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Hot temperatures and big money were the themes of the night Friday, Aug. 14 at the Mt. Pleasant Speedway as temperatures soared into the mid-80s. On the schedule for the evening was the first annual "Woof Classic" Miller Lite UMP Late Model $1,500 to win feature special and a $750 to win Chuck's Discount Foods UMP Modified feature event, presented in part by the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort.

Held in honor of Mt. Pleasant Speedway Promotional Director Bill Long Jr.'s father, Bill Sr., who died earlier this year at age 64 from a stroke, the "Woof Classic" was a 40-lap Late Model battle. In support of Long, fans and race teams came together to donate $700 in lap money for the event. A strong field of 28 Miller Lite UMP Late Models took to the three-eighths mile clay track in an attemp to claim the $150 bonus for the fast qualifier put up by Mt. Pleasant Speedway owners Betty and Mario Crook. Setting the early quick time was No. 21 David Hilliker of Midland at 14.63 seconds. Hilliker's time stood for the next 18 cars until current Oakshade Raceway point leader No. 91 Rusty "the Jackson Assassin" Schlenk blazed the track at a time of 14.52. Schlenk looked to have the fast time and bonus money all locked up until four cars later No. 52X Brad Harden of Ovid came out and set a time of 14.45 seconds. Harden's time would stand as the fastest of the night.

The Chuck's Discount Foods UMP Modifieds were up first for their 20-lap $750 to win feature. Four-time Mt. Pleasant Speedway champion No. 15 Rich Robinson Jr. of Mt. Pleasant got the jump on No. 7H Jimmy Hale Jr. of Crystal and No. 21 Steven Hilliker of Midland. Robinson would not look back as he went on to get his fifth feature win of the season. Back in the field, No. 71 Darrin Easlick of Farwell and No. Z Mark Bohannon of Shepherd would get their best finishes of the season, coming home second and third, respectively.

In the Mt. Pleasant and Clare Automotive Stock Mini feature, Cement City's No. 37 Patrick McNamara worked his way through the field and held off Vestaburg's No. 62 Steve Keeler to get his second feature win of the year at Mt. Pleasant. Keeler came home second, No. 53 Shane Aescheliman of Gladwin was third, No. 711 Bob Baltierrez of Alma fourth and No. 143 Cyndi Gonzalez of Midland rounded out the top five.

The stage was then set for the Miller Lite UMP Late Model "Woof Classic" feature with 16 of the best drivers making up the field. The front row was Schlenk and Harden and at the drop of the green flag Schlenk looked like the car to beat. There would be two sets of breakaway packs as Schlenk and No. 6M Dona Marcoullier of Houghton Lake pulled away and were followed by No. 27 Eric Spangler of Lake City and No. 0X Zack Olger of St. John's in the next pack. A lap 15 caution restart bunched the top four cars together. Driving the high side, Olger slid off the track on about lap 19 and dropped back to the sixth position before eventually retiring to the pits. A race marred by attrition, the leaders would find themselves coming into lapped traffic where Marcoullier would pick his way through and use the lapped cars to slide around Schlenk on the low side. At the end of the race there would be only four cars on the lead lap and only nine cars left running. When the checkered flag came out, Marcoullier would be the first to the line and continued his dominating 2009 season which includes his fourth Mt. Pleasant feature victory and $1,500 for the "Woof Classic" victory. The win was also Marcoullier's third straight at Mt. Pleasant. Rounding out the top five were Schlenk, Spangler, No. 117 Kevin Reeve of Hanover, and No. X1 Justin Robinson of Shepherd, the first car a lap down.

A 14-car field rolled out for the Smokers Club Street Stock feature with No. 26 Mike Vandermark Jr. of Sand Lake and No. 51 Mike Fecko of Gladwin on the front row. Making his Mt. Pleasant Speedway debut, Vandermark would get the jump and lead the field to about lap seven when current point leader No. 11 Josh Loomis of Weidman reeled Vandermark and Fecko in to take over the top spot. From there Loomis would pull away grabbing his sixth feature win of the season. Vandermark held on for second, with No. 87 David Mielke of Gladwin third, No. 55 Joe Pomeroy of Cass City and No. 49 Greg Tragis of Harrison completing the top five.

The NAPA Modified Mini Stocks were the final race of the night and the race came down to No. 21 Derick Neitling of St. Charles and No. 68 Trever Fedewa of Mt. Pleasant. Neitling and Fedewa battled it out for several laps with Fedewa getting underneath Neitling but unable to make the pass. Neitling took home the win, his sixth feature victory of the season, while Fedewa continued his recent strong showing with a second place finish over No. 29 Jeff Fowler of Saginaw, No. 89 Mark Eastman of Midland and No. 88 Mike Schnettler of Sanford.

Friday, Aug. 21 is the "Pre-Xtreme 100" Chuck's Discount Foods UMP Modified race with the feature winner receiving an automatic starting spot in the Sunday, Aug. 23 second annual "Xtreme 100." August 21 is also Kids Night at the Mt. Pleasant Speedway where all kids can ride in racecars. Then make sure and save Sunday as the best modified drivers from the state of Michigan and the Midwest will be at the Mt. Pleasant Speedway for the Xtreme 100, which will also include a Street Stock Invitational. Check out www.mtpleasantspeedway.com for more details and race times for the Xtreme 100.