Birch Run Speedway Returns to Action after Midsummer Break

📸 Aubrey Deibert

After taking the 4th of July Holiday weekend off, drivers and fans returned to Birch Run Speedway and witnessed a first-time feature winner, heartbreak for some, and close racing all night long.  A special thank you to the Michigan Auto Racing Fan Club for being on hand and presenting Bob Farley with their helmet bag!

Top qualifiers on the night were:

Sport Compacts - Dalton Irish 16.594

Finish Line Seamless Gutters Pure Stocks - Jim Miller Jr 16.944

Showcase Auto Sales Street Stocks - Nick Lechota 17.142

Limited Late Models - Shawn Edmonds 16.857

Picking up checkered flags in heat race action were:

Limited Late Models Heat One - Carter Noffsinger

Limited Late Models Heat Two - Bob Farley

Finish Line Seamless Gutters Pure Stocks Heat One - Scott Garcia

Finish Line Seamless Gutters Pure Stocks Heat Two - Lonnie Saumier Jr

Showcase Auto Sales Street Stocks Heat One - Rob Sullivan

Showcase Auto Sales Street Stocks Heat Two - Nick Lechota 

Sport Compacts Heat One - Rodney Nettleton

Sport Compacts Heat Two - Elizabeth Kolb

Several leaders and top contenders had problems during the Limited Late Model 30-lap feature.  Joey Brooks had an incident on the frontstretch while leading; Joe Hodgeson Jr had a tire go down two laps in, and Dalton Worthy developed the same issue while leading.  Josh Hahn took over the lead until a caution with nine laps to go put fast qualifier Shaw Edmonds to his outside for the restart.  Edmonds powered around Hahn on the restart and went on to claim his second win of 2026.  Finishing behind Edmonds and Hahn were Hodgeson, Farley, and Trent Fenner.

Taking over the lead from Rex Perry just two laps into the feature, Talen Diehl drove the best race of his early career in picking up his first feature win in the Finish Line Seamless Gutters Pure Stocks!  The young driver had to fend off a challenge from his uncle, Lonnie Saumier, and then a hard-charging Bryan Thompson in a five-lap shootout to park his M57 in O’Reilly Auto Parts Victory Lane.  Thompson and Saumier finished second and third, with Jim Miller Jr and Bill Livesay completing the top five.

Rob Sullivan took the early lead in the Showcase Auto Sales Street Stocks feature and held the point for five laps until Duane Damon moved into the lead.  Fast qualifier and point leader Nick Lechota followed Damon through to second and, after trying high and low for seven laps, was finally able to wrestle the lead away from Damon.  Battling an illness that had him lying in the trailer for much of the afternoon, Lechota went on to claim his third win of the season and extend his point lead.  Damon finished second, Sullivan third, Chaz Taylor fourth, and Jeff Owens fifth.

A lap one caution that caused chaos and damage to several competitors didn’t deter Mike Koepke.  Inheriting the lead on the restart, Koepke survived challenges from Nicholas Murdock and Gary Koepke to pick up his first oval track feature at Birch Run Speedway to go along with a Figure 8 win earlier in the season.  Rounding out the top five were Gary Koepke, Dalton Irish, Corbin Kelley, and Rodney Nettleton.

In the Outlaw Figure 8 feature, Anthony Richardson claimed victory, but it didn’t come easy.  Making contact with Scott Leach near the end of the race, Maverick Morrow dove under the two entering turn three to briefly claim the lead.  Richardson gave a shot to Morrow in turn four to move him up the track and go on to claim the victory.  John Hiitsman Sr trailed in third with Jason Grissom and Darby Christensen finishing fourth and fifth.

This Friday features the return of the Monster X Metals and Gold Eve of Destruction series with a bonus.  Due to the early rainouts in the season, the O’Guinn Family Funeral Homes Modifieds have been added to the card, for the best of both worlds of action at Birch Run Speedway!  Advance tickets can be purchased at www.birchrunevents.com