August 31
Eldora Speedway,
Rossburg, OH
Sanction: Sunoco American Late Model Series East (Baltes Classic) - $3,000
Information provided by: Track reports (last updated September 1, 2:58 pm)
Robinson cruises to victory at Baltes Classsic
Baltes Classic
- Kent Robinson
- Matt Miller
- Jacob Hawkins
- Jeff Babcock
- Duane Chamberlain
- Brian Ruhlman
- Jon Henry
- Rusty Schlenk
- Scott James
- Jerry Bowersock
- Phil Ausra
- J.R. Hotovy
- Casey Noonan
- Curtis Roberts
- Brandon Thirlby
- Dan Schlieper
- Ross Nicastri
- Curtis Deisenroth
- Aaron Scott
- Wayne Chinn
- Chad Smith
presented by
Jim DenHamer
Kent Robinson led all 25 laps of the Baltes Classic.
What won the race: Slowed only by a faulty transponder, polesitter Kent Robinson of Bloomington, Ill., raced to a 25-lap victory in the Baltest Classic at Eldora. Robinson led comfortably most of the way to earn $3,000 in outrunning fellow heat winners Matt Miller and Jacob Hawkins.
Quotable: "This car, I gotta give a lot of credit to this car. We've been good here. We were good last year, and since I got this car, we were good at the Dream, and this Club 29 car is just a rocketship right now," Robinson said. "It's a brand new car tonight. ... I gotta give a hat's off to Brian (Leonberg), my crew member. It's just me and him doing it. He works his ass off all week, man, I'm telling you. We got this car on Thursday and had it ready to go earlier today."
Key notes: Robinson drove his new Club 29 chassis to his first career ALMS victory. ... Fourteen drivers completed 25 laps. ... A lap-19 yellow flew for debris while early cautions came out for a slowing Chad Smith (lap five) and slowing Wayne Chinn (lap four). ... Officials switched the scoring transponder on leader Kent Robinson's car during the first caution. ... Michael Chilton scratched from his heat with engine problems. ... The seventh annual race honors Eldora founders Earl and Berneice Baltes, who will take to the stage to greet the race winner. ... The event serves as a final tuneup before the track's prestigious World 100, which includes two nights of preliminary action Sept. 4-5 leading into the $47,000-to-win finale Sept. 6.
On the move: Jeff Babcock of Wayne, Ohio, started eighth and finished fourth; Jon Henry started 12th and finished seventh.
Winner's sponsors: Robinson's Club 29 Race Car is Jay Dickens-powered and sponsored by Allstar Performance, DK Designs, GW Performance, Hoosier Racing Tire, JB's Salvage, Keyser Manufacturing, MSR Mafia and VP Racing Fuels.
Points chase: Brandon Thirlby of Traverse City, Mich., holds a 104-point lead over Rusty Schlenk of McClure, Ohio, entering the next-to-last event on the 2014 ALMS-East schedule.
Car count: 28
Fast qualifier: Jon Henry
Time: 15.849 seconds
Polesitter: Kent Robinson
Heat race winners: Kent Robinson, Jacob Hawkins, Matt Miller
Consolation race winners: Dan Schlieper
Next series race: October 4, Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH) $5,000
Editor's note: Results and race details are unofficial.
