33rd Annual Spring Sizzler Recap
Spring Sizzler tradition came full circle as Jerry Marquis, driving the car formerly owned by Len Boeher, won the 33rd annual edition of the Spring Sizzler. Boehler won the inaugural Spring Sizzler with Fred DeSarro behind the wheel in 1972.
Marquis won the 33rd annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler after having to use a provisional and start the race from the 29th position. Marquis’ starting position marked the deepest a Tech-Net Spring Sizzler winner has started in the race’s 33-year history.
Ed Flemke, Jr. led the first 10-laps from the pole before Chuck Hossfeld took over on lap-11. Hossfeld would lead the race up to lap-117, when he pitted for tires. Hossfeld passed up an earlier opportunity to pit on lap-81 when all the lead lap cars decided to pit under a caution flag. Hossfeld’s pit stop put Marquis in front, and he stayed out front for the final 83-laps of the race.
The race came down to a 19-lap sprint to the finish with Marquis, Tony Hirschman, and Flemke locked in a nose to tail three-car battle for the win. The final 10-laps saw Hirschman get alongside Marquis nearly every lap with Flemke waiting to take advantage of a mistake, but Marquis held off Hirschman by .31 seconds at the checkered flag.
Rounding out the top-5 behind Marquis, Hirschman, and Flemke were Todd Szegedy and Tom Bolles. Todd Szegedy set fast time in Bud Pole Qualifying with a time of 18.224 seconds at an average speed of 98.771 mph.
