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M40 Speedway was revved up, and ready to go this past Friday night, as there was a great field of Late Models on hand to do battle in the first race of the Late Model Challenge Series.

The fans once again would get great weather, as well as great action packed racing throughout the night.  The car count sat at 65, as the Pro-Stock division would not be on hand.

The Late Models had two, 15 lap last chance heats, to determine who would move on to the big feature, and who would pack it in early.  In the first last chance heat, Jeff Holden (No.51) pulled out the victory over Roger Northrup Jr. (No.29).  Eric McGlothlen (No.68) would finish third, and all three would advance to the feature.

Last chance race number two had Kevin Stewart (No.9) crossing the checker first, before Mike Walls (No.36).  Rick Slusher (No.4) would also advance.

The main event of the evening would start out with driver introductions, followed by a photo of all participents.  There would be plenty of fireworks early on as the feature got rolling, some of the strong running cars couldn't avoid the incidents and retire early, only after five laps in ( Bobby Stremme, Ron Coburn, Rick Hahn ).

After the green dropped again, it would stay green the rest of the way.  On lap thirteen, " Rocket Man " Jeff Vochaska (No.45) took the lead away from early race leader Cory Pressler (No.32x), and would never look back.  Vochaska went on to lead the next 62 laps to capture his 115th Late Model feature win.

" To old for sixty laps of green flag racing ", said Vochaska jokingly.  " We finished the car about 9 p.m. last night.  We put in a good night of hard work...to come out and win is unbelievable ", added Vochaska.  Vochaska was wrecked the week before on a caution, taking him out of contention for Saturday night racing at Galesburg Speedway, where he was first in the points.  He went on to say, " The car was really tight, it had a ton of bite to it.  The car started tight and in the end it got really tight, I wanted to make sure it wouldn't get loose ".  Vochaska wanted to thank his mom, dad, wife, and kids.  He also made sure to thank car owner Jeff Caron, who was just as excited over the win.

" It was one of the best.  Weve been enjoying this ( racing ) for ten years, every once in a while, we get a win ", said Caron.

Robbie Ferrier (No.4) had a strong finish, coming up from his sixth place starting position.  Just one week removed from his first Late Model feature win, finishing in second.

" We were running on old tires, the car started out loose, and just kept getting worse.  I couldn't catch him ( Vochaska ), not with the race going caution free for nearly sixty laps ", said Ferrier.  This was Ferrier's first endurance race.  He plans on running the entire six shows, as he will be making changes to the car.

Third place finisher was Doug True (No.93).  True held off a hard charging J.R. Roahrig (No.25) for third place.  Roahrig was fast qualifier, and came on real strong in the end.

" Thought the right rear was going flat, with about 25 laps to go ",said True.  " The double file restart got me, the inversion was just right at twelve, but couldn't go nowhere ", True added.

One of the fan favorites, Jeff Ganus (No.5), would bounce back from the problems a week earlier, to finish a solid fifth.

The Pure Stocks were on hand on Friday night as well.  Heat A, had Chad Pontius (No.22P) winning his first of the season at M40.  Pontius held off a fast running Josh Highbaugh (No.51) for the win.

In heat B Cody Dale (No.83) went on to win his second heat race of the season in as many weeks.  Dale held off a vastly improving Tyler Hufford (No.5) to secure his victory.

In the Pure Stock feature, there was passing a plenty.  John Ferrier, who took the night off from the Pro-Stocks, was the man on a mission.  Ferrier fought his way to the front of the twenty car field, taken no prisoners.  Once to the front, Ferrier had to do battle with Cindy Stremme (No.53S) for a few laps.  Stremme would eventually fall off the pace a bit, leaving Ferrier to go on and win his first race of the 2009 season, at the M40 Speedway.

" The car handled real good...could have pushed it a little more ", said Ferrier.  He went on to thank Darrin Rife for letting him drive the car for the night.

Tim Thurston (No.7) finished the feature in third, holding off strong running Tony Stewart (No.14), Rick Reed (No.12) had another strong finish rounding out the top five.

The Mini-Stocks were on hand for yet, the third week in a row.  The twelve car feature pulled its way on the track.  James Newman (No.88) has been strong the past two weeks, winning two heats and two features.  This would come to an end, as Jeremy Damron (No.27) stopped the streaking Newman at the green.  Damron drove off from the start of the feature, never looking back.  Newman would have to settle for second place, as Damron looked to be on a rail.

Dustin Kline (No.14) would beat out his grandfather, Wayne Kline (No.75), for the third place finish.  Eric Frazier (No.69) would hold on to the lead lap, and fifth place as well.

With all the excitement, the racing action was completed before 10:30 p.m.  The drivers put on a great show, and under a full moon ( No Full Moon Madness ).

This weeks action will include Kids Night, with a regular racing program of Late Models, Pro-Stocks, and Pure Stocks.  Plus, the Mini-Cup Vintage Race-car Show.  There will be no Mini-Stocks.

In the weeks ahead, June 19th, the 4-in-1 show will be scheduled back to the M40 Speedway.  The regular racing program of Late Models, Pro-Stocks, Pure Stocks, and Mini's.  June 26th is Techworks Trophy Night.  Mid-Season Championship for all divisions.

Come out and see some of the hottest action Michigan racing has to offer.  Great racing action at a family budget price.