Crystal,Mi (Sept. 5th 2015)- Ryan Ruhl captured the 25 lap Engine Pro, Sprints On Dirt, presented by ARP “Mike Olrich Memorial” at Crystal Motor Speeday Saturday in front of a packed house. Gregg Dalman became the series 2015 Champion after his 11th place finish tonight and Kyle Pitts captured the Short Track Challenge championship following his 5th place finish.

The “Mike Olrich Memorial” was originally set for July but suffered a rainout, therefore the event recalling the very popular former series director was made up on the Labor Day weekend visit to the 1/3 mile facility.

Craig Karazim would start on the pole of the feature with Kyle Pitts along side. Pitts led at the green with 3rd starting Ryan Ruhl quickly disposing of Karazim and setting his sights on Pitts. Pitts managed to hold Ruhl at bay for several laps but lap 10 saw Ruhl go low, pulling even with Pitts with the duo running side by side for two laps until Ruhl completed the pass and took command. Max Stambaugh in the #17 was now pressuring Pitts and moved into 2nd.

With less than five laps remaining, Ruhl encountered heavy lapped traffic. Stambaugh pounced and wrestled the lead away but Ruhl was strong and drove back around Stambaugh. 16th starting Dustin Daggett had advanced to third just as laps were running out. As the checkers waved, Ruhl drove under them followed by Stambaugh, Daggett, Kyle Sauder and Pitts.

A nice field 27 strong, saw heats won by Buckeyes Sauder, Stambaugh, Devon Dobie and John Gall. Troy Chehowski picked up the B main win.

Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP
Mike Olrich Memorial
Crystal Motor Speedway
Crystal, MI
Saturday September 5, 2015

Comp Cams / Lane Automotive Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 83 – Kyle Sauder, 2. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 3. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 4. 1A – Mark Aldrich, 5. 89 – Chris Pobanz, 6. 23G – Joe Geibe, 7. 50B – Mike Burns. (Top four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Kistler Racing Products Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 17H – Max Stambaugh, 2. 4 – Craig Karazim, 3. 22M – Dan McCarron, 4. 49T – Gregg Dalman, 5. 21T – Troy Chehowski, 6. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 7. 2T – Ralph Brakenberry. (Top four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Allstar Performance / Engler Machine and Tool Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 23 – Devon Dobie, 2. 7K – Kyle Pitts, 3. 27 – Brad Lamberson, 4. 19 – Brett Mann, 5. 7 – Nic Rogers, 6. 47 – Brian Smith, 7. 3 – Tank Brakenberry. (Top four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Hoosier Tire Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 81 – John Gall, 2. 84 – Kyle Poortenta, 3. 11G – Luke Griffith, 4. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 5. 46 – Robert Huisken. DNS: 31 – Andy Teunessen. (Top four finishers transferred to the A-Main)

B-Main (10 Laps): 1. 21T – Troy Chehowski, 2. 89 – Chris Pobanz, 3. 47 – Eric Smith, 4. 7 – Nic Rogers, 5. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 6. 23G – Joe Geibe, 7. 50B – Mike Burns, 8. 46 – Robert Huisken, 9. 3T – Tank Brakenberry, 10. 2T – Ralph Brakenberry.

A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 2. 17H – Max Stambaugh, 3. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 4. 83 – Kyle Sauder, 5. 7K – Kyle Pitts, 6. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 7. 4 – Craig Karazim, 8. 23 – Devon Dobie, 9. 22M – Dan McCarron, 10. 19 – Brett Mann, 11. 49T – Gregg Dalman, 12. 11G – Luke Griffith, 13. 7 – Nic Rogers, 14. 1A – Mark Aldrich, 15. 21T – Troy Chehowski, 16. 89 – Chris Pobanz, 17. 27 – Brad Lamberson, 18. 84 – Kyle Poortenga, 19. 81 – John Gall, 20. 47 – Brian Smith.

Photo by Dirt Road Photography

Hartford, MI — (September 4, 2015) — Even though it had been almost 10 years since visiting Hartford Speedway Kyle Sauder looked as sharp as ever around the massive half mile oval picking up the feature victory Friday with the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP. Sauder took the lead from Ryan Ruhl while negotiating slower traffic and held on following a late race restart for the victory in the CH Motorsports car.

For Sauder ripping around Hartford’s half mile was like putting on his favorite pair of shoes after not wearing them for a long time.

“I love this place. It’s big and fast. Ryan (Ruhl) made me work for the win tonight,” said Sauder. “These guys are pretty good up here, and just to come up here once a year and win is great. I’m just glad to get CH Motorsports with Terry Hendricks in victory lane.”

Linden Jones and Gregg Dalman started on the front row for the 20-lap main event. Brett Mann made an aggressive move at the start to make it three wide through turns one and two to lead the opening lap. Ryan Ruhl pounced on Dalman to take over the second spot and immediately started to apply pressure on Mann for the lead when Joe Geibe came to a stop on the front stretch with front end damage. Geibe was forced pit side and was unable to continue.

Ruhl put pressure on Mann for the lead immediately following the restart. Mann was able to hold Ruhl at bay for one lap until Ruhl successfully executed a side job on lap three to take the lead off of turn two. Two laps later Sauder moved past Mann into second. Then while Mann and Dustin Daggett were racing for third the duo made contact on the front stretch on lap six with Mann sliding to a stop and Daggett forced pit side with damage to his car. Both cars suffered too much damage to continue.

Ruhl motored away from Sauder during the restart. Ruhl maintained a sizeable advantage until encountering slower traffic on lap 11. With five laps to go Ruhl approached a slower car and drifted up the track in turns three and four, allowing Sauder to take the lead. Ruhl went for a while ride through the grass in turn one, somehow holding onto second spot.

Two laps later a scary incident took place when 69 year old Jim Lingar slammed head on into the water barrels in turn four. Amazingly Lingar exited the car under his own power and after a moment to collect his thoughts accepted a golf cart ride back to his pit area.

This setup a three lap dash to the finish. Ruhl took a couple of looks under Sauder, but using the top side of the race track Sauder kept up his momentum and went on to victory. Ruhl held on for second with Dalman, Chase Ridenour, and Kyle Pitts rounding out the top five.

Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by APR
Hartford Speedway
Hartford, MI
Friday September 4, 2015

Comp Cams / Lane Automotive Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 2. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 3. 23 – Joe Geibe, 4. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 5. 27 – Brad Lamberson, 6. 16B – Dakota Busche, 7. 22OZ – Aaron Shaffer, 8. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 9. 1A – Mark Aldrich.

Kistler Racing Products Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 83 – Kyle Sauder, 2. 19 – Brett Mann, 3. 19J – Linden Jones, 4. 49T – Gregg Dalman, 5. 4 – Craig Karazim, 6. 73 – Dustin Shriver, 7. 7K – Kyle Pitts, 8. 70 – Jim Lingar.

Engine Pro Feature: (20 Laps): 1. 83 – Kyle Sauder, 2. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 3. 49T – Gregg Dalman, 4. 11R – Chase Ridenour, 5. 7K – Kyle Pitts, 6. 4 – Craig Karazim, 7. 73 – Dustin Shrive,r 8. 19J – Linden Jones, 9. 22OZ – Aaron Shaffer, 10. 1A – Mark Aldrich, 11. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 12. 16B – Dakota Busche, 13. 70 – Jim Lingar, 14. 27 – Brad Lamberson, 15. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 16. 19 – Brett Mann, 17. 23 – Joe Geibe.