MORRIS, Ill. — Ricky Baker raced to victory in the 64th annual Bettenhausen Memorial 100 presented by Elite Trade Show Services late model stock car special at the Grundy County Speedway Saturday night.
The 40-year-old speedster from Plainfield, Ill., wheeled his Rod Baker Ford/Low Voltage Solutions, Inc. No. 52 to the victory – his fourth career Bettenhausen win at Grundy since the one-third-mile paved raceway began hosting the race in 2016. From 1962 through 2015, the event was held at Indiana’s Illiana Motor Speedway, which closed its doors after the 2015 season.
Baker, a two-time Grundy late model champion, took starter Greg Kuntz’s checkered flag with a 0.254-second advantage over Scott Koerner, who came back from an early-race spin to finish second in the 100-lap chase.
Jake Gille finished third with Anthony Danta, Clay Curts and last year’s race winner Stan Zolodz rounding out the “top six” finishers. Baker took home first place money of $6,400 plus lap prizes.
Earlier, Baker set fast time among 18 entries with a lap of 14.576 seconds and started the main event seventh after a draw among the “top 10” qualifiers. Polesitter Kyle Shear led the first three laps until Gille took over the top spot on lap 4 with Baker moving towards the front.
Lap 20 saw Baker and Gille cross the start/finish side by side with Baker having a slight advantage. From there it was Baker all the way, but not without some serious challenges from two-time race winner Paul Shafer Jr. Numerous yellow flags caused Baker and Shafer to line up side-by-side for double-file restarts.
Shafer chased Baker seemingly lap after lap with Baker choosing the inside groove first until settling on the outer lane as the race wore on. Blake Brown took advantage of a restart, slipping by Shafer and running second for a time.
Battling for position, Brown and Shafer tangled with Shafer spinning and hitting the wall on lap 95. Shafer was out of the race with Brown going back to the tail of the field.
Koerner kept Baker honest the laps six laps as both he and Baker raced around on the outside groove. Contenders like 10-time Grundy champion Eddie Hoffman, DJ Weltmeyer and Riley Stenjem were not around at the finish.
“I got lucky that the bottom groove went (at the start of the race) and got by Paulie (Shafer),” said Baker. “I figured he was going to be the car to beat. I was committed to the bottom (groove) because it was working.
“(After the race) we found out the stagger opened up and I was really free. When he (Shafer) started sticking his nose under me, I went up (to the second groove) and there was more grip up there. I figured I would stay up there and try and save my tires. He (Shafer) pushed me real hard. He made me drive harder than I wanted to.”
Timmy Stewart captured the Mid-Am Racing Series 35-lap feature, holding off the lap-after-lap challenge of Kevin Murphy. Stewart started on the front row of the 24-car field, leading from the start only to see Murphy close the gap and put on a challenge.
Stewart was up to the task even after a yellow flag flew with six laps to go. The final half-dozen circuits saw Stewart run the top groove with Murphy running the bottom, racing side-by-side to the checkered flag.
“After a restart, I was too free,” said Stewart. “I finally moved up to the second groove and she (the car) was hooked. I just had to make sure I’d hit my marks in the second groove. I was able to drive off (the corner) and keep ahead of him (Murphy).”
Finishing behind Stewart and Murphy were Jeremiah Senko, Scotty Gardner, Josh Nelms and Marqus Hoover.
Thirty cars were on hand for the Mid-Am competition with James Dean grabbing fast-time honors. Michael Moore won the 10-lap “last chance” race.
Other support races saw Breanna Riggins win the 20-lap Sixers division feature with Zack Senerchia capturing the 15-lap Super Cup main event.
The finish:
Ricky Baker, Scott Koerner, Jake Gille, Anthony Danta, Clay Curts, Stan Zolodz, Blake Brown, Steve Seligman, Kyle Shear, Paul Shafer Jr., Riley Stenjem, Eddie Hoffman, Mike White, Caleb Adrian, Tristan Batson, Larry Schuler, DJ Weltmeyer, Alex Weber
