Steve getting ready to go out for the 2007 race season.
RACE RECAPS
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____________________________________________________________________________ Date: June 14th, 2008 Event: Dixie Cup Series Round #2 at Dixie Motor Speedway Qualifing position: 6th at a 14.69 out of 29 cars Finished/Started: 2nd , started 5th Fast Qualifier: #71 Harold Fair Jr. at a 14.44 Finish: 2nd Winner: #9 Mike Root Recap: 29 Super Late Models were in the pits for Round #2 of the Dixie Cup Series at Dixie Motor Speedway. Steve would qualify 6th and with the inversion of 10 would start 5th in the 100 lap feature. This was the first race back with the orange car after the Auto City accident where the entire front end was damaged. The #40 of Mike Luberda would lead the race for the 63 laps and looked like he had it won but an overheating engine forced him to pit thus giving the lead to the #9 of Mike Root with Steve running in 2nd. With a good run going and occasionally closing up to the bumper of the #9 car of Root, Steve just couldn´t make the pass and and had to settle for a great 2nd place run.
Top 3
#1- #9 Mike Root
#2- #97 Steve Sauve
#3- #72 Scott Hantz
For more information about the race, checkout the race recap thatDixie Motor Speedway has on Web site in the news section www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
___________________________________________________________________ Date: May 24th, 2008 Event: Dixie Cup Series Round #1 at Dixie Motor Speedway Qualifing position: 8th at a 14.76 out of 17 cars Finished/Started: 9th , started 4th Fast Qualifier: #72 Scott Hantz at a 14.56 Finish: 9th Winner: #72 Scott Hantz Recap: 17 Super Late Models were in the pits for the first round of the Dixie Cup Series at Dixie Motor Speedway. Steve would qualify 8th in a car not familiar with most race fans. Steve was in a black #97. This car was Dr. Bob Ducharme´s car that Steve is going to drive in the Gold Cup Races at Toledo Speedway but due to the accident last night at Auto City Speedway, Steve´s own car was too badly damaged to have ready for this race. So Dr. Bob and crew scrambled to get the car set up to run at Dixie for Steve. Steve has very limited seat time in this car and would have 100 laps to figure out what it needs. Steve would start the race in 4th position and was not able to make a charge to the front. He would ultimately end up 9th with Dr. Bob´s car but with more seat time, Steve feels they can make this a very competitive car at Dixie with some practice with it and some adjustments. The team really thanks Dr. Bob and John for all their work just to get the car to Dixie so Steve could even race. Thanks a ton guys!
For more information about the race, checkout the race recap that Dixie Motor Speedway has on Web site in the news section www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
Date: May 23rd, 2008 Event: Springslinger 100 at Auto City Speedway Qualifying position: 1st at a 14.76 out of 23 cars Finished/Started: DNF, 10th Fast Qualifier: #97 Steve Sauve at a 14.76 Finish: DNF Winner: #40 Mike Luberda Jr. Recap: 23 cars were in the pits at Auto City Speedway for the season opener for Super Late Models and the 100 lap Springslinger. Steve would start the season out right with fast time of the night with a 14.76. With the invert being 10 Steve would start the race in the 10th starting position. It didn´t take long for things to happen as on lap #13, the #0 of Johnny Belott got into Steve causing a caution. Steve had sheetmetal damage as a result and was forced to go into the pits where the crew pulled out the fender that was rubbing the tire and Steve would restart at the tail end of the field. Then things went from bad to really bad as on lap 27 another car spun in front of Steve and with no place to go, Steve got in the wreck that damaged theradiator and entire front end of the car and ended the team´s night. The team loaded up the car and headed home before the feature was even over, discouraged but will be back in July for the Firecracker 100.
For more information about the race, check out the race recap that Auto City has on Web sitewww.autocityspeedway.com
______________________________________________________________________________ Date: September 29th Event: "Dixie Classic" at Dixie Motor Speedway Qualifing position: 8th at a 14.74 out of 32 cars Finished/Started: 8th , started 5th Fast Qualifier: #71 John Grega at a 14.63 Finish:DNF(engine failure on the 1st lap Winner: #16 John Vandoorn Recap: 32 Super Late Models were in the pits for "Dixie Classic" at Dixie Motor Speedway. Steve would qualify 8th and with the inversion would start 5thin the 150 lap feature. The team was hoping for a great run and to possibly win the points battle as Steve was leading John Grega by a mere 9 points. However, on lap #1, theengine had problems forcing Steve to pit. The crew tried tofind the problemthinking it was a plug wire off but it was internal problems that could not be repaired to get Steve back on the track. A broken rocker arm was found. Bad luck but overall a goodseason for the team.Congratulations to John Grega and the #71 crew for winning the points championship. The team thanks its sponsors for all their support and to the fans that cheer us each week. Your support is greatly appreciated. See you in 2008!
Top 5
#1- #16 John Vandoorn
#2- #71 John Grega
#3- #5 John Doering Jr.
#4- #72 Scott Hantz
#5- #40 Curt Spalding
For more information about the race, checkout the race recap thatDixie Motor Speedway has on Web site in the news section www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
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Date: September 22nd Event: Miller Lite Glass City200 at Toledo Speedway Qualifying position: 7th at a 15.31 out of 39 cars Finished/Started: 2nd, started 3rd inside 2nd row Fast Qualifier: #47Brian Campbell at 15.15 Finish:2nd Winner: #47 Brian Campbell Recap: 39 cars were in the pits at Toledo Speedway on a sunny September day for the running of the 19th annual Miller Lite Glass City 200. Stevewas trying to win his 4th GlassCity 200 as he won this race in 2002,2003,&2004, 3 straight years of winning it, a feat that no other driver has been able to do in the history of this great race. Steve and the team would qualify the car 7th out of 39 cars. The #47 of Brian Campbell, driving his dad Freddy’s car, would set fast time at a 15.15 and Brian would end up pulling a 9 for the inversion. This would put Steve in the 2nd row for the 31-car starting field in the 200 lap feature event.
