OVID, Mich. — Whether his pre-race nerves were smoke and mirrors, the world may never know, but Jimmy McCune completed a surprise turnaround Saturday night at Owosso Speedway.
McCune took a car that, by his own admission, “hadn’t handled right all day,” to victory lane in a thrilling 40-lapper at the three-eighths-mile oval. He held off a persistent Davey Hamilton Jr. aboard his familiar No. 88 for a milestone 40th career Must See Racing Engine Pro Sprint Car Series victory.
While Hamilton looked for a way past time and time again, McCune relied on veteran experience to keep his car in the right place at the right moment from the drop of the green flag on through.
“It seemed like forever,” said McCune of the second half of the race. “I thought we’d never get to the checkered [flag]. We were mediocre all day, but track position made it happen for us there. Getting out front in clean air helped us enough to overcome some of the issues we had. We just never could get our legs underneath us until it counted.
“Right before the feature, I threw the kitchen sink at it, and then threw the faucet at [the car] too for good measure,” he added. “I saw something in a cloud that I said, ‘We’re gonna do that,’ and it paid off for us somehow. This is a great night.”
After a nine inversion placed Bobby Komisarski on the pole, Komisarski saw McCune lead the opening lap following a tenacious outside move by the five-time champion. Still, Komisarski kept the pressure on despite a caution flag on lap four when Ryan Litt’s car lost brakes and stopped in turn one.
It took until the 11th lap for Hamilton to get past Komisarski into the runner-up spot, but once there Hamilton pursued McCune heavily even around a final caution with 18 laps scored for debris on the backstretch.
Despite looking both outside and inside, Hamilton didn’t have anything to get around McCune and into clean air to try and escape, settling for his second straight second-place finish.
“I think we just needed more laps, honestly,” Hamilton admitted. “We were getting closer at the end; Jimmy was getting tighter and tighter, but just didn’t have enough time tonight. I made my car as wide as this race track, trying to find new ways around Jimmy, but we’ll have our day soon. I’m sure of it.”
Defending series champion Charlie Schultz completed the podium ahead of Komisarski and Bobby Santos III.
Midwest Lights Event
After losing last year’s Must See Racing Midwest Lights title to Cody Gallogly, inaugural series champion J.J. Henes knew he and his team had work to do to improve.
The fruits of their efforts showed Saturday at Michigan’s Owosso Speedway, as Henes took a dominant race car to victory lane at the freshly repaved three-eighths-mile oval.
Henes set fast time in qualifying, started fifth and promptly drove to the front in the night’s 40-lap feature.
Feature Finish (40 Laps)
1. 88-Jimmy McCune [2], 2. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr. [4], 3. 9s-Charlie Schultz [5], 4. 7-Bobby Komisarski [1], 5. 22a-Bobby Santos III [6], 6. 42-Jason Blonde [8], 7. 99-Dorman Snyder [3], 8. 85-Rick Holley [9], 9. 44-Teddy Alberts [10], 10. Z10-Kevin Mingus [11], 11. 72s-Joe Speakman [12], 12. 55-Tommy Nichols [14], 13. 07-Ryan Litt [7], 14. 11-Tom Geren [15], 15. 8-Anthony McCune [13], 16. 26-Jeff Bloom [16], 17. 2k-Todd McQuillen (DNS).