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UPIR Races Support Honor Flight & Wedding Vows
 This story was written by Todd Rose from UPIR ESCANABA---After rain and heavy mist early Saturday morning and afternoon the skies cleared, allowing for another night of action packed racing at UPIR. Saturday night’s racing was all for the benefit of the UP Honor Flight, with proceeds from the 50/50, the Richardson Jewelers’ donated UP Pendant Necklace and American Flag going to the wonderful program which helps Veterans make the trip to Washington DC to visit Monuments dedicated to them, and those who served alongside them in battle. The night’s biggest reason to celebrate came in the Bink’s Coca Cola Sport Fours division. While on track action at UPIR was exciting, two of the division’s top drivers were busy elsewhere. Craig Klotz and Hattie Bourdeau, who have been track regulars for several years, got married to one another Saturday while the Johnson twins, Kyle and Cody, substituted for the bride and groom on the track. UPIR would like to congratulate Hattie and Craig on their wedding and to many happy years together! Meanwhile back at the track, Sport Four action was full of great moments, including two very special heat race wins for two drivers. Points leader, Luke Vermote, had reason to celebrate throughout the whole night. Celebrating his daughter’s thirteenth birthday, Luke surprised her bring her around the track during the parade of flags, hoping to deliver a feature win as a birthday present. Luke got things done in the second heat, winning and setting him up for a strong starting position in the feature. The third heat was won by the aforementioned Cody Johnson, substituting for Hattie Bourdeau. Disappointingly, Johnson ran into mechanical issues before the start of the Feature race. Once the green flag dropped in the Feature Luke Vermote made no bones about getting to the front. From the get go Vermote was a man on a mission, determined to win the feature for his daughter on her golden birthday. Behind Vermote the action was frantic with cars bumping and banging together, with several losing tires in the process. The wildest moment of the whole night came when Matt Maki lost his whole right front tire, sending him straight off the edge off the track and airborne to the pit entrance. Despite a late race restart, Luke Vermote was able to bring home the race win, and birthday present, in strong fashion. Running strong at the tail end of the season, Luke Vermote is undoubtedly the favorite to win this year’s Bink’s Coca Cola Sport Fours Championship. Top three finishers from feature races are listed below Bink’s Coca Cola Sport Fours 1. Luke Vermote (Escanaba, Mi) 2. Bryon Stemick (Escanaba, MI) 3. Kyle Johnson** (Escanaba, Mi) Modifieds 1. Matt Valiquette (Menominee, Mi) 2. Chuck Carmin (Gladstone, Mi) 3. Pat Richer (Bark River, Mi) Street Stocks 1. Greg Bruce (Escanaba, Mi) 2. Paul Wagner (Gladstone, Mi) 3. Max Constantino (Rapid River, Mi) 600 Micro Sprints 1. Christian Groleau (Gladstone, Mi) 2. Todd Belanger (Escanaba, Mi) 3. Josh Bartel (Wilson, Mi) Sportsman Micro Sprints 1. Dave Hosking (Bark River, Mi) 2. Michael Ault (Escanaba, Mi) 3. Logan Getzloff (Wilson, Mi) Riverside Auto Group Micro Sprints 1. Avry Corrigan (Escanaba, Mi) 2. Brett Labre (Escanaba, Mi) 3. Haden Frazer (Escanaba, Mi) *Race Results Subject to Change Under Further Review * *Substituting for Craig Klotz Next Race: Saturday August 20 Event: UP State Fair Race Night Green Flag: 6 PM EST |
