Greg Cybulski, MORDEN, MB (June 5, 2011) Winkler, Manitoba's Chris Unrau earned his first Northern Lightning Sprint Association win of 2011, but it didn't come easy. The driver of the #27 Lightning Sprint won both his heat race and the feature with both his car and the competition running against him.
Starting on the front row of his heat beside the #10 of Amber Balcaen, who took the lead and appeared to be on her way to victory. Unrau found himself chasing down Balcaen during the caution-free race and was struggling to catch up. Finally, with the white flag showing, Chris was able to get close enough to make his move.
Entering turn one, Unrau struck and dove into turn two to pass Balcaen and take the lead down the backstretch. Keeping the car on the bottom, he could see the checkered flag when all of a sudden, the chain of his engine ripped rendering his Lightning Sprint powerless. Fortunately for Unrau, he had built up enough of a lead to coast to the finish line to win his heat race.
"It was spectacular!" shared Chris about his win. "I got a push back into the pits and our team worked on getting the #27 ready for the feature."
At the beginning of the feature race, Unrau started on the outside of the first row, this time beside NLSA rookie Mike Sapinski in the #77X Lightning Sprint. Chris got the jump he needed to take the lead going into turn one and never looked back. Despite three cautions and strong challenges by #64 Tyson Hiebert and #4C Chris Bouwman who gave the him everything he could handle, Chris Unrau ran the perfect race and came home with his first win of the NLSA season.
"Despite some significant mechanical challenges, we pulled together as a team and overcame them to put the #27 in the win column." stated a relieved Unrau,
Rounding up the top 5 was Chris Unrau, Tyson Hiebert, Chris Bouwman, Bob Saindon and Amber Balcaen.
Heat races were won by Chris Unrau and Tyson Hiebert.
Northern Lightning Sprint Association
ALH Motor Speedway, Morden, Manitoba
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Heat 1
1. 27 Chris Unrau
2. 10 Amber Balcaen
3. 4C Chris Bouwman
4. 31K Eric Klassen
5. 18 Ryan Harms
6.7 Brent Steg
Heat 2
1. 64 Tyson Hiebert
2. 4 Bob Saindon
3. 21 Brian Harris
4. 77X Mike Sapinski
5. 51 Erich Frey
Feature
1. 27 Chris Unrau
2. 64 Tyson Hiebert
3. 4C Chris Bouwman
4. 4 Bob Saindon
5. 10 Amber Balcaen
6. 18 Ryan Harms
7. 21 Brian Harris
8. 77X Mike Sapinski
9. 7 Brent Steg
10. 31K Eric Klassen
11. 51 Erich Frey
The next scheduled NLSA races will be on Thursday, June 16 at Red River Co-op Speedway and Sunday, June 19 at ALH Motor Speedway.
About the Northern Lightning Sprint Association:
Created in September of 2008, the Northern Lightning Sprint Association is a rapidly growing organization committed to the creation and maintenance of safe, fast, fun, and affordable open wheel racing. Many of the organization’s members are dedicated to helping charities such as the Children’s Hospital Foundation and Cancer Care of Manitoba. More information can be found at http://www.nlsprints.com
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