Leaty Has Stellar Day at Dunn Tire Raceway Park
Williamson, New York – Mike Leaty and the #25 US Army/Rochester Steel Treating Works Team traveled west to Dunn Tire Raceway Park this past Saturday for the Race of Champions Modified Tour 75 lap event. Leaty and the team used a combination of skill, teamwork, and good draws to produce a heat win, top five feature finish, and a great points day.
The day started out with the luck of the draw as a #25 team member drew the pole position for the second heat of the night. Leaty, who came into Saturday’s race trailing Matt Hirschman by just a few points in the overall Race of Champions points standings, started the qualifying race with Hirschman to his outside on the front row. At the drop of the green, Leaty and Hirschman raced side by side, with the #25 prevailing and taking control of the lead. The heat race stayed green from start to finish and Leaty led all eight laps, picking up the win and five bonus points for winning the heat. By winning the second of three heats, Leaty was now poised to redraw second out of the top twelve qualifiers.
The drivers were brought to the Dunn Tire Raceway Park front stretch for the redraw where twelve kids with sealed envelopes were ready to be picked by the drivers, each one holding an envelope that contained one of the top twelve starting positions in the feature. The first draw, which belonged to Mike’s father Jan, produced a twelfth place starting spot for the other Leaty. Mike was up next and picked a young girl who continued the #25 Team’s run with Lady Luck. The envelope contained the pole starting position in the twenty-six car feature event field.
The Race of Champions 75 lap event was the main event of the evening and rolled off last in the nights schedule of events. Leaty lead the field to the green flag and as the race began raced side by side with outside pole sitter TJ Potrzebowski. Before the completion of lap one, the #25 had taken sole possession of the top spot. As the beginning laps of the feature ticked off, the field settled in single file and Leaty began building a lead on the rest of the competitors.
On lap 26 the first yellow flag of the night appeared for a car spinning on the track. During the ensuing caution period, half of the field headed pitside for a new right rear tire including the #25 of Leaty. The #25 US Army team pulled off a flawless pit stop and got Leaty back out on the track first, ahead of every other competitor that had pitted. Leaty restarted the race in the tenth position, behind cars that had opted not to pit. Restarting on the inside groove and behind cars that had older tires, Leaty became snared in a logjam in the middle of the pack and dropped back a few positions.
Two yellow flags appeared in the next few laps, the second of which involved a large wreck that took out a number of competitors, however Leaty emerged unscathed. The #25 restarted the race on lap 33 in the ninth position.
By the halfway point of the race, Leaty had moved up to the seventh position and began working his way through the field. Another yellow flag appeared on lap 38 and Leaty restarted the race in the fifth running position. The #25 was once again on the move and soon raced into the fourth position. The top five competitors ran single file, nose to tail. Behind Leaty, Rusty Smith began applying heavy pressure for the fourth spot while Mike was looking for a way around his father Jan, who ran third.
A yellow flag and single file restart on lap 53 allowed the competitors to cool their tires and ready themselves to make a move once the green flag appeared once again. As the racing resumed, Leaty looked high and low for a way around the third place car. As Leaty went to the outside for the pass, Smith snuck underneath him and took the fourth position, positioning the #25 in the fifth spot.
Three late race cautions popped up in the last fifteen laps of the feature and Leaty held his fifth place spot in the order throughout multiple cautions and restarts. The #25 US Army/Rochester Steel Treating Works crossed the finish line fifth out of twenty-six competitors and racked up an impressive points day towards the Race of Champions Modified Tour Championship.
“It was a good day for us in a lot of ways” said Mike Leaty. “We had a very fast racecar, won the heat, lead a lot of laps, and most of the breaks went our way tonight. My crew did a great job with the pit stop and got me back on the track first again. Unfortunately, after the stop I got hung up in traffic trying to get back to the front and that cost us a chance at the win. I used up all of my tires passing a lot of cars that I was ahead of at one point. That was frustrating but the night overall was a success and the car is in one piece. We are within striking distance of the RoC championship and that is the ultimate goal”.
Next up on the MPL Motorsports schedule is the next Race of Champions Modified Tour event, which is scheduled for Sunday, August 2nd at Chemung Speedrome in Waverly, New York. Keep up to date with the #25 US Army/Rochester Steel Treating Works team by visiting
www.mikeleaty.com.
