Current ARCA President Ron Drager bought Toledo Speedway in January 1999 and he and Detroit-area businessman Roy Mott teamed up to bring back the Glass City 200, an event that was started over 30 years previous by Drager’s grandfather John Marcum. The event was designated as an Outlaw Super Late Model race, which would be then-tied with the prestigious Kalamazoo Klash as the longest race by lap count and longest by overall distance (100 miles) for the discipline.
A stout field of 56 cars made the trek to Toledo for the return of the Glass City 200 in 1999. Tim Felver picked up the win in the famed Dean Hudson and Larry Zent No.5. He nearly won it again in 2000 until he and teammate Junior Hanley tangled with less than ten laps to go, handing the lead and win over to the previous year’s runner-up Tim Ice.
The 2001 Glass City 200 saw a newly-paved track and track records fall during qualifying. Fresh off the 2000 disappointment, Hanley returned to Toledo and set fast time in qualifying, led 159 laps, and won the race over Dennis Berry and Johnny Belott III.
Steve Sauve would make history by becoming the only driver to win three consecutive Glass City 200’s. He started out leading 104 laps and beating Scott Hantz in the 2002 edition, then matching his performance in 2003 with another 104 laps led and a win over Tim Felver. In 2004, he took the lead with 65 to go and held on the rest of the way, taking his third straight win and tying Bob Senneker for most Glass City 200 wins all-time.
The 2005 race would be rain-shortened, with the race being called at the lap 101 break. John Doering Jr. held off a furious charge by Harold Far Jr. to the break, which would ultimately decide the race. Fair and Scott Hantz would round out the podium.
Rain would once again play a factor in the 2006 Glass City 200, but the biggest story would come in the form of a dropkick. After Michael Simko and Don St.Denis tangled to bring out a yellow, Simko showed his displeasure by sending a flying dropkick through St.Denis’s windsheld, an incident that went viral around the world. The two drivers then tangled on the track and were kicked out of the racetrack. Meanwhile, Jack Landis took the lead with 32 to go and won the race over Mike Luberda Jr.
The 2007 race featured just a little bit less drama, as Brian Campbell led the final 76 laps to take the win over Sauve and Brent Jack. He nearly went back-to-back in 2008 but had to settle for second. Harold Fair Jr. would take his first of two Glass City 200 wins.
Eastern Michigan legend and former Iceman Super Car Series champion Dave Kuhlman threw the monkey off his back and earned his first long-awaited Glass City 200 victory in 2009, taking the lead from Scott Hantz with 24 to go and beating local favorite Ron Allen to the checkered flag. Fair would return in 2010 and get his second win in three years in dominating fashion, leading 159 laps in the process.
The 2011 Glass City 200 would bring perhaps the most shocking performance in this era of the event. Alabama native and two-time Snowball Derby winner Augie Grill would jump into a car owned by Canadian Jerry Artuso and proceeded to spank the field, leading 175 of 200 laps to take the trophy back south. He briefly lost the lead to Johnny VanDoorn in the second half of the race, but his motor would expire ten laps later and Grill was untouchable the rest of the race.
Steve Needles dominated the Glass City 200 in 2012, but his engine expired with four laps to go while leading. Misfortune would be a frequent visitor for Needles in the race until his win in 2020. The ultimate beneficiary would be Terry Senneker, who inherited the lead and went on to win the race.
It appeared late in the 2013 Glass City 200 that it would come down to Senneker and Scott Hantz, but the two would tangle late and both drivers were sent to the tail. The lead would then go to local driver Dennis Strickland, who would go on to score the upset win in front of the hometown fans. Hantz and Senenker drove back through the field to round out the podium.
JR Roahrig passed Jeff Ganus with two to go until the halfway break in the 2014 Glass City 200, which would prove to be the race-winning pass. The rain came during the halfway break and it didn’t go away, giving Roahrig the win over the Michigan driver. It would be the closest Ganus would get to winning the event.
The 2015 race saw one of the biggest upsets in all of Outlaw Super Late Model racing. The race was slowed by 17 yellows and eight red flags, with only seven cars making it to the finish. Texas driver Brad Reithmeyer found himself in the lead with 15 to go and went on to win the biggest race of his career over Dakota Carlson and Johnny Belott III in a four-hour affair.
The final 200-lap Outlaw Super Late Model Glass City 200 also saw the most dominating performance of the era. Just two years after father JR won the race, Tyler Roahrig took the lead on lap eight and led the final 192 laps for his first Glass City win, becoming the father-son duo to win the race. To make it even sweeter for the Roahrig family, it was a 1-2 finish for the pair with the elder Roahrig finishing second.
The 2017 event would see the Glass City 200 be split into a 100-lap Outlaw Super Late Model race and a 100-lap ASA/CRA Super Series race. We’ll take a look at that in the final part of this series.
The ASA STARS National Tour heads to Toledo Speedway on Saturday, September 16 for the Glass City 200 Presented by DTS Drive Train Specialists and Courtyard by Marriott. Tickets are on sale now at toledospeedway.com/glasscity200tickets.
The Glass City 200 will be co-sanctioned with the ASA/CRA Super Series, the fifth race of the CRA season. Gio Ruggiero leads the ASA/CRA Super Series points standings over Logan Bearden.
The ASA STARS National Tour opened the ten race, six-state schedule at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, FL on March 11. Ty Majeski is the most recent winner, claiming the victory in the Gandrud Auto Group 250 on Tuesday, August 1.
For the full ASA STARS National Tour schedule, plus Super Late Model rules and other information, please visit the series website at starsnationaltour.com, or be sure to follow the series on social media (Facebook: STARS National Series | Twitter: @racewithstars | IG: @starsnational).
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