Smith, Skias & Taylor Win First Of Season At Spirit Speedway

Story By: KOLBY RAMEY / SPIRIT SPEEDWAY – SWEDESBORO, NJ – After a late race mechanical failure during the season opener, 2017 Track Champion, Matt Smith rebounded with his first victory of the new season in the Ace Overhead Door Company 600 Micro Sprint Feature event at the Spirit Speedway on Friday night.

Nick Skias drove Jim Widoss’ No. 28 to victory in the Ace Overhead Door Company 270 Micro Sprint feature while Kevin Taylor earned his first win in Spirit’s i2M 4 Cylinder Enduro competition. Kristi Hicks repeated as the winner of the Remax Connection 600 Novice event.

Both of last week’s winners – Luke Thomas (600s) and Andrew Locuson (270s) – took the Precision Hydraulic & Oil Lucky 13 challenge by giving up their redraw position to start thirteenth on the grid for their feature events with the hopes of capturing the $250 bonus that a feature win would provide.
Gary Borzowski and Mike Rutherford led the field of 600s to the green flag. Jon Keller immediately challenged Borzowski for the lead but the red flag stopped the action as Travis Hill got up and over in turn one. Several caution flags followed with Borzowski leading lap one before Smith drove up the inside of the track to take the lead down the backstretch on lap two.

Smith never looked back but was pressured all the way to the checkered flag by a very quick Jon Keller who took over second on the third circuit. At times, Smith was able to pull away by several car lengths but Keller was able to stay with the leader and apply pressure throughout the race. As the leaders headed to the checkered flag, lapped traffic became an issue. Smith chose the inside while Keller went outside with Smith reaching the finish line first for the win. Keller finished second followed by Luke Thomas who rebounded from early race damage to finish third. Rutherford finished fourth with Borzowski rounding out the top five. Jermain Godshall finished sixth followed by Damon Paul, Brandon Pavel, Richie Keller and Justin Murphy.

Rutherford and Skias led the field of 270s to the start with Rutherford jumping out to the early lead. Skias stayed within striking distance and used lapped traffic to his advantage to take the lead on lap ten. Skias led Rutherford, Locuson, Alex Swift and Billy Gray through the crossed flags. Locuson advanced to second just before five to go.

Skias had to do some creative wheeling as he began to experience motor issues before the race’s only caution flag on lap fourteen. Skias kept the car in high gear until the caution and then was able to shift again for several laps after the caution laps allowed the engine to cool down. Skias was happy to see the checkered flag waving as he drove to the win over Locuson, Rutherford, Gray and Kyle Weiss. Weiss started fifth but lost many positions on the original start and then worked his way back to a top five finish.

2017 i2m 4 Cylinder Enduro Champion, Scott Miller, was the early race leader in the 4 Cylinder feature event before Kevin Taylor went to the inside and Chris Martinez went to the outside to challenge for the lead on lap four. Taylor came away with the lead and drove to the win over Miller with Joe Garey, Jr. finishing third. Martinez, who had set a new one lap record during qualifying, made contact with the backstretch wall while racing for position.

RESULTS – FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2018

ACE OVERHEAD DOORS 600cc MICRO SPRINTS (20 laps) – 1. Matt Smith, 2. Jon Keller, 3. Luke Thomas, 4. Mike Rutherford, 5. Gary Bozowski, 6. Jermain Godshall, 7. Damon Paul, 8. Brandon Pavel, 9. Richie Keller, 10. Justin Murphy, 11. Wayne Scott, 12. Mark Landwher, 13. P.J. Williams, 14. Joe Dopke, 15. Colin Bustard, 16. Nathan Smith, 17. Steve Bracall, 18. Billy Calvert, 19. Dave Nelson, 20. Travis Rigante, 21. Kristy Hicks, 22. Nick Sapp, 23. Mike Linderman, 24. Whitey Kidd, III, 25. Travis Hill, DNQ – Nick Havens, Rebecca LaMothe, Maddy Boyd, Jay Hartman, Tyler Lindsay, Mike Fillbrunn

ACE OVERHEAD DOORS 270cc MICRO SPRINTS (20 laps) – 1. Nick Skias, 2. Andrew Locuson, 3. Mike Rutherford, 4. Billy Gray, 5. Kyle Weiss, 6. Alex Swift, 7. Brandon Shipley, 8. Ryan Wozunk, 9. Tyler Grau, 10. John West, 11. Steve Coslop, 12. Sean Huesser, 13. Jonathan John, 14. Tom Landwher, 15. John Wagner, Jr., 16. Buddy Scweibinz, 17. Ross Holler, 18. Richie Keller, 19. Kristen Landwher, DNS – Ken Andreas, Ryan Krushinski, Ryan Heim, Bill Gunning

i2m FOUR CYLINDER ENDUROS (20 laps) – 1. Kevin Taylor, 2. Scott Miller, 3. Joe Garey, Jr., 4. Rick Burnham, 5. Joe Garey, 6. Justin Dunn, 7. Chris Martinez, 8. John Webster

REMAX CONNECTION 600cc NOVICE (5 laps) – 1. Kristy Hicks, 2. Maddy Boyd