Turnbull Racing Grabs Top Tens in MTS @ Owosso
By: Dave DeHem
June 20, 2015 saw the first ever race on pavement for the Michigan Traditional Sprints racing series at the historic Owosso Speedway in Ovid, Michigan. While the series is primarily a dirt racing group, there are four races on the pavement this season with the next race on pavement being at the Onaway Speedway in Northern Michigan on July 4th, with races at Auto City Speedway on August 1, and the Berlin Speedway on September 12.
Turnbull racing runs a two car team with John “The Bulldog” Turnbull Jr. in the #12 car and Mike Stutsman in the #21 car. The team is taking part in the asphalt portion of the MTS series as well as the Sprint division at The Spartan Speedway in Lansing which features the traditional “Non Wing” Sprint Cars and will be making other starts along with the AVSS Sprint Cars as well as Must See Racing’s shows that feature the “Winged” type of Sprint car.
Turnbull, who hails from Howell, Michigan, is presently competing in his third full season of Sprint Car racing after moving into the division from a phenomenal career in Legends Cars, Super Late Models, ASA and Super Pro Late Models as well as an early career in Quarter Midgets.
Stutsman is in his first year of Sprint car competition after a career in Super Late Models, ASA and Super Pro Late Models, Limited late Models, Street Stocks, and Go-Karts as well as flagging at the South Bend Motor Speedway. It was always Mike’s dream to wheel a fire breathing monster of a sprint car and thanks to the Turnbull family he is now getting that chance. Mike and Norma call Edwardsburg, Michigan their home.
Both cars share sponsorship from Marketing Associates, Little Diablo Salsa, Wix Filters, Techworks Trailer Sales, Team Spirit Trailers, Kercher Engines, and Micro Armor Lubricants with the team and cars based out of the John Turnbull Sr. shops in Howell, Michigan.
After four practice sessions and a lot of tweaking and adjusting Turnbull nailed down the fifth spot in qualifying while Stutsman grabbed the 9th spot. Unfortunately for Stutsman the invert for the night was 8 which meant that He would end up starting the feature race right behind the invert.
Turnbull was able to finish third in his heat race after starting up front and being challenged heavily by Jimmy McCune and the veteran Jeff Bloom. Stutsman ran a smart race in his heat race with a number five finish in his first ever race at the Owosso Speedway.
After some in between preparation in the pits it was time for the feature race of the night which was slowed one time for caution due to a one car spin. Turnbull Jr would start outside pole while Stutsman would roll off in the ninth spot. Turnbull started out strong and ran in the top three for most of the race with some excellent moves in some tight traffic but with an ill handling mount in the last 10 laps of the race was relegated to the fifth finishing spot while Stutsman stayed right where he started, driving a steady and clean race in traffic and lapped cars finishing up with a tenth place finish giving the team a top five and a top ten finish in the nights feature event.
Next up for the team is a trip to the lightning fast Toledo Speedway located just off of I-75 and Alexis Rd. in Toledo Ohio on June 26, 2015 for the “King of the Wing” series.
For more information on John Turnbull Jr. and Mike Stutsman go to the team’s official website at www.johnturnbulljr12.com and “We’ll See You at the Races”.
Week of September 15, 2014
Week of September 15, 2014
Hello Everybody,
Very soon we will have a Blog that recaps the highlights of the 2014 Sprint Car Season for Turnbull Racing.
For the 2015 Sprint Car Racing Season, Turnbull Racing is excited to announce that veteran Late Model Stock Car Driver Mike Stutsman has joined our team to race in select winged and non-winged Sprint Car races.
Mike will pilot a Hurricane Sprint Car sporting the Number 21.
Techworks Trailer Sales in Elkhart, In, and Team Spirit Trailers of Elkhart, In, will be the primary Marketing Partners for the #21 Sprint Car.
We will have more details and Mike's bio on this site in the very near future.
Stay tuned
Turnbull Racing
Week of June 9, 2014
Hello everyone,
Saturday was a race I have been looking forward to running all winter long and the weather could have not been more perfect!! Auto City Speedway is a familiar track to Turnbull Racing as we have numerous victories in Late Model Stock Cars, Legends Cars and Modifieds there.
Practice started in the early afternoon and Crew Chef John Boy Hotchkiss and Car Chief Scott Hall went to work to find speed and make the car more comfortable for me to drive. During qualifying the car was a better but still needed a little more fine tuning and that's what my crew did!! John Boy and Scott did not stop working all night long and every time they made an adjustment the car just got better!!
During the heat race I jumped out to an early lead and won my first heat race in the Must See Sprint car Series!! During the intermission all the Sprint Cars pulled out on the front stretch for an autograph session. It was nice to have a lot of the Auto City Speedway Fans come up to me and share some of their favorite racing stories about me. The excitement they shared having me as their new favorite sprint car driver to route for was really cool!! Finally what we had been working really hard for all day was here,the 50 Lap Must See Sprint Car Feature was ready to roll off.
