MORRIS, Ill. — Clay Curts came home the winner of the Frank Welch Memorial 50-lap super late model stock car special Friday night at the Grundy County Speedway. The event is held in honor of Welch, who oversaw the operations at the speedway for many years.
Curts, last year’s Mid-Am Racing Series champion, took the checkered flag with a mere 0.215-seccond lead over Stan Zolodz.  Blake Brown, who pressed Curts for the lead in the final laps, ended up third, with Dave Gentile Jr., Tony Brutti and Tristan Batson rounding out the top six in the 18-car field. Â
The 23-year-old Curts, from Manteno, Ill., wheeled the Dan Ahearn-owned, Chicago Blackhawks/Aurelio’s Pizza/Clubfoot Solutions-sponsored Chevrolet No. 88 to the victory.
Front runners Ricky Baker, Anthony Danta, D.J. Weltmeyer and eight-time Grundy champion Eddie Hoffman were eliminated from the race after being involved in a multi-car, green flag restart, accident at the beginning of lap 24.  Earlier, Hoffman was the division’s fastest qualifier at the third-mile paved oval.
For the second week in a row, Kevin Murphy, a two-time division champion at the speedway, was the winner of the Mid-Am sportsman main event.  Murphy bested Cameron Preisler, James Dean, fast timer Jeremiah Senko and Matt Clemens in the 25-lap headliner.
Jonathan Stevens claimed top honors in the 25-lap street stock feature race.  Last week’s winner Ryan Dawson and Alex Gay chased Stevens to the finish line.  Landon Hocking won the 20-lap Super Cup race, beating Carter Appleton and Brian Baldyga.  Scotty Gardner was the overall winner in spectator drags action.Â
Feature Finish (50 Laps)
Clay Curts, Stan Zolodz, Blake Brown, Dave Gentile Jr., Tony Brutti, Tristan Batson, James Gregait, Kyle Shear, Jake Weinreich, Jeff Wakeman, Dean Patterson, Anthony Danta, DJ Weltmeyer, Ricky Baker, Eddie Hoffman, Jim Weber, Paul Shafer Jr., Mike White