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GULF COAST TO CLOSE OUT 2025 MUST SEE RACING SEASON

Photo by David Sink

September 10, 2025 – Holly. Michigan – The Must See Racing Sprint Series Presented by Perfit-Parts.com is preparing for the biggest weekend of its sixteen-year existence when the 410-winged asphalt sprint car series visits the Gulf Coast Region of the country October 2-4, 2025.

The series will kick off the ‘Southern Shootout’ Friday night October 3, 2025, when it visits Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida for the first time in eleven seasons. The following evening October 4 the series will head north to Montgomery Motor Speedway in Montgomery, Alabama for the first time since 2021.

Teams will be battling it out for a $10,000 winners share from a total purse of $31,000 each night. These events will pay $700 to start the twenty-four-car starting field each night. This will be the richest weekend in the history of the series that inaugurated in 2010. A total weekend purse of over $62,000 will be up for grabs.

In addition to Must See Racing regulars, the event is expected to draw teams from the Florida based Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series and the new Alabama/Mississippi Sprint Car group.

The Gulf Coast area isn’t new to Must See Racing. From 2012 -2014 the series annually visited he area with stops at Five Flags and Mobile, Alabama. It returned to the area with a weekend visit to Montgomery in 2021.

Aaron Pierce was victorious the last time the series visited Five Flags Speedway on April 11, 2014. Troy DeCaire and Joe Liguori found victory lane the last time the series competed at Montgomery Motor Speedway in October of 2021.

It is only fitting that the 2025 MSR season will conclude at two of the most historic venues in the southern part of the country. It will also be a rare opportunity to watch winged pavement sprint cars compete on half-mile venues, which has been a rare occurrence lately.

Five Flags Speedway opened in 1953 and is the home of the annual Snowball Derby Super Late Model race. Montgomery Motor Speedway opened in 1955 and hosted numerous NASCAR Grand National events in the early years of its history.

Joe Liguori looks to close out the 2025 MSR season with another MSR championship. He currently holds a commanding 64-point lead over Ryan Litt. Kevin Mingus sits in third place currently 41 points behind Litt.

Entries for these events are just now beginning to be received. MSR will reveal the entries as they are received beginning in the next few days. Like and follow Must see Racing on Facebook or visit the series website at www.mustseeracing.com for the latest news regarding the 2025 ‘Southern Shootout’.

 

must see racing

Swanson Rules $10,000 Mid-Michigan Sprint Car Nationals Finale At Owosso

Kody Swanson celebrates with a wing dance after winning Sunday’s Must See Racing national sprint car feature at Owosso Speedway. (David Sink photo)

From Jacob Seelman, Must See Racing Trackside PR

OVID, Mich. (Aug. 31, 2025) – When the arguable best pavement short-track driver in the discipline links up with the arguable best pavement sprint car team in America, magic tends to happen.

It certainly did Sunday at Owosso Speedway, as Kody Swanson and owner Dick Myers authored a complete drubbing of the Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series field to complete a weekend sweep of the two-day Mid-Michigan Pavement Sprint Car Nationals.

Wheeling Myers’ familiar No. 50m, the car nicknamed ‘Seabiscuit’ which has won countless features over nearly a quarter century, Swanson charged from fifth to first in just seven laps around the three-eighths-mile paved oval.

From there, the Kingsburg, Calif., native then controlled the final 34 circuits and drove off to a staggering 8.291-second victory over runner-up and fast qualifier Aaron Willison, who’d started on the pole following the feature redraw and paced the opening six laps.

But once Swanson got outside position on Willison exiting turn four on lap seven, he flexed his muscles and said farewell to the rest of the competition.

With a car that could go “anywhere I wanted it to,” Swanson surgically knifed through slower traffic throughout the weekend finale and lapped all but the top five in a stout 20-car feature field.

He banked $10,000 for his efforts Sunday, bringing his weekend winnings to $14,000 in total.

It marked Swanson’s third career Must See Racing victory overall and second with a wing overhead, as he and Myers seemingly finally unlocked the full potential of their pairing at last.

“This is one wail of a race car,” said Swanson in victory lane. “Dick and his crew always have this car spectacular, but tonight it was truly in tip-top shape. I’m just thankful to be the one that they’ve tapped to drive it, and when you have a race car this good, as a driver you just don’t want to mess it up.

“It’s been a learning process to figure out how these guys race with the wing on top, but I think we’re there where we need to be now.”

The 40-lapper actually ran green to checkered, following a stack-up in the middle of the field on the initial start that forced a second try to get the feature underway.

That incident saw 10th-starting Jason Blonde fail to get up to speed with a throttle linkage issue, causing the likes of Taylor Ferns, J.J. Dutton, and Johnny Petrozelle to accordion together near the back of the field. All three slowed dramatically, forcing the only yellow flag.

During the caution period, third-starting Jimmy McCune Jr. – the 16-year-old son of five-time Must See Racing national champion Jimmy McCune – surprisingly pulled pit-side with a loss of oil pressure, ending his hopes of a breakout performance after a stellar heat race victory from earlier in the program.

Once the race resumed, however, the headlines were all about Swanson as he did what he so often does by methodically driving forward and crushing the hopes of those pursuing him.

The domination came despite what Swanson described as a “high-RPM vibration” that developed briefly on his second time-trial lap and had the nerves of the eight-time USAC Silver Crown champion on edge for a while during the afternoon hours.

must see racing

Kody Swanson in victory lane with his family Sunday at Owosso Speedway. (David Sink photo)

“I get emotional anyway [after wins], but if you knew everything that we were working through from post-qualifying through the race … that’s why this one is a big deal to us,” Swanson noted. “I’m not sure if it was truly an engine problem or just some phantom thing that us drivers feel sometimes, but these guys just kept after it and kept looking and kept working to try and make sure of what we had.

“Finally they gave me the green light for the feature, and said, ‘Hey, if it feels right, then you’re racing it.’ And man, it certainly felt right out there when it mattered.”

Willison found himself at a straightaway deficit by the halfway point and knew then that there was no catching his rival. The pair has built a legacy of respectful competition between them over the past two years as the top two pavement sprint car drivers in North America.

“When you race Kody, you know you’re racing against the cream of the crop every single time,” said the Canadian veteran, who hails from Langley, British Columbia. “They did a great job, and congrats to them on a well-deserved win, but I’m also really happy about our Statham Construction team’s performance and where we’re at as a whole. We made some big gains this weekend and it’s a program we’re continuing to build.

“We’ve got our qualifying speed hammered down now, and we made some strides in our race pace from Saturday to Sunday as well,” Willison added. “I just didn’t have any balance in the car for about the first 12 laps … and by the time I felt more comfortable, Kody was just long gone at that point.”

Saturday night runner-up Troy DeCaire was three quarters of a second behind Willison at the finish, earning a second straight podium for car owner Aaron Pierce and the Sam Pierce Racing squad.

Ontario’s Ryan Litt made it two Canadians in the top four, with Joe Liguori crossing fifth as the final car on the lead lap to extend his point lead in pursuit of a second straight and third overall series title.

Justin Harper, driving a second entry for Liguori Motorsports, was the night’s hard charger after advancing from 17th to 10th.

Willison began the program with a scorching 12.297-second (109.783 mph) lap in qualifying to obliterate his all-time track record from 22 hours earlier, while McCune Jr., Dorman Snyder, and Donnie Adams Jr. won their respective eight-lap heat races prior to the main event.

Though Adams won his heat, he was one of four drivers – joined by John Trudell, Jeff Bloom, and Alby Ovitt – who were unable to start the weekend finale due to engine issues or other mechanical maladies.

In all, 24 drivers were on the property Sunday, marking the largest field of the season for Must See Racing’s national contingent.

In support action, J.J. Henes swept Sunday’s Twin 20 features for the Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights crate sprint cars to wrap up his third series title in that division, while Austin Maynard won the street stock main event before climbing aboard H.D. Carter’s No. 13 sprint car to do double duty.

The Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series concludes its season Oct. 3-4 on the Gulf Coast, with a weekend doubleheader split between the half-mile ovals of Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., and Montgomery (Ala.) Motor Speedway.

For more information on Must See Racing, visit www.mustseeracing.com.

RESULTS: Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series; Owosso Speedway; Ovid, Mich.; Aug. 31, 2025

Qualifying (best of two laps, top four to redraw): 1. Aaron Willison, 36, Statham-12.297 (NTR); 2. Troy DeCaire, 26D, Pierce-12.432; 3. Ryan Litt, 07, Litt-12.591; 4. Kody Swanson, 50m, Myers/RAM-12.638; 5. Joe Liguori, 68, Liguori-12.761; 6. Jason Blonde, 42, Nosal/TNT-12.846; 7. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-12.864; 8. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-12.904; 9. Jimmy McCune, 88, McCune-12.947; 10. Tommy Nichols, 55, Nichols-13.224; 11. Taylor Ferns, 126, Pierce-13.232; 12. Dylan Reynolds, 24, Reynolds-13.241; 13. Donnie Adams Jr., 4, Adams-13.250; 14. J.J. Dutton, 86, Dutton-13.304; 15. Landon Butler, 18, Butler-13.313; 16. Justin Harper, 66, Liguori-13.393; 17. Dorman Snyder, 99, Stickney-13.475; 18. Jimmy McCune Jr., 88JR, McCune-13.539; 19. Johnny Petrozelle III, 81, Blake-13.576; 20. Tom Geren, 11, Geren-13.920; 21. Austin Maynard, 13, Carter-14.776; 22. Alby Ovitt, 20, Parker-NT; 23. John Trudell, 7T, Trudell-NT; 24. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-NT.

TTI Machine Heat Race #1 (8 laps, all transfer, top two to redraw): 1. Jimmy McCune Jr. [1], 2. Landon Butler [2], 3. Jason Blonde [5], 4. Dylan Reynolds [3], 5. Jimmy McCune [4], 6. Ryan Litt [6], 7. Austin Maynard [7], 8. Jeff Bloom (DNS). [1:50.167]

TTI Machine Heat Race #2 (8 laps, all transfer, top two to redraw): 1. Dorman Snyder [1], 2. Troy DeCaire [6], 3. Joe Liguori [5], 4. Taylor Ferns [3], 5. J.J. Dutton [2], 6. Bobby Komisarski [4], 7. Tom Geren [7], 8. John Trudell (DNS). [1:51.085]

TTI Machine Heat Race #3 (8 laps, all transfer, top two to redraw): 1. Donnie Adams Jr. [2], 2. Kevin Mingus [4], 3. Kody Swanson [5], 4. Tommy Nichols [3], 5. Justin Harper [1], 6. Johnny Petrozelle III [7], 7. Aaron Willison [6], 8. Alby Ovitt (DNS). [1:48.945]

Perfit A-Feature (40 laps, starting position in brackets): 1. 50m-Kody Swanson [5], 2. 36-Aaron Willison [1], 3. 26D-Troy DeCaire [2], 4. 07-Ryan Litt [4], 5. 68-Joe Liguori [9], 6. 88-Jimmy McCune [12], 7. Z10-Kevin Mingus [6], 8. 18-Landon Butler [7], 9. 55-Tommy Nichols [13], 10. 66-Justin Harper [17], 11. 7-Bobby Komisarski [11], 12. 81-Johnny Petrozelle III [18], 13. 11-Tom Geren [19], 14. 99-Dorman Snyder [8], 15. 24-Dylan Reynolds [15], 16. 86-J.J. Dutton [16], 17. 126-Taylor Ferns [14], 18. 88JR-Jimmy McCune Jr. [3], 19. 42-Jason Blonde [10], 20. 13-Austin Maynard [20], 21. 4-Donnie Adams Jr. (DNS), 22. 20-Alby Ovitt (DNS), 23. 7T-John Trudell (DNS), 24. 26-Jeff Bloom (DNS).

Lap Leader(s): Aaron Willison 1-6, Kody Swanson 7-40.

Hard Charger: #66 – Justin Harper (+7)

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must see racing

Swanson Masters Owosso Traffic For First Winged MSR Victory

Kody Swanson in Must See Racing victory lane Saturday at Owosso Speedway. (David Sink photo)

OVID, Mich. (Aug. 30, 2025) – Kody Swanson turned carving through lap traffic into an art form Saturday night at Owosso Speedway with the Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series.

Using lessons learned from his many years of USAC Silver Crown Series competition, which propelled him to eight championships in that division, Swanson conquered the three-eighths-mile paved oval to finally notch his first winged victory with the national pavement sprint tour.

Driving Dick Myers’ familiar, red-and-yellow No. 50m, Swanson roared from fifth to second early, then stalked race-long leader Troy DeCaire as the duo knifed through the back half of the 23-car field.

Finally, on lap 25 of 40, Swanson pounced when DeCaire was hung up behind the Tom Geren machine and made a brilliant cut to the inside of the fourth turn.

Once he was out front, Swanson navigated the remaining traffic to perfection, opening up a 1.310-second margin on the way to the $4,000 triumph – his second career MSR victory overall.

Though he’d previously won without the wing at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, this one was harder fought and visibly meaningful to the California veteran.

“I’m really fortunate to have been racing in general for a long time, and I’ve spent a lot of time trying to catch up to how these guys do it with the wing on top,” said Swanson in victory lane. “They all do such a great job, and traffic was a big part of this race. But driving the [No.] 50m for Dick Myers, this car always has speed no matter what track you bring it to, and I could really put it anywhere I needed to in order to work my way through the field.

“They give me these opportunities and then it’s my job to take advantage of them, right? The heat races were important for me to learn in those moments how the car was going to react, but 40 laps is a lot longer than eight laps and I had time to let the race come to me, a lot like the [Silver] Crown races,” Swanson added. “Troy came back at me a bit there, but I had a great car off the bottom lane and was able to keep control once we got the lead.”

DeCaire, making his first start with the series since March of 2024 and first in a car owned by longtime series stalwart Aaron Pierce, joked he was “just getting old” before tipping his cap to Swanson.

“That Swanson guy is pretty good,” DeCaire added. “I thought I was going to get a lot more tired than I did, but the car went from tight to loose [handling] … and I couldn’t navigate traffic nearly like he could. When the car was so good in the beginning, I knew that might not be a good sign for the long run, particularly because I was expecting a few more cautions than we got.

“For my first time back with this series in a while, though, I can’t be too disappointed [with second].”

Ryan Litt finished third, hampered by a two-position penalty after being called for jumping the lap-five restart that came after the race’s lone caution for debris.

Five-time series champion Jimmy McCune and polesitter Jason Blonde, who lost the lead to DeCaire on the initial start of the race, were fourth and fifth, respectively.

Aaron Willison, Joe Liguori, Kevin Mingus, Dylan Reynolds, and Alby Ovitt completed the top 10.

Willison kicked off the night by smashing the all-time track record at Owosso by nearly a tenth of a second, with a blazing lap of 12.443 seconds (108.495 mph) in qualifying with the No. 36 Statham Construction-backed sprinter.

The previous mark of 12.520 seconds by Rick Holley had been set in September of 2023, also in Must See Racing competition.

McCune, Blonde, and Litt won their respective eight-lap heat races, with Blonde then earning the pole award in the top-eight redraw.

The Mid-Michigan Pavement Sprint Nationals conclude Sunday evening with a $10,000-to-win, 40-lap grand finale. Live streaming coverage begins on Racing America at 4 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series; Owosso Speedway; Ovid, Mich.; Aug. 30, 2025

Qualifying (best of two laps, top four to redraw): 1. Aaron Willison, 36, Statham-12.443 (NTR); 2. Troy DeCaire, 26D, Pierce-12.510; 3. Kody Swanson, 50m, Myers-12.592; 4. Ryan Litt, 07, Litt-12.609; 5. Joe Liguori, 68, Liguori-12.731; 6. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-12.850; 7. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-13.050; 8. Jason Blonde, 42, Nosal-13.079; 9. Jimmy McCune, 88, McCune-13.112; 10. Donnie Adams Jr., 4, Adams-13.273; 11. J.J. Dutton, 86, Dutton-13.302; 12. Alby Ovitt, 20, Parker-13.338; 13. Jimmy McCune Jr., 88JR, McCune-13.363; 14. Dylan Reynolds, 24, Reynolds-13.415; 15. Tommy Nichols, 55, Nichols-13.450; 16. Taylor Ferns, 126, Pierce-13.481; 17. Landon Butler, 18, Butler-13.498; 18. John Trudell, 7X, Trudell-13.505; 19. Johnny Petrozelle III, 81, Blake-13.534; 20. Justin Harper, 66, Liguori-13.579; 21. Tom Geren, 11, Geren-13.636; 22. Dorman Snyder, 99, Stickney-13.854; 23. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-NT.

TTI Machine Heat Race #1 (8 laps, all transfer, top two to redraw): 1. Jimmy McCune [4], 2. Kody Swanson [6], 3. Tommy Nichols [2], 4. John Trudell [1], 5. Kevin Mingus [5], 6. Alby Ovitt [3], 7. Tom Geren [7].

TTI Machine Heat Race #2 (8 laps, all transfer, top two to redraw): 1. Jason Blonde [4], 2. Dylan Reynolds [2], 3. Troy DeCaire [6], 4. Joe Liguori [5], 5. Landon Butler [1], 6. Justin Harper [7], 7. J.J. Dutton [3], 8. Jeff Bloom [8].

TTI Machine Heat Race #3 (8 laps, all transfer, top two to redraw): 1. Ryan Litt [4], 2. Donnie Adams Jr. [2], 3. Taylor Ferns [1], 4. Dorman Snyder [8], 5. Bobby Komisarski [3], 6. Jimmy McCune Jr. [6], 7. Aaron Willison [5], 8. Johnny Petrozelle III [7].

Perfit A-Feature (40 laps, starting position in brackets): 1. 50m-Kody Swanson [5], 2. 26D-Troy DeCaire [2], 3. 07-Ryan Litt [4], 4. 88-Jimmy McCune [7], 5. 42-Jason Blonde [1], 6. 36-Aaron Willison [6], 7. 68-Joe Liguori [9], 8. Z10-Kevin Mingus [10], 9. 24-Dylan Reynolds [3], 10. 20-Alby Ovitt [13], 11. 4-Donnie Adams Jr. [8], 12. 55-Tommy Nichols [15], 13. 88JR-Jimmy McCune Jr. [14], 14. 66-Justin Harper [19], 15. 18-Landon Butler [22], 16. 7-Bobby Komisarski [11], 17. 99-Dorman Snyder [21], 18. 81-Johnny Petrozelle [18], 19. 11-Tom Geren [20], 20. 7T-John Trudell [17], 21. 126-Taylor Ferns [16], 22. 86-J.J. Dutton [12], 23. 26-Jeff Bloom (DNS). [NT]

Lap Leader(s): Troy DeCaire 1-24, Kody Swanson 25-40.

Hard Charger: #18 – Landon Butler

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must see racing

ADAMS RETURNS TO MUST SEE COMPETITION

Photo by: David Sink

August 25, 2025 – After a fourteen-year absence, Donnie Adams Jr. is set to return to Must See Racing Presented by Perfit-Parts.Com competition this weekend at Owosso Speedway. Adams will join the tour for the two-day weekend of racing capped off by the $10,000-to-win Saturday finale.

Adams last competed with MSR in 2011. The Alexandria, Indiana native is slowly returning to competition after a several year absence to focus on his family and job. He returned to racing action in late 2023. He has been primarily competing in non-winged events but looks to lengthen his racing schedule by now adding a few winged events to his activities.

“My initial involvement with winged racing didn’t go as I had hoped” explains Adams. “The issue was with my car. It didn’t handle like the DIABLO’s did. They were narrow and stiff. Mine was an old small, tubed BEAST and it flexed. You would make a spring change, and it would not react to the change. I actually cut off all the wing tabs and said I’m gonna stick to non-wing. Only problem was there was no non-wing stuff other than the Little 500”.

A crash at Winchester Speedway during a 500 Sprint Car Tour race in late June set up the return to winged racing by chance.

“After we junked the car at Winchester, I needed to quickly get a car before the next race. Nick Bohanan had a brand-new car at BEAST. He said, ‘I haven’t picked it up yet but if you want it you can have it’. It’s a winged BEAST. It’s got the raised rail and wing tabs and spuds. Thats what peaked by interest to begin with.

“We just ran Owosso with the 500SCT earlier this month. That place is amazing. I knew Must See Racing was coming there at the end of the month for a two-day show. I mentioned it to my mom. She is my biggest race fan and my sponsor through our family business. She said why don’t you get a wing. My dad raced wings forever and she loved it. Everything just kind of fell into place so it looks like we’re gonna do it,” laughed Adams.

His father Donnie Adams Sr. was a force to be reckoned with in pavement sprint car competition in the 1990’s. He was a Little 500 polesitter and USAC National Sprint Car Series feature winner. He transitioned to winged pavement sprint car racing towards the end of his career. That was where he found his true calling in open wheel racing. He was nearly unbeatable in SOD and Capital Promotions events, winning numerous times all over the Midwest.

The younger Adams is already making a name for himself. At only 38 years of age, he is a past Little 500 polesitter and podium finisher. Now that he is back racing full-time, a pavement sprint car victory seems
possible in the not-so-distant future. Perhaps it could happen this weekend in Ovid, Michigan.

“I don’t know what to expect in my return to winged racing this weekend. I know there are some tough guys up there. A top ten going into it would be great. but I know I have a lot to learn. There’s a difference between getting around the track and being competitive. I have good equipment. Bobby Santos has been the guy in my corner, especially with non-wing stuff, and getting back into it. I kinda picked his brain on wing baseline stuff. Plus, i have my old notes so I think I should be ok” concluded Adams.

must see racing

HUGE LABOR DAY WEEKEND UP NEXT FOR MUST SEE RACING

David Sink Photo

August 20, 2025 – Holly, Michigan – Must See Racing is preparing for a huge double weekend featuring both the Must See Racing Sprint Series Presented by Perfit-Parts.Com and the Midwest Lights Series August 30-31, 2025, at Owosso Speedway in Ovid, Michigan.

This will be the final visit of the “World’s Fastest Short Track Cars” to Owosso Speedway in 2025. The final appearance of these crowd pleasers will be a huge one. The 410 National Series will be competing for a purse of over $41,000 for the two days. The winner of Saturday night’s 40-lap feature event will take home a whopping $10,000 for the win.

The last appearance by the series on June 21, 2025, was one for the record books. Eventual winner Bobby Santos III and Kody Swanson waged a torrid battle in the closing stages of the race. The duo worked lapped traffic with jaw dropping moves. The two veterans raced to the checkered flag in a near photo finish ending.

The Labor Day Weekend events figure to feature much the same racing. Owosso Speedway has played host to some of the best pavement sprint car racing found anywhere in the country annually. The track is perfect for winged sprint cars.

Canadian Ryan Litt headlines a hungry group of racers looking to take home $10,000 on Saturday night. Litt enters the Owosso event on a hot streak. He has won his last two MSR starts.

Defending MSR champion and current points leader Joe Liguori continues to build a sizeable points lead over his competition. Liguori will look to pad his points lead even more and pick up his first MSR victory of 2025.

The “Asphalt Assassin” Aaron Willison will also be competing. The Western Canadian driver quickly found a liking to Owosso Speedway and swept both events at the 3/8 high banked track last season.

Other top drivers are expected in search of a big payday including Jason Blonde, Bobby Komisarski, Jimmy McCune, Kevin Mingus, Alby Ovit, Dorman Snyder, Charlie Schultz, and Kody Swanson among others.

The weekend’s action will also see an historical event take place. Jimbo McCune will make his MSR debut. The younger McCune is the son of five-time MSR champion Jimmy McCune. He is also the Great grandson of the legendary IMCA sprint car driver “Irish” Jim McCune who was a terror at Midwestern IMCA events in the 1960’s. The youngest McCune is part of four generations of McCune’s who have hopped behind the wheel of a race car.

The MSR Midwest Lights Series will also be in action both nights. Current points leader JJ Henes continues to hold the points lead. He will be looking to build on his points lead as the season will be down to one final race after Labor Day Weekend.

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Litt Does It Again In Late-Summer Must See Stop At Berlin

Ryan Litt in victory lane at Berlin Raceway Saturday night. (David Sink photo)

From Jacob Seelman, Must See Racing PR

MARNE, Mich. (Aug. 9, 2025) – Ryan Litt made Berlin Raceway his personal summertime playground yet again Saturday night, authoring another dominant performance with the Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series.

Litt stormed from third to first in less than two laps at the seven-sixteenths-mile oval and never looked back, leading 29 of 30 circuits for his second Must See Racing victory of the season and the sixth of his career.

The London, Ontario, Canada veteran has now won the tour’s late summer event at Berlin four years in a row, an incredible stretch at a single racetrack in 410ci pavement sprint car competition.

To get the job done, however, Litt had to defeat one of the best pavement racers of the current generation in Bobby Santos III.

Santos passed Litt on a late restart to win Must See Racing’s first stop at Berlin back in May. This time around, Litt was more prepared to hold his ground and did so successfully on a restart of his own.

“[Santos] is probably, right now, the best pavement sprint car driver in America,” said Litt, whose familiar No. 07 won by 2.798 seconds. “When he’s up next to you, you’ve got to be on your game. At the start, I was kind of leaning towards saving my equipment a little bit for the end, because he snookered me last time we were here. I burned my stuff up and got caught in lapped traffic, and he got me.

“The car was set up good and it had tons of grip this time, so I just pretty much went full send there at the end. I tried to go as hard as I could.”

There was still a bit of a nervous moment for Litt near the checkered flag, though, as Litt felt his car beginning to lose power in the final few laps.

“Luckily, the car held on. It sounded like it might have dropped a cylinder there at the end,” Litt noted. “I was getting oil all over my visor and stuff, so I was just hoping and praying I was going to make the checkered flag there.

“I think if it’s up to me, we cancel that spring race [at Berlin] and keep coming back in August.”

Following the redraw, another Canadian in Aaron Willison led the field to the green flag, getting into clean air for a moment with a good launch on the initial start.

Litt slotted into second for the first half-lap, then charged the apron of turn four to pull alongside Willison at the flagstand before taking firm control after that point.

A red-flag stoppage came on lap four when sixth-running Alby Ovitt spun and tagged the inside wall on the frontstretch, tipping his No. 20 onto its side. Ovitt was uninjured, but his night was over.

Litt chose the bottom lane for the ensuing restart, quickly streaking away from Willison as Santos pressured from behind for the runner-up spot.

Santos moved into second place on lap nine with a daring outside move on Willison in turns three and four, but found himself two seconds adrift of Litt at that point. Unfazed, Santos slowly began cutting into the gap before the night’s second and final caution flag waved on lap 13.

Willison slowed from third place with a shredded right rear tire aboard his No. 36, coasting to the work area and getting it changed to resume battle from the tail of the lead lap.

That set up one final try for Santos to get past Litt on the restart with 18 to go, but Litt never blinked.

Santos was able to keep pace with his rival for the first few laps after the restart, but eventually faded back by more than a second with 10 laps to go and could never muster another charge.

Afterward, Santos applauded Litt for the strong effort and admitted his own car just wasn’t strong enough to seal the deal.

“I didn’t do a good job on the restart,” said Santos. “Ryan did a better job than I did. I kind of used it up trying to run outside of him there for four or five laps, and I wish I handled the situation a little differently. Ryan did a better job tonight. Those guys did a good job.”

Two-time and defending series champion Joe Liguori crossed third and extended his point lead in pursuit of a third title, with Ohio’s Kevin Mingus earning his best finish of the season in fourth.

Home-state driver Dorman Snyder rounded out the top five, trailed by Willison, who battled back to sixth place after his tire issue.

Santos set the fastest time in qualifying at 13.438 seconds (117.205 mph), with Willison, Litt, and Liguori topping their respective eight-lap heat races prior to the feature.

Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series teams get two weekends off to prepare for the biggest race of the season, the Mid-Michigan Sprint Car Nationals at Owosso Speedway during Labor Day weekend.

A full program will be held on both Aug. 30 and Aug. 31, with the Sunday finale paying $10,000 to win.

For more information on Must See Racing, visit www.mustseeracing.com.

RESULTS: Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series; Berlin Raceway; Marne, Mich.; Aug. 9, 2025

Qualifying (best of two laps, top four to redraw): 1. Bobby Santos III, 22a, Fieler-13.438; 2. Ryan Litt, 07, Litt-13.506; 3. Alby Ovitt, 20, Parker-13.710; 4. Joe Liguori, 68, Liguori-13.766; 5. Dorman Snyder, 99, Stickney-13.768; 6. Aaron Willison, 36, Statham-13.806; 7. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-13.988; 8. Tommy Nichols, 55, Nichols-14.204; 9. Alfred Galedrige, 66, Liguori-14.213; 10. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-14.321; 11. J.J. Henes, 81, Blake-15.087; 12. J.J. Dutton, 86, Dutton-15.362; 13. Tom Geren, 11, Geren-15.596; 14. Teddy Alberts, 44, Wolverine-15.871; 15. Andrew Bogusz, 17, Fast Company-16.355; 16. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-NT.

Heat #1 (8 laps, top two to redraw): 1. 36-Aaron Willison [2], 2. 20-Alby Ovitt [3], 3. 66-Alfred Galedrige [1], 4. 17-Andrew Bogusz [5], 5. J.J. Dutton [4].

Heat #2 (8 laps, top two to redraw): 1. 07-Ryan Litt [3], 2. 99-Dorman Snyder [2], 3. 55-Tommy Nichols [1], 4. J.J. Henes [4], 5. 44-Teddy Alberts [5].

Heat #3 (8 laps, top two to redraw): 1. 68-Joe Liguori [2], 2. Z10-Kevin Mingus [1], 3. 22a-Bobby Santos III [3], 4. Bobby Komisarski [4], 5. 11-Tom Geren [5], 6. Jeff Bloom (DNS).

Perfit A-Feature (30 laps): 1. 07-Ryan Litt [3], 2. 22a-Bobby Santos III [6], 3. 68-Joe Liguori [2], 4. Z10-Kevin Mingus [7], 5. 99-Dorman Snyder [4], 6. 36-Aaron Willison [1], 7. 81-J.J. Henes [10]; 8. 17-Andrew Bogusz [12], 9. 86-J.J. Dutton [13], 10. 11-Tom Geren [14], 11. 55-Tommy Nichols [8], 12. 66-Alfred Galedrige [9], 13. 44-Teddy Alberts [11], 14. 20-Alby Ovitt [5], 15. 26-Jeff Bloom [15], 16. Bobby Komisarski (DNS).

Lap Leader(s): Aaron Willison 1, Ryan Litt 2-30.

Hard Charger: 17-Andrew Bogusz (+4)

– 30 –

must see racing

BERLIN RACEWAY UP NEXT FOR MUST SEE RACING

Photo: David Sink

August 6, 2025 – The Must See Racing Sprint Series Presented by Perfit-Parts.Com National Series returns to Berlin Raceway this Saturday night August 9, 2025, for the second and final time this season. Bobby Santos III won the last time the series visited on May 31.

Must See Racing has a long and storied history with Berlin Raceway. The series visited the 7/16-mile paved Michigan oval during its inaugural 2010 season for the first time. Canadian Mike Ling was victorious during that September 25, 2010, event. The series has visited Berlin Raceway every year since, oftentimes contesting multiple events during the calendar year.

