Dan Leeck Perseveres Through Chaos for Victory in Owosso 500 Opener

Dan Leeck won a chaos-filled opener for the Auto Value Owosso 500 Series for Outlaw Super Late Models on Saturday night.

Blake Childers appeared to have the Shiawassee Humane Society 100 in his grasp, leading in the closing laps of the feature. However, like many of his fellow competitors, Childers ran out of fuel in the closing laps.

With cars dropping off the track all around them, Leeck and Brian Bergakker battled side-by-side for the win. Leeck held off Bergakker for the win, using the inside line to his advantage in the fight to the finish.

Leeck started 13th in the feature, but survived all of the calamity surrounding him throughout the marathon race to put himself in a position for a win.

"That's why you never give up, right there," said Leeck in victory lane. "You never know what could happen. These guys worked their butt off. I couldn't give up on them, they've all worked too hard. We gave her everything we had.

"She was still tighter than frog hair, but we made her work."

Even the week leading up to the race had its share of adversity for Leeck. He discovered a carburetor issue while testing earlier in the week, but was able to get it resolved in time for the race thanks to the assistance of Bill Pink and Pink Carburetors.

"We come out here and practiced, I think it was Wednesday, and we had a carburetor problem. We called Bill [Pink], set him the carburetor, he got it back to us and it paid off, so gotta thank him as well."

The win was a bittersweet one for Leeck as well, with some family members unable to attend the race with him.

"My wife, man, this one's for her. She just had emergency surgery the other day and she's still up here, so it's a pretty awesome deal. My little brother just had a baby the other day, so they're not here. Kind of bittersweet, half my family's not here, but I'm sure they're watching."

Begakker finished second, followed by Justin Claucherty, Kyle Crump and Jason Felver.

The next race for the Auto Value Owosso 500 Series is the Third Annual Bob Finley Memorial on June 18. Blake Childers won the inaugural event in 2023, with Chad Finley winning one year ago.

-Photo credit: Koty Geyer, KG Media

Shiawassee Humane Society 100 Results