There were plenty of fireworks after and during the feature races on Friday night for the Fireworks Spectacular at Brown County Speedway.
In the Legends race, Preston Martin of Lincoln, N.D., got the win after an eventful feature.
Martin started sixth but it didn’t take him long to find his way to third. Martin utilized the top side to catch the two leaders who were running side-by-side.
With 12 laps to go Martin got a big run and threaded the needle three wide through the middle to take the lead.
“The middle was actually my backup plan,” Martin said. “Looking at the track before the race started, there was some good dark dirt right in the middle. I don’t know if it was a rut or just track worked over, but it looked pretty nice. So, when (Jamestown’s Ryan) Erdahl ended up getting to the top before I did, I went to the backup plan and that was my goal when I tried to make the pass.”
After Martin took the lead, he set sail, gapping the competition by a big margin. However, Martin got a little too high off of turn two and went off the track, surrendering most of his lead but still maintaining a slight advantage with four laps to go.
“As soon as I went off the track, I was like, ‘Oh great, I just blew it again,’” Martin said. “I love running the top side, so back home I don’t know how many races I’ve blown by driving off the top of the track. Unfortunately, it’s not new for me.”
Even though Martin came back on track with the lead, that’s not at all what he expected.
“I thought when I went off, I was for sure going to get passed by someone,” Martin said. “I was like, holy crap, I don’t see anybody yet. So that’s when I hurried up and tried to make the jump back on.”
Martin was able to hold on and get the victory, but it wasn’t easy after the mistake.
“It takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. I still work on it all the time,” Martin said of keeping his composure. “But the big thing is, always try to keep your cool in the car no matter what. … I’ve yet to drive better mad.”
In the late models, Thomas Weisgram of Northville got the feature win after a big crash on lap one. Without completing a lap, a huge stackup resulted in two cars flipping and forced five cars to retire from the race.
Weisgram said the early caution actually benefitted him.
“I’d say it kind of worked in our favor,” Weisgram said. “Once we restarted, we flip-flopped and got to restart on the outside, and I was able to set sail with clean air and focus on hitting my marks.”
Set sail is exactly what he did as he managed to lead every lap in the 25-lap event.
Even though Weisgram wasn’t challenged for the lead, he still had to work his way around lap cars and use the less preferred bottom side of the track.
“I think the car was really maneuverable,” Weisgram said. “I was really happy with the way the first start went. I was actually kind of bummed when we had that first caution, because we had a really good start. I was able to run the bottom in one and two, and it felt really good.”
The win was a little more special for Weisgram this weekend for a unique reason.
“This is a big deal,” Weisgram said. “This time last year I asked my fiancé to marry me under the fireworks, so it’s pretty special for us to have that moment here tonight.”
In the super stock feature, Aberdeen’s Stewart Schipke was able to pull off the win after surviving multiple late-race restarts.
Schipke started second, but it didn’t take him long to grab the lead. With Schipke out in front, a caution came out with 10 laps to go.
Schipke managed to get a good jump and keep the lead until another caution came out with six laps to go, when Warner’s Trevor Nelson got off the track from second place.
Once again, Schipke maintained the lead on the restart, but a caution with four laps left made him line it up and do it again, and before completing a lap, the yellow flag waved once again.
That was the final restart of the race and Schipke kept the lead and went on to win.
“On those restarts you don’t know where everybody’s at, you just have to go,” Schipke said. “I was trying to get the early jump on everybody and get back to the lead. So, that’s the biggest thing I think, is just getting that little extra jump.”
Something else that can sometimes help is getting to watch the other classes race to try and help determine the best line.
“You can kind of see where everyone’s running on the track,” Schipke said. “But every class is different. You watch a street stock and they’ll run different than a super stock, so you just have to watch the track for yourself.”
In the Street Stock feature race, Jayden Bough of Huron ended up in victory lane. When the 15-lap race started, Bough found himself sixth, but after working his way through traffic, he was up to second, chasing down the leader with six laps remaining.
“I was just running a different line than everyone else,” Bough said of his ability to get through traffic. “I felt the top was really starting to come in and I was just committed, so I stayed there.”
Bough was surprised that nobody else tried to run the top side to take his line away.
“I really thought Jodie Michaelsohn was going to at least try it,” Bough said. “But I’m thankful he didn’t.”
After getting by Aberdeen’s Michaelsohn for second, Bough had his eyes on Chris Serr of Aberdeen, who was leading the race.
With five laps to go, Bough pulled alongside Serr and as they were battling for the lead, Serr had a mechanical failure that forced him to retire from the race.
“I thought it was going to be a pretty good race,” Bough said. “Unfortunately (Serr) has had some really bad luck this year. It’s unfortunate for him, but it played out well for me.”
Even though Bough took the lead, the race was far from over, as a caution came out with four laps remaining.
“It happens to me every time,” Bough said. “Every time I don’t want one, it happens and every time I need one, it doesn’t.”
Despite the late caution, Bough was able to hold the lead and get the win.
Brennon Weight of LaMoure, N.D., came out victorious in the Midwest Mods feature even though he didn’t think he or the car were up to his standards.
“We need to be and we can be a lot better,” Weight said. “We’ve been here a few times this year and we were actually really good. We’re just trying to find a balance in the car from dry tracks to muddy tracks and it’s kind of hard to do. But we feel like we’re getting better in the dry, now we just need to improve with the mud.”
Weight started on the outside front row and found the lead early.
Even though Weight got to the lead, he couldn’t quite find a line he preferred throughout the race.
“It was pretty heavy right through the middle,” Weight said. “I watched a bit of the street stock race and just saw it was right there in the middle and the middle is fast, the bottom’s too slow even if the bottom is good. We were trying some different stuff.”
After Weight found himself in the lead, a caution came out with 11 laps to go, then another with six to go. Weight was able to hold on to the lead through both cautions and end up in victory lane.
Aberdeen’s Kent Arment took home the feature victory in the Modifieds.
Racing continues at 7 p.m. Friday.
To see complete results, click on the following link:
