Gerster Rules MSR Border Wars Opener At Owosso
OVID, Mich. – Though he hasn't been able to race "a whole lot" through the summer months of the season, Brian Gerster's will to win has in no way diminished.
That passion for competition was on full display Saturday night at Owosso Speedway, as Gerster dominated to score the victory in round one of Must See Racing's Border Wars doubleheader.
Brian Gerster (50m) races Charlie Schultz for the lead Saturday night at Owosso Speedway. (David Sink photo)
Gerster took the lead from Jason Blonde on lap 11 of the 40-lap sprint car feature and never looked back, driving away over the second half en route to his first series win of the season.
Saturday night's triumph was the 22nd of Gerster's Must See Racing career, second only to Jimmy McCune's series-leading 31 wins, and one that the Indiana veteran described as "much-needed."
"Us drivers don't like to talk about it much, but I'm getting older and these (wins) are fewer and farther between, now," admitted Gerster in victory lane. "That being said, it's really cool to win a race tonight. The 88 car (Jimmy McCune) I knew was going to be tough, but I saw he had some trouble there, so that was certainly a help in a way. It still wasn't easy, though; we still had to race the 42 (Jason Blonde) and the 9 (Charlie Schultz) ... even the 8 (Anthony McCune) was quick. There's a lot of good cars in the field.
"I hope the fans enjoyed that show, because this is a neat little race track and we enjoy coming here."
Blonde started third but powered to the lead on the opening lap, passing polesitter Joe Liguori in turn three before Johnny Petrozelle III and Tom Geren tangled on the backstretch a half-lap later to draw the first yellow flag of the night.
The collision sheared the left-front wheel off Petrozelle's Mike Blake Racing sprinter, ending his night, while Geren also retired after his car left the track on the back of a flatbed.
From there, the course of the race shifted further working lap four, when Jimmy McCune spun from fourth place coming onto the frontstretch to bring another caution out, slowing the pace again.
That relegated the elder McCune to 16th place for the restart, where he took just four laps to improve 10 positions and get back inside the front six. Meanwhile, Blonde, Schultz and Gerster put on an epic battle for the lead up front, with Schultz nearly making a slide job stick several times at the front.
Gerster finaly wrested second away on the ninth round, and it was just two more circuits before he ducked inside Blonde to take a lead he wouldn't relinquish after that.
"This is the best car that we've had here at Owosso, start to finish through the feature," Gerster noted later on. "We were able to get a win here last year, but we were struggling at the end and the 88 was coming hard on us there. Luckily it wasn't 50 laps last year. But the car was really, really good tonight.
"I'm pretty excited to win a race. We haven't raced a whole lot this summer. This one is fun."
Brian Gerster celebrates his 22nd Must See Racing sprint car win Saturday at Owosso Speedway. (Jacob Seelman photo)
After moving into the top spot, Gerster set a blistering pace, opening up nearly four seconds over the field before a lap-21 yellow for a slowing Ryan Litt bunched the field back up one more time.
The final restart of the night saw Schultz power back past Blonde to reclaim the runner-up position, but behind them, Jimmy McCune was charging through the field like a man possessed.
McCune was up to fourth at the 12 to go benchmark, then split his nephew Anthony and the lapped car of Joe Speakman to grab a podium position with nine circuits left.
His final hurrah came with four to go, when he drove around Schultz to secure the runner-up spot, but by then Gerster was gone by a whopping 5.784 seconds.
That left Jimmy McCune to settle for a frustrating second, instead of his third win of the season.
"Our night wasn't too bad. Second sucks, but you know how it is," said McCune. "The car got tight on me? I shook it loose and it got really loose. We spun it after that ... and it's uncharacteristic; I don't think I've spun out in about 10 years, but we did tonight and we still came back to second.
"I just wish we would have had the whole race to show that 50 what we really had."
Schultz completed the podium, followed by Anthony McCune and fast qualifier Ryan Litt.
