Lane Automotive

Steve Needles - Photos By Randy Ellen

For the third year in a row Steve Needles was the quickest of all qualifiers at Kalamazoo Speedway's biggest event, the Kalamazoo Klash. In the previous two years however Needles had been unable to capitalize on his speed and get to victory lane. That would all change this year.

A a fifteen car inversion put John Chapman and Caleb Bisacky on the front row as the star-studded field took the green flag and Bisacky jumped to the early lead. He would hold the lead until lap 28 when on a double-file restart Brandon Lyons wrestled the top spot away. Lyons would hold the point until lap 40 when Tom Thomas, all the way from 13th starting spot, went by and set sail. In the meantime Needles was methodically working his way through traffic and finally caught and passed Thomas on lap 84. From there Needles hung on to the lead until the 100 lap break and collected the $500 bonus for doing so.


When the field re-aligned for the final 50 lap segment it was Needles and Thomas bringing the field to the green with point leader Terry Senneker, from 14th starting spot, up to third position. Senneker quickly showed that he would have the car to beat in the final segment by taking the lead just 3 laps into the run and setting sail for what looked to be a sure victory. Senneker would encounter trouble however on lap 115 when he had a solo spin while leading by a half-straightaway. His teammates bad fortune put Needles back in the lead where he would stay the rest of the race on his way to the $10,000 prize. Thomas held on for second ahead of Andy Bozell (from 25th), Joe Bush and a hard charging Senneker. Phil Massuch was sixth while Billy Shotko, Andy Ponstein, Brian Bergakker and Ross Meeuwsen completed the top ten.