Lake Odessa, Michigan – Marking the end of another month in the 2018 season, the cars and stars of the American Ethanol Late Model Tour (AELMT) made their third and final visit to Lake Odessa, Michigan’s I-96 Speedway for the running of the YellowHose.com 40 to close out the month of July.
30 of the area’s fastest and most fierce UMP Late Model drivers made the trip to try and claim the $4,000 pay day that comes with winning an AELMT event. With that, Brandon Thirlby and Eric Spangler continued their heated battle for the 2018 points standing’s lead, with just 16 points separating the drivers heading into the night. Thirlby was also looking to join Spangler as the only driver on the Tour with multiple wins on the season, however Rusty Schelnk had other plans.
Motul Motor Oil and Lubricant Qualifying was the first order of business on the night of racing Presented by NUVU Fuels. Sheffield, Illinois’ Rich Bell collected the Motul Award with a lap time of 16.292 seconds. Other group leaders were Schlenk at a 16.641, and Thirlby with a 16.383. With 30 cars on property, drivers were forced to race hard to ensure a starting spot in the main event, with only the top five from each heat transferring, and the top three going to the re-draw. Allstar Performance Heat Race one went to Scott Fisk, NUVU Fuels Heat Race two won by Schlenk, and YellowHose.com Heat Race three to Spangler. The Carbon Green BioEnergy Last Chance Qualifier saw Dona Marcoullier pick up the win.
From there, the field was set for the YellowHose.com 40 with 22 cars going 40 laps. The race which was only slowed once for Kevin Reeve going off the back stretch, saw plenty of passing and good hard racing all throughout the field. Travis Stemler, who started on the front row with Fisk, went door to door with Schlenk for several laps before Schlenk took the lead for good on lap 20 after the only restart of the race. Schlenk now joins Spangler as the only drivers with multiple wins in 2018 with the AELMT with just six shows remaining.
Next up for the AELMT is the “west coast swing” as crews head for Wilmot Raceway in Wilmot, Wisconsin for the co-sanctioned Dairyland Duel with the Discount Shop Towels Dirt Kings Tour on Friday, August 17th, before going to LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle, Illinois on Saturday, August 18th.
Keep up with the AELMT on social media including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter presented by Kevtron Media. If you ever can’t attend an AELMT or American Ethanol Modified Tour Presented by Allstar Performance event, log onto your favorite Tour’s website (aelmt.com or aemodt.com) for flag-to-flag coverage powered by Motorsports Broadcasting of Michigan, and up to the minute scoring powered by Motor City Racing Promotions.
YellowHose.com 40 A-Main
1. CJ1 Rusty Schlenk
2. M14 Brandon Thirlby
3. 79 Nick Kurtz
4. 2 Travis Stemler
5. 87M David Mielke
6. 27 Eric Spangler
7. 21B Rich Bell
8. 6M Dona Marcoullier
9. 1N Casey Noonan
10. 21A Logan Arntz
11. 15 Phil Ausra
12. 23V Ryan VanderVeen
13. 12 Scott Fisk
14. 44 Matt Shipley
15. 2J Bry Johnson
16. 7M Brad Mann
17. 87 Rich Neiser
18. 07 Shawn Reed
19. 45 Kevin Reeve
20. RH21 Gregg Haskell
21. 1 Greg Gokey
22. P3 Jeff Robertson
Carbon Green Bio Energy Last Chance Qualifier
1. 6M Dona Marcoullier
2. 87 Rich Neiser
3. 23V Ryan VanderVeen
4. 1 Greg Gokey
5. 7M Brad Mann
6. 4 Jason Playter Jr.
7. RH21 Greg Haskell
8. 94 Bill Bray
9. 53 Hillard Miller
10. 01 Steve McClees
11. 5 Jason Ciganik
12. 52 Brad Harden
13. P3 Jeff Robertson
14. 1W Michael Luberda
15. 71E Pat Elhert
YellowHose.com Heat 3
1. 27 Eric Spangler
2. 79 Nick Kurtz
3. M14 Brandon Thirlby
4. 87M David Mielke
5. 21A Logan Arntz
6. 6M Dona Marcoullier
7. 4 Jason Playter Jr.
8. RH21 Gregg Haskell
9. 53 Hillard Miller
10. 52 Brad Harden
NUVU Fuels Heat 2
1. CJ1 Rusty Schlenk
2. 1N Casey Noonan
3. 44 Matt Shipley
4. 45 Kevin Reeve
5. 2J Bry Johnson
6. 71E Pat Elhert
7. 23V Ryan VanderVeen
8. 1W Michael Luerda
9. P3 Jeff Robertson
Allstar Performance Heat 1
1. 12 Scott Fisk
2. 21B Rich Bell
3. 2 Travis Stemler
4. 07 Shawn Reed
5. 15 Phil Ausra
6. 87 Rich Neiser
7. 94 Bill Bray
8. 7M Brad Mann
9. 01 Steve McClees
10. 1 Greg Gokey
Awards:
Allstar Performance Hard Charger: 6M Dona Marcoullier
CompCams Halfway Leader: CJ1 Rusty Schlenk
ARP Most Laps Lead: CJ1 Rusty Schlenk
Motul Motor Oil Fast Qualifier: 21B Rich Bell
Dirty Girl Racewear P10: 21A Logan Arntz
Lane Automotive Member A: 79 Nick Kurtz
QuickCar Member B: 4 Jason Player Jr.
Quarter Master Move of the Race: M14 Brandon Thirlby