AELMT American Ethanol Late Model Tours Back To Racing From Attica Raceway Park
2 min readLake Odessa, MI (Wednesday, May 8, 2019) – It’s an odd feeling to still have cabin fever into the second week of May but for the American Ethanol Late Model Tour (AELMT), the feeling is very real. Mother Nature has had her way with racing in the Great Lakes Region over the past month, but officials with the AELMT and Attica Raceway Park are ready to change that with this Friday’s Buckeye 40.
The AELMT hasn’t been in action since the season opener from LaSalle Speedway on March 31st, which means the Championship chase is still wide open. On Friday, May 10th, Championship contenders will look to solidify their place among the top of the leaderboard with a solid run from Attica Raceway Park. In the Tour’s first ever appearance in 2018, the racing action did not disappoint.
Steve Casebolt, who had one career win with the AELMT coming into the event, led flag-to-flag with minor incident. He saw a mid-race challenge from former Attica Raceway Park track champion Doug Drown when Casebolt got caught up in lap traffic. A timely caution on lap 24 for contact between Greg Goke and Ryan VanderVeen would help Casebolt separate himself again from Drown. Then, with just 13 laps to go, the stage was set for racing action to intensify, as another caution flew. Inside of 10 laps to go, Brandon Thirlby and Rusty Schlenk made contact multiple times through the turns, and things finally boiled over on the front-straight-away when the two slammed doors and nearly wrecked out of the race. Schlenk would finish his charge and sneak by Logan Arntz at the finish for third spot, while Thirlby fell to fifth. Casebolt continued his dominating performance and went on to win the Bilstein 40 ahead of Matt Miller.
The action is sure to be good again this Friday, when gates open at 5:00 p.m. with Hot Laps beginning at 6:40 p.m. The first American Ethanol Green Flag of the night will wave at 7:45 p.m. with AELMT Heat Races.
For more on the AELMT, including schedule, news, and a live audio broadcast, log onto AELMT.com. Get behind the scenes content on social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
For more on Attica Raceway Park, log onto atticaracewaypark.com, and find them on Facebook and Twitter.