Rookie sensation Loren Short made the trip to victory lane in the Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Michigan Legends Series presented by Z-Max Lubricants a very short journey as he took his first feature win in just his fourth start with the series this past weekend at the Owosso Speedway in Ovid, Michigan.
This was Turbo Blue Racing Fuels night for the series which was making its first of two appearances in 2010 at the historic former POW camp and legendary speedway and the series put on a great night of racing for the fans. Turbo Blue has been a longtime sponsor of the series and is the official Racing Fuel of the Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Michigan Legends Series presented by Z-Max.
First up were three heat races to line up the feature race staring line-up since the group does not qualify but instead draws for starting line-ups in the qualifying heat races.
Loren Short would sweep the night as he took home the checkers in Heat race #1 by beating Sean McPherson and Tyler Rycenga for the top spot. Matt Todd continued his winning ways by grabbing the win in heat race #2 over Brandon Mahoney and Ben Rouster. Point’s leader Tony Monge grabbed yet another heat race win in heat #3 by getting to the line ahead of Chance Rice and Levi Rouster.
The Turbo Blue Racing Fuels 30 lap feature was led to the green flag by Tyler Rycenga and Ben Rouster with Rycenga grabbing the early lead and maintaining a commanding lead from early on while eventual winner Short and Levi Rouster would work their way up from deep in the pack to start nipping at Rycenga’s rear bumper.
It wasn’t until the 23rd go round that Short was able to get by Rycenga for the lead and hold on to the end while facing some heavy challenges from Levi Rouster who came with him in second place. Rycenga would hold on for third spot followed by Tony Monge and Matt Todd rounding out the top five. The win was sweet for Short as he is a former champion in the Hornets division at Auto City Speedway and is a leading contender for Rookie of the Year honors. From the looks of it Short will be running right up front with the established stars of the series as he came out of the box with a second place finish in the first race of the year back in April.
Chance Rice, Sean McPherson, Brandon Mahoney, Cody Mahoney, and Ben Rouster would grab the remaining spots in the top ten finishing order by finishing sixth through tenth respectively.
Next up for the Auto Value/Bumper to Bumper Michigan Legends Series presented by Z-Max is the second stop of the year at the Auto City Speedway in Clio on June 19. So check out the official website of the Michigan Legends Series at www.michiganlegends.com and “We’ll see You at The Races”