Winged sprint cars and Berlin Raceway go together. The track seems to be a natural fit for the ‘Fastest Short Track Cars in the World’. Berlin Raceway plays host to some of the best winged pavement sprint car racing seen anywhere in the entire country annually. This Saturday’s event is expected to produce much the same.

Series officials are expecting the biggest car count of the season headlined by current points leader Joe Liguori.

Other expected entrants include 5-time series champion Jimmy McCune, most recent winners Aaron Willison and Ryan Litt, and 2023 series champion Jason Blonde among others.

Current MSR Midwest Lights points leader JJ Henes will make his first National Seres start of the year aboard the Mike Blake owned #81. First-time series entrants Mike Galaga and Alfred Galedrige will make their MSR debuts Saturday night.

Current points leader Joe Liguori enters Saturday’s event with a commanding lead of 66 points over Bobby Komisarski. Kevin Mingus trails in third place 22 points out of second.

Saturday’s program will consist of heat races capped of by an exciting 30-lap feature event.
Please visit www.mustseeracing.com for more information.

 

must see racing

Willison Holds Off Hamilton For Bob Frey Classic Win At Sandusky

Aaron Willison celebrates his Bob Frey Classic win at Sandusky Speedway with a wing dance Saturday night. (Jacob Seelman photo)


SANDUSKY, Ohio (July 23, 2025) – Make it two straight for drivers hailing from “north of the border” with the Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series.

Canadian Aaron Willison drove to his first series win of the season Wednesday night in an intense Bob Frey Classic feature, leading all 30 laps at Sandusky Speedway but having to withstand heavy pressure from Davey Hamilton Jr. in the closing stages at the half-mile paved oval.

Following a restart with four to go, Willison fended off Hamilton’s advances and ultimately drove to his third career Must See Racing victory by .534 seconds in the Statham Construction-sponsored No. 36.

In the process, he brought veteran car owner Ken Statham back to the winner’s circle with the traveling 410 sprint car tour for the first time since Statham was injured at South Boston (Va.) Speedway three years ago and underwent surgery, missing significant time while he recovered and rehabbed.

must see racing

Aaron Willison (center) in victory lane at Sandusky Speedway. (David Sink photo)

“I wasn’t too impressed to see a [late-race] yellow come out inside five to go … that kind of sucked a little bit, but when I knew it would be a single-file restart, that was a huge relief,” said Willison, who won for the first time in his career at Sandusky.

“You don’t want to have a guy like Davey beside you on a restart; you just know how deep he’ll drive it in and how good he is at this style of racing, with a team that has it together each time out,” Willison added. “It’s good racing with them, though, and luckily we were able to get away there and hold them off.”

Named in honor of Hall of Fame racer and five-time Little 500 winner Bob Frey, who was in attendance at Sandusky Wednesday night, the Bob Frey Classic feature was frenetic right from the start.

Second-generation driver Sawyer Stout started from the pole in his Must See Racing 410 debut, but lost the lead in the first corner as Willison soared around the outside of the Kyle Capodice-owned No. 12.

It only got worse from there, as Stout got into two-time and defending series champion Joe Liguori in turn two as he fell back, spinning Liguori out on corner exit and drawing the caution flag for the first time.

The incident led to a complete restart, though Liguori was able to continue from the tail of the field.

Willison duplicated his feat on the second try, quickly motoring away from the field as Bobby Komisarski charged into second place, engaging in a spirited battle with Hamilton over an extended green-flag run.

Lap after lap, Hamilton tried to get past Komisarski, largely to no avail as Komisarski defended on both ends of the Sandusky half mile. As he did so, while trading sliders with Hamilton several times, Willison steadily built his advantage to nearly a half lap.

Finally, Hamilton successfully cleared Komisarski in turns three and four coming to five to go, with the latter’s car getting completely sideways as it developed a loose handling condition. A lap later, Komisarski spun in the fourth turn to bring out the final caution, setting up a dash to the finish and erasing an eight-second lead for Willison in the process.

must see racing

Aaron Willison leads Davey Hamilton Jr. at Sandusky Speedway (KR Poole Photography)

Though Hamilton tried twice to get to Willison’s rear bumper following a single-file restart – all but getting there coming to two to go – Willison hung on and left the son of multi-time Indianapolis 500 starter Davey Hamilton to settle for runner-up honors.

“It is what it is,” admitted Hamilton Jr. “It’s part of racing. I just hated starting further back. It just got us stuck in dirty air, and made it really hard to get by the [No.] 7 for the longest time. He had enough speed to make it tough on me, and once we finally got past him Aaron was long gone.

“I knew my only chance at that point was a yellow, and we did get that, but it wasn’t enough. If we’d been second to Aaron from the start, I think we’d have had a really good race between us, but congratulations to the Statham team. They were strong all night and got the better of us this time.”

A late charge after restarting fifth gave five-time series champion Jimmy McCune the final place on the podium, followed by New Hampshire’s Alby Ovitt in his Must See Racing debut.

Kevin Mingus, who began his racing career in a go-kart at Sandusky two decades ago, completed the top five.

Hamilton Jr. kicked off the night by setting a new Must See Racing track record in qualifying with a lap of 15.089 seconds (119.292 mph). Mingus and Liguori, who rallied back to finish sixth in the feature after his earlier spin, won their respective heat races.