RESULTS: Must See Racing Sprint Car Series; Owosso Speedway; Aug. 24, 2019
Hamilton Trucking Time Trials (best of two laps): 1. #07L – Ryan Litt, 13.481; 2. #88 – Jimmy McCune, 13.753; 3. #50m – Brian Gerster, 13.759; 4. #9s – Charlie Schultz, 13.784; 5. #8 – Anthony McCune, 13.925; 6. #42 – Jason Blonde, 13.960; 7. #26 – Jeff Bloom, 14.070; 8. #13 – Joe Liguori, 14.092; 9. #8a – Adam Biltz, 14.119; 10. #7 – Tom Jewell, 14.427; 11. #6k – Kevin Feeney, 14.432; 12. #75c – Jerry Caryer, 14.548; 13. #17 – Bobby Komisarski, 14.696; 14. #81 – Johnny Petrozelle, 14.709; 15. #72s – Joe Speakman, 14.826; 16. #44 – Teddy Alberts, 14.932; 17. #13d – Jacob Dolinar, 15.007; 18. #85 – Rick Holley, 15.233; 19. #32 – Todd McQuillen, 15.365; 20. #11g – Tom Geren, 15.418; 21. #15 – Tim Henthorne, 15.483; 22. #51 – Joshua Sexton, 15.631; 23. #4 – Anthony Linkenhoker, 15.951; 24. #74 – Ivan Shaver, 15.979.
Abe's Auto Parts Heat #1 (8 laps, top five transfer): 1. Brian Gerster [6], 2. Adam Biltz [4], 3. Joe Speakman [2], 4. Jason Blonde [5], 5. Jerry Caryer [3] / 6. Rick Holley [1], 7. Tim Henthorne [7], 8. Ivan Shaver [8].
Abe's Auto Parts Heat #2 (8 laps, top five transfer): 1. Jimmy McCune [6], 2. Anthony McCune [5], 3. Kevin Feeney [3], 4. Johnny Petrozelle III [2], 5. Joe Liguori [4] / 6. Jacob Dolinar [1], 7. Tom Geren [7], 8. Anthony Linkenhoker [8].
Abe's Auto Parts Heat #3 (8 laps, top five transfer): 1. Bobby Komisarski [2], 2. Ryan Litt [6], 3. Charlie Schultz [5], 4. Teddy Alberts [1], 5. Tom Jewell [3] / 6. Todd McQuillen [7], 7. Joshua Sexton [8], 8. Jeff Bloom [4].
Engine Pro Last Chance Showdown (10 laps, top five transfer): 1. Jeff Bloom [1], 2. Jacob Dolinar [2], 3. Tom Geren [5], 4. Rick Holley [3], 5. Todd McQuillen [4] / 6. Ivan Shaver [8], 7. Joshua Sexton [7], 8. Tim Henthorne [6], 9. Anthony Linkenhoker (DNS).
Border Wars A-Feature (40 laps): 1. #50m – Brian Gerster [6], 2. #88 – Jimmy McCune [7], 3. #9s – Charlie Schultz [5], 4. #8 – Anthony McCune [4], 5. #07L – Ryan Litt [8], 6. #42 – Jason Blonde [3], 7. #13 – Joe Liguori [1], 8. #17 – Bobby Komisarski [13], 9. #7 – Tom Jewell [10], 10. #6k – Kevin Feeney [11], 11. #75c – Jerry Caryer [12], 12. #44 – Teddy Alberts [16], 13. #72s – Joe Speakman [15], 14. #85 – Rick Holley [19], 15. #32 – Todd McQuillen [20], 16. #8a – Adam Biltz [9], 17. #13d – Jacob Dolinar [17], 18. #81 – Johnny Petrozelle III [14], 19. #11g – Tom Geren [18], 20. #26 – Jeff Bloom [2].
Lap Leader(s): Joe Liguori 0, Jason Blonde 1-10, Brian Gerster 11-40.
Hard Charger: #50m – Brian Gerster (+5)
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Jacob Seelman
Freelance Writer
Series Announcer for Must See Racing
Anthony McCune Tops Owosso Must See Practice
OVID, Mich. – Must See Racing Sprint Car Series championship leader Anthony McCune is still searching for his first career victory on tour, but one thing he's not short on is speed.
The Sylvania, Ohio native proved that during practice for Saturday night's opening round of the Border Wars doubleheader at Owosso Speedway, turning a quick lap of 13.834 seconds (97.586 mph) around the semi-banked, three-eighths-mile oval.
Anthony McCune was fastest in practice for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series on Saturday at Owosso Speedway. (Jacob Seelman photo)
McCune heads the standings by 14 points over fellow Ohioan Charlie Schultz, piloting the familiar No. 8 Abe's Auto Parts & Sales/B&B Machinery Movers sprinter again this weekend.
His fast lap came in the second of two afternoon sessions on Saturday.
Brian Gerster, a two-time series champion and two-time Owosso winner, was second quick in the No. 50 RAM Engineering Midwest entry for Dick Myers Racing. He toured the Owosso oval in 13.883 seconds (97.241 mph) during the first round of hot laps earlier in the day.
