San Antonio Speedway May 22nd Race Recap

[GoGirl]

This past Saturday night our very own all-stars lit up the track with some very exciting, non-stop racing action. When the dust all settled, it was Joe Aramendia, Eric Knudtson and John Kelly Jr. standing in the Dodge winner's circle toting their winning trophies.

 

The window nets were up and eleven late model drivers were securely fastened in their seat. The top six starters were Robert Barker, Wesley McGuffin, James Cole, Jason Smith, Danny Garcia and Larry Bendele. Joe Aramendia, who is running a limited schedule in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, started seventh. When the green flag waved, Robert Barker was the leader. By lap #2, Cole moved up to second with Bendele inhaling his fumes. Aramendia was eliminating the competition, one by one, finding himself in the fourth spot on lap #8. Several laps later, both Cole and Bendele rocketed past Barker. At the half-way point, Cole was still leading followed by Bendele, Aramendia, Barker and McGuffin. Aramendia was absolutely flying, passing Bendele on lap #23 and taking the lead from Cole just five laps later. When the checkered flag was displayed, it was Joe Aramendia in his wicked fast #50 racecar capturing the win. James Cole, Larry Bendele, Robert Barker and Wesley McGuffin rounded out the top five.

 

In the Sportsman division, Justin Oates has been phenomenal, winning four main events in a row, leaving one to wonder---can this kid be stopped??? Well....13 other racers certainly hoped so. The starting grid for their main event had Dwayne Markgraf on the pole followed by Tater Mason, Eric Knudtson, Tom Reynolds, Tom Casey, Robert Mayberry, Marcus Bellino and Justin Oates. As the race got underway, Knudtson and Mason jumped out front. Five laps into the event, Oates, Mayberry and Bellino zoomed through the pack to capture third, fourth and fifth respectively. Unfortunately, Bellino's night came to an end with mechanical problems just shy of the half-way marker. Knudtson was in a zone of his own leaving the rest of the field hoping for a yellow flag. With seven laps to go, they got their wish when Markgraf spun out. Oates, now running second, had one final shot to keep his winning streak alive. On the restart, Knudtson held off the high-schooler for the BIG win with Tater Mason, Jarod Benker and Robert Mayberry next to cross the stripe.

 

Greg Rohmer was sitting on the pole for the Road Runners main event followed by Randy Frautschi, John Kelly Jr., Irish O'Leary and Jason Kelly. John Kelly Jr. was in the borrowed car of Joe Horne after destroying his racer the night before at the I-37 dirt track. Rohmer took the early lead. On the second lap, Frautschi, O'Leary, John Kelly Jr. and Mark Mathais made contact sending all four spinning out. On the restart, Rohmer and Jason Kelly were in the top two spots. John Kelly Jr. was a man on a mission passing cars left and right. With three laps remaining, he used lap traffic to get by Rohmer and never looked back as he took the win. Rohmer, Jason Kelly, Mathais and O'Leary were the next contenders to cross the finish line.

 

Congratulations to all of our winners!