MASON, Mich. -- Sunday’s action at Spartan Speedway brought us Round #3 of the monthly “Slugfest Series” with the “Chargin’ Charlie Ryan Memorial 75” Late Model event. Charlie Ryan Jr. was one of Spartan’s most beloved drivers and passed away unexpectedly in 2004 at the young age of 40.

In a nice touch, Charlie’s famed red No. 24 car paced the field as his fellow Late Model drivers all lined up behind. Veteran Dave Stehouwer started on the pole with his patriotic No. 33 and took the lead at the drop of the green. There was no one who wanted to win this one more than Tim Ryan, Charlie’s brother, and Tim was able to take over the second spot and started reeling in Stehouwer. While Tim slowly ate into Dave’s lead lap by lap, the rest of the field was jockeying hard for position with last week’s winner Steve Dorer, in third, followed by Jeff Hackworth and Andy Bozell. Ryan caught Stehouwer, and tried everything he could to find a way around the wily veteran, however he inexplicably spun by himself in Turn 3 as the top two approached lap 50.

If Stehouwer thought he could breathe a little easier, he was mistaken, as Jeff Hackworth took up right where Ryan had left off, and gave Dave everything he could handle, and then some more. The two put on a terrific duel the last 25 laps with Stehouwer holding the point in the middle groove, while Hackworth tried repeatedly to gain an advantage on the bottom. Time, and time again, Jeff would dive inside and get all the way up to Dave’s door, but could never seal the deal, as Stehouwer would use his momentum and rocket on by to maintain the spot. Hackworth put on one last charge with five to go, but to no avail as Stehouwer took the win to match the one last month in the Stan Perry Memorial 100. Rounding out the top five were Dorer, Andy Bozell, and Jimmy Gallagher.

In the 25 lap Pony stock “A” feature, the 4 cylinder buzz bombs put on a great show, with Brian Beckner, and fast timer Mike Westphal, both coming up through the field to challenge early leader Cameron Garza. Westphal was forced to pit with an overheating problem, but Brian Beckner was able to take the lead over Garza, and cruised to the victory over Aaron Taylor and brother Wayne Beckner Jr. In the 25 lap “B” feature, Trina Wurmnest took the lead on lap 8 and looked like she was on her way to the win, but a late caution on lap 20 put Ron Fizzell side by side on the front row with Trina. Ron was able to seize the advantage on the restart and took the win in his Saturn. Wurmnest salvaged second with DJ Marciniak in third. Many of the Pony stocks took to the Figure 8 track for a special 15 lapper with Rob Miller taking the win over a hard charging Edson Rowley III.

The Spartan Stocks hit the track for their 30 lap A & B feature events. Jimmy Scavarda took the early lead at the start followed by Terry Humphreys and Chuck Ammerman. Terry took the lead for a few laps, but Ron Heeney was the one on the charge and took over the top spot on lap 15. Todd Foote, who has won both previous Slugfest events this season, worked his way up and tried to catch Heeney, but had to settle for second as Ron took the checker for the win. Finishing a strong third was Humphreys. In the “B” feature, Rob Newman took over from early leader Davey Kelley and pulled away, but a caution on lap 9 gave Kelley another shot. Strangely, on the restart, Newman appeared to be content to run his car just hard enough to run side by side with Kelley for the remainder, and waited until the last lap to pull away with ease and take the win.