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Alberson Scores 2nd MLRA Win of 2021 at Sycamore Speedway For $7,000 Payday

By Tony Paris (Sycamore, IL) -- For the first time in series history, the Lucas Oil Midwest Late Model Racing Association (MLRA) made its way to the confines of Sycamore Speedway on Friday night for the opening night of the “Harvest Hustle."

The 3/8-mile clay oval facility is completing its 58th year of operations in 2021 and is located in Maple Park, IL just about an hours drive west of Chicago, IL. On Friday night the drivers took to the track in a 50 lap main event with the winner collecting a $7,000 payday due to weather forecast on Saturday. A field of 30 cars checked in for competition and after the Illini Racing Supply time trials Mike Mataragas of Dekalb, Illinois was first car out and he set the bar high with fastest of all 30 cars winning the Fast Time award.

PHOTO CREDIT: Lloyd Collins Fast Track Photos

The fifty lap main event saw Bobby Pierce and and Garrett Alberson bring the field to the green flag with Pierce taking the lead and paced the field and would lead till lap fifteen when he would make contact and spin with contact by Pierce and Jimmy Whisler both drivers would go to the back. This would turn the lead over to Mike (opie) Spatola of Manhattan, Illinois. Spatola would lead laps 16 thru 35. The caution on lap 30 would fly with Pierce losing his brakes and hit the turn three wall ending his night. The action would try to get back underway but several attempts on lap 31 would see a four car crash that would force drivers to restart single file after exceeding the Stop Tech Brake caution flags. The field would restart with Spatola back to the green and Albertson applying pressure and would slip under Spatola coming off turn four to take the race lead on lap 36 and never looking back leading the final 14 laps to pocket the $7000 win and his second win of 2021 season. Alberson previously saw victory lane at 34 Raceway in West Burlington on the 4th of July. The pass on lap 36 was the Swift Springs “Move of the Race” slipping past on the inside of turn four.

Spatola would cross the checkers in the runner-up spot holding off Mataragas who tried several attempts to apply pressure but had to settle for third place finish and was third in his heat race so the threes was on his side. The fourth spot went to Taylor Scheffler after rolling off in the eleventh starting spot and moved up seven spots. The fifth spot went to Indiana driver Mike Provenzano who started fourteenth and rounded out the top five. The Casey’s Hard Charger of the Race went to Justin Duty who advanced twelve spots for a seventh-place finish. The Racingjunk.com Hard Luck award went to Brennon Willard who exited the track ending his night after just one lap.

On Saturday night drivers will take to the track in a 40 lap main event weather permitting for the final night of the Harvest Hustle with the winner collecting a $5,000 payday.
Sycamore Speedway Contingencies 10/1/21
Lap Leaders— Bobby Pierce (1 - 45), Mike Spatola (16-35), Garrett Alberson (36-50)
Stop Tech Brakes Cautions— 3
Illini Racing & Supply "Fast Time" -- Mike Mataragas ( 14.592 sec)
Casey’s “Hard Charger of the Race” – Justin Duty (+12)
DirtonDirt.com “Pole Award” – Bobby Pierce
Dynamic Drivelines Crew Chief of the Race – Dani Alberson
Gorsuch Performance Solutions “10th Place Finisher” – Reno Markham
Hooker Harness "11th Place Finisher"— Justin Duty
Midwest Sheet Metal "Points Leader Spoiler Challenge" – Tony Jackson Jr.
Performance Bodies "Performer of the Race"-- Garrett Alberson
Racing Junk “Hard Luck Award” – Brennon Willard
StopTech Brakes “6th Place Finisher”- Brian Shirley
Sunoco “Rookie of the Race” – Mason Oberkramer
Swift Springs “Move of the Race”— Garrett Alberson
Wrisco Feature Winner-- Garrett Alberson

Lucas Oil Products 50 Laps | 00:43:33.229

1. 59-Garrett Alberson[2]; 2. 89-Mike Spatola[3]; 3. 1M-Mike Mataragas[5]; 4. 10S-Taylor Scheffler[11]; 5. M27-Mike Provenzano[14]; 6. 33-Brian Shirley[7]; 7. 25F-Jason Feger[18]; 8. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[9]; 9. 25-Chad Simpson[17]; 10. 15B-Reno Markham[19]; 11. 15-Justin Duty[23]; 12. 76-Titus Sneed[20]; 13. 24-Ryan Unzicker[4]; 14. 93-Mason Oberkramer[15]; 15. 3-Dale Markham[8]; 16. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[13]; 17. (DNF) 01JR-Greg Cantrell[16]; 18. (DNF) 32P-Bobby Pierce[1]; 19. (DNF) 42-Mckay Wenger[12]; 20. (DNF) 51F-Matt Furman[6]; 21. (DNF) 82-Eston Whisler[21]; 22. (DNF) B14-Victor Benedetto[22]; 23. (DNF) 28-Jimmy Whisler[24]; 24. (DNF) 3W-Brennon Willard[10]

B-Main 1 Sunoco 10 Laps | 00:06:57.466

1. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 2. 25F-Jason Feger[10]; 3. 15B-Reno Markham[2]; 4. 76-Titus Sneed[3]; 5. 82-Eston Whisler[4]; 6. B14-Victor Benedetto[8]; 7. 10P-Paul Parker[9]; 8. 28-Jimmy Whisler[6]; 9. 20V-Dustin Vandermeir[7]; 10. 15-Justin Duty[13]; 11. T22-Tegan Evans[5]; 12. (DNS) 44-Wayne Freimund; 13. (DNS) D1-Turk Letizia; 14. (DNS) 28M-Jake Miller

Heat 1 Caseys 8 Laps | 00:03:46.913

1. 32P-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 1M-Mike Mataragas[1]; 3. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 5. 25-Chad Simpson[3]; 6. T22-Tegan Evans[7]; 7. (DNS) D1-Turk Letizia; 8. (DNS) 28M-Jake Miller

Heat 2 MIdwest Sheet Metal 8 Laps | 00:03:25.139

1. 89-Mike Spatola[1]; 2. 33-Brian Shirley[4]; 3. 10S-Taylor Scheffler[3]; 4. 93-Mason Oberkramer[2]; 5. 76-Titus Sneed[5]; 6. 20V-Dustin Vandermeir[6]; 7. (DNS) 44-Wayne Freimund

Heat 3 My Race Pass 8 Laps | 00:04:57.477

1. 59-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 51F-Matt Furman[2]; 3. 3W-Brennon Willard[6]; 4. M27-Mike Provenzano[5]; 5. 15B-Reno Markham[7]; 6. 28-Jimmy Whisler[8]; 7. 25F-Jason Feger[3]; 8. (DNS) 15-Justin Duty

Heat 4 Hooker Harness 8 Laps | 00:03:18.421

1. 24-Ryan Unzicker[1]; 2. 3-Dale Markham[2]; 3. 42-Mckay Wenger[3]; 4. 01JR-Greg Cantrell[5]; 5. 82-Eston Whisler[4]; 6. B14-Victor Benedetto[6]; 7. 10P-Paul Parker[7]

Group A Illini Racing Supply 2 Laps | 00:05:40.258 | Illini Racing Supply

1. 1M-Mike Mataragas, 00:14.592[1]; 2. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:14.628[6]; 3. 32P-Bobby Pierce, 00:14.664[5]; 4. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:14.681[3]; 5. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:14.693[7]; 6. 10S-Taylor Scheffler, 00:15.000[12]; 7. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:15.155[10]; 8. 33-Brian Shirley, 00:15.160[13]; 9. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:15.371[2]; 10. 76-Titus Sneed, 00:15.464[15]; 11. D1-Turk Letizia, 00:15.518[14]; 12. 20V-Dustin Vandermeir, 00:16.171[9]; 13. T22-Tegan Evans, 00:16.558[11]; 14. 44-Wayne Freimund, 00:49.396[8]; 15. (DNS) 28M-Jake Miller

Group B Illini Racing Supply 2 Laps | 00:02:06.749

1. 59-Garrett Alberson, 00:14.889[5]; 2. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:14.964[6]; 3. 51F-Matt Furman, 00:15.104[2]; 4. 3-Dale Markham, 00:15.287[1]; 5. 25F-Jason Feger, 00:15.301[11]; 6. 42-Mckay Wenger, 00:15.387[13]; 7. 15-Justin Duty, 00:15.517[12]; 8. 82-Eston Whisler, 00:15.642[4]; 9. M27-Mike Provenzano, 00:15.650[8]; 10. 01JR-Greg Cantrell, 00:15.705[9]; 11. 3W-Brennon Willard, 00:15.846[3]; 12. B14-Victor Benedetto, 00:15.892[7]; 13. 15B-Reno Markham, 00:16.017[14]; 14. 10P-Paul Parker, 00:16.044[15]; 15. 28-Jimmy Whisler, 00:16.126[10]
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