100 Thrilling Laps for Leaty
This past Friday was the first 100 lap event in quite some time at Spencer Speedway. The cars were parked on pit road in front of the fans so that they could see all the action. We started third in the heat race and quickly grabbed second at the drop of the green flag. The top four would be redraw positions so I knew I didn't need to get any more spots and only concentrated on not using my tires the rest of the  heat. We got the Wayne Regional Orthopaedics/Rochester Steel Treating car qualified in a redraw position for the feature with that 2nd place heat race effort.

My dad, Jan Leaty, was also in competition because of the special event. This marked the first time in a few years I actually got to race him on home turf. He re-drew the pole and I was able to redraw 4th. It didn't take long however for the two of us to take over the top two spots and pull away from the rest of the field.

After a lap 10 caution would group the field back up, I was able to get the jump on my father and take the lead. Over the first 55 or so laps we would trade the lead back and forth three or four times and hold down the top two spots. This was without a doubt one of the coolest moments I will ever experience in racing. I was also lucky enough to lead the halfway mark and pick up an extra $110 from the track officials. I really want to thank them for putting up that award as it means a lot to us drivers.

Unfortunately, my night took a turn for the worse later on in the evening when just after I lost the lead, racing contact from behind sent me spinning and backed into the frontstretch wall. This damaged the back of the car but did not slow us down. We were able to get the back of the car repaired and keep on trucking.

With about 15 to go, we had moved back up to the fourth spot and were going for third. I got under Patsy Catalano for the position going down the backstretch. I guess he didn't think I had position and again we made racing contact but I was sent to the back for him spinning. This was basically the end of our night as I was only able to make it back to the 8th position for the finish.

It was a wild race that had more action than I could possibly type and had the crowd on there feet. It was an enjoyable evening that I wish would have given us a better finish.

This week brings a much needed relief with only a 30 lap feature at Spencer Speedway on the schedule. Thanks to my sponsors and crew for giving me one fast ride and next week I will be sure to take full advantage of it. -Mike Leaty