LINCOLN, Ill. – Fan appreciation night had a large turnout of fans and drivers Friday evening at Lincoln Speedway.
The night, presented by Kitchen Cooked Chips, had plenty of great races with a hometown favorite ending up in victory lane during the night’s sprint car feature.
In the first of two appearances this season for the 305 winged sprint cars, local driver Max Pozsgai jumped out front early in the 18-lap feature. Pozsgai, who grew up in Lincoln, Ill., was the fan favorite coming into the event.
Pozsgai started on the pole of the feature after garnering the most passing points in the heat races. He didn’t have a cakewalk in the feature, as Robbie Standridge followed closely and looked to make a move on a couple of occasions.
In the end, though, Pozsgai won for the second-straight time in 305 action at the track dating back to last season. Following Pozsgai and Standridge were Dylan Tuxhorn, Garrett Duff and Jeff Wilke.
A full field of more than cars were on hand for the season opener for the Midwest Big Ten Pro Late Models. While 23 drivers took the green flag, it was all about Denny Woodworth throughout the night.
Woodworth set fast time late in qualifying, won his heat and beat a strong field of challengers for the feature win. Woodworth was followed by Jake Little, Aaron Heck, Ryan Little and Shawn Diggs.
The DIRTcar Modified feature was full of wheelmen, as 20 drivers took the green flag. Starting second but taking the lead early was Rick Conoyer. Conoyer had Donovan Lodge, Tommy Sheppard Jr., Brian Lynn and Zeb Moake in tow at the end, but none had enough to thwart Conoyer from the top spot.
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series regular Grant Enfinger made the trip in from Fairhope, Ala., to race Kelly Kovski’s No. 10 modified. He got caught up in a heat race crash that ended his night early.
The Nutech Seed DII Midgets had a much improved field of cars for the second night of action. Thirteen drivers took the green flag in the 15-lap main event. Andy Baugh, who declined to take the Nutech Seed Front Row Challenge, had the lead early in the main event.
The Mason City, Ill., driver did not lead every lap, as Bret Tripplett nearly gave Lincoln another hometown win. Triplett took the lead during the middle stages of the race before Baugh wrestled it back. Following the two were Tyler Roth, Mitchell Davis and Mark Billings.
Rounding out the night’s action was a very competitive field of DIRTcar Hornets. Jake Momper raced out front at the green and built a comfortable lead, as the racing in the field was furious. Danny Oates, a late arrival on the night, started fourth in the feature but worked his way into second. Momper and Oates were followed by Brady Reed, David Lauritson and Eric Vanapeldoorn.