Now I have to tell you I have been racing cars for the last 26 years and there is no experience like starting a Must See Sprint Car race with a full field of the best Sprint Car drivers in the county with 900 horse power connected to your right foot!!! At the drop of the green I was able to gain a few positions and and really got to learn what it felt like driving in dirty air racing winged sprint cars. There were a few cautions throughout the night and one lengthy red flag due to another team breaking their rear end and dumping fluid across the track. After the restart we made our way into the top five but with nine laps to go, our #12 Marketing Associates/Little Diablo Salsa Sprint Car started running out of fuel. With our engine starved for fuel it started to delvelope an intermittent miss, but I was able to limp the car home to a 9th place finish!!
We gained valuable information as a team over the weekend and are very excited to be at Owosso Speedway on June 21. A big thank you goes out to our whole team John Boy Hotchkiss, Scott Hall, John Turnbull Sr and out honorary crew member this weekend and great friend Greg Whitney who came out to spend the day with us. Also congratulations goes out to Jimmy McCune and the whole McCune team on their victory at AutoCity Speedway!!
We are very fortunate to have amazing Marketing Partnes who give us the big support every weekend. Marketing Associates, Little Diablo Salsa, Techworks Trailers, Wix filters, Simpson Race Products, Bailey Racing Engines, Micro Armour, and JB Racing!! Without them none of this would be possible. We will be off this weekend and I hope all you fathers have an amazing Father's Day!! Please make sure you check out our schedule and I look forward to seeing all of you at the races!!
John Turnbull Jr
Week of June 2nd
As many of you know we lost our Best Friend in the world Gus on May 13, 2014. The Turnbull Family cannot thank all of you enough for your kind words and sentiments during this very rough time. The loss of Gus is greater than I could have ever imagined. With a heavy heart the team traveled to Spartan Speedway last night for our third Sprint Car race of the Season. During Practice Crew Chief John Boy Hotchkiss wanted to try some different things on the #12 Marketing Associates/Little Diablo Salsa Sprint Car including speed runs on previously raced tires.
Next up was qualifying and the combination of very used tires and getting caught in traffic did not produce a qualifying run that we were pleased with. Went back to the pits and JB made some more adjustments to get us ready for the heat race. As we rolled off for our Heat Race and the green flag dropped I was able to get an early lead and take the win. After the Heat race John Boy and I were still not satisfied with a couple of things our #12 Sprint Car was doing so John Boy made another change.
Finally it was feature time and again I was able to get an early lead and with John Boys changes we lead all 30 Laps to take our second win for 2014. Win or Loose, for most of the last 12 years Gus had been at the track with me and although bittersweet this win is dedicated to Gus. Until we meet again, rest in peace Buddy.
John Turnbull Jr.
Week of May 5th
Hello everyone and Happy Cinco de Mayo!!
Last weekend kicked off the start of our 2014 race season and the first stop was at Spartan Speedway. Unfortunatily the weather was not on our side and we were only able to make one hot lap session before Mother Nature dumped rain on us.
Since there is a Hooters just down the street from Spartan Speedway we decided to have a team dinner to finish up our night and tell some racing stories since that would be all the racing we would accomplish that night!!
Saturday morning was the same as Friday night with heavy rain but the weatherman (my Iphone) assured blue skies and great racing weather!! Sure enough the skies opened up and the sun shinned down on the fast and racy 3/8 mile Angola Speedway!!
We were first up for practice and right away our Marketing Associates/Little Diablo Sprint car showed signs of Speed!! When qualifying was up we ended up 6th fast and were a little off on our set-up but went right to work to get ready for the heat race, and make the proper changes to find the speed the car needed.
I started dead last in our heat race and quickly made my way to the front and at the checkered flag I finished 2nd by a nose!! With the temperature dropping as the sun went down Crew Chief John Boy Hotchkiss went to work to make the necessary changes to the car to keep her fast for the feature!
Finally what we had worked hard all winter for was here, It was A-Main race time!!! With the inversion we were starting the race on the outside pole, After three attempts to start the race, the fourth time was the charm and with a great start I was able to lead the pack down into turn one and never looked back!
After the 30 laps A-Main Event the Marketing Associates/Little Diablo Salsa #12 Sprinter was parked on the front stretch in Victory Lane.
The Top Speed Wingless Sprint Car Series Officials awarded me the Winners Trophy and Crew Chief John Boy joined me for pictures in victory lane!!
Thanks go to the crew at Angola Motor Speedway and the Top Speed organizations for making us feel welcomed.
Our next stop will be at Spartan Speedway on May 16th and if you are in the area stop on out and help root our sprint car team on to victory lane!!!
John Turnbull Jr
