The world’s fastest short track show was certainly that through 5 heat races and 70 laps of feature racing the caution flag was only shown twice. A large field of 19 supermodifieds and 24 sprint cars was on hand to challenge the high speed ½ mile of Toledo Speedway. However the high banks of Toledo took their toll on equipment early, as four machines would see their night’s come to an abrupt end in hot laps. In The MSA supermodifieds , the engine went sour on the 49 Stout racing machine piloted by Lou Cicconi and the 00 of Zach Gibson made hard contact with the turn one wall in hotlaps destroying the machine which was just completed after an incident at the Winchester Speedway in May. Fortunately Gibson would be okay. In Auto Value Super Sprints , the 71 of Jason cox broke an axle sending the car skidding hard into the turn four wall , Jason would walk away from the wreck but be done for the evening. The 37 of Hank Lower would lose an engine in hot laps ending his night as well.
In Auto Value Super Sprints, qualifying saw 8 cars break into the 12 second bracket a ninth car of Tom Tolbert .008 short of the mark after scrapping the wall just prior to crossing the line. The honors of being fastest went to the 17 machine of Cody Gallogly at 12.592. For Gallogly it was the first time in 410 sprints taking fast time. The 42 of Jason Blonde and 88 of Jimmy McCune were second and third quickest around the half mile. In heat races it became clear that track position would be a crucial factor as those starting up front would have a clear advantage over those further back. In heat one Troy Decaire in the 40:1 TruFuel machine would make a breathtaking three wide move to the high to pass the first two rows of cars on the first corner to taking the lead. He would never look back capturing the win, the 16 of Kyle Feeney and 61 of Kevin Feeney Rounded out the podium. In Heat two it was the 14 of Tyler Underwood who would pass the 26 of Jeff Bloom on the 5 lap to take the heat win, Bloom would finish second and the 87 of Ryan Gibbs third. In heat 3 the 5r of Darren Roberts would jump out to a big lead from his outside front row starting spot and claim the win, the 88n of Frank Neil would take 2nd after also starting on the front row and 7 of Joe Swanson third.
For the feature an eight was rolled on the invert die, putting the 26 of Aaron Pierce on the poll with the 40:1 of Troy DeCaire to his outside. The two a threat to win at anytime, it seemed foretold the winner would come from the front row. At the drop of the green flag DeCaire would jump to the lead from the outside, Pierce would follow closely. Pierce began to apply pressure DeCaire on lap 4 the two separated from the rest of the pack. On lap eight the pace would be slowed for the only time, as the 16 of Kyle Feeney would spin with a flat tire. On the restart the 42 of Jason Blonde would begin his charge forward sailing by the outside of three cars, going from 6th to 3rd. DeCaire would gradually run away from pierce in second in lapped traffic, pierce slowly being run down by Jason Blonde. Blonde would catch the 26 of Pierce on lap 19 but would not be able to make the pass for 2nd until lap 26. The pass would come too late to overcome the lead that DeCaire had built up giving DeCaire his first victory at Toledo. Blonde would Finish second Kody Swanson third, Jimmy Mccune fourth and Cody Gallogly Fifth. The 26 of Pierce faded in the final three laps coming in sixth. Blonde who seemed to have the fastest car in the feature commented in a post-race interview that he just needed one caution and he would have had something for DeCaire. A nod should also be given to the 14 of Tyler Underwood who started way back in 14th position but made a charge through the pack in the early laps making several three wide passes, his results not indicative of his effort retiring on lap 14.

In Midwest Supermodified Association action, Mike Lichty in the 84 Reed’s salvage machine put down an amazing lap in qualifying while battling a loose car to claim the title of fastest qualifier with a lap time of 12.940. The 94 of DJ Shullick would be second fastest and the 11 of Kyle Edwards third. In heat one Toledo native Jimmy McCune in the Biobased 88 would use his outside front row starting spot to jump to the lead and never be challenged the 70 of Dave Mcknight would come home second and the 94 of DJ Shullick third. In heat two the 7 of Charlie Schultz would also grab the top spot from outside the front row on the start. On lap 4 the 7 would pop out of gear on the on the backstretch, the car slowing if in front of the oncoming field and bringing out a yellow. Shultz would restart but the bad luck would relegate him to the back of the pack. On the ensuing restart the 64 of Jim Paller would pull out to a lead and the 84 of Mike Lichty would continue his march forward through the pack, which would end with a daring inside pass on paller on the last lap of the heat. The top three at the line would be Lichty, Paller and the 22 of Mike McVetta.
The 64 of Jim Paller and 88 of Jimmy McCune paced the feature. On the start the 88 of McCune drove in deep to turn one to come out with the lead. Paller settled in in second and the 70 of Dave McKnight in third. The top three would space out with a pack of cars forming behind McKnight who appeared to be fighting the handling of the car. With McCune and Paller fading in the distance on lap twenty the 22 of Mike McVetta low and the 84 of Mike Lichty High would split the 70 Machine of Dave Mcknight on the front stretch. Lichty would come out with the third position Mcvetta fourth , McKnight in the following lap would subsequently pull his car to the pit area and out of the race. Lichty would run down Jim Paller in Third and complete the pass on lap 35. By that point McCune had built up an insurmountable lead and Lichty would have to settle for a second place finish. McCune would emerge from the 88 in Sun Drop Victory Circle earning a popular victory for the Local favorite and Car owner Don Wilshe. Jim Paller, Trent Stephens and DJ Shullick rounded out the top five. The victory made Jimmy McCune the first to win both portions of the event, with McCune having won in the event in the sprints in 2011. The victory for McCune also perpetuated the record of MSA never having a repeat winner at Toledo. The forty lap feature was an exhibition of speed for the supermodifieds completing the entire distance without a caution in 9 minute 14 seconds.
A thank you must be given to the fans who packed the stands at the Toledo Speedway for the event. This show is always one of my favorites of the year and as a Toledoan myself, to me it’s worth the price of admission just to see the machines exact revenge on the annual mayfly swarm that we are accustomed to here on the shores of Lakes Erie.

By Pete Smith
Staff Writer luvracin.com
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A really good show for the large crowd in attendance. I have seen all of these winged sprint/supermodified shows here at Toledo and they never disappoint. The sheer speed of these machines is truly impressive.

The Toledo Speedway is a perfect track for this show. It is wide enough to provide numerous racing grooves so the drivers can showcase their talent. The 40 lap feature for the supers went green to checkers and was fun to watch.

The AVSS 30 lap feature was slowed just once. These guys also put on a great show that the fans enjoyed. If you have the opportunity to ever see this show, I would highly recommend it. A big thanks to Toledo Speedway, MSA and AVSS for putting this show on again this year.