HARTFORD, Mich. – Chase Ridenour started from the pole and converted that position into a Great Lakes Super Sprints victory Saturday night at Hartford Speedway.
It didn’t come easy, though. Ridenour topped a pair of back-and-forth battles, first with Dustin Daggett and later with Ryan Ruhl, before securing the $3,000 top prize.
Ridenour took the lead off the start but was passed by Daggett on the fifth lap, forced to chase Daggett from that point as the No. 85 built a comfortable advantage.
When Daggett dropped out of the race with mechanical issues, however, Ridenour re-inherited control of the race with 10 laps left.
His fight wasn’t over though, even at that point. Ruhl gave chase in second on the restart and eventually wrested control away from Ridenour coming to two laps to go.
Undeterred, Ridenour re-passed Ruhl and went on to lead the final two laps. It was his eighth career series win and second of the season, after breaking a three-year winless drought earlier in the summer.
Ruhl came in just .349 seconds behind Ridenour, with Jared Horstman charging from 22nd to third. Trevor Berry and Phil Gressman filled out the top five.
Saturday’s race was a non-points event for the Great Lakes Super Sprints. The tour’s championship season wrapped up in late August, with Horstman securing the crown.
The finish:
1. Chase Ridenour, 2. Rya Ruhl, 3. Jared Horstman, 4. Trevor Berry, 5. Phil Gressman, 6. Max Stambaugh, 7. Gregg Dalman, 8. Jay Steinebach, 9. Jett Mann, 10. Keith Sheffer, 11. Linden Jones, 12. Nic Rogers, 13. Logan Easterday, 14. Mike Astrauskas, 15. Josh Shantz, 16. Shane Simmons, 17. Justin Woodkowski, 18. Dustin Daggett, 19. Michael Summers, 20. Joe Conway, 21. RJ Payne, 22. Troy Chehowski.