SPORTS

Electric City Speedway: Season gets underway

Special to the Tribune

The Electric City Speedway opened its season Saturday, and it was a record-setting night.

There were 27 Modified cars running, which is an all-time record at the speedway, which is owned by Dan Mann. The car count in the other three local classes was also strong.

The racing was very competitive in all the classes, but the race of the night was the Super Stock feature between No. 85 Pat Lamere and No. 67 Casey Steffenson. Early leader No. 07 Paul Lease slipped up a little and Lamere made a move for the lead but his first attempt was called by a yellow flag.

Then No. 67 took the lead with Lamere in hot pursuit and when Steffenson slipped, Lamere charged to the lead. Steffenson did not go away easy and made many attempts to pass again for the lead, but Lamere made no mistakes, eventually finishing with a good lead.

The Modified event was a field filled with regional stars from North Dakota and Idaho, making this and event to remember. Included in the star-studded field was the multitime Wissota National Champion Steve Arpin.

Arpin charged from 12th to finish 3rd with the pole starter Travis Peery leading from green to checkers.

The Wissota Mid West Mods was a dramatic event also with No. 8 Tim McCune taking the early lead and then crashing while leading.

No. 01 Paul Leach took over with No. 50 Ron Sasek making a run to take the lead. It looked like Sasek had in the bag until on the last turn of the last lap, tire failure turned the victory over to No. 15 Marvin Gonzales. Sasek had to settle for second, finishing on a flat right rear with the 01 of Leach right behind.

In the Streets, it was the 2014 Champion Ron Mattern winning again to start the 2015 season with the No. 14 of Joey Tinker right behind. Tinker moved back into Streets this year after trying out a MW Mod for a season or two. He said he just liked the Streets better.

Looks like he made a good decision with his very competitive finish in his first time out.

MidWest Modified

Feature

1, Marvin Gonzales Great Falls, 35.00, 2, Ron Sasek Great Falls, 33.00; 3, Paul Leach Sun River, 32.00; 4, Kelly Blixt Clancy , 31.00; 5, Alan Riley Florence , 30.00; 6, Greg Tacke Great Falls, 29.00; 7, John Johnson Great Falls, 28; 8, John Price Great Falls, 27.00; 9, Cody Kuglin Great Falls, 26.00; 10, Michael Shure Great Falls, 25.00; 11, Patrick Harvie Great Falls, 24.00; 12, Timothy Mccune Great Falls, 23.00

IMCA Modified

Feature

1, Travis Peery , Nd 40.00; 2, Jason Wolla - 39.00; 3, Steve Arpin - 38.00; 4, Paul Leach Sun River, 37.00; 5, Merlin Sorenson Laurel , 36.00; 6, Maurice Myre Great Falls, 35.00; 7, Jason Donnelly - 34.00; 8, John Price Great Falls, 33.00; 9, Kory Wermling Great Falls, 32.00; 10, Zach Olson Great Falls, 31.00; 11, Lonnell Timmons Jr. Salmon , Id 30.00; 12, Garth Dushanek - 29.00; 13, Beau Brown Deer Lodge, 28.00; 14, Travis Panko Stevensville , 27.00; 15, Patrick Wallace Fairfield , 26.00; 16, Tommy Bush Great Falls, 25.00; 17, Mark Wermling Great Falls, 24.00; 18, John Norris Great Falls, 23.00; 19, Gary Hill Black Eagle, 22.00; 20, Joey Price Great Falls, 21.00; 21, Tim Sorenson - 20.00; 22, Jody Kropp Great Falls, 19.00; 23, Paul Donnelly Great Falls, 18.00; 24, Travis Hagen - 17.00

Super Stock

Feature

1, Patrick Lamere Great Falls, 35.00; 2, Casey Steffenson Great Falls, 33.00; 3, Beau Brown Deer Lodge, 32.00; 4, Nick Hunter Deer Lodge, 31.00; 5, Paul Lease Deer Lodge, 30.00; 6, Kenneth Hunter Deer Lodge, 29.00; 7, Jake Tucker Great Falls, 28.00; 8, Dolan Sevalstad Great Falls, 27.00; 9, Matt O'connell Great Falls, 26.00; 10, Mike Pistelak Great Falls, 25.00; 11, Clay Irwin Great Falls, 24.00; 12, Frederick Hansen Brady , 0.00

Street Stock

Feature

1, Ron Mattern Great Falls, 35.00; 2, Joseph Tinker Great Falls, 33.00 ; 3, Dwayne Fowler Belgrade , 32.00; 4, Cory Craver Balgrade , 31.00; 5, Brice Miesmer Great Falls, 30.00; 6, Frank Pearson Great Falls, 29.00; 7, Taylor Falkenhagen Great Falls, 28.00; 8, Kyle Jarvey Great Falls, 27.00; 9, Rodney Hunter - 26.00; 10, William Handel Great Falls, 25.00; 11, Del Voss Cascade , 24.00; 12, Brad Norris Great Falls, 23.00; 13, Kelan Kropp Great Falls, 22.00; 14, Ron Weber Helena , 21.00; 15, Jeremy Weber Great Falls, 0.00