Russ Wood, Jeff Bloom win Fastest Short Track Show in the World

Friday, June 12, 2009, Toledo, OH – The Fastest Short Track Show in the World just may be one of my favorite races of the year. What is the fastest short track show in the World? It’s lighting fast ISMA Super Modified’s and the always fast AVSS Super Sprints racing on the high banked half mile in Toledo, Ohio. This event is the only ISMA race on the schedule that uses qualifying to determine starting position. After a rainout in 2008 both series were ready to tackle the low 13, high 12’s track records set in 2007. Back in May Frank Kimmel won the ARCA pole with a 16.265 in a stock car. With 27 Supers and 25 Sprints filling the pits the early afternoon crowd had gathered for the once yearly show. ISMA hit the track first and the ‘Rowley Rocket’ Chris Perley took the famed black #11 to the track for a blistering 12.893 second lap, the first sub 13 second lap for a supermodified at Toledo. This also broke Cameron Dodson’s 2007 AVSS record of 12.902. The bragging rights had been won by the East coaster’s in their bad ass lightweight big block machines.

Next up would be the Winged warriors of the AVSS, the series who race out of Michigan and hit tracks in Ohio, Indiana and Ontario as well. Canadian Ryan Litt would start out fast on his qualifying lap, but would only make it into turn one when disaster would strike. Coming out of turn two, the left rear hub would break sending the orange and white #07 Beast chassis spinning hard and fast into the back stretch retaining wall. After losing both wings and taking out the track safety light the OTC, BS&B Radiator sponsored sprinter would come to a stop just past midway on the straight away. With in seconds Ryan would pop out of the car unscathed. Litt had previously told me of how fun it was running Toledo “flat out the whole way round”. After some repairs to the track and cleanup AVSS qualifying would resume. The Dowker powered #42 of Jason Blonde would blister the track with a 12.774 lap reclaiming the title of fastest short track series. The rest of qualifying would be uneventful.

After heat race wins by Mike Ordway Jr., Jeff Holbrook and Trent Stephens all 27 cars would line up for the 50 lap feature. Mike Lichty would lead early, losing the lead to Dave Shullick Jr on lap 29. 1oth place starter Perley would drop back as far as 13th. After a short caution for the #35 of Jeff Holbrook spinning in turns 1 and 2, the field would bunch up on the restart taking out Mark Sammut, Jeff Abold, Johnny Benson Jr.,Vern Romanski and several other cars out of the race. On lap 48 Bobby Bond’s 25 would slam the wall coming out of turn four, at the green Shullick would lose power bunching up the field. 2nd place Lichty would spin, 3rd place Perley would get a flat tire, relegating both cars to the back of the field with 2 remaining. This handed the lead to the Sweet Manufacturing Ltd. #29 of Russ Wood who had been running in the top 5 all night. With 2 to go Wood would claim the top spot at the checkers, followed by Ordway and Perley. Stevens was fourth and Lichty fifth, followed by Randy Burch, Mark Sammut, Rich Reid, Shullick Jr. and Ben Seitz.

Next up was the 30 lap feature for the Super Sprints. Michigan racing veteran Jeff Bloom would start the Eldora Speedway sponsored #26 on pole, with #9 Chad Goff starting 2nd. Bloom would keep the lead the entire race. This doesn’t mean that the race was boring, far from it. On the last lap Goff would pull up on the inside of Bloom who would manage to win by just a few feet. Kyle Flint would come home 3rd, Ryan Davis 4th and Blonde in 5th. Heat race wins would go to Goff, Jeff Banyas and Jimmy McCune. Davis would win the last chance race.