What won the race: Leading all 40 caution-free laps from the pole, Chad Finley of St. Johns, Mich., cruised to the $5,000 victory in Friday’s Ed Vanduinen Memorial Wood Tic prelim at Merritt Speedway. Finley finished 6.184 seconds ahead of fourth-starting Rusty Schlenk.

Quotable: Lapped traffic is "tough always here," Finley said in victory lane. "It was a good racetrack here at night, so you could pretty much run all over it, So all them lapped cars were doing that. So it made it a little difficult."

Key notes: Finley picked up his third victory of the season at Michigan oval. … In victory lane, Finley mentioned remembering Cody Bauer's team with the death of team owner Bob Wilson earlier Friday. The field paced in missing-man formation before the race with Bauer's car out front. ... Fourteen starters finished the feature that spanned 11 minutes. ... Friday’s 40-lap, $5,000-to-win feature at Merritt Speedway was a preliminary for Saturday’s 75-lap, $35,000-to-win 35th annual Ed Vanduinen Memorial Wood Tic. ... Thursday's $2,000 feature winner was Austin Harnick of Clare, Mich. He finished 20th in Friday's main event.

On the move: Dona Marcoullier of Houghton Lake, Mich., started 12th and finished fourth.

Winner's sponsors: Finley’s Rocket Chassis is sponsored by Northside Towing, JMG Matthew Smith, Auto Value, Hall Anodizing and Hardcoat, Bilstein and Air Lift.

Current weather: Clear, 63°F

Car count: 48

Fast qualifier: Ryan Unzicker

Time: 13.953 seconds

Polesitter: Chad Finley

Heat race winners: Rusty Schlenk, Jeep Van Wormer, Ryan Unzicker, Brandon Thirlby, Bry Johnson, Chad Finley

Consolation race winners: Travis Stemler, Mike Vandermark

Next series race: August 5, Merritt Speedway (Lake City, MI) $35,000