At the drop of the green flag, Steve would settle into 4th spot and ridethere until eventual pole sitter and race leader, the #41 Brent Jack would make contact with a lapped car on lap 43. Steve would end up running into the back of the #16 of ClaudePlante during this due toClaude checking up for the wreck in front of himand Stevenot being able to slow quick enough. The end result was the nose piece and front filler panel being damaged on Steve’s car hurting the aerodynamics of the car. On the restart, Steve would get byPlante and take the lead and would do so untilthe half-way break at lap 101, however while leading, Steve was getting some pressure from fast time qualifier Brian Campbell. Steve would hold off Brian and take the half-way leaderbonus. During the 20-minute break, the team would repair the damaged front end from the incident with Plante and make adjustments to the car.
At the start of the 2nd segment, Steve would continue to lead until lap124 when he went high in turn 2 allowing Brian Campbell and Brent Jack to get by. Steve gathered the car upand in the last 50 laps would get by Jack for 2nd place but could not catch the eventual race winner Brian Campbell. An awesome race for Steve and the team as they haveworked hard this season ongetting the car ready for this race. Congratulations to Brian Campbell and his team for their 1st ever Glass City win. He was the car of the field and did a great job! The team is now getting ready for the Dixie Smackdown 150this Saturday, Sept. 29th.Hope to see you out there as Steve is leading the points forthe Dixie Cup and would like to win it outright by winning this race.
Top 5
#1- #47 Brian Campbell
#2- #97 Steve Sauve
#3- #41 BrentJack
#4- #5 John Doering Jr.
#5- #24 Dave Kuhlman
For moreinformation about the race, check out the race recap that Toledo Speedway has on ARCA web sitein the news section, click on theToledoSpeedway trackinformation button www.arcaracing.com
Date: September 1st Event: Mudslinger Qualifying position: 2nd at a 14.83 out of 18 cars Finished/Started: 3rd, 8th Fast Qualifier: #0 Johnny Belott at 14.80 Finish: 3rd Winner: #71 John Grega Recap: 18 cars were in thepits atAuto City for the Mudslinger. A race Steve andthe crew have won in the past. With the car running good at Auto City this past year the team was hoping to get back into the victory lane again. Steve would qualify 2nd out of 18 cars, there would havebeen 19 butthe #5 of John Doering Jr. had engine troubles.With the inversion being 9, Steve would start the 100 lap race in the 8th starting position. At the drop of the green flag Steve was working his way to the front in a hurry with some greatbattles with alongthe way. With about 25 laps to go inthe feature and Steve running in 2nd place, the stud for the carburetor broke off and shifted the air cleaner causing a major problem. With it broken, Steve had twospeeds to work with, 3500 RPM orfull throttle!! At times he was sideways with the car on the track due tothis problem but he was able to keep it under control. He did slip to 3rd place because of this stud mishap and that allowed Johnny Belott to get 2nd place. So having to deal with that dangerous situation for 25 laps, it was an awesome 3rd place finish! Most would have retire to the pits but Steve managed to get a great finish out of it. The team is now preparing for Dixie Motor Speedway and the Smackdown 150 on September 15th. The team hopes to see you out there!
Top 5
#1- #71 John Grega
#2- #0 Johnny Belott
#3- #97 Steve Sauve
#4- #37 Ken O’Conner
#5- #24 Norm Davis
For more information about the race, check out the race recap that AutoCity has on Web sitewww.autocityspeedway.com
Date:August 11th Event:Auto City Speedway Super 8 SeriesRound #4 Qualifing position: 1st at a 14.84 out of 24 cars Finished/Started: Started 7th, finished 5th Fast Qualifier: #97 Steve Sauve at a 14.84 Finish: 5th Winner: #5John Doering Jr. Recap: 24 Cars were in the pits, a record number for Auto City Speedway this season. Steve and the team would start out the day with clutch problemswhy trying to go outforthe first practice session. The team had to hurryto repair it so they could get some practice time. With repairs done, itonly left one practice session but one was enough as Steve was able to go out and set fast time of the night out of24cars. With the inversion of 7, Steve wouldstart the race inthe 7th position. At the drop of the green flag, Steve was on the move to the front. He was able to get to up to the 3rd spot but the car got real tight and the #71 of John Grega and the #40of Mike Luberda Jr. got by Steve. Steve was still able to get a 5th place finish onthis night. John Doering Jr. who started on the pole would lead all 60 laps and get the win. Congratulations to John and the Zent/Hudson Team. Our team is off fora couple of weeks and will be back here at Auto City Speedway for the Mudslinger. Hope youcan make it out.
Top 5
#1- #5 John Doering Jr.
#2- #16 Claude Plante
#3- #71 John Grega
#4- #40 Mike LuberdaJr.
