While some of the winners were the same as Friday night, the paths they took to feature victories were much different Saturday night during the Andy Daly Special at Brown County Speedway.
Chad Becker was once again hooked up in a tight battle with fellow Aberdeen racer Kent Arment in the Late Model feature. On Friday, Arment lost his top line as Becker raced on the bottom en route to the win.
In the rematch, it was Becker who ran the top line with Arment in hot pursuit. This time Becker struggled in turn four, briefly lost the lead to Arment, before getting back with a few laps left to again take the checkered flag.
“The track was fast. A little more technical tonight,” Becker said. “I tightened up at the end on the restarts and I kind of got tight the one time and Kent got me, and I got him back. The car was really good, it was more driver error than the car.”
Becker said he got a bit too conversative when he had the lead.
“The car was better than me there for a little bit. The car was really good. I had to get after it,” Becker said. “When you get out front, you get a little bit cautious and don’t drive as hard as you should like I was right away, so it was probably more the driver than the car.”
Interestingly, Becker ran low initially, but jumped up to the high side on an early restart and never left that path.
“I could hear another car right there, so I knew the top was still good,” Becker said, “so I figured I better get up and at least try it.”
Becker said the win was meaningful coming during a program honoring the late Daly.
“It’s awesome to win on a night that honors Andy,” Becker said. “Andy was a very good guy. He’d talk to anybody. He was just a very likeable guy.”
Daly was a part of the Mike Stearns racing crew, so when Stearns won the Modified feature for the second straight night, it was doubly special.
“Andy was awesome on the set up with this thing. We really miss him for more ways than one, obviously,” Stearns said. “He was a big part of my racing deal, so to be able to go back-to-back on his memorial weekend, it’s just amazing.”
Stearns started on the pole position, but never completed a lap before having a flat tire and going to the back of the field.
“I hate that, banging wheels before we even come to the green flag, and I end up getting a flat tire out of it,” Stearns said. “It’s just disappointing to start a race like that.”
Stearns had to exit the track and get the tire replaced before the race restarted.
“Just trying to stay calm,” Stearns said of what when through his mind while his pit crew wrenched on the vehicle. “Use it to your advantage, but don’t do something dumb. Go out there and get ‘er back to the front.”
Stearns slowly worked his way through the pack and then on the fourth restart of the race, quickly bolted past the field to take a lead he never lost.
When asked what happened, Stearns responded, “Honestly, I’m going to have to rewatch the race to even know what all happened there. The restarts are the only thing that helped. If we didn’t have the restarts, I would have never had the opportunity to do it.”
Stearns said Daly played a role in his remarkable front-to-back-to-front again win.
“I knew we had a good race car, but there’s a lot of good race cars out there,” Stearns said. “I had a little more driving force I guess tonight behind me.”
Stearns has played a key role in helping to make the Andy Daly Special an annual event at BCS.
“I just want thank everybody who is helping with the event,” Stearns said. “Our goal is to make the event bigger and better every year.”
Nobody had a closer call Saturday night than Noah Madler of New England, N.D., who edged Donavin Wiest of Wishek, N.D., by an eyelash to win the Legends feature.
Madler held off the hard-charging Wiest by less than a car length at the finish.
“I think it was less than a bumper,” Madler said.
Madler defeated Wiest by .009 of a second.
“I’ve lost some in that situation and I’ve won ’em,” Madler said, “and I’m so glad tonight I came out on top.”
Madler knew that Wiest was fast closing in on him.
“I saw him a couple of times and then I was told to get to the middle,” Madler said. “I saw him poke his nose and I threw a slider into one and two there, and I got him. That was crazy.”
Madler, who finished second in national points last season, said the narrow win is something he will remember for a long time.
“This is one of the most memorable moments in my life,” Madler said. “This is awesome.”
Huron’s Jayden Bogh also pulled off a come-from-behind win in the Street Stock feature. He overcame a tough starting spot to grab a late lead and held on for the checkered flag.
“We started fifth tonight,” Bogh said. “Our stuff was just really good tonight.”
The race featured seven caution flags, so the track conditions changed throughout the race.
“It started out pretty grippy, then it started blowing off,” Bogh said. “There was a traction strip coming out of the corner, you just had to make sure you read it and you would’ve been alright.”
Warner’s Trevor Nelson won the Super Stock feature. He used a prime front row starting spot and topped the field to win the race, which included a total of $3,012 in first place prize money.
Racing takes a break before returning for another doubleheader on July 25-26 for the annual Rumble.
To see Saturday’s results, click on the following link:
