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Chad Blonde Crowned King Engine Bearings King of Michigan

Chad 1Jim DenHamer photo

ERIE, MI (September 1, 2018) –Chad Blonde (Litchfield, Michigan) picked up his third 2018 King Engine Bearings King of Michigan win at Hartford Speedway Friday and wrapped up the 2018 KoM Championship with an exciting 0.177 second win over Ryan Ruhl (Coldwater, Michigan).

The SOD Kids Feature Draw put Shawn Valenti (Fostoria, Ohio) and Mark Aldrich (Addison, Michigan) on the front row for the feature with Blonde, the current SOD point leader, starting sixth.  Before a lap could be completed, Michael Schumacher (Constantine, Michigan) brought out the red with a turn three crash.  Blonde charged into the lead on lap 2 while fifth starter Ruhl took second on lap four.  Ruhl did everything he could to reel in the leader, but Blonde was strong, holding onto a narrow lead as they weaved through lapped traffic and held on to win by less than two-tenths of a second.  Both Blonde and Ruhl utilized Krieger Racing Engines powered Maxims.

Zane DeVault (Plymouth, Indiana) led all qualifiers after returning to SOD competition.  DeVault picked up his first SOD victory on April 28 at Crystal Motor Speedway before sitting out most of the season due to an injury.  For the third time in 2018, Quentin Blonde (Litchfield, Michigan) was the KSE Hard Charger with +7.

As 2018 King Engine Bearings King of Michigan, Blonde will received $1,000 at the Sprints On Dirt Awards Banquet on October 27.  Also collecting part of the point fund will be Shawn Valenti, Jay Steinebach, Dustin Shriver, and Ricky Ferkel.

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

Group Time # Driver
RockAuto.com Heat 14.795 7Z Zane DeVault
COMP Cams Heat 15.434 7 Shawn Valenti

Heat Races

RockAuto.com Heat #1
  # Driver Contingency
1 5b Chad Blonde
2 7Z Zane DeVault
3 7J Joe Swanson Benic Enterprises
4 70 Eli Lakin Racing Optics
5 3 Dustin Shriver
6 46 Robert Huisken
7 8 Justin Ward
8 10J Chris Jones
DNS 27B Boston Mead

 

COMP Cams Heat #2
  # Driver Contingency
1 71H Ryan Ruhl
2 7 Shawn Valenti
3 1a Mark Aldrich Benic Enterprises
4 10s Jay Steinebach Racing Optics
5 5QB Quentin Blonde
6 24+ Michael Schumacher
7 35 Josh Ward
8 3G John Gurley
9 33 Jeremy Ferguson
10 0 Ricky Ferkel

Feature

  # Driver Awards Contingencies
1 5b Chad Blonde Rod End Supply
2 71H Ryan Ruhl Jim Coffey & Son Rod End Supply
3 5QB Quentin Blonde Rod End Supply
4 7Z Zane DeVault Schoenfeld Headers
5 10s Jay Steinebach ATL Racing Fuel Cells
6 7 Shawn Valenti Allstar Performance
7 1a Mark Aldrich
8 70 Eli Lakin
9 3 Dustin Shriver King Racing Products
10 46 Robert Huisken
11 10J Chris Jones
12 3G John Gurley Keizer Aluminum Wheels
13 35 Josh Ward
14 7J Joe Swanson
15 33 Jeremy Ferguson
16 8 Justin Ward
17 0 Ricky Ferkel
18 24+ Michael Schumacher
DNS 27B Boston Mead

KSE Racing Products Hard Charger – Quentin Blonde (+7)
BR Motorsports Contingency (feature top 10 draw) – Mark Aldrich
DMI (Diversified Machine) Contingency (feature 12-16 draw) – Joe Swanson
Perfit Corporation Lucky Dog – Mark Aldrich
Allstar Performance Better Luck Next Time – Michael Schumacher

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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