In other action, J.J. Henes and rookie Brandon Lemmerman split the victories in twin 20-lap features for the Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights crate sprint car division. Dylan Napier topped the compact feature.

Wednesday’s Bob Frey Classic kicked off the 48th Hy-Miler Nationals week at Sandusky, which culminates Saturday night with a 100-lap main event for the ISMA-MSS Supermodified Series.

The Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series continues its 2025 campaign Saturday night, Aug. 9 with its second visit of the year to Michigan’s Berlin Raceway. Bobby Santos III won at the track in May.

For more information, visit www.mustseeracing.com.

RESULTS: Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series; Sandusky (Ohio) Speedway; July 23, 2025

TTI Machine Qualifying (best of two laps, top four to redraw): 1. Davey Hamilton Jr., 14, Morgan-15.089 (NTR); 2. Aaron Willison, 36, Statham-15.113; 3. Joe Liguori, 68, Liguori-15.238; 4. Sawyer Stout, 12, Capodice-15.476; 5. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-15.616; 6. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-15.696; 7. Alby Ovitt, 20, Parker-15.748; 8. Charlie Schultz, 9s, IBT-15.867; 9. Adam Biltz, 8A, Reiser-16.166- 10. Tom Geren, 11G, Geren-16.783; 11. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-17.589; 12. Jimmy McCune, 88, McCune-19.188.

Heat #1 (8 laps, top two to redraw): 1. Kevin Mingus, 2. Aaron Willison, 3. Sawyer Stout, 4. Tom Geren, 5. Charlie Schultz, 6. Jimmy McCune (DNS). [2:09.271]

Heat #2 (8 laps, top two to redraw): 1. Joe Liguori, 2. Bobby Komisarski, 3. Davey Hamilton Jr., 4. Alby Ovitt, 5. Adam Biltz, 6. Jeff Bloom. [2:05.659]

Perfit Bob Frey Classic A-Feature (30 laps, starting position in brackets): 1. 36-Aaron Willison [2], 2. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr. [3], 3. 88-Jimmy McCune [12], 4. 20-Alby Ovitt [7], 5. Z10-Kevin Mingus [6], 6. 68-Joe Liguori [4], 7. 11-Tom Geren [10], 8. 8A-Adam Biltz [9], 9. 12-Sawyer Stout [1], 10. 7-Bobby Komisarski [5], 11. 26-Jeff Bloom [11], 12. 9s-Charlie Schultz [8]. [NT]

Lap Leader(s): Aaron Willison 1-30.

Hard Charger: 88-Jimmy McCune (+9)

must see racing

BOB FREY CLASSIC ALL GO FOR THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT JULY 23

July 20, 2025 – This Wednesday night July 23, 2025, 410-winged asphalt sprint cars will return to Sandusky Speedway for the third running of the Bob Frey Classic. The Must See Racing Sprint Series Presented by Perfit-Parts.Com will headline the event along with the Must See Racing Midwest Lights Series and Pro Compacts. The event will officially kick off the annual Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals Week.

Sandusky Speedway opened for business as a quarter-mile dirt track in May of 1950. It was increased to a half mile and paved prior to the 1955 racing season. Over the years it has been the home of Supermodified racing. Ironically in tracks seventy-five-year history, 410-winged sprint have only competed at the speedway six times previously.

Past 410-winged sprint car winners at Sandusky include Jeff Gordon, Troy DeCaire, Aaron Pierce, Jason Blonde, Jimmy McCune and Bobby Santos III. The first-ever 410-winged sprint car event ever held at Sandusky Speedway occurred on August 1, 1989. A young Jeff Gordon picked up the All Star Circuit of Champions victory nearly thirty-six years to the date of this year’s event.

Five-time series champion McCune headlines a stout list of expected entrants that also includes current points leader and defending series champion Joe Liguori.

McCune will seek to add his name to the history books with a possible win in the Bob Frey Classic. A victory Wednesday night would make him the only repeat winner in Sandusky 410-winged sprint car competition and the first repeat Bob Frey Classic winner.

Former MSR winner Davey Hamilton Jr. returns to MSR competition on a mission. He seeks to get the monkey off his back and kick his bad luck to the curb. Hamilton Jr. has been in position to win multiple times in 2025 only to have bad luck derail his chances for success.

Also, on the card for Wednesday’s mid-week event will be the return of the MSR Lights Series. It will give fans a winged sprint car double-header treat. Fans will be treated to twin feature events for the MSR Lights, giving those in attendance the chance to witness three-winged sprint car feature events in the same night.

The MSR Midwest Lights points battle continues to be a back-and-forth affair each week. JJ Henes has a twenty-five-point lead over Charlie Baur. But only 1.5 points separates Baur from third place Andrew Bogusz.

Defending MSR National champion Joe Liguori is expected to make his MSR Lights debut at Sandusky Speedway.

Event Grand Marshal Bob Frey will also be on hand to meet fans and sign autographs early in the night. Frey, a 2022 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee, credits Sandusky Speedway with playing a huge part in his HoF career. He won countless times at the legendary half mile and viewed it as one of his favorite tracks.

Gates for Wednesday’s event open at 4 pm with racing set to begin at 7:45 pm. Adult tickets are $20, Seniors $18, and Kids 6-12 $10.

For more information on the Bob Frey Classic please visit www.mustseeraacing.com or www.Sanduskyspeedway.com.

 

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