NORWAY, MI - Craig Schei nosed ahead of Mark Miller on the 27th lap of Friday night’s season opening Sierra Mist Late Model feature at the Norway Speedway and then never looked back in capturing the win to highlight the track’s first event of 2003. Mike Bubloni topped the Auto Value Super Stock feature event while Eric Menza came home the winner in the slammer feature race. Brettt Bray won the only Fab Four feature held.

The Town and Country Ford Season Opener drew an impressive field of cars to the track including 29 late models, 30 super stocks, 16 slammers, and 69 Fab Four’s for a record first night car count of 144. Cool temperatures and cloudy skies were the rule for the program. The final two Fab Four feature races were cancelled when on the final lap of the first race Jared Bower made contact with another car and came to rest on the frontstretch. Bower ended up with a leg injury which forced the ambulance to leave the grounds. Time constraints ended the show. For much of the 35-lap late model feature it appeared the Mark Miller, making a return to the track after several years off and a former champion, would garner the win. After racing side-by-side with rookie Brett Whaley during the first 10 laps of the race, Miller nosed to lead leaving Whaley to deal with Dick Coleman. Coleman pushed his car to the outside groove and drove by Whaley for the second spot on lap 15. The pair were right on the back bumper of Miller with Schei, who started seventh, and fast qualifier Jamie Iverson in tow. Lap 19 brought an end to the run of Coleman as, after contact from behind by Whaley, he spun his car in turn two. The yellow flag would wave with both drivers sent to the back of the pack for their involvement in the incident.

When the green came back out, Miller found himself in a dog fight with Schei. Schei took to the outside and the pair began to battle for the lead while Mark Schroeder dropped from contention with mechanical woes. Miller, using as much of the bottom of the track as possible, kept Schei at bay until lap 27 when Schei was finally able to nose ahead. Iverson then worked on the back of Miller for the runner-up spot as Schei drove away. Iverson was unable to get around Miller and would finish in the third spot over Kris Kelly and Dale Peterson. John Komp would jump to the lead in a hotly contested super stock main with John McDonald and Terry Reed falling in behind. Reed made quick work of McDonald, taking second on lap four, and moved in on the leader. As Komp and Reed fought for the lead, the faster cars began to make their way through the field from the back including Mike Bubloni, Mark Bubloni, and Ryan Windell. McDonald would bring out the only yellow of the race when he spun his car in turn three on lap 13. The caution was just what many drivers needed as they field bunched behind Komp for the restart. Back under green Duane Franklin used the outside lane to take over the second spot from Reed as both Bubloni brothers moved forward to third and fourth. Franklin wrestled the lead from Komp on lap 18 with Mike Bubloni moving to second a lap later. Mike Bubloni would then drive under Franklin for the lead on the 27th lap and hold the spot to the checkered flag. Franklin finished second followed by Windell, Mark Bubloni, and Ron Jenshak as the top five came across the line in a tight pack. Racing action continues at the Norway Speedway May 23rd with the upcars.com/Mix 106 Night at the Races. A full program is set with qualifying at 6:00 pm and racing at 7:30.
The track is located on Highway 8 just south of Norway at the Dickinson County Fairgrounds.

SUMMARY OF EVENTS
SIERRA MIST LATE MODELS
35-LAP FEATURE - Craig Schei, Mark Miller, Jamie Iverson, Kris Kelly, Dale Peterson, Greg Ives, Bob Menor, Kevin Beyer, Dick Coleman, Red Adair, Bruce White, Brett Whaley, Mark Schroeder, Mike Reichenberger, Dave Adams.

25-LAP SEMI-FEATURE - Beyer, John Novard, Tom Dubbord, Curt Servant, Ron Baciak, Mike Mattson, Scott Degnan, Travis Sauter, Brent Timblin, Brian Suhs, Bret Widdis, Allen Yelle, Brent Hanson, Fred Gignac, Scott Stanchina.

10-LAP HEAT RACES - FIRST: Dubbord, Widdis, Sauter, Suhs, Yelle, Timblin, Hanson. SECOND: Degnan, Beyer, Whaley, Novara, Servant, Mattson, Baciak, Gignac. THIRD: Miller, Schei, Adair, Coleman, Menor, Adams, Reichenberger.

10-LAP DASH - Ives, Schroeder, Iverson, Peterson, Kelly, White.
FAST QUALIFIER - Iverson 14.736 seconds

AUTO VALUE SUPER STOCKS
25-LAP FEATURE - Mike Bubloni, Duane Franklin, Ryan Windell, Mark Bubloni, Ron Jenshak, Jeff Boettcher, Terry Reed, Nick Anderson, Bear Stankowicz, John Komp, Tim Jarvis, Tim Krans, Mike Johnson, Mark Parkansky, Tom Theobold, John McDonald.

15-LAP SEMI-FEATURE - McDonald, Steve Sorenson, Brian Stanaway, Tim Schultz, Chris Gardipee, Darren Peterson, Ray Mott, Mike Frame, Bobby Lewis, #48, Jim Stachowicz, Dan McDonald, Mike Ackerman.

10-LAP HEATS - FIRST: Mott, Gardipee, Stanaway. SECOND: Mark Bubloni, Komp, Sorenson. THIRD: McDonald, Reed, Franklin.

10-LAP DASH - Boettcher, Anderson.

FAST QUALIFIER - Boettcher 15.985 seconds.

WALLY’S AUTO SLAMMERS
15-LAP FEATURE - Eric Menza, Adam Pollard.

FAB FOUR
12-LAP C-FEATURE - Brett Bray, Keith Burcar.