Written by Jim Foose

The dawn of a new era for the Great Lakes Truck Tour kicked off at Lorain Raceway Park on Saturday, May 10th, with the tour’s inaugural race.  Brad Copen, the defending champion of the tour, formerly known as the CRS Super Truck Series, picked up right where he left off in 2024.  Copen set the fastest lap in the qualifying session and then backed that up by storming through the field to pick up the feature win.  Copen, who started sixth in the ten-truck field, battled his way to the lead by lap four but had to overcome little adversity mid-race as the driver of the #1 fought through slower traffic that allowed Jesse Fischbach to reel in Copen late in the going.  Fischbach would run out of laps as the checkered flag flew on the 30 lap Great Lakes Truck Tour Feature event.  Fischbach would settle for second with Bailey Delfosse, who overcame a fire in practice to finish third in the #04, Jeff Fade, Jr (4th) and Lindsey Fade (5th) completed the top five finishers.  Fade, Jr. picked up the Fast Dash victory while Lindsey Fade won the Heat Race.

Rick Groetsch had an equally impressive run in the 30 laps Sliman’s of Amherst Modified Feature event, leading flag to flag to pick up his first feature win at Lorain Raceway Park in over a year.  Groetsch started on pole and jumped to the early lead just before a three car pile-up in turn 2 on lap 2 took out contenders TJ Stineman, Terry Groner and Jeremy Menninger which brought out the red flag.  Back under green, Groetsch jumped to the lead and held onto it through the end of the race, fending off a late race charge by Nathan Embree, the winner of the Opening Night Feature at LRP.  Embree would finish second while Parker Ennes (3rd), Spencer Stineman (4th) and Kenny Feister, Jr (5th) completed the top five.  Kurt Hennings, Rick Groetsch and Parker Ennes won the Heat Races.

Chase Wiggins picked up his first ever feature win in the Perfection Fabricators Grand National 25 lap A-Main, Wiggins battled with Brenton Beal for the lead early before driving off to a 2 second lead at the end of 25 laps.  Dan Smith (2nd), Rich Dewitt, Jr (3rd), Brenton Beal (4th) and Will Yuravak (5th) completed the top five finishers after initial third place finisher Trent Aslaksen was disqualified in post-race technical inspection.  Aslaksen had picked up the Fast Dash victory earlier in the program while Will Yuravak scored the Heat Race victory.

The 15 lap Factory Stock Feature Event saw Jimmy Phillips lead all 15 laps from the fourth starting position.  Roy Lowe (2nd), Nick Mahlik (3rd), Joshua Fielding (4th) and Justin Andres (5th) completed the top five.  Phillips also picked up the Heat Race win.

Joe Warner picked up the Buckeye Buggy Feature Win after passing Blake Smith with four laps to go.  Shawn Kluck (2nd), Erik Wolleson (3rd), Blake Smith (4th) and Brian Warner (5th) completed the top five in the 20 lap Feature Event.  Brian Warner and Mike Giachett won Heat Races.

Next up at Lorain Raceway Park is a special Friday Night Lights program with the Ohio Wheelman Series headlining the program on Friday, May 23rd, the first of a weekend doubleheader of the Ohio Wheelman Series with Sandusky Speedway hosting the series on Saturday, May 24th.  The Sliman’s of Amherst Modifieds, Perfection Fabricators Grand Nationals, Ohio Pro Compacts, Factory Stocks and Juicebox divisions will be competing as the official kick off to Memorial Day Weekend.

Lorain Raceway Park is located in South Amherst, Ohio just 35 minutes west of Cleveland and just minutes away from the Ohio Turnpike (I-80) exit for Ohio Route 58.  For 76 years, Lorain Raceway Park has been the “Fastest Party in Lorain County”.  With action and activities for all ages, Lorain Raceway Park is your destination for “Fast & Affordable Family Fun”.

