Lindon Smith Captures Signature Victory in Mini Stock 51 Lap Race Over Memorial Day

In the longest and highest paying race of the year for the tracks Mini Stock division. One car was the class of the field. No. 221 Lindon Smith finally was able to display the speed the car has been trying to show most of the season, winning $1,000 in the 51 lap main event.

(Cole Rarden and Lindon Smith side-by-side, Photo by Amber Taylor)

The night didn’t start easy for Smith, rolling the car out for qualifying he found he had no drive in the car making it about ten feet. Getting back to his pit stall and having to do a complete transmission change, making it out for the main but having to start from the back.

The race started off with an early yellow when No. 1 Cole Rarden spun in the dirt following contact with the No. 26 Jimmy Absher. Absher would give up the lead on the following restart to the No. 97 of Zach Bristol. Bristol would be able to hold the lead on the next green flag run.

Another caution midway through the race would bunch the field up and give Smith a show to get past Bristol for the lead, side by side in a tight battle Smith would get enough drive off the corner and capture the lead, and wouldn’t look back despite having to hold off from two late race restarts. Rarden would finish second and Bristol in third.

The INEX Legends had two races across the weekend, the first being captured by Chris Bellanca in a race that saw six different leaders including contact between No. 20 Andrew Riehl and No. 19 Jayden Luse causing a spin for Riehl and a black flag shown to Luse. No. 30b Braeden Wagar would finish second and No. 11c Chad Sinner finished third. 

(Josh Velock flipping in turn 3 and 4, Photo by Amber Taylor)

The second half of the weekend was a big turn around for Luse, slowly picking off cars moving his way forward and grabbing the lead with 14 laps to go and holding off other fast cars and capturing his first win of the season. Bellanca would finish in second and Riehl would finish in third.

Two figure eight divisions ran on Sunday, starting with the tracks Outlaw division. The race was a rough one for teams throughout the field. The No. 9 Dakota Wilkinson led the first 25 laps of the main event, but got loose in the north end of the eight with five to go, forcing No. 40 Seth Funden wide and allowing No. 83 Zach Larson to get to the front before the caution would fly. Wilkinson and Funden wouldn’t have the time to recover and finish fifth and sixth. The sprint finish would see Larson hold off the challengers and win the event, No. 1 Ryan Clark would finish second and No. 676 Ricky Deitz would finish third.

The second of the two was the Super Stock division. Track legend No. 5 Quenton Borreson was on the pole to start, only able to lead the first three laps when his car lost power forcing him to give the lead to the No. 88 Guy Litts who wouldn’t give the lead up and capture victory. No. 45 Chevy Vincent would finish in second and No. 67 Mackenzie Repin would come home in third after a mechanical issue forced No. 36 John Carlson to exit the track three laps from the finish.

The Hornet division was an up and down race with the division having a full invert the fast time qualifiers had to make their way through a large field, and the early surprise was No. 12 Brady Smith starting on the pole and showing a lot of speed leading for the first 17 laps before finally giving the lead up and falling through the field. No. 77 Christian Miller was the first driver to get by and would hold on and win. No. 17 Geno Solomon would finish in second and with a last lap pass No. 99 Frank Mirabelli would be in third.

Finally was the four cylinder figure eight class in the track's Stinger division. In a barn burner of a race No. 21 Matt Sommerville edged out No. 16 Peyton Hopp by only .092 of a second in a photo finish. Hopp secured his second best finish of the season in the division. In third would be No. 10 Cody Hoopes.

The track is hosting the second round of DriftCon with the Team Tandem Competition, NASCAR racing returns June 6th with Pro Late Models, Street Stocks, INEX Legends and more.