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KAHLER CONQUERS SPRING CLASSIC!
By: Russ Wheeler
Max Kahler turned in a nearly flawless performance at Rockford Speedway’s 45th Annual Spring Classic Saturday night.
The 19-year-old from Caledonia Illinois was the fastest car in practice and backed that up by setting the fastest time in Qualifying and then dominated the 88-lap season opening race for the Big 8 Late Model Series en route to his second career Series victory.
Kahler, who started in the tenth position, avoided some early race chaos, and pounced forward on a lap 2 restart, putting himself into position to jump to the race lead on the eighth lap. Over the course of the race’s final 80 laps, Kahler was able to outrun and outlast his competition while speeding to a first-place payday of $2,088.
Dale Nottestad, the 2021 Spring Classic winner, was right in the middle of the early race chaos that Kahler was able to avoid. Nottestad’s involvement in that accident sent him and several other cars to the tail of the field. Over the course of the race’s final 86 laps, Nottestad methodically marched from the rear of the field to a second-place finish.
Rockford Speedway regular Dennis Smith Jr turned in a solid run, earning third place. Two-time Series champion Casey Johnson came home fourth after getting past Jim Olson in the race’s final five laps. Olson hung on to fifth place ahead of Franc Beldowski, who finished sixth.
Stephen Scheel’s persistent performance at Spring Classic saw him advance from an 18th place starting spot to a seventh-place finish, earning himself a $100 bonus as the Powersource Racing Engines ‘Power Mover of the Race.’
In other action Saturday night, Sheridan’s Ron Vandemier Jr blasted to the lead from deep in the field on the way to a $1000 victory in the Mid Am Racing Series 44 lap main event, ran in memory of former Rockford Speedway announcer John Magnuson Jr, who passed away last fall. McHenry’s Rick Corso finished second while Coal City’s Cody Clubb came home third.
Loves Parks’ Cody Armato led wire-to-wire on the way to victory in the 25 lap ‘Bandit Blast.” The win netted Armato a total of $310, including the $250 first place money and a $60 bonus for leading the most laps. Armato’s teammate Nick Schneider finished in second place, ahead of Mark Bielefeldt in third. Steve Dickson was fourth, just ahead of Zach Legner in fifth.
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