Canadian Ryan Litt was third overall, despite missing first-round practice after he was delayed while crossing the United States/Canadian border. Litt posted a time of 13.932 seconds (96.899 mph).
Four-time defending series champion Jimmy McCune and Schultz completed the Fast Five.
Jeff Bloom ranked sixth on the speed charts, followed by Jason Blonde, Joe Liguori, Kevin Feeney and Tom Jewell.
The first session was delayed briefly after Tim Henthorne stopped in turn two, the culprit being a broken part in the rear end of his No. 15 sprinter which required a wrecker to tow him back to the pit area.
Henthorne later returned for final practice and was 22nd-quick in the 24-car field on site.
Hamilton Trucking Time Trials for the Must See Racing sprints at Owosso are scheduled for 5 p.m.
PRACTICE RESULTS: Must See Racing Sprint Car Series; Owosso Speedway; Aug. 24, 2019
- #8 – Anthony McCune, 13.834 seconds
- #50m – Brian Gerster, 13.883 seconds
- #07L – Ryan Litt, 13.932 seconds
- #88 – Jimmy McCune, 13.969 seconds
- #9s – Charlie Schultz, 14.100 seconds
- #26 – Jeff Bloom, 14.183 seconds
- #42 – Jason Blonde, 14.365 seconds
- #13 – Joe Liguori, 14.378 seconds
- #6k – Kevin Feeney, 14.437 seconds
- #7 – Tom Jewell, 14.441 seconds
- #75c – Jerry Caryer, 14.605 seconds
- #8a – Adam Biltz, 14.657 seconds
- #17 – Bobby Komisarski, 14.745 seconds
- #81 – Johnny Petrozelle III, 14.859 seconds
- #72s – Joe Speakman, 14.893 seconds
- #44 – Teddy Alberts, 15.060 seconds
- #85 – Rick Holley, 15.173 seconds
- #11g – Tom Geren, 15.348 seconds
- #32 – Todd McQuillen, 15.427 seconds
- #51 – Joshua Sexton, 15.571 seconds
- #13d – Jacob Dolinar, 15.759 seconds
- #15 – Tim Henthorne, 16.092 seconds
- #4 – Anthony Linkenhoker, 16.227 seconds
- #74 – Ivan Shaver, NT
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Jacob Seelman
Freelance Writer
Series Announcer for Must See Racing
The Border Wars
McCune Rebounds For Must See Victory At Berlin
MARNE, Mich. – Jimmy McCune rebounded from a rare engine failure in his most-recent Must See Racing Sprint Car Series start in a big way on Saturday night at Berlin Raceway.
Jimmy McCune poses in victory lane at Berlin Raceway. (David Sink photo)
With his focus firmly on getting back in the championship hunt, McCune rolled from seventh to the lead in four laps, then drove away from the competition down the stretch for his 31st career MSR victory.
Saturday's Engine Pro Fast Car Dash score marked McCune's second win in three races this season and his second in Must See Racing competition at the unique seven-sixteenths-mile oval.
"There were a few times (in traffic) that I made some guys move out of the way, but we put it all together and got us another one tonight," said McCune in victory lane. "This is a hometown race for Rev-X Oil, and we did it again tonight, and I just can't say thanks enough to all the people that make this race car fast and keep us coming back to the race track every time out.
"I figured we'd be alright in clean air, so I just moved the wing back and let it eat," McCune noted in regards to the final laps. "That was the biggest thing, was just to go as fast as I could over the final four laps, stick to the bottom and make him (Blonde) have to go around the outside. It all worked out."
After a 10-car inversion for the feature, Kevin Feeney led the field to green for the 30-lap Engine Pro Fast Car Dash main event, escaping to the early lead over Jerry Caryer before a spinning Tom Jewell in turn four brought the caution lights on with one lap in the books.
At that point, McCune had already jumped from seventh up to fourth, but it was his rival Jason Blonde who made the most noise on the ensuing restart.
Blonde, a 2018 inductee into the Michigan Motorsports Hall of Fame, powered his way forward from fifth to second when the green flag dropped again but was powerless to stop McCune when the four-time defending series champion made a two-for-one power play in turn three on the fourth round.
Once McCune swept underneath both Blonde and Feeney, he stretched his legs quickly, running out to a 2.789-second margin at the halfway point and carrying a lead of more than three seconds when a late yellow waved with just four circuits remaining to be run.
Jimmy McCune (88) leads Jason Blonde during Saturday's Must See Racing Sprint Car Series event at Berlin Raceway. (David Sink photo)
The caution, for a spin by Johnny Petrozelle III, was a narrow escape for Blonde – who just avoided the slowing Mike Blake Racing No. 81 in time to escape with no damage and reset for a final charge.
