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LATE MODEL FAMILY AFFAIR BELONGS TO JAKE GILLE!
By: Eric Huenefeld
It was champion vs challenger. Uncle vs nephew. Jerry Gille vs
Jake Gille.
When the dust settled on Saturday nights Stanley Steemer NASCAR
Late Model feature on Kar Korner Night at the Rockford Speedway,
it was Jake Gille topping the field, notching his first feature
win of the 2013 season.
Gille had the best seat in the house for 30 lap main event,
starting the race from the pole position. Gille would outrun
Steve Rubeck for the lead and was able to put a small buffer
between he and the rest of the pack. Behind Jake, uncle Jerry
was close behind, moving to second spot by lap three. The two
would race hard, inches apart, sometimes swapping paint for the
top spot. But despite his best efforts, Jerry was never able to
snag the lead from the 25 year old Machesney Park resident.
Behind the top two, the fighting for third place was intense as
well. It was there where second place starter Rubeck would
tussle with points leader Alex Papini. The two drivers would
shadow each other for most of the race, with Papini eventually
winning the battle. Rubeck, a feature winner two weeks prior,
settled for fourth. Last week's feature winner Jon Reynolds Jr
rounded out the top five.
Five time track champion George Sparkman was able to put his
early season demons behind him and return to victory lane
Saturday night. Sparkman muscled past Keith Pierce en route to
the win in the 25 lap main event for the Miller Lite American
Short Tracker division. Sparkman made the winning pass just
prior to the races halfway point and shortly after an early
yellow flag for an incident involving Brad Henrey and Dave Lee.
Opening night feature winner Kyle Lapier seemed to be the one
driver primed to overtake Sparkman for the top spot, yet Lapier
was never able to find the right time and place to make a
winning move. Lapier would settle for second. Points leader Nick
Cina Jr made another hard charge through the field en route to a
third place finish. Last weeks winner Jason Bragg finished a
solid fourth, with early leader Pierce rounding out the top
five.
Johnny Robinson II finally got a little good luck to fall his
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