I-96 Speedway
Thirlby rules I-96, wins inaugural MDC event
Brandon Thirlby earned $1,500 for winning the Michigan Dirt Cup tour's inaugural event. (John Berglund)
LAKE ODESSA, Mich. (May 19) — Outside polesitter Brandon Thirlby of Traverse City, Mich., led every lap of Saturday night’s Allstar Performance Michigan Dirt Cup feature at I-96 Speedway, earning a $1,500 payday in the inaugural event for the DIRTcar-sanctioned tour. | Slideshow
Thirlby survived a number of early restarts and ran mostly unchallenged through the remainder of the race in claiming the victory over Zach Olger of St. Johns, Mich. Sam Epling of Perry, Mich., was third with Richard Neiser of Fruitport, Mich., and 12th-starting Curt Spalding of Hartford, Mich., rounding out the top five finishers.
Notes: Thirlby’s MasterSbilt Race Car is sponsored by Thirlby Automotive. … The victory gave Thirlby two wins on the weekend. He also won Friday’s weekly show at Cherry (Mich.) Raceway. It’s also his third victory overall in 2012. … Olger also finished second in the I-96 season opener on May 5. … Kris Patterson Jr. advanced from 16th to finish sixth. … The tour returns to action May 25 with a $2,000-to-win event at Mount Pleasant (Mich.) Speedway.
MDC @ I-96: (1) Brandon Thirlby, (2) Zach Olger, (3) Sam Epling, (4) Richard Neiser, (5) Curt Spalding, (6) Kris Patterson, (7) Bill Bray, (8) Mark Andersen, (9) Eric Spangler, (10) Keith Gentz, (11) Adam Thrush, (12) Shawn Reed, (13) Alvie Haynes, (14) Dona Marcoullier, (15) Tom Sprague Jr., (16) Kevin Nelson Jr., (17) Chris Ross, (18) Kathy Jarvis, (19) Bruce Vance. Heat race winners (among 27 cars): Sprague, Olger Thirlby.