#5- #97 Steve Sauve
For more information about the race, checkout the race recap that Auto City has on Web site www.autocityspeedway.com
_________________________________________________________________ Date: August3rd Event: The Big One at Dixie Motor Speedway Qualifing position: 2nd at a 14.74 out of 22 cars Finished/Started: 4th , started 11th Fast Qualifier: #72 Scott Hantz at a 14.62 Finish:3rd Winner: #5 John Doering Jr. Recap: 22 Super Late Models were in the pits for The Big One at Dixie Motor Speedway. Sprint cars and Supers wereon the main event card so it was sure to be a great night of racing for the fans and teams. Stevewas able to qualify 2nd for the 2nd straight time at Dixie with a 14.74 and with the inversion, he would start the race in the 11th position. At the drop of the green flag Steve got in behind the #72 of Scott Hantz who had set fast time andSteve thought that Hantz would be on the move to the front quick. However the outside lane with Hantz wasn’t going anywhere and cars were going by Steve on the inside quickdropping him back toabout 12th spot. Steve had to starting findingsome lanes to race on and picking off cars as the race was runningpretty much caution free. Steve worked the #11 of Jay Reinbold for many laps before he got around him. During all ofthis , the race leader John Doering Jr. in the new #5 machine ofZent Motorsports was on a railpassing cars on the high side and low side. John lapped all but 4th place. Steve would get up to 3rd position and that was all he could do on this night. A great finishseeing all the cars he had to pass and the race running almost caution free. The team is gearing up for Auto City Speedway this weekend and hope to see you there.
Top 5
#1-#5 John Doering Jr.
#2- #71 John Grega.
#3- #97Steve Sauve
#4- #17 Todd Rosebrough
#5- #11 Jay Reinbold
For more information about the race, checkout the race recap thatDixie Motor Speedway has on Web site in the news section www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
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Date: July 28th Event: Round #2 Triple Crown Series at Owosso Speedway Qualifing position:4th at a 14.97 outof 23 cars Finished/Started: 5th, started 10th Fast Qualifier: #41 Brent Jack at a 14.88 Finish:5th Winner: #47 Brian Campbell Recap: 23 cars were in thepits at Owosso Speedway for Round#2 of 3 for the Super Late models in the Triple Crown Series. Its been a long time since the team has competed over at Owossowith thelast time being a Main Event Series race being heldthere.Theteamhas always ran good there in thepast and set fast timeonce andwas hoping to do the same this night. The team would thrash on the car during practice and it paid off in qualifying asSteve would be 4th quick. The inversion for the 100 lapper would be 13 meaning Steve would have to start 10th in the feature. A hardplace to start when the top 13 were only separated in time by 3 tenths of a second. The place to do passing atOwossoon this night seemed to be the bottom groove but the car wasn’t able tostay down on the bottom to make some good moves tothe front. Steve would have to just workthe high side to make a move to the front. In the end, through all the cautions Stevestill managed to get a 5th place finish from a track that he hasn’tbeen tooin 5 years or so.Not a bad run for theteam. Steve and the team are undecided on whether theteam will goback for the 3rd round on August 25th but there is a chance theymight. Keep checking our website for updates and we will make an announcement.
Top 5
#1- #47 BrianCampbell
#2- #41 Brent Jack.
#3- #16 Claude Plante
#4- #11 Jay Reinbold
#5- #97 Steve Sauve
For more informationabout the race, check out the race recap that Owosso Speedway has on its website, go to the track articles section oftheir siteto follow the story
www.owossospeedway.com
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Date: July 20th Event: Glass City Gold Cup at Toledo Speedway Qualifing position: 4th ata 15.32 out of 22 cars Finished/Started: 4th,started 8th Fast Qualifier: #72 Scott Hantz at a 15.28 Finish: 4th Winner: #16 John Vandoorn Recap: 22 cars were in the pits at Toledo Speedway for the 100 lap Glass City Gold Cup 100. Steve and the team was able toqualify the car 4th and with the high inversion being 11, Steve would startthe 100 lapper in the 8th starting position. Steve had a the car working goodbut when the #24 of Dave Kuhlman on lap #63leading at the time, lost hisgearplug from his rear end, it soaked the track with oiland unfortunately Jay Sommers got into the oil which put him hard into the wall. Steve avoided the mess but ending up getting a flat tire after contact with the #10 of Jack Landis. So with a briefstopin the pitsunder caution the crew changed the rightfront flattire. Steve was forced to start at therear of the field for pitting and from there was able to move his way up to the 4th position. He did all of thiswith a broken throttle return spring bracket. He had to use his foot to bring the pedalback to him.So needless to say with things happening at Toledofast and to have to do this every lap, its an awesome accomplishmentto get 4th with a broken throttle pedal. Great job Steve!
Top5
#1- #16 John Vandoorn
#2- #81 Harold Fair Sr.
#3- #71 Harold FairJr.
#4-#97 Steve Sauve
#5- #72 Scott Hantz
For more information about the race, check out the racerecap that Toledo Speedway has onARCA web site in the newssection, click on the Toledo Speedway track informationbutton www.arcaracing.com
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____ Date: July 13th Event: Dixie CupSeriesat Dixie Motor Speedway Qualifing position: 2ndat a 14.593 out of 23 cars Finished/Started: 4th, started 8th Fast Qualifier: #71 Harold Fair Jr. at 14.590 Finish: DNF Winner: #71 John Grega Recap: 23 cars were in the pits for 3rd installment of the Dixie Cup Series at Dixie Motor Speedway on Friday the 13th, probablythe unluckiest day for racers! Steve andtheteam wererunning goodin practiceand the caris gettingdialed in well at Dixie. Inqualifying Steve almost set fast time. He went a 14.593to Harold Fair´s 14.590, so a mere .003 of a second was the only difference. With the inversion being 9, Steve would start 8th in the 100 lap feature. As the green flag dropped, it didn´t stay green for long as the #75 of Rod Laney hit the wall hard in turn 1 and did some heavy damage to his car forcing himto be flatbedded to the pits. With a total restart, Stevewas off and on his way to the front. It seemed no one wanted to give up the bottom groove, so to make it work,Steve would haveto work the outside if he wasgoing to move to the front and win especially with the #71 of John Grega starting onthe front row. Steve was able topass Harold Fair Jr. onthe outside and wasgoingfor the 2 for one deal, passing Harold and the #5 machine of John Doering Jr. in turn #4 but as they came out of turn 4, Steve already making the pass successful on Harold hekeep the momentum on theoutsideand tried to go aroundJohn coming out ofturn4, howeverSteve ran out of track on the high side and tapped into the front stretch wall for about 100 feet. With dirt and concrete dust in the air Steve was still going in the right directionbut youcouldtell somethinggot bent inthat mishap as the car was nothandling the same. Concrete dust onboth rideside wheels seen by the team indicated something had been bent. After a few laps of seeing if it was safe enough to drive and no flat tires, Steve continuedon hismove to the front. He passedFairagain who took advantage of Steve´s brush withthe wall. Soon after this the #5 of Doering andthe #41 of Brent Jack got together and Jack ended up the loser on this deal as he was into the wall with severe damage. The track officials sent Doeringto the rear but Doering pulled off and was done for the night. After the track was cleaned Steve was again on the move and set his sights on the the #11 car of Jay Reinbold. Steve wasable to get passJay for 4thbutwith the car getting harder and harder to drive that was all he could do, he tried to get to the 3rd place car of #5j Artuso but just ran out of laps. A very well earned 4th place finish in a car that may have been capable of winningif not for that wallincident. Great race regardless. The team isoff to Toledo on Friday, July 20th, hope tosee you there.
