Tate Martz was your winner Saturday night when the Vincennes University Midwest TQ Racing League held the Tribute to Larry Rice & Salute to the Hall of Fame at the Rush County Fairgrounds.
Martz came from his 9th starting position and passed outside front row starter Ronnie Combs on lap 22. Martz went on to lead the final 29 laps taking the checkers ahead of Joey Paxson, Kevin Rice, Chad Hankins, Tad Cheek, Tim Lynch, Rick Robinson, Chris Guinn, Joe Miller and Matt Lux. Rounding out the 21 car starting field were Chris Mann, Nick Speidel, Brad Wilson, Ronnie Combs, Kenny Byrge, Jason Willis, Scot Quintel, Jeff Bruce, Robert Nichols, Eddie Gagnon and Brett Hankins.
Robbie Rice, son of Larry Rice, waived the green flag to start the 50 lap feature event. Additional members of the Rice family on hand included wife Beverly, son Zachary and daughter in law Megan.
Jason Willis turned a lap of 12.446 seconds in qualifications which was quick enough to top the 29 car field. Tad Cheek won the Jackson Oil & Solvents Duel for Fuel and heat winners were Ronnie Combs, Joey Paxson, Kyle Lux, Tad Cheek, Nick Speidel and Chad Hankins. Scot Quintel won the 12 lap B Main.
Rushville mayor Merv Bostic was on hand to present "Keys to the City" to Hall of Fame drivers Gary Bettenhausen, Steve Chassey, Larry Dickson, Jack Hewitt and Johnny Parsons. A Key was also presented to Tony Stewart with his father Nelson accepting on his behalf.
Hometown Country 94.3 WIFE was the presenting sponsor of the race and was broadcasting live from the fairgrounds all evening. A match race was held between on air personalities Ted Cramer and Jordan Fox on Gators provided by Smith Implements. Cramer took the early lead in the 3 lap match race but Fox closed in on the last lap and won in a photo finish.
The next race on the VUMTQRL schedule is the Bob Lowe Memorial scheduled for Saturday night August 8th at the Decatur County Fairgrounds in Greensburg, Indiana.
For more information in the Vincennes University Midwest TQ Racing League please visit their website at
www.mtqrl.com.
