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Chad Blonde Powers to SOD King Engine Bearings King of Michigan Win at Hartford

Chad win

ERIE, MI (July 28, 2018) – Litchfield, Michigan’s Chad Blonde followed up his July 13 King of Michigan win by taking the King Engine Bearings KoM Race #3 at Hartford Speedway Friday.  Thrilling the crowd with an epic battle with Ryan Ruhl (Coldwater, Michigan) for much of the race, Blonde powered his Krieger Racing Engines, Maxim to victory.

The SOD Kids Feature Draw put Blonde, the current SOD point leader, on the pole for the feature with Shawn Valenti (Fostoria, Ohio), second in points, starting outside front row.  Fourth starter Ruhl took second on lap two with Blonde already with a big lead.  Although Blonde officially led every lap, Ruhl actually nosed ahead of the leader three times.  With Blonde running the high side of the track, Ruhl found speed at the bottom.  Blonde finally pulled out to a three-car length lead when on lap twenty-one Ruhl made contact with the inside wall in turns three and four.  Ruhl went to the work area and changed his damaged left front tire and wheel, but the contact also caused brake damage, ending his impressive race.

Ricky Ferkel, third in SOD championship points, got caught up in a turn four melee, rolling on lap 12.  Trey Smith was also involved and could not restart, and Quentin Blonde also dropped out.

Chase Ridenour (Perry, Michigan) took second from his sixth place starting position.  Gregg Dalman finished third, Brad Lamberson drove Ryan Kirkendall’s 27K to fourth, and Joe Swanson took fifth.  Shawn Valenti lost ground in the SOD championship points battle with a seventh-place finish.

Three 360s and one crate sprinter finished in the top ten.  Canadian visitor Josh Shantz, driving Michael Summers crate sprinter was the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger, advancing eleven spots to finish ninth.  Shantz is a regular competitor at Ohsweken Speedway,

Qualifying – Lane Automotive/MSD Ignition Fast Masters (fast qualifiers) $50 each

Group Time # Driver
Engler Machine & Tool Heat 14.926 7 Shawn Valenti
COMP Cams Heat 15.954 71H Ryan Ruhl
RockAuto.com Heat 15.554 11R Chase Ridenour

Heat Races

Engler Machine & Tool Heat #1
  # Driver Contingency
1 5b Chad Blonde
2 7 Shawn Valenti
3 7J Joe Swanson Benic Enterprises
4 10s Jay Steinebach Racing Optics
5 0 Ricky Ferkel
6 19 Brett Mann
7 1a Mark Aldrich
8 24 Eric Smith

 

COMP Cams Heat #2
  # Driver Contingency
1 71H Ryan Ruhl
2 49T Gregg Dalman
3 11 Trey Smith Benic Enterprises
4 5QB Quentin Blonde Racing Optics
5 3 Dustin Shriver
6 10J Chris Jones
7 35 Josh Ward
8 18 Josh Shantz

 

RockAuto.com Heat #3
  # Driver Contingency
1 4 Tyler Fitzpatrick
2 11r Chase Ridenour
3 27k Brad Lamberson Benic Enterprises
4 18S Michael Summers Racing Optics
5 24+ Mike Schumacher
6 8 Justin Ward
7 58 Tony Bures
8 27W Ty Williams

B-Main

  # Driver
1 58 Tony Bures
2 10J Chris Jones
3 19 Brett Mann
4 35 Josh Ward
5 18 Josh Shantz
6 8 Justin Ward
7 1a Mark Aldrich
8 24 Eric Smith
9 27W Ty Williams

Feature

  # Driver Awards Contingencies
1 5b Chad Blonde Rod End Supply
2 11r Chase Ridenour Jim Coffey & Son Rod End Supply
3 49T Gregg Dalman Rod End Supply
4 27k Brad Lamberson Schoenfeld Headers
5 7J Joe Swanson ATL Racing Fuel Cells
6 18S Michael Summers Allstar Performance
7 7 Shawn Valenti
8 3 Dustin Shriver
9 18 Josh Shantz King Racing Products
10 24+ Mike Schumacher
11 4 Tyler Fitzpatrick Keizer Aluminum Wheels
12 10s Jay Steinebach
13 71H Ryan Ruhl
14 35 Josh Ward
15 11 Trey Smith
16 0 Ricky Ferkel
17 10J Chris Jones
18 58 Tony Bures
19 19 Brett Mann
20 5QB Quentin Blonde

KSE Racing Products Hard Charger – Josh Shantz (+11)
BR Motorsports Contingency (feature top 10 draw) – Mike Schumacher
DMI (Diversified Machine) Contingency (feature 12-16 draw) – Ryan Ruhl
Perfit Corporation Lucky Dog – Mark Aldrich
Allstar Performance Better Luck Next Time – Ricky Ferkel

For more information about Engine Pro go to www.enginepro.com.  For more information about ARP, go to www.arp-bolts.com.  The full 2017 Sprints on Dirt schedule, rules, current news, and other information are available at www.sprintsondirt.com.

 

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