Modifieds

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 16-Rick Groetsch[1]; 2. 10-Nathan Embree[3]; 3. 07-Parker Ennes[7]; 4. 37S-Spencer Stineman[12]; 5. 13-Kenny Feister Jr[5]; 6. 51-Ricky Elkins[8]; 7. 331-Michael Stone[11]; 8. 64-Brandon Lemmerman[9]; 9. 27-Matthew Winningham[14]; 10. 3-Austin Berger[6]; 11. 07W-Joey Wycoff[16]; 12. 42-Stephen Schlea[17]; 13. 11-Kenny Sharp[13]; 14. 17-Kurt Hennings[15]; 15. 00-Terry Groner[2]; 16. 37-TJ Stineman[4]; 17. 66-Jeremy Menninger[10]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Kurt Hennings[3]; 2. 11-Kenny Sharp[5]; 3. 07W-Joey Wycoff[2]; 4. 42-Stephen Schlea[1]; 5. (BF) 27-Matthew Winningham[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Rick Groetsch[1]; 2. 00-Terry Groner[2]; 3. 10-Nathan Embree[3]; 4. 37-TJ Stineman[4]; 5. 13-Kenny Feister Jr[5]; 6. 3-Austin Berger[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 07-Parker Ennes[1]; 2. 51-Ricky Elkins[2]; 3. 64-Brandon Lemmerman[3]; 4. 331-Michael Stone[5]; 5. 66-Jeremy Menninger[4]; 6. 37S-Spencer Stineman[6]

Qualifying 1: 1. 37S-Spencer Stineman, 00:15.345[13]; 2. 331-Michael Stone, 00:15.345[15]; 3. 66-Jeremy Menninger, 00:15.380[10]; 4. 64-Brandon Lemmerman, 00:15.390[9]; 5. 51-Ricky Elkins, 00:15.412[2]; 6. 07-Parker Ennes, 00:15.486[4]; 7. 3-Austin Berger, 00:15.494[1]; 8. 13-Kenny Feister Jr, 00:15.541[5]; 9. 37-TJ Stineman, 00:15.585[14]; 10. 10-Nathan Embree, 00:15.595[3]; 11. 00-Terry Groner, 00:15.601[7]; 12. 16-Rick Groetsch, 00:15.667[6]; 13. 11-Kenny Sharp, 00:15.725[12]; 14. 27-Matthew Winningham, 00:15.815[17]; 15. 17-Kurt Hennings, 00:15.897[8]; 16. 07W-Joey Wycoff, 00:16.050[18]; 17. 42-Stephen Schlea, 00:16.425[11]; 18. (DNS) 49-Sam Stout

13 entries

Grand Nationals

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 22-Chase Wiggins[2]; 2. 71-Dan Smith[7]; 3. 16-Rich Dewitt Jr[3]; 4. 79-Brenton Beal[1]; 5. 15-Will Yuravak[4]; 6. 2-Dominic Cicconetti[13]; 7. 83-Doug Beall[11]; 8. 51-Carl Smith[6]; 9. 320-Josh Ansell[9]; 10. (DNS) 33-Aaron White; 11. (DNS) 45-Calvin McMahan; 12. (DNS) 145-Matthew James; 13. (DQ) 3-Trent Aslaksen[8]

Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 51-Carl Smith[2]; 2. 71-Dan Smith[3]; 3. 33-Aaron White[1]; 4. (DQ) 3-Trent Aslaksen[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Will Yuravak[7]; 2. 79-Brenton Beal[6]; 3. 2-Dominic Cicconetti[9]; 4. 51-Carl Smith; 5. 320-Josh Ansell[3]; 6. 22-Chase Wiggins[4]; 7. 83-Doug Beall[1]; 8. 16-Rich Dewitt Jr[5]; 9. 45-Calvin McMahan[2]; 10. 145-Matthew James[8]

Qualifying 1: 1. 3-Trent Aslaksen, 00:17.138[2]; 2. 71-Dan Smith, 00:17.141[8]; 3. 51-Carl Smith, 00:17.214[7]; 4. 33-Aaron White, 00:17.240[9]; 5. 15-Will Yuravak, 00:17.297[11]; 6. 79-Brenton Beal, 00:17.411[3]; 7. 16-Rich Dewitt Jr, 00:17.530[6]; 8. 22-Chase Wiggins, 00:17.674[10]; 9. 320-Josh Ansell, 00:18.130[1]; 10. 45-Calvin McMahan, 00:18.201[13]; 11. 83-Doug Beall, 00:18.302[4]; 12. (DNS) 2-Dominic Cicconetti; 13. (DNS) 145-Matthew James

