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Mother nature was no where to be found in the eastern U.P. this weekend, as Kinross Speedpark started it's 2009 season. A great turn out of fans and cars greeted the staff at the track as things picked up right where they left off last season.

The fastest four qualifiers in each class lined up against each other in the 4 Car Dashes to start the nights action. “The Steel City Outlaw” George Wilson took the first checkered flag of the season while winning the Modified Dash. Cecil Piche won by a nose in the Factory Stock Dash. John Clawson led all four laps to win the Late Model Dash. Gord Hunt held off the field of 4 Cylinders to take his checkered flag. Bill Cryderman earned his first win of 2009 with a win in the Pure Stock Dash.

Erica Pietrangelo passed the three cars in front of her and held off a hard driving Koltyn Hubble to take the win in the 4 Cylinder Australian Pursuit.

John Clawson took the lead early in the Late Model heat race and led all laps to earn the victory. Josh Ware and Jeremy Van Hoek finished a close second and third.

George Wilson worked his way to the front in the Modified heat race finishing in the first position. Jay Palumbo and Dennis Uhlman both started near the back of the field but ran nice races to finish second and third respectively.

Bill Cryderman had a nice start in the Pure Stock heat race taking the lead early. Both he and John Clawson ran door to door for many laps trading the lead back and forth. Cryderman eventually was able to move out front and take the win. Clawson finished second and Ray Golladay Jr. third.

Chris Miller spun in front of the field on the first lap of the Factory Stock heat race causing some excitement early in this race. Everyone was able to avoid him with no noticeable damage to any cars. Cody McLean was the early leader with Cecil Piche and Mark Beaudoin following close behind. Many cars dropped from this heat race with various mechanical problems. McLean was able to hold off Beaudoin to take the win. Paul Fox finished third.

Gord Hunt started deep in the pack and drove to the front in the 4 Cylinder heat race. He built a huge lead and took the checkered flag. Ron Etcher finished second, and Don Dangler Jr. third.

A short intermission gave track officials time to set the line ups for the five feature events. Awards were handed out during intermission for “The Prettiest Cars” in each class. Drivers and crews had all winter to refurbish their rides and there were many nice cars at the track. Don Dangler Jr. had the nicest looking 4 Cylinder, Bill Cryderman the nicest Pure Stock, Nathan Embree won the award with his Factory Stock, Keith McBee with his Modified, and Jeremy Van Hoek had the prettiest Late Model.

The Late Models went four wide into turn one in their feature race. Sam Bohling and Van Hoek got hooked together with both cars going off the backstretch. Van Hoek went pit side and did not return. Another first lap spin on the restart occurred when Chuck Hitchings touched Mick Pieri going into turn three. The third green flag of the feature was a success. John Clawson and Josh Ware pulled away from the field and put on a great race. Ware worked his way out front and took the win. Clawson finished second, and Chuck Hitchings third.

The Modified feature was a very close race. The top five cars stayed close together lap after lap. The field ran caution free with great racing from start to finish. Jay Palumbo moved to the lead and held off George Wilson to take the win. Dennis Uhlman finished third.

The Factory Stock feature had a nice start with Cody McLean and Mark Beaudoin running door to door for a few laps. Cecil Piche tried to duck inside of the pair going into turn three and caused McLean to spin. McLean regained his first position on the restart and Piche went to the back. Piche stormed through the pack after the restart working his way up to the battle for the lead. McLean started drifting high exiting turn four and eventually left an opening for Beaudoin to slip by for the lead. Beaudoin pulled away once he got out front and took the win. Piche finished second, and McLean third.

Bill Cryderman and John Clawson ran side by side for a few laps putting themselves way out front in the Pure Stock feature. Clawson inched his way to the lead and got clear of the Cryderman car. Shortly thereafter, Cryderman slowed and went pit side and did not return. Clawson took the win by half a lap over the second place car of Ray Golladay Jr. Don Etcher finished third.

The final feature of the evening was for the 4 Cylinders. The field went three wide into turn one and made it to turn three before spinning cars brought out the yellow. Larry Miller took the lead on the restart and led with Gord Hunt second. Another caution was brought out when the Ron Etcher and Erica Pietrangelo cars got together. Hunt led the restart and did a great job to stay out front the rest of the way. Don Dangler Jr. was all over the back of him but raced clean and settled for second. Larry Miller finished third.

Top 5 finishers

Late model feature finish: Josh Ware, John Clausen, Jeremy VanHoek,Chuck Hitchings,Mick Pieri.

Modified feature finish: Jay Polumbo, George Wilson, Dennis Ulhman, Kieth McBee, James "Greg" Brown.

Factory Stock feature finish: Mark Beaudoin, Cecil Piche, Joe Addison, Mike Fox, Paul Fox.

Pure stock feature finish: Bill Cryderman, John Clausen, Ray Golluday Jr., Don Etcher, Greg Matheny.

4 Cylinder feature finish: Gordon Hunt, Don Dangler, Larry Miller, Erica Petrangelo, B.J. Marcoux.