MT. PLEASANT, Mich. – Will Krup bested nearly 40 American Ethanol Modified Tour competitors to win the fourth annual Tommie Bauer Memorial Friday night at Mount Pleasant Speedway.
Krup and Kyle Moore led the field to the green flag, with Moore jumping out to the early lead. The race was quickly slowed when Joey Burch spun in turn four on the opening lap, collecting Brian Brindley and Luke Hubbell. The incident would mark the end of the race for Hubbell.
On the restart, Moore jumped back out to the lead with Joe Rokos and Krup in tow. The three would race away from a fierce field of drivers looking for a chance to race up to the lead. Among the cluster of cars was two time champion Jacob Poel, who slowed slightly coming off the fourth corner, making contact with Brent Banning down the main straightaway.
In turn one it was clear something was a miss on Poel’s car, and he was off the pace by the exit of turn two. Poel slowed right in the groove, getting hit from behind by Jeffrey Erickson Jr., setting off a chain reaction accident involving Caleb Kill and Brindley.
During the ensuing restart, Krup began his clear march to the point, as he dismissed Rokos in two laps before reeling in Moore. A multi-lap side-by-side battle ended with Krup at the front of the field, while Moore began a slide backward, being passed by Rokos, Kody Weisner and Collin Thirlby.
Despite the best efforts of the rest of the field, Krup would keep his machine at the front of the field, picking up the win by over four seconds ahead of Rokos. Mielke raced his way to the podium, coming up just four-one-hundredths of a second short on taking second place. Weisner and Thirlby rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Will Krup, Joe Rokos, David Mielke, Kody Weisner, Collin Thirlby, Kyle Moore, Mark Beard, Chad Bauer, John McClue, Joey Burch, Dave Baker, Brent Banning, Brian Speelman, Garrett Ron, Caleb Kill, Austin Harnick, Jeffery Erickson Jr., Steve Fairbanks, Jamie Lomax, Jacob Poel, Brian Brindley, Nathon Loney, Luke Hubbell.