Mania, Malecki and Pointon Win South
Bend Features
By: Sherry DePoy
South Bend, IN (June 1, 2007) - Threatening weather
stayed away allowing for another great night of racing at the
South Bend Motor Speedway on Friday.
In preliminary events, Dave Mannia was fast qualifier in the
Sportsman Late Models with a 12.667 and took the Dash win. Jeff
Forsythe won the Heat.
In Mini Stocks, Derrick Griffin had quick time with a 13.388,
and Tony Johns was fastest in Thunder Cars with a 14.847.
 Jeff
Forsythe led the first 6 laps of the Sportsman Feature event.
Kevin Papa then took over when the caution flew for Lisa McFadden
who blew a motor. During the caution, Al Mauer suffered a flat
tire but with the help of fellow driver, Brian Miller and several
infield crew, was able to get another tire and make it back out
before the race resumed. Kevin Papa continued his lead for the
next several laps when Dave Mannia made his way through the field
to get by at the half way point. The caution flew again on lap
25 when Greg Gifford’s motor blew. At the green, Mannia
pulled away and led the final 5 laps to the checker. Papa held
on to 2nd over Bob Golubski, Mauer, Forsythe, Erik Bidwell, Brian
McFadden, Corey Blume, Paul Scott and Gifford in the top 10.
 Zachery
Newgent led the first half of the Mini Stock Main event when
Fred Malecki got by and led the rest of the way to the win.
Derrick Griffin battled for the lead but had to settle for 2nd
followed by Chad Lindsey, Newgent and Brian Basham.
 In
the 25-lap Thunder Car Feature, Michael Freeman got out to a
great start but was caught speeding on Lap 5 and forced to the
rear of the field. James Click then led the next couple laps
before he was passed by Christopher Milligan. Milligan stretched
out his lead but came into contact with the wall forcing him
to pit. David Pointon, Jr. took over the top spot and held off
a challenge by Tony Johns for the win. Click, Kenneth Dodd and
Corey Woods finished in the top 5 with 6th ­ 10th spots going
to Joe Clark, Rick Boal, Karl Fuchs, Terry Denaway, Jr. and Thomas
Groning.
On Friday, March 25th, the track was host to many kids competing
in the bicycle races and, as promised, here are the results of
that event. In the 5 year olds and under event, Gavin VanDusen
of Edwardsburg took the win. Shelby Jaynes of Niles was second
and Tommy Burke of South Bend came in third. Bransen Bonnell
of South Bend won the 6, 7 & 8 year old race. Scott Breeding
of New Carlisle and Nolan Evard of South Bend followed in second
and third. Cameron Mester of Walkerton, Dillon DeBink of Michigan
City and Eric Bidwell of South Bend were the top 3 finishers
in the 9, 10 & 11 year olds, and in the 12 and older group,
the winner was Ronnie Holloway followed by Jimmy Flory and Matt
Freeman, all from South Bend. All of the other competitors received
a small trophy and congratulations to everyone who participated.
Last Friday, Owner and Promoter, Mike Bird, announced to the
drivers and fans that he was having to cancel future Friday night
racing events until further notice due to economical reasons.
Future notices will be posted on the website at southbendmotorspeedway.com.
Schedules and additional information can be obtained by phoning
the track at 574-287-1704, or by visiting the website.
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