A field of 26 Super Late Models was on hand on a beautiful Sunday afternoon for the Icebreaker 125 race #1 of the AACS. Some of the top names were on hand to compete.
19 of the 26 machines qualified in the 14-second range but it was B.J.McLeod who topped them all with a 14.54-second time beating out Dave Pletcher's 14.60. The surprise of the day was the un-sponsored car of Jim Smith from Inverness in his first trip to DeSoto with a fast lap time of 14.61.
The roll of the die inverted the first the first two rows. When the green dropped it was Smith who jumped out to the early lead But McLeod showed he was also fast in race trim and going on the outside made the pass in turn 3 to take the lead on lap 2.
McLeod had the car to beat as the rest of the field chased him for the rest of the race. The only car that had anything for him was the veteran Dave Pletcher.
As the laps wound down Pletcher used both the high and low grooves trying to make the pass and was door handle to door handle with the 78 machine but a late race caution put the field back in a single file for the restart and McLeod was able to hold on for the win, Pletcher came home in second, third went to Jim Smith, fourth across the stripe was Lee Collins and in fifth it was Chris Turner.
Open Wheels
21 Super Modifieds were on hand for the 50-lap feature event. Former track champion D.J.Hoelzle wowed the crowd with a 14:98 second lap to take fast qualifier. Hoelzle was the only car in the 14-second range.
Steve Gainey jumped out to the early lead. With the top ten machines running nose to tail Gainey was able to stay out front until late in the race when Wayne Jefferson tried everything he could to get by the 01 machine. As the two came out of turn four Jefferson used the bump draft causing Gainey to spin in a cloud of smoke. The official call came for Jefferson to go to the rear of the pack ending his bid for the win. Gainey held on for the lead over Hoelzle, John Shields was third, in fourth Steve Perez and rounding out the top five was Pat Nanney.
DeSoto Trucks
Jeff Guilbalt was the big winner in the trucks dominating over the rest of the field, Shane Russ made his way from mid pack to take second, third was veteran truck racer Paul Grynewicz, fourth was Shawn Ively and Bill Manfull took fifth.
Sportsman
Cilf Bifaro won the sportsman feature over Tommy Gladen in second, Lonny Miller third, Jimmy Carter fourth and Jessie Dutilly fifth,
Mini Stock
Mike Gayle began the season the way he ended it, with a win in the Mini Stock feature event, second place went to Joe Gagen, third was John Wilson, fourth was Bill Alden and fifth went to Lawrence Zinn.