However, Blonde could do nothing with McCune on the final restart, as the Toledo, Ohio, native turned the fastest lap of the entire race – a stunning 13.722-second clip – on lap 28 and never looked back.
McCune took the checkered flag first by a margin of 3.307 seconds, leaving Blonde to settle for second.
"From where we were in the heat race, this is a great result," said Blonde. "We were out to lunch at that point, but we fought back. We got some setup help that brought the car back to life, and it helped us finish second, but Jimmy was in a class all his own tonight. We weren't going to catch him at the end."
Canadian Ryan Litt completed the podium, followed by point leader Anthony McCune and Feeney.
After a last-minute decision to come to Berlin, Brian Gerster set fast time in qualifying at 13.209 seconds (119.237 mpt) and crossed the line sixth. Anthony McCune won the eight-lap Engine Pro Fast Car Dash.
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.
RESULTS: Must See Racing Sprint Car Series; Berlin Raceway; Aug. 10, 2019
Hamilton Trucking Time Trials: 1. #50m – Brian Gerster, 13.209; 2. #9s – Charlie Schultz,, 13.234; 3. #07L – Ryan Litt, 13.368; 4. #88 – Jimmy McCune, 13.434; 5. #42 – Jason Blonde, 13.504; 6. #7 – Tom Jewell, 13.535; 7. #8 – Anthony McCune, 13.618; 8. #44 – Teddy Alberts, 13.659; 9. #75c – Jerry Caryer, 13.908; 10. #6k – Kevin Feeney, 13.932; 11. #26 – Jeff Bloom, 13.951; 12. #8a – Adam Biltz, 14.139; 13. #81 – Johnny Petrozelle, 14.467; 14. #1 – Christian Koehler, 14.609; 15. #0 – Doug Dietsch, 14.653; 16. #17 – Bobby Komisarski, 15.074; 17. #11g – Tom Geren, 15.098; 18. #85 – Rick Holley, 15.098; 19. #72s – Joe Speakman, 15.230; 20. #51 – Joshua Sexton, 15.569; 21. #32 – Todd McQuillen, 15.861; 22. #13 – Jacob Dolinar, 16.132; 23. #15 – Tim Henthorne, 16.220; 24. #4 – Anthony Linkenhoker, 17.791, 25. #99 – Tyler Roahrig, NT.
Heat #1 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Jerry Caryer [6], 2. Jeff Bloom [5], 3. Doug Dietsch [3], 4. Johnny Petrozelle [4], 5. Tom Geren [2], 6. Todd McQuillen [7], 7. Tim Henthorne [8], 8. Joe Speakman [1], 9. Tyler Roahrig [DNS].
Heat #2 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Kevin Feeney [6], 2. Bobby Komisarski [1], 3. Christian Koehler [4], 4. Rick Holley [2], 5. Adam Biltz [3], 6. Jacob Dolinar [5], 7. Joshua Sexton [7], 8. Anthony Linkenhoker [8].
Engine Pro Fast Car Dash (8 laps): 1. Anthony McCune [2], 2. Teddy Alberts [1], 3. Ryan Litt [6], 4. Brian Gerster [8], 5. Jason Blonde [4], 6. Charlie Schultz [7], 7. Tom Jewell [3], 8. Jimmy McCune [5].
A-Feature (30 laps): 1. #88 – Jimmy McCune, 2. #42 – Jason Blonde, 3. #07L – Ryan Litt, 4. #8 – Anthony McCune, 5. #6k – Kevin Feeney, 6. #50m – Brian Gerster, 7. #9s – Charlie Schultz, 8. #44 – Teddy Alberts, 9. #17 – Bobby Komisarski, 10. #81 – Johnny Petrozelle, 11. #1 – Christian Koehler, 12. #8a – Adam Biltz, 13. #85 – Rick Holley, 14. #75c – Jerry Caryer, 15. #51 – Joshua Sexton, 16. #32 – Todd McQuillen, 17. #13 – Jacob Dolinar, 18. #15 – Tim Henthorne, 19. #26 – Jeff Bloom, 20. #0 – Doug Dietsch, 21. #11g – Tom Geren, 22. #4 – Anthony Linkenhoker, 23. #72s – Joe Speakman, 24. #7 – Tom Jewell.
Lap Leader(s): Kevin Feeney 1-3, Jimmy McCune 4-30.
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Jacob Seelman
Freelance Writer
Series Announcer for Must See Racing
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