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ESCANABA -- Gladstone's Dan Lambert and Rapid River'sMax Constantino had every reason to smile Saturday at Upper Peninsula International Raceway.
Both drivers earned track championships and won feature events during the Al Richer Memorial and Valley Med Flight races on this season's final night of racing.
Lambert was the Vintage Modifield leader by 18 points prior to Saturday, but had to overcome adversity before the feature.
"I'm still in shock that I won it," he said. "I had trouble with my carburetor and didn't even know if I'd be able to come out for the feature. Fortunately, Mark Piron was able to help us out with that. My brothers took it apart and bent and made some pieces out of the accelerator pump and it got us through."
The Street Stock feature victory clinched the title for Constantino, who came in with a 3-point lead over Paul Wagner of Gladstone.
"I didn't know it was going to happen," said Constantino. "We did some adjustments between the heat and feature and it worked out great. I want to thank my crew because they do all the work and my sponsors Mannisto Forest Products and Vangrave Timber."
Randy DeGrave of Escanaba secured his first track championship by taking second in the Sport Four feature. Tyler Corwin of Gladstone, who shared the lead with DeGrave prior to Saturday, was eighth.
"This means a lot to me," said DeGrave. "I've finished second and third many times and it took a lot of years to get here. The difference this year is we had no breakdowns or blown tires. I quit racing (in the mid 1980s) to raise a family, then my nephew (Corey) got me back into it about eight years ago. This is my weekend fun."
Matt Adams of Escanaba took the checkered flag in the feature.
"I was filling in for Dylan Bruce, who was driving Street Stock for his dad," said Adams. "The car ran good tonight. We pumped up the tire pressure because harder tires always work for a harder track. We knew they weren't going to water down the track because of approaching weather. They just wanted to get the races in (before the rain moved in)."
Michael Ault climbed into second place in Sportsman Microsprint after taking that feature.
"Since Week 2 we won every race except for one," said Ault, who came in tied for third with Nick Leisner of Escanaba. "Did we have fun this year. We've made steady progress every year. In the first year we took fifth, last year we were third and now second this year. I'm happy with where we finished."
Christian Groleau of Gladstone secured third place in 600 Microsprint with a feature victory.
"We've had a rollercoaster season," he said. "We had a couple tough breaks, but those are things you can't control. We tried a different set-up tonight and tried to get in position to catch the other guys. It was nice to go out with a win."
Groleau expressed appreciation for the efforts of his sponsors, including Derouin's Auto Body & Collision, Tackman Capital Management, Cooper Office Equipment, Larson Land Service and Rapid River Knife Works.
Brett Labre of Escanaba settled for third in Junior Microsprint after taking the feature.
"It was a good season except for a wreck (in Week 4)," he said. "My vehicle was running pretty good tonight."
Former Escanaba resident Matt Valiquette secured third place with his triumph in the Modified feature.
"I made a major mistake last week, which really hurt me in points," said Valiquette, who lives in Menominee. "It's great to see drivers from outside the area comng in here and putting on a good show. I had the honor of driving Herb Iverson's car tonight. I grew up watching the races here and Herb was one of my idols. Winning tonight was really special because these are very special races in honor of the Richer family. We circle this (date) every year."