Thomas, Reinhardt & Miller Win Final Point Races At Spirit Speedway

Story By: KOLBY RAMEY / SPIRIT AUTO CENTER SPEEDWAY – SWEDESBORO, NJ – It was the final night of points for the 2017 season at the Spirit Auto Center Speedway as Luke Thomas, Kyle Reinhardt and Scott Miller added to their win totals while Dave McCullough picked up his first win of the season in the Speedway All Star Bagel Stop Slingshots.

2017 Champions were crowned in the 600 an 270 Micro Sprints and i2M 4 Cylinder Enduros with the Slingshots and 8 Cylinders to be determined on Friday, September 29th.

Luke Thomas picked up his third win of the season in 600 Micro action – no small feat for the driver from Wyoming, DE who raced on a part time basis this season. Thomas, who became a first time father just a few weeks ago, took the lead from Tyler DeVault following a lap eight restart and drove to the win without a further challenge. “We threw a whole different set-up on this car tonight,” Thomas explained as he and his Kenny Vincent No. 97 prepare for the track’s Skyscraper event. Thomas was the first to congratulate fellow First Stater, Matt Smith on his first track championship. “Matt and his Dad worked real hard and deserve the title,” the 2014 Champion exclaimed.

Thomas took the win over DeVault and Smith who had a lively contest for the runner-up spot through most of the final laps. Stoney Point, NY driver, Damon Paul finished fourth after regaining his position from two time track champion, Lee Nardelli who rounded out the top ten.

Despite a tight battle for the point lead throughout the season, Tyler Reinhardt emerged with his fifth consecutive 270 Micro title after picking up his third win of the season. Going into the night of racing, only four points separated Reinhardt and Alex Swift who led the point chase during the season. After struggling in his qualifying race, Swift raced to a top five finish after starting deep in the field.

Kyle Weiss dominated the twenty lap 270 feature for the first fourteen laps, taking the lead at the wave of the green and running away from the competition. Then, suddenly, on lap fifteen, Weiss slowed on the backstretch, handing the lead to Reinhardt. Reinhardt raced to the win over Steve Coslop, Andrew Locuson, Nick Skias and Swift.

After a season long dominating performance, Scott Miller raced to his tenth win in the i2M 4 Cylinders to claim his first track championship. Todd Francis and John Garey trailed Miller at the finish line.

Dave McCullough raced ahead of Rich Partite to capture his first win of the season on the Spirit quarter mile in Speedway All Star Bagel Stop Slingshot action. It took four attempts to get lap one scored but McCullough was ahead of the issues that claimed both Rich and Lou Partite on lap one. Rich Partite rebounded to finish second followed by his brother, Lou in third. Chris Gall finished fourth with David Bell rounding out the top five.

Nathan Smith added another victory in the 600 Novice Feature over Ed Wolf and Kristy Hicks. Smith than raced to a tenth place finish in the twenty lap 600 feature event after starting 20th at the start.

The Spirit Auto Center Speedway will be idle until Friday, September 29th for the Skyscraper Qualifier. The 270 and 600 Micros, 4 & 8 Cylinder Enduros and Slingshots will all be in action with racing getting underway at 8pm.

600CC NOVICE MICRO SPRINT FEATURE (8 laps): 1. Nathan Smith, 2. Ed Wolf, 3. Kristy Hicks, 4. Matt Davis

600CC MICRO SPRINT FEATUE (20 laps): 1. Luke Thomas, 2. Tyler DeVault, 3. Matt Smith, 4. Damon Paul, 5. Lee Nardelli, 6. Richie Keller, 7. Mark Landwher, 8. Jermain Godshall, 9. Mike Rutherford, 10. Nathan Smith, 11. Justin Murphy, 12. Joe Dopke, 13. Kyle Spence, 14. Joe Bednarek, 15. Billy Calvert, 16. Mike Linderman, 17. Brandon Pavel, 18. Chris Fenimore, 19. Ed Wolf, 20. Jon Keller, 21. Travis Hill, 22. Steve Bracall, 23. Nick Havens, 24. Matt Davis, 25. Dave Damaio, DNQ – Kristy Hicks, Rich Afflerbach, Jim Tippin

270CC MICRO SPRINT FEATURE (20 laps): 1. Tyler Reinhardt, 2. Steve Coslop, 3. Andrew Locuson, 4. Nick Skias, 5. Alex Swift, 6. Sami Schenck, 7. Rich Keller, 8. Ken Andreas, 9. Colin Bustard, 10. Gary Waegel, 11. Billy Gray, 12. Billy Murphy, 13. Tom Landwher, 14. John Blanda 15. John West, 16. John Wagner, Jr., 17. Kyle Weiss, 18. Ryan Wozunk, 19. Ross Holler, 20. Brandon Shipley

SPEEDWAY ALL-STAR BAGEL STOP SLINGSHOT FEATURE (20 laps): 1. Dave McCullough, 2. Rich Partite, 3. Lou Partite, 4. Chris Gall, 5. David Bell, 6. Ashley Therien, 7. Dave Morrell, 8. Steve Schenker

i2m FOUR CYLINDER ENDUROS (20 laps): 1. Scott Miller, 2. Todd Francis, 3. Joe Garey.