial the new motor in. We were sweating. We pushed off last, because we didn’t want to take any chances the way our night was going.”
The Fisher accident gave Jedrzejek the break he needed.
“I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Denny Fisher on the hook. I knew then we had a one-point margin to work with, then we could go racing.
“All week long I was thinking that we had completed every lap this season coming here to Lorain. I never mentioned it because I didn’t want to jinx us or anything. That’s a testament to the crew and team and why we won the title.”
The night also featured Season Championships for four regular divisions. Elyria’s Matt Marlowe was crowned the
E-Mod 2008 champion while Madison’s Chuck Philips repeated as the Limited Late Model titleholder. Mentor’s Bill Sprague copped the Street Stock title, while Grafton’s Charlie Wells took the Chargers championship.
In feature action, LaGrange driver Amber Gerken scored her second E-Mod feature win of the season. She took the lead from polesitter John Bartlome on Lap 5 and held off Joe Shannon through four cautions.
Sprague started 10th in the Street Stock feature, then fought off Josh Way for the win.
The Limited Late Model feature saw Painesville’s Joe Courson take the lead away from North Royalton’s Brian McCall on Lap 18, then hold off Philips for the victory.
The Chargers feature closed out the evening with Jessie Houghton leading all 15 laps and withstanding a strong challenge from Wells in the closing laps to take the win.
Highlighting the evening was the induction of Randy Wynne and Dave Shullick Sr. into the Lorain County Speedway Hall of Fame.
MSA SUPERMODIFIEDS
FASTEST QUALIFIER: Dave Shullick Jr. (N. Ridgeville) 12.555
HEAT 1: Charlie Schultz (Lorain); Denny Fisher (Amherst); Randy Burch (Middleburg Hts.); Moe Lilje (Vickery); Jim Paller (S. Amherst); Matt Palmer (N. Olmsted); Rob Stasick (Sullivan); Jon Henes (LaGrange)
HEAT 2: Bob Dawson (S. Amherst); Shullick Jr.; Jack Smith (Sandusky); Tim Ice (Seville); Sean Sauer (Wellington); Brandon Fisher (Amherst); Todd Buchanan (Castalia); Tim Jedrzejek (Independence) DNS
FEATURE (30 laps; 15 cars): Schultz; Dawson; Smith; Lilje; Shullick; Burch; Ice; Paller; Sauer; Jedrzejek; Henes; Palmer; Buchanan; B. Fisher; D. Fisher; Stasick DNS
E-MODS
FASTEST QUALIFIER: Dave Carter 14.79
DASH: Tigh Shaffer (Columbia Station); Matt Marlowe (Elyria); Carter; Shawn Gray (Columbus)
HEAT 1: Jeff Gunter (Lorain); Brad Copen (Wooster); John Ivy; Nick Diano (Louisville); Ed Colbrun (Litchfield)
HEAT 2: Kurt Hennings (Cleveland); Andy Hoskinson (Elyria); Jeff Fade Jr. (Madison); John Bartlome; Rick Harmon (Elyria)
HEAT 3: Amber Gerken (LaGrange); Shaffer; Joe Shannon ( Kent); Steve Klinect (Burbank); Carter
FEATURE (30 laps; 23 cars): Gerken; Shannon; Carter; Klinect; Bowers
LIMITED LATE MODEL
FASTEST QUALIFIER: Chuck Philips (Madison) 15.88 (track record)
DASH: Rodney Saunders (Painesville); Joe Courson (Painesville); Philips; Chuck Carver (Olmsted Falls)
HEAT 1: Jeremy Holbrook; Brian McCall (N. Royalton); Tyler Johnson (Berlin Hts.); John Newman (Vermilion)
HEAT 2: Mayo Spence (Perry); Saunders; Courson; Philips; Smith
FEATURE (25 laps; 10 cars): Courson; Philips; McCall; Johnson; Holbrook
STREET STOCK
FASTEST QUALIFIER: Bill Sprague (Mentor) 16.74
DASH: Bill Penn (Avon Lake); Steve Harmon (Elyria); Sprague; Earl Goldy (Painesville)
HEAT 1: Keith Platz (Eastlake); Jamie Neidhamer; John Newman (Vermilion); Kenny Calhoun; Dan Zundel (Mentor)
HEAT 2: Zundel; Sprague; Penn; Goldy; Randy Page (Elyria)
FEATURE (20 laps; 16 cars): Sprague; Way; Wilson; Harmon; Page
CHARGERS
Did not qualify
DASH: Charlie Wells (Grafton); Shawn Bubsey (Cleveland); John Buderer; Michael Parks (Vermilion)
HEAT 1: Lori Beck; Jerry Sivits; Neil Broski; Chris Palmer; Sam Morris
HEAT 2: Lindsey Lemmerman; Chris Kalo; Andy McCall (Elyria); Billy Ray McLendon; Kevin Broski
HEAT 3: John Kownzelman (Elyria); Wells; Kevin McCall (N. Ridgeville); Bubsey; Buderer
FEATURE (15 laps; 22 cars): Jessie Haughton; Wells; A. McCall; K. McCall; Buderer
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Filed by Bob Stascak | The Chronicle-Telegram October 6th, 2008 in Sports. Popularity: 1% |
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