6 entries

Factory Stocks

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 91-Jimmy Phillips[4]; 2. 19-Roy Lowe[6]; 3. 95-Nick Mahlik[3]; 4. 88-Joshua Fielding[1]; 5. 72-Justin Andres[2]; 6. 9-Jesse Houghton[5]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 91-Jimmy Phillips[4]; 2. 19-Roy Lowe[6]; 3. 95-Nick Mahlik[3]; 4. 72-Justin Andres[2]; 5. 88-Joshua Fielding[1]; 6. 9-Jesse Houghton[5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 19-Roy Lowe, 00:18.461[4]; 2. 9-Jesse Houghton, 00:18.491[3]; 3. 91-Jimmy Phillips, 00:18.543[6]; 4. 95-Nick Mahlik, 00:18.691[5]; 5. 72-Justin Andres, 00:20.034[1]; 6. 88-Joshua Fielding, 00:20.034[2]

10 entries

Great Lakes Truck Tour

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 1-Brad Copen[6]; 2. 34-Jesse Fischbach[5]; 3. 04-Bailey Delfosse[3]; 4. 33-Jeff Fade Jr[4]; 5. 31-Lindsey Fade[2]; 6. 15-Joe Markowski[7]; 7. 32-Brian Taylor[1]; 8. 26-Chad Squires[10]; 9. 64-Wayne Mounts[8]; 10. 24-Glen Jewell[9]

Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 33-Jeff Fade Jr[2]; 2. 1-Brad Copen[4]; 3. 04-Bailey Delfosse[1]; 4. 34-Jesse Fischbach[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 31-Lindsey Fade[6]; 2. 32-Brian Taylor[5]; 3. 15-Joe Markowski[4]; 4. 24-Glen Jewell[2]; 5. 26-Chad Squires[1]; 6. 64-Wayne Mounts[3]

Qualifying 1: 1. 1-Brad Copen, 00:15.370[1]; 2. 34-Jesse Fischbach, 00:15.502[5]; 3. 33-Jeff Fade Jr, 00:15.564[3]; 4. 04-Bailey Delfosse, 00:15.714[2]; 5. 31-Lindsey Fade, 00:15.837[4]; 6. 32-Brian Taylor, 00:15.983[10]; 7. 15-Joe Markowski, 00:16.387[7]; 8. 64-Wayne Mounts, 00:16.801[8]; 9. 24-Glen Jewell, 00:16.922[6]; 10. 26-Chad Squires, 00:17.284[9]

14 entries

Buckeye Buggies

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 72-Joe Warner[5]; 2. 21-Shawn Kluck[10]; 3. 51W-Erik Wolleson[8]; 4. 56-Blake Smith[3]; 5. 12-Brian Warner[1]; 6. 9-Kyle Watson[13]; 7. 22-Mike Giachett[2]; 8. 7-Brycen Whited[6]; 9. 60-Scott Carson[12]; 10. 19-Richard Warner[14]; 11. 4K-Kyle Hager[4]; 12. 94-Karl Schlidbach[9]; 13. 89K-Kyle Feaga[7]; 14. 45-Whited Bryan[11]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Brian Warner[2]; 2. 56-Blake Smith[5]; 3. 72-Joe Warner[4]; 4. 89K-Kyle Feaga[3]; 5. 94-Karl Schlidbach[6]; 6. 45-Whited Bryan[7]; 7. 9-Kyle Watson[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Mike Giachett[3]; 2. 4K-Kyle Hager[4]; 3. 7-Brycen Whited[6]; 4. 51W-Erik Wolleson[2]; 5. 21-Shawn Kluck[1]; 6. 60-Scott Carson[5]; 7. 19-Richard Warner[7]

Qualifying 1: 1. 22-Mike Giachett, 00:18.862[4]; 2. 72-Joe Warner, 00:18.864[10]; 3. 12-Brian Warner, 00:18.867[9]; 4. 51W-Erik Wolleson, 00:18.867[14]; 5. 56-Blake Smith, 00:19.022[8]; 6. 60-Scott Carson, 00:19.185[2]; 7. 7-Brycen Whited, 00:19.200[13]; 8. 89K-Kyle Feaga, 00:19.422[3]; 9. 94-Karl Schlidbach, 00:19.588[7]; 10. 45-Whited Bryan, 00:19.619[1]; 11. 19-Richard Warner, 00:19.915[11]; 12. 4K-Kyle Hager, 00:20.677[5]; 13. (DNS) 21-Shawn Kluck; 14. (DNS) 9-Kyle Watson