History at Owosso: Keelan Harvick Becomes Youngest Winner with ASA STARS National Tour
The Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour came to Owosso Speedway in Ovid, Michigan for a 300-lap showdown featuring some of the nation’s rising late model pilots for the Michigan 300.
Race day began with a practice session in which Keelan Harvick topped the chart after finding an exciting high line that produced quicker times. Drivers quickly tried this new route around the oval, but no one beat that time that session. The fastest time by Harvick was 14.207, followed by Steckly, 14.207; McKee, 14.228; Brown, 14.236; and Kleyn, 14.243 to round out the top 5.
Rain rolled in, soaking the track and washing away any rubber and knowledge the teams had picked up so far. The premier crew at Owosso Speedway quickly began drying procedures as soon as the rain stopped, delaying qualifying by only 45 minutes.
Single-car, two-lap qualifying was the format for the day with no redraws after the fact. The entire field proved to be quick, with 0.344 seconds separating first and sixteenth. That’s approximately 48 feet of track separating first and last, or 2.5-3 late model car lengths. Keelan Harvick set the fastest speed in qualifying at 14.112. Followed by Thorn, Sauter, Kleyn, and McKee, concluding the fastest 5. Qualifying was such a demonstration of speed that the broadcast announcers were shocked we finished so quickly.
Cars and drivers took to the track with Harvick leading the field into the 300-lap event. He retained the lead after the green-flag start and held on while the field was slowed after 8 laps with a heavy turn 1 incident involving 4 drivers. The incident immediately took Pollard and Miller out, damaged Kitzmiller (which later forced him to park), and slowed Pinsonneault for the rest of the night. During this race, yellow laps counted.
Racing began again on lap 28 with Harvick and Thorne putting on a show, pulling away from the rest of the field until the lap 100 stage break yellow flag. After the lap 107 restart, the drivers once again took 8 laps to produce a yellow along the backstretch involving another 4 machines, removing them from the race. When the green flag flew again on lap 125, we had 9 cars in the race.
Lap 138 brought our first lead change as Steckly dove to pass Harvick.
The back half of the race was an entirely different scene for 150 laps. With the yellow flag only flying at lap 200 for a stage caution, the field drove without incidents until the end. Steckly and Harvick battled for the lead most of the way until an excellent dive from Harvick took him past a lapped car and Steckly in one move. A turn four door bang from Harvick to Steckly (that the author heard on the backstretch…) slowed Steckly and was the definitive blow to secure Harvick’s first victory at Owosso Speedway and with the Stars National Tour. Harvick is the youngest winner in series history. The top three of Harvick, Steckly, and Avedisian were the only drivers of the 16 to finish on the lead lap.
Here is the top ten from the ASA Stars National Tour Michigan 300:
1. Keelan Harvick* – Charlotte, NC – Toyota
2. Kyle Steckly – Mooresville, NC – Toyota
3. Jade Avedisian – Clovis, CA – Toyota
4. Carson Brown – New London, NC – Chevrolet
5. Chase Burda – Lapeer, MI – Ford
6. Michael Simko – Clarkston, MI – Chevrolet
7. Kasey Kleyn – Quincy, WA – Toyota
8. Casey Roderick – Lawrenceville, GA – Ford
9. Penn Sauter – DeForest, WI – Ford (out with motor issue, 240 laps)
10. Derek Thorn – Bakersfield, CA – Ford (out after accident, 152 laps)
Next for the ASA Stars National Tour is the Carolina 250 at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Granite Falls, NC. More information can be found at https://starsnationaltour.com/event/stars-052326/
Full results can be found on the Stars National Tour website at https://starsnationaltour.com/stats/results/
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