Top 5
#1- #71 John Grega
#2- #16 John VanDoorn
#3- #5j Jerry Artuso
#4- #97 Steve Sauve
#5- #71 Harold FairJr.
For moreinformation about the race, check outthe race recap that Dixie Motor Speedwayhas on their web site in the news section. www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
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Date: June 22nd Event:Glass City Gold Cup at Toledo Speedway Qualifing position: 5th at a 15.37 out of 29 cars Finished/Started: DNF,engineoverheating problems, 24th overall Fast Qualifier: #41Brent Jack at 15.18 Finish: DNF Winner: #71 Harold Fair Jr. Recap: 29 cars were in the pits for the Glass City Gold Cup100held at Toledo Speedway onFriday.This would be Steve and the teams first trip to the speedway this year and the car felt really good in practice, however, thenight would be short as 3 laps into the 100 lap feature event, Stevegot the black flag. Thecar wasoverheating andtheoverflow tube was spitting out water forcing Steve to pit.The problem was in the engine and notsomething that could be repaired inthe pits so the team was done for the night. So Steve andthe team will beworking on the engine in hopesof coming backto Toledo in July and finding the winner’s circleand hoping to end Harold Fair Jr’s dominance in which Harold has been 3 for 3 this season.
Top 5
#1- #71 Harold Fair Jr.
#2- #91 Dennis Strickland
#3-#0 Johnny Belott
#4- #41 Brent Jack
#5- #24 Dave Kuhlman
For moreinformation about the race, check out the race recap that Toledo Speedway has on ARCA web sitein the news section, click on theToledoSpeedway trackinformation button www.arcaracing.com
Date: June 15th Event:Dixie Cup Series at Dixie MotorSpeedway Qualifing position: 4th at a 14.91 out of 23cars Finished/Started: Started 3rd , finished 2nd Fast Qualifier: #71 Harold Fair Jr. at a 14.74 Finish:2nd Winner: #16 John Vandoorn Recap: Only 23 cars in the pits on this hot summer night for the2nd Dixie Cup Series raceheld at Dixie MotorSpeedway. Steve and the team would qualify 4th for the feature and with the inversion of7, Steve wouldstart the 100 lap race inthe 3rd startingspot. The#16 of John Vandoorn got the jumpon on the #11 polesitterof Jay Reinbold and never lookedback. Steve was able to get pass Jay to get into 2nd place and that was all he could doasthe car was pushingat the end of the feature. Another great finishthough for the team and they are gearing up for their first trip toToledo Speedway this year on Friday,June 22nd for a GlassCityGold Cup race. Hope to see you there!
Top 5
#1- #16 John Vandoorn
#2- #97 Steve Sauve
#3- #71 JohnGrega
#4- #11 Jay Reinbold
#5- #41 Brent Jack
For more information aboutthe race, check out therace recap that Dixie Motor Speedway has on Web sitein thenews section www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
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Date: May 25th Event: Dixie Cup Series at DixieMotor Speedway Qualifing position: 6th ata 14.74 out of 28cars Finished/Started: Started 5th, finished 2nd Fast Qualifier: #71Harold Fair Jr. at a 14.57 Finish: 2nd Winner: #71 John Grega Recap: 28 carswere in the pits for the first of five Dixie Cup Series Race heldat Dixie Motor Speedway. Steveand the teamwould qualify 6th for the feature. With the inversion it put the#71 ofJohn Grega on the poleand Steve would startin the 6th startingposition. So knowing John wasonthe pole Steve and the team knew they would haveto charge to the frontto get toJohn before John checked out and builta lead over the field. Ittook4 restarts to get the race started as cautions filled the first 3restarts andas aresultdamaged some great cars in the process. At the drop of the green flag, Steve wouldstart his charge tothe front, during this, Steve noticed the car getting hotbut he made the decision to keep diggingand stay out there and race. Steve got into2nd and atthatpoint Grega hada pretty comfortable lead with Steve trying his best toget tohim and overtake that top position. Cautions throughout therace would bunchup thefieldand Steve would apply some pretty heavy pressure on therestarts butJohnwasjust too strong this night and withSteve’s car still overheating, he couldn’t overcome Grega’s car on this night. Steve had tosettlefor a hard fought 2nd placefinish while others behind him battled for 3rd position. A great finish especiallywithan overheating race car.
Top 5
#1- #71 John Grega
#2- #97 Steve Sauve
#3- #71 Harold Fair Jr.
