Three-time street stock champion Eddie Ligue is moving up to the Mid-Ams at Grundy County Speedway.
Shockingly, he’s doing it with just a few weeks remaining while in serious contention for a fourth title.
Ligue isn’t mincing words about why he quit the street stocks a little earlier than planned.
Constant complaining by opposing competitors and crew members has run thin.
“I just got tired of … pretty much the drama, the crazy stuff,” Ligue said. “One week a guy says you’re cheating, and then this guy wants to protest your motor. It got to where it was just too much.
“I’m not there for all of that. I’m out there to have fun and win some races.”
Ligue went into Friday’s program third in the division points standings behind leader Scott Gardner and Randy Weese.
After last week’s program, Ligue sold his No. 72 car to newcomer Steve O’Rourke.
Ligue was at the track Friday night helping his brother Pat, who’s also a street stock competitor at the track.
“I’m hoping to have a Mid-Am car within a couple of weeks,” Ligue said. “I have a line on two of them right now. I’m just waiting for them to make their final decisions.
“Hopefully, we can get something soon and go out there and at least get a little bit of seat time.”
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Ligue won his first title in 2014 at Grundy. He repeated in 2019 as champion. When plans to move up to the Mid-Am class in 2020 fell through, Ligue returned in his street stock and won the division crown a third time.
Now, he’s ready for a new speed challenge.
“I don’t really know what to expect,” Ligue said. “Everybody keeps telling me, ‘Ed, you’re going to do fine.’ I think it’s myself that is kind of worried whether I’m going like it or not like it.
“But I’m thinking that the rush, the speed of it, is something I’ve wanted to do. I plan to enjoy it. That’s what I’m hoping for.”
About time: To put it in perspective, Steve Seligman did most of his late model winning with Ed Hoffman Sr. chasing him.
That was in the middle and late 1970s and into the 1980s.
Life has taken him in many different directions since then. But at age 66, the Aurora native can still wheel it around the track.
Seligman won Friday’s late model heat race with a commanding run. He took the lead from Jake Weinreich during late stages and held off Eddie Hoffman.
That would be Ed Sr.’s son.
“Yeah, that was fun,” Seligman said. “Eddie is a great driver. He understands these cars.”
Seligman has raced part time for the past several years. It has been a while since he’s been in victory lane.
“You aren’t kidding,” Seligman said. “It’s been … years. We don’t really understand this stuff, this bump-stop stuff. But we’re learning.
“We’ve been wanting to run full time, but I’ve been so busy business wise. I still love this. I’ve loved it all my life.”
Winner’s circle: Clay Curts will long remember his first super late model feature win.
It came Friday night with six-time champion Hoffman on his bumper. And one time, alongside of him.
Memorable.
“For sure,” Curts said. “I definitely have to thank Eddie Hoffman. He never moved me with any malicious intent or anything. It was some great racing.
“It feels really good. We’ve been working hard for this. It almost seems for as hard as we were working, we should have gotten one sooner. But we’ll take it.”
Hoffman had a gargantuan battle with Wes Griffith Jr. for second place before passing him with five laps remaining. He then set sail for Curts. Over the final few laