Off Week (ft. Me)

Episode 10 of the podcast is just me. Thank you to all of my supporters this entire season. It has been a blast so far. Tune in to hear what is going on with the Lightning Sprints, including a special guest who might be on soon.

Transcript

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From the fast lane to the pit lane, we got you covered for all things racing, where every lap is a chance to make history. With some of the talents you may know and some trying to make a name. This is Fourth and Rect. And I'm your host, Matthew Rieger. Yes, it is. Just like the intro said, my name is Matthew Rieger. We are here on a special episode. Well, actually, I wouldn't say very special. It's just me, uh, me today. Uh, this everything pre-Merit Speedway. We're going into a doubleheader weekend. And actually, as I'm recording this at the time, we're just going through the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints. They've already finished their qualifying and their heat races at Merit Speedway. Just gonna go through the top order of qualifying. Arlie Cooper Jr., Jacob Shabai, Justin Ward, Grayson Thompson, Chad Listerman goes top five, Dalton Pipgrass, Jerry Napier, Bill Dunham, Al Stanton, Jay Steinabach. We'll talk a little bit more of that in a second. We got Greg Burt, Jeff Miller, Nolan Blanchard, Bobby Miller, and Chad Kali. Now, walking into qualifying, you know, doubleheader weekend, and a lot of people have the mentality of let's just run pretty run mid-pack, you know, because you don't want to blow up day one and risk day two, and especially for a guy out front like Arlie Cooper Jr., he's the points leader as we stand. And I mean, Arlie wouldn't want to have a bad day one and then miss day two. But the good thing for a lot of the drivers is that we used to go to Merritt Speedway every single weekend uh with not the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints. They call it the Hiram Lightning Sprints, but we used to race here every almost every single Saturday uh with the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints. So for Arlie Cooper Jr., I mean, he's only an hour away. So if something does happen, he is so close to home that he might be able to work on it in the shop tomorrow before going to Merit Speed before going to race number two at uh Mount Pleasant. But it is a Thursday race. Last time we had a Thursday race with the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints was at the Ione County Fairgrounds. Last person to pick up victory lane was Dalton Pipgrass looking for redemption and looking to get back towards the front uh here in 2026. That's Dalton Pipgrass. And I mentioned Jay Steinbach. He raced with us back in 2023, races with us a championship race at Crystal Motor Speedway. Well, he got a full-time ride for the rest of the season racing with LCA Motorsports, and that puts LCA's car count up to four. So still a team that's still trying to work out the kinks and still trying to get all their cars up front. Jay Steinbach qualified 10th. Uh the rest of the LCA guys, Jacob Shabai second, Grayson Thompson fourth, Chad Lischerman again fifth. So good in qualifying for Jay Steinbach on his very first time out at Merritt Speedway. But it's gonna be nice to see how he adapts to a doubleheader weekend, see if he can do well on day one and then continue to do well on day two. So that's gonna be interesting to figure out. And another guy we wanted to talk about was Justin Ward. Justin, the last time uh we were at a doubleheader weekend, he's won at least one of the races. Back in 24. Yes, 24, uh he swept the doubleheader races. Uh, that was the time that Jacob Shabai broke at actually it was race one, was it Tri-City race two? Was it Merit Speedway? So Justin knows how to win at Merit Speedway, and he's, I don't know, ready to get uh get out front. And he's got two wins here at the track, both wins. He's actually won two uh of the last two races. So Justin looking for three in a row at Merit Speedway, looking to get back again to victory lane. He said he just needed one more caution out at I-96, but wasn't able to get it. So we're just jumping in and we're gonna see how he does. But as we go to results for heat race number one, uh back to the top, Justin Ward goes to the top of Heat number one, Chad Listerman second, Arlie Cooper Jr. third, then Jerry Napier, Al Stanton, Shad Kali, Nolan Blanchard, and Greg Burt. Now, unfortunately, I don't know what happened to these drivers. Looks as if uh Greg Burt went a lap down. Heat race number two in the boards uh was won by Jacob Shabbai. All LCA Motorsports teammates uh were in heat race number two, including Grayson Thompson and Jay Steinbach. But it goes Jacob Shabai winning heat race number two. That says uh second is back-to-back heat wins uh from I-96 now here to Merritt Speedway. And Jacob win last time he went to heat race victory lane, he pulled it up to victory lane at I-96, and he's looking to do much the same. Bill Dunham second, third, Grayson Thompson fourth, Dalton Pipgrass again, Jay Steinabach fifth, Jeff Miller and Bobby Miller. And it's good to see Jeff Miller finally getting his stride back, and again, another track close to home for Jeff Miller. And like I said, when I mentioned Thursday races, we don't really race on Thursday. Unfortunately, I'm unable to be there uh at this time, just with my whole new work schedule. Uh I really I was gonna make it up there like at 7:30. And I just I don't know. It wasn't gonna be a good weekend for me uh if I tried to make it up there. So we're gonna head out to Mount Pleasant Speedway. Hopefully, um we got good results there. But we're close to getting ready for the feature. Uh, the traditional Sprints Heat 2 is currently on the racetrack now, and I'm just looking at timing and scoring on Merit Speedway. So thankful Arley Cooper Jr. Again, we mentioned he went to the top of heat race number. Actually, no, he finished third. He went to the top of qualifying, and with him at the top of qualifying, that puts one of our sponsors at the top. It is the ARS Automotive. Have you ever had some random noise going on in your car? Or maybe your check engine lights on, or maybe your oil light has been going on for a long time, you just don't know what to do. Well, ARS Automotive is here to help. If you're looking for a new certified mechanic up in Northwest Michigan, then ARS Automotive is the place for you. He's got everything you need to diagnose your check engine light to maybe weld your muffler back together. I'm speaking from experience there. I've even used ARS Automotive. He helped me out when I was in a pinch. And I got a car that needs oil changes left and right. Guess who was there? ARS Automotive was there when I needed him most. If you're looking for your place, next place to go for your oil change, ARS Automotive is the place for you. So if you're looking to schedule a next appointment, just give Arlie Cooper Jr. and ARS Automotive a call at 231-357-2835, and he'd be happy to help you out. And first-time customers only, if you go to Arley Cooper Jr. and schedule an appointment with ARS Automotive and let him know the guy, the guy, that main man over at Fourth and Rec send you, he'll give you $25 off your first service with ARS Automotive. How he's gonna keep track, he's gonna have to figure that out. But that's for him to figure out. Not for me. That's again ARS Automotive. So glad to have him on board this year. Have you ever gone to the racetrack and you fell saw a paint scheme that you absolutely fell in love with and you just wanted it in die cast form, or you wanted a hat, you wanted a t-shirt, but you don't know where to look? Look no further. The DCR graphics. For all your graphic designs, from wraps to banners, stickers, die casts, hats, hoodies, shirts, and guess what? Even flags. Turn to DCR Graphics. Find DCR Graphics on Facebook or by calling 419308-9523. Again, that's 4193089523. I've used all my graphic designs from DCR Graphics. Uh DCR Graphics created my logo, and he's sponsored and helped out this podcast to continue to be what it is today. Oh man, we are getting ready for uh double header weekend. Like I said, drivers over at Merritt Speedway right now, Mount Pleasant tomorrow, and we're just looking for a great rest of the season. The Great Lakes Lightning Sprint schedule. Uh next week, we're off. Sorry, guys. We're off the weekend after that, the 17th, we go to Tri-City Motor Speedway. We were supposed to have another doubleheader weekend with the Ioni County Fairgrounds and Tri-City, but rumor has it Ione County Fairgrounds might be the week after. So if you're looking for an off week, next week is gonna be it. Week after that, it's gonna go back to Crystal Motor Speedway. That's one of my favorite tracks. So head up to Crystal Motor Speedway. Then we're gonna stay in Ohio. We're gonna have all those guys travel up from Michigan, come down to Ohio. We're gonna go to Millstream Speedway on August 14th, August 21st. You can catch us at Mount Pleasant Speedway. And guess what? At Merit Speedway. This time it's on a Saturday. We're gonna flip it instead of Thursday and Friday. It's gonna be a Friday and a Saturday date. Following in next weekend, we got Millstream Speedway again. Get your tickets today. If you go to MyRacePass app, you can claim your tickets or find Mailstream Speedway on Facebook. Find out how you can get your tickets for Millstream Speedway and get in while you can. And then finally, we'll wrap it up at our championship race at Crystal Motor Speedway. Last couple championships have been incredible to watch. That's a race you don't want to miss. So if you're a fan of the Great Lakes Lightning Springs, if you're looking somewhere to go on September 5th and you just don't know where to go, it's Labor Day weekend. We're up at Crystal, Michigan at Crystal Motor Speedway. We're gonna be crowned in a championship. We're gonna be talking to the champ the Victor in Victory Lane. We're gonna be doing this huge Victory Lane celebration. So just be out there. September 5th. I talked a lot about special guests on the podcast. One of them is currently in the works. A lot of people didn't really guess. So either we don't comment on the Facebook or we just have it leave our guesses in our heads. So if the guess is in your head and you want to just pull it out, just comment. First person to comment on my next post, I'll give them 10 bucks. First person to comment on my next post, I'll give them 10 bucks. But you didn't guess it. Uh we're gonna have a special guest on our podcast here coming up next week. Hopefully, like I said, in the works. Uh, good buddy Chad Kali has been helping me out with this. Um, Thomas Mezerall, if you know that name, T-Mez, T-Mez TV. You can look in Thomas Meserall. We're gonna get him uh on the podcast. So it's gonna be good uh to see hear his perspective, see how he grew up in racing, see insights with him, and kind of just figure out you know who Thomas Meserall is, because you know, I'm gonna be honest, a couple weeks ago, I didn't a couple weeks, a couple months ago, I didn't know who Thomas Meserall was. Then I met him at the racetrack, and he's one of the like stand-alone guys in the the pits. He was a great guy to talk to when I talked to him at I-96, and he's an all-around great guy. So, like I said, we are here gonna have him the podcast next week. Doubleheader weekend, we're still looking to get that wrapped up. Merit Speedway right now, and again, Mount Pleasant Speedway tomorrow. Are you wanting a race with the Great Lakes Lightning Sprints? Well, stop here and listen. I got the place for you to go. Look no further than JWR Speed Shop. JWR Speed Shop back on board in 2026 and wants to give you a car. Call him Oprah. He'll give you a car, he'll give you a car. He's got cars. If he doesn't got one, he'll find you one. Reach out to Justin at JWR at with JWR Speed Shop at 231 3830947 and talk to him about maybe any car problems you might have. A lot of people talk to Justin Ward and contact JWR Speed Shop for any help they might need. And let me tell you, JWR Speed Shop, it is a great place to be. I'm gonna be honest, that is great place, great place, great, great fella, great guy, standalone guy. He is amazing. Justin Ward. Again, reach out to Justin Ward again at 2313830947. We are again ready. I keep mentioning it. The doubleheader weekend. Yeah, I am excited for the doubleheader weekend. We're ready to get it. Um I'm ready to just get on the road. I'm ahead I'm headed up to Merritt Speedway right now, as we speak. I'm just kidding. I'm not. But wish we were. Um missing everybody at the track. Uh, you guys are like my best friends, so I appreciate everybody uh that's been sticking with me these past couple years and uh continues to support me and uh all that I do. So I really appreciate all the support and um yeah. And th speaking of support, we are so thankful to have Extreme Indoor Cart Racing and Entertainment Signer on board. They jumped on midway through the season. So if you want to be on this podcast, if you want to be sponsored, if you want to sponsor this podcast, we have some openings. We have openings, whether however you want to sponsor it. We have openings. Extreme indoor cart racing and entertainment center is a place to be. They got games, they got private rooms, they got a lot of great food, and they got a quarter mile road course that we can go racing at, which could be housing our banquet next year in the works, in the works. Probably get in trouble for saying that, but we got something in the works. You guys probably already heard the rumor, but we are excited to have Extreme Indoor Cart Racing Entertainment Center on board here for 2026. We're so thankful for their their support, and we're so thankful for all the support of all my sponsors. Like I said, just want to give a huge shout out to everybody. Um, we got Merit Speed right now. Hopefully, we're gonna figure out who the victor is soon. Unfortunately, yeah, this podcast will not be long enough to figure out who will be the victor. Uh, let's see where we're at currently. Nope, okay. We're still post heat two with the non-wings, but we'll figure out who's gonna win and we'll figure out who is going to be on the podcast next. Thank you guys for tuning in. It's a short little episode. Hopefully, it'll brighten you up your day. And for those of you asking, yes, I really did this.