#4- #72 Scott Hantz
#5-#24 NormDavis
For more information about the race, check out the race recap thatDixie MotorSpeedwayhas on Web site inthe news section www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
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Date:May 19th Event:AutoCity Speedway Super 8 Series Round #1 Qualifing position:5th at a 14.90 out of 11 cars Finished/Started: Started 2nd, finished1st Fast Qualifier: #0 Johnny Belott ata 14.74 Finish:1st Winner: #97 Steve Sauve Recap: Only 11 cars showed upfor the 1st round of the Super 8 Series at AutoCity Speedway this past Saturday night. Steve and the team were back debuting the all orangecar onceagain and were feeling pretty good about how this years carwas handling.Steve would start the feature on theoutside of the front row along side the#11of Jay Reinbold. At the drop of the greenflagged Steve slipped alittle in turn #1 and at that point had to settlefor 2nd behindReinbold and try to makehis move for thelead in the 60-lap event. With roughly 20 laps into the event, Steve stuckhis nose insideof Reinbold and made the passfor the lead. From there Stevewouldget a little bitof a lead. Inthe back ofthepack, the #71 of Grega, the #0 of Belott, and the#17 of Rosebrough weremixing itupbut none had anopportunity to get tothe frontasStevewouldtake the win on this night
Top 5
#1- #97SteveSauve
#2-#0 JohnnyBelott
#3- #17Todd Rosebrough
#4- #71 JohnGrega
#5- #5 David McManus
For more information about the race, check out the race recap that Auto City has on Web site www.autocityspeedway.com
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Date: September24th Event: Toledo Speedway Budweiser Glass City 200 Qualifingposition: 7that a 15.22 out of46cars Finished/Started:Started6th, finished 18th overall FastQualifier: #0 Johnny Belottat a15.04 Finish:5th Winner: #10 Jack Landis Recap: 46 Cars wereinthepits at Toledo for theBudweiser Glass City 200Race,a race Steve hadwon 3 straight years before losing that streak last year to John Doering Jr. in a rainshortened version of the race. Withthe unpredictable whether itagain looked like mothernaturewouldwin but the race went on Sunday instead of Saturday under the lights. Steve wouldqualify his bestever at Toledo at a 15.22 which would be7th out of 46 carscompeteting for the 31 starting spots. Stevewould be guaranteed a spot for therace due to thepointshe accumulated over the season racing intheGold Cup races.He had won 1 race while the #24 ofDave Kuhlmanwon animpressive 3 races.
The car felt good from practice and when the green flagdropped Stevewas looking reallygood. At the 100-lap break for teamstochange tires, add fuel, and make chassis adjustments, Steve and the team looked strong andwas going to be a threat in the 2ndhalf of the race. Within 14laps of the restart, a flat tire forcedSteve to brushthe wall and he was forced to pit to get it changed.The crew changed it and gothim back out on the track to try and make a charge to thefront. This is where this year´s race will go down in history, on the en-sueing restart,the #20 of Don St.Denis touched the #06 of Michael Simko sending Simko crashing into the wall. Then things went from bad to ugly. As the cars sat on the trackforared flag condition, Simko walks toward St. Denis´car and jumped, yes jumped (almost like akung-fuBruce Lee type move) throughSt.Denis´ windshieldknockingit out. He then proceeds tostart swinging punches at a strapped in St. Denis whoatthis point was trying to get out ofhis car. The fight was onand both had to berestrainedbytrack personnel. Thisfight was capturedby NBC 24thatwas co-sponsoringthe eventandthis video of the fight made CNN, ESPN, ESPN´s Around the Horn, ESPN´s Pardon the Interuption, EPSN´sCold Pizza, not to mention all the local television stations, radio stations, and newspapers.Everyone was talking about this incidentwhether a fan orsomeone who didn´t follow the sport. This wassomethingyou could not believe happened but did.Our sport gota black eye overthis and hopefully both have learned from it asARCA has suspendedboth from competition for a periodof time.
After the wrecked car of Simkowas cleanedupoff thetrack the racewas restarted. Steve wasworking his way to the front from his backstarting position due to the flat tire but onlap 168 the engine hadissues and Stevehad to retirefrom the event in an 18th overall finishing position. The car was goodand the teamislooking forward tonext year, hopefully the fightingwill not bethe main topic and racing will be thefocus, no matter what,the world got to see what Super Late Modelslook like!
Top 5
#1-#10 JackLandis
#2- #40Mike LuberdaJr.
#3- # Andy Ponstein
#4- #41 Brent Jack
#5- #81 Harold Fair Sr.
For more informationabout the race, check out the race recap that Toldeohas on theirArca Racing Web site
, click over to theToledo Speedwaysection link onArca´s website to readthe story. www.arcaracing.com
Date: September9th Event: Dixie Motor Speedway "Smackdown150" Qualifing position: 9th at a 14.61 out of 29 cars Finished/Started: 3rd, Started 26th Fast Qualifier: #71 of John Grega at a 14.41 Finish: 3rd Winner: #7 David McManus Recap: 29cars were inthe pits for the 2nd annual "Smackdown150". Steve and theteam wouldlay down one of their best qualifying laps at Dixie with a14.61but was still 9th overall. In theheat race that would determineyour startingpositionforthe 150-lap feature event the car was leaking waterand Stevehadto retire tothe pits. Withthatmechanical issue it would mean Steve would have to start the race from the 26th starting position. Stevewould have to usehis superior driving skills and workhis way tothe front. As the green flag dropped Stevewas making his chargetothe front passing some great cars alongthe way. Steve would be able to get to the 3rd spot before thecheckered flag fell making him the hardcharger forthe1st75 lapsegment ofthe150 lap event. In the 2nd 75 segment Steve made afew attemptsat 2nd place Grega butwould have to settle a hard fought 3rd place finishwith the #24 of NormDavishot on his bumper.
Top5
#1- #7 DavidMcManus
#2-#71John Grega
#3- #97 Steve Sauve
#4- #24 Norm Davis
#5- #5 John Doering Jr.
For more information about therace, checkout the race recap that Dixie Motor Speedway has on its website,go to the newssectionoftheirsitetofollow thestory
www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
Date: August18th Event: Dixie Motor Speedway Qualifing position: 11thata 14.85out of18 cars Finished/Started: DNF, 16th overall, Started 11th Fast Qualifier: #71 of John Grega Finish: DNF,16thoverall Winner: #5 John Doering Jr. Recap: Only 18cars inthe pits onthis night andthe team struggledon this night as well tryingto get the car to be competitiveon the track. During practice the team tried allkinds of set-ups and just couldn´tget it right and the qualifying effort showed as theteam had to settle for 11th. Theteam continued tomake changes before the featureand 20 laps into thefeature something went sour inthe engine and the nightwas cut short and theteam got itsfirst DNFof theyear. Hope this is the only one and our badluck is behind us. The teamwill continue to look at why its not running good at Dixie andwill make some major changes to be much better. Thanks for showingsupport though,theteam appreciatesit by you visiting this web site and applauded us at thetrack.
Top 5
#1- #5 JohnDoering Jr.
#2- #72 John Grega
#3- #24 Norm Davis
#4- #11 Tim Felver
#5- #5 Mike LuberdaJr.
Formore information abouttherace, check out the race recap that Dixie Motor Speedway has on its website, go tothe news section oftheir siteto followthe story
www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
__________________________________________________________________ Date: August11th Event: Toledo Speedway "Glass City GoldCup" Qualifingposition:17th at a 15.67 out of 34 cars Finished/Started:Started 17th, finished 5th Fast Qualifier: #0 Johnny Belott at a 15.20 Finish:5th Winner: #24 Dave Kulhman Recap: 34 Carswere in thepits at Toledo for the 4th andfinal Glass City Gold CupRacebefore the Budweiser Glass City 200 in September. Steve would qualify 17th, his worse qualifying attempt in some time and at Toledo starting that far back makes it a harder challenge for the team. The team though started changing the car aroundin the pitsbefore the feature, the car was either going to bea good car to drive to the front or a handfultohang on too, theteam gotthe set-up close as Steve was able to finish an impressive 5th in a field that was one ofthe strongest at Toledo in some time.Therace wouldhave ascary moment as the#18 of Lee Anderson would hit the wall with less than 10 lapsleft, Lee waso.k. butthe carwas destroyed, just goes to show you how fast these cars are but the main thing is thesafety put into them asLeewasabletowalk away from thatwicked hit. The #97 team willcontinue to work on car andhopefullyafter this race wehave learnedsomething to bring back to theGlass City at the endof September and find victory lane again.
Top 5
#1- #24Dave Kuhlman
#2-#0 Johnny Belott Jr.
#3- #5 John Doering Jr.
#4- #72Scott Hantz
#5- #97Steve Sauve
For more information about the race, check out the race recap that Toldeo has on theirArca Racing Web site, clickover to theToledo Speedway linkon Arca´s web site to read thestory. www.arcaracing.com
Date: August 4th Event: Dixie Motor Speedway, "The Big One" Qualifing position: 10th ata14.75 out of 25 cars Finished/Started: Finished 5th, Started1st Fast Qualifier: #72 of Scott Hantzata 14.52 Finish:5th Winner: #40 Mike Luberda Jr. Recap: 25cars werein the pits forthe "TheBig One" which had Supersand Sprints running on the same night. Steve would qualify 10th and with the luck of theinvert Steve would start on the polealong side the #5 of JohnDoering. With the stands packedwith fans andthe field set with the best drivers in the state, the fans were goingto seea great show. JohnDoering Jr. got the jump on the startandSteve settlinginto 2ndand followed John forawhile but the car´s handling was starting to go away andwith itbeing tight it was hard to hold off the challenges from the guyscoming up from the backofthe pack andSteve had to let them go by.Thecar was just too"tight" and at thatpoint the #40of Mike Luberdagot by and the #71 and#72of John Gregaand Scott Hantz also slippedby. Stevewas in 5th when the checkered flag fellandwasableto holdoff a late race challenge from the #11 ofTimFelver which forthe teamwas a great finish seeing how bad the team has struggled at Dixie this year.
Top 5
#1- #40Mike LuberdaJr.
#2- #72 John Grega
#3- #72 ScottHantz
#4- #5John Doering Jr.
#5- #97 SteveSauve
Formoreinformationabout therace, check outthe race recap that Dixie Motor Speedway has onits website, goto the newssection oftheir siteto follow the story
www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
Date: July29th Event: Auto City Speedway Super8 Series Qualifing position: 6th at a 15.08 out of18cars Finished/Started: 4th, started 2nd Fast Qualifier:#71 John Gregaat a14.76 Finish: 4th Winner: #71John Grega Recap: 18carsmadeit out tobattle the heatand the trickyAuto City race track. The teamstruggledwith the car inpractice and tried many different things but had to settle for a 6th place qualifying effort. With the invertSteve wouldstart 2nd,outside ofthefront row alongsidethe #29 of Bob Maki. Stevewould get thejump and the lead and keep itfor about 40 laps, then the car started gettingtight, real tight. Fastqualifier John Gregawas coming andit was only a matter oftimebeforehegot to the front. Steve had to hold on to the final laps fora hardfought 4th place finish in acarthat was just too tight on thisnight!
Top 5
#1- #71 John Grega
#2- #0 Johnny Belott
#3-#17 Todd Rosebrough
#4- #97SteveSauve
#5- #16Claude Plante
Formore informationabout the race, check out the race recap that AutoCity Speedway might have up on itswebsite, go to the news sectionof their site tofollow the storyif they have written one forthis race.
www.autocityspeedway.com
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Date: July 21st Event: ToledoSpeedway "GlassCityGold Cup" Qualifingposition: 11th ata15.51 out of 32 cars Finished/Started: Started 11th, finished 6th Fast Qualifier: #20 DonSt. Denis at a 15.18 Finish: 6th Winner: #24 Dave Kulhman Recap: 32 Cars were inthepitsatToledo for the 3rd of 4 Glass CityGold Cup Races. Steve would qualify 11th and miss the invert whichwas 6. So withallthe talent inthe field Stevewas going to have to work for awin tonight if possiblefrom his 11thstarting position.In the feature, the car was tightand there was notmuchhe could dowith it.Theteam had to settle for a 6th place finish but at Toledo if youcan do that andbe in one piece6th is agreatfinish.
Top 5
#1- #24Dave Kuhlman
#2- #18LeeAnderson
#3-#48 Fred Campbell
#4- #20 DonSt. Denis
#5- #72 Scott Hantz
For more information about the race, checkoutthe race recap that Toldeohas on their Arca RacingWebsite, clickoverto the Toledo Speedway linkonArca´sweb siteto read thestory. www.arcaracing.com
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Date:May 28th Event:Toledo Speedway "Glass City GoldCup" Qualifing position:9th ata 15.63out of 35 cars Finished/Started: Started 9th, finished6th Fast Qualifier: #18 Lee Anderson.at a 15.37 Finish:6th Winner: #24 DaveKuhlman Recap: Steve and theteam wouldheaddownto Toledo on Sunday for there-scheduled Toledo Glass City Gold Cuprace. Steve would qualify 9th out of35 cars trying for 24 starting spots. With the invert,Steve would start inthe 9th starting spot. During the race, Steve felt like hehad atire going down andwith 20 to go he had to make a pit stop to have it changed. Healso had the crew put some fuelin the car as the carwas acting like itwasrunninglowon fuel. On therestartwith fueland all tires upto pressure,Stevewould make achargeto the front butwouldhave tosettlefora 6th place finish. Overall it wasagood weekend for the team, a5that Dixie and a 6th at Dixie!
Top 5
#1-#24 Dave Kuhlman.
#2- #5 JohnDoeringJr.
#3- #41 BrentJack
#4-#03 Ron Allen
#5- #81 Harold Fair Sr.
For more information about the race, check out the racerecapthatToldeohason their ArcaRacingWeb site, clickover tothe Toledo Speedway link on Arca´sweb site to read thestory. www.arcaracing.com
Date: June 16th Event: Dixie Motor Speedway "41st Annual Dixie Classic" Qualifing position: 10th at a 14.85 outof 26 cars Finished/Started: Finished 5th, Started8th FastQualifier: #18 of Lee Anderson ata14.52 Finish:5th Winner: #71 John Grega Recap: 26 Cars wereonhandinthe pits on this hot and humid June night for running of the 41st Annual DixieClassic. Stevewouldqualify the car adisappointing 10th due toitbeing loose in his qualifying attempt.10th would miss the invertand with (2)cars scratchingthe feature event due to mechanical problems, Steve would start the 100 lap feature inthe 8thposition.Everything wasgoing good in the feature before Steve hita piece of debriswhich waslater to be confirmed as a pieceof "tungsten" steelthatsomeone’srace carhad dropped onto theracetrack. Apparently, someone was usingitforweightbutit was notproperlyfasteneddown in their car and asa result it took outthe master cylinder for the clutch and hurt the brakesystem on Steve’s carnot to mention tearingholesin Steve’s floorboard whichnow has to be replaced. The real issue hereisnotsomuchthe mechanical problemsitcaused to the race car but it couldhave been a far more serious situationforour driver as Steve could havebeen seriouslyinjured if that piece of tungsten would have come up through the floorboard or apiece ofdebris would have flewup through the holes in the floorboard. So basically, Steve hadto finish the race withhardly anybrakes andno clutch. He ended up 5thand for theshape the car wasin, the team was happy to get that. The team faired muchbetterthan the #40ofMike Luberda who also hit thepieceof tungsten after Steve had hitit but it destroyed a lot on theircar and put Mike into the wall. He lost his brakesand same with Steve, Mike couldhave been seriously injured. Glad to see bothdriverso.k.after a scarydeal that should have never happened. The pieceof tungsten in question had no carnumberonit,wasnot painted white,andwas not properly fastened down likethe rulebook says weight should be. Hopefully something will comeout of this andit will never happenagain. Dixie Motor Speedwayhas kept it and maybean owner will come forward but most ofall we hope all teams look at how their weight is mounted and to make sure it meets the rulebook notonly for their safety but thesafety of theotherdrivers and fans.
Top 5
#1- #71 JohnGrega
#2-#5 John DoeringJr.
#3-#72ScottHantz
#4- #24 Norm Davis
#5- #97 Steve Sauve
For more informationabout therace, check out the race recap that DixieMotor Speedway hason its website, go to the newssection oftheir siteto follow the story
www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
Date: June 2nd Event: Toledo Speedway "GlassCityGold Cup" Qualifing position: 6thata 15.43outof 32 cars Finished/Started: Started 2nd, finished 1st Fast Qualifier: #71 HaroldFair Jr. at a 15.20 Finish: 1st Winner: #97SteveSauve Recap: 13is known as a superstitousbad number, you don´t see many race cars using thatnumber and that number is the same number the teamwas sitting on since the97 driven bySteveSauvevisited victory lane. 13 raceswithout a win. In2004,he visited victory lane 9 times! In 2005, his worse season ever, he nevergot to victory lane, even 2nd would have been somethingto cheer about. Steve worked hardon the car overthe winter months along with histeam to make sure2006would benothinglike2005 and in abit of irony,his last win was in 2004 at the Toledo Speedway Glass City 200 to make it 3 straightwins for that race. Stevewas backinToledo on Fridaynightand wasableto find ToledoSpeedway´s victorylane by leadingall 92 laps of the scheduled 100that was cut 8 laps shy due to rain. All the hard luckfinally paid off as Steve was able to holdoff24of thegreatestdrivers from Ohio, Michigan, & Canada.
Steve started inthe outside of the firstrowand when the green flag droppedthe orange and bluemachine was off and inthe lead. Steve would leadfora total of 92 laps and hold off a late challenge effortofHarold Fair Jr. Seems sofar the team´s luckis changing for the better. Steveand the teamwould like to thankallthefanswho keepsupportingthem even through all the bad times. Looks like the 97 is back for 2006 and ready tovisit victorylanemanymore times thisyear.
Top 5
#1-#97Steve Sauve
#2-#71Harold Fair Jr.
#3-#0 Johnny Belott Jr.
#4- #101 JoeBush
#5- #29 Brian Kesolowski
Formore information about the race, checkout theracerecapthat Toldeo has on their Arca Racing Web site, clickoverto the Toledo Speedwaylinkon Arca´sweb site to read thestory. www.arcaracing.com
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Date:May 28th Event:Toledo Speedway "Glass CityGoldCup" Qualifing position: 9thata 15.63out of 35 cars Finished/Started: Started 9th, finished6th FastQualifier: #18Lee Anderson. at a15.37 Finish: 6th Winner: #24 Dave Kuhlman Recap: Steveand the teamwould headdown to Toledo on Sunday for the re-scheduled Toledo Glass City GoldCuprace.Steve would qualify 9th outof 35 cars trying for 24starting spots. With the invert,Steve would startin the 9thstarting spot. During the race, Stevefelt like hehad atire going down and with 20 to go he hadto makea pit stop to have itchanged.Healso had the crew put somefuel in thecar as the car was actinglike it wasrunninglow onfuel. On the restart with fuel and alltires up to pressure, Stevewould make acharge to the front but would have to settle for a6th place finish. Overall it wasa goodweekend for the team, a 5that Dixie and a 6th at Dixie!
Top 5
#1-#24 DaveKuhlman.
#2-#5 JohnDoering Jr.
#3- #41 BrentJack
#4- #03 RonAllen
#5- #81 HaroldFair Sr.
For moreinformation about the race,check outtheracerecapthat Toldeo has on theirArca RacingWebsite, clickover to the ToledoSpeedway link on Arca´s website to read the story. www.arcaracing.com
Date: May26th Event: Dixie Motor Speedway "Dixie CupSeries" Qualifing position: 6th at a 14.71 out of 26 cars Finished/Started: Started6th, finished 5th FastQualifier: #71x Harold Fair Jr.at a 14.43 Finish: 5th Winner: #5 John DoeringJr. Recap: The team is getting faster at Dixie asthe first DixieCup race is in the books,Steve would qualify in the 14.70´s and put him 6th inqualifying out of26 cars.In the feature,Steve wouldstart 6thbutina the fast pacedracewith good cars aroundhim hecould only get a 5th place finish this night. Theteamis happy to comeout ofDixiewitha 5thplacerun especially with all thegoodcars competing this night.
Top 5
#1- #5 John DoeringJr.
#2- #71JohnGrega
#3- #75 Scott Hantz
#4- #101 JoeBush
#5- #97 SteveSauve
For more informationabout the race,checkout theracerecapthat DixieMotor Speedwayhas onits website, go tothe news section oftheirsiteto followthe story
www.dixiemotorspeedway.com
___________________________________________________________________ Date:May 20th Event: Auto City SpeedwaySuper 8 Series Round #2 Qualifing position: 3rd at a14.88out of 16 cars Finished/Started:Started 5th, finished 4th beforetherainended the night´s featureevent FastQualifier: #0 Johnny BelottJr. at a 14.68 Finish: 4th when the rain started Winner: Mother Nature Recap: Racerecap coming soon, mothernature cameat lap 6 and the race was postponed.Still waiting on a word when it willbe orif itwill re-scheduled!
For moreinformation abouttherace, check outthe race recap thatAutoCitySpeedway hason its website, go to the news section oftheirsitetofollow the story
www.autocityspeedway.com
Date: April 29th Event: Auto City Speedway Super8 Series Round #1 Qualifing position:1stat a14.61 out of 11 cars Finished/Started: qualified1st at a 14.61out of 11cars, started lastin the total invert ofthe field FastQualifier: #97 SteveSauveat a 14.61 Finish: 5th Winner: #0 Johnny Belott Jr. Recap: 11 cars made it out for Round #1 of theSuper 8Series atAuto CitySpeedway.Steve wouldset fast timeof the7/16 mile track at a 14.61.With a totalinvert of the field, Steve would then start the race in the back.Stevemayhave been able todriveto the front but aspin early on in the race in frontof himhad other driverson the binders and the #5ofJohn DoeringJr.had no where togobut into the right side ofSteve´s orange & blue machine,crumbling up some sheet metal butmore importantly hurting the car´s handling.Stevehad to settle for a disappointing 5thplace runin a batteredcar. The teamhopesthis was first night jitters for some andtherest oftheseason goes muchsmoother!
Top 5
#1- #0 JohnnyBelott Jr.
#2-#17 Todd Rosebrugh
#3- #43 Ken O´Conner
#4- #35Jeff Calpaldi
#5-#97Steve Sauve
Formoreinformation about the race, check outthe race recapthatAuto CitySpeedway has onitswebsite,go to thenews sectionof their site tofollow the story
www.autocityspeedway.com
