Photos By Jim Fisher                                                  

Reid, Delong & Kittle take features

Reported by Jim Fisher

(June 3, 2000)  Young Indiana native Boston Reid wrote his name in the record books as the first feature winner of the Great Lakes Outlaw Sprint Series on Saturday night at Butler (Mi.) Motor Speedway.  Three-time Butler champion Chuck Wilson led 29 laps of the 30-lap event, but suffered mechanical woes after taking the white flag, with Reid taking over
to claim his second career Butler victory in his Hoosier tire shod Stealth/Gaerte. 

Rick Delong garnered his first win at Butler in the late model division, while Don Kittle landed his first career checker in the street stocks.


Jason Dukes won his heat race and then followed with a victory in the dash to earn the pole position for the GLOSS feature, with Wilson starting on the outside of the front row.  Wilson immediately drove to the lead, with Dukes in second and eighth-starting Reid moving to third by lap two. The field was slowed twice by cautions in the opening five laps, with Reid challenging for the runner up spot on both restarts.  Finally, on lap seven Reid found a way past, with the race brought to a standstill one lap later when Scott Bailey and Ralph Slade made contact in turn two, with Slade flipping his racer and Bailey sustaining heavy damage. 

On the restart Reid ducked low in an attempt to get past Wilson, but was unable to get past. Under green Wilson was able to put some distance on the field, and looked to be on the way to victory until the mechanical gremlins struck on the final lap, relegating him to a seventh place finish.  Reid, which took his first career sprint win at Butler a year ago, claimed his first win of the 2000 season. Dukes slid off the top on lap 18 but regained several spots late in the race to finish second. Brett Mann moved from a 10th-place starting position to third at the finish, with Bob Thoms
fourth and Paul May fifth. Ken Mackey, Wilson, Greg Wheeler, Mike Daggett and Bill Ptasienski rounded out the top ten.  May and Mark Stemen joined Dukes and Wilson as heat winners. Ptasienski and Dustin Daggett took 'B' Mains.

Delong led all the way in the 25-lap late model feature. By the midway point of the race the Ohio driver had stretched his margin to nearly a straightaway lead. A lap 19 caution allowed Jeff Petsch to pull within striking distance, but Delong pulled away on the restart and easily commanded the final six laps on the way to the win.  Petsch recorded his best finish of the season in second, with Tim Wilber third, Rod Patterson fourth and Marv Burroughs fifth.  Completing the top 10 were Mark Dowdy, Lynn Beckwith, Jim O'Neil, Toby Lepper and Rick Swartout.  Late Model heats went to Wilber, Dowdy, Bill Eversole and Terry Sroufe. Randy Archer and Linc Stevens won 'B' Mains.

Kittle held off a late challenge from Glenn Heath on the way to the street stock win. Heath ducked low on the frontstretch coming to the checker and nearly stole Kittles' first checker. Defending street stock champion Rick
Spieth took third, with Eric Wilson fourth and Joel Sherman fifth. Tim Abbeg, Justin VanWyck, Grady Jarrell, Shawn McFetters and Shawn Perkins made up the remainder of the top 10.

BUTLER MOTOR SPEEDWAY RESULTS
GLOSS SPRINTS  6-3-2000
F.T. Paul May 13.553
Heat 1: Bob Thoms, Paul May, Boston Reid, Chuck Mohr
Heat 2: Jason Dukes, Chuck Wilson, Scott Bailey
Heat 3: Mark Stemen, Ken Mackey, Mike Daggett, Jody Hunt
Heat 4: Ralph Slade, Tim Norman, Brett Mann, Duane Mackey

Dash: Jason Dukes, Chuck Wilson, Bob Thoms, Tim Norman

B Main Winners: Dustin Daggett and Bill Ptasienski

Feature: Boston Reid, Jason Dukes, Brett Mann, Bob Thoms, Paul May, Ken Mackey, Chuck Wilson, Greg Wheeler, Mike Daggett, Bill Ptasienski, Tim Norman, Chuck Mohr, Jody Hunt, Gerry Hart, Corey Bevard, Steve Kreig, Duane Mackey, Dustin Daggett, Ralph Slade, Scott Bailey

LATE MODELS
Heat 1: Bill Eversole, Jim O'Neil, Rick Delong, Lynn Beckwith
Heat 2: Mark Dowdy, Jeff Petsch, Rod Patterson, Jamie Campbell
Heat 3: Tim Wilber, Billy Daniels, Marv Burroughs, Rick Swartout
Heat 4: Terry Sroufe, Toby Lepper, Terry Wilber, George Lindsey

B Main Winners: Randy Archer and Linc Stevens

Feature: Rick Delong, Jeff Petsch, Tim Wilber, Rod Patterson, Marv Burroughs, Mark Dowdy, Lynn Beckwith, Jim O'Neil, Toby Lepper, Rick Swartout, George Lindsey, Randy Archer, Jeff Pemble, Terry Wilber, Jamie Campbell, Linc Stevens, Mike Rogers, Terry Sroufe, Bill Eversole, Billy Daniels

STREET STOCKS
Heat 1: Ben Curtis, Rick Spieth, Frank Weller, Grady Jarrell
Heat 2: Mark Budd, Jack Redding, Don Kittle Justin VanWyck (DQ winner Melanie
Gaff light)
Heat 3: Glenn Heath, Joel Sherman, Eric Wilson, Zeke McNew

B Main Winner: Randy Nichols

Feature: Don Kittle, Glenn Heath, Rick Spieth, Eric Wilson, Joel Sherman, Tim Abbeg, Justin VanWyck, Grady Jarrell, Shawn McFetters, Shawn Perkins, Reynaldo Rivera, Bill Howard, Brad Blonde, Jack Redding, Randy Parker,
Melanie Gaff, Randy Nichols, Mark Budd, Ben Curtis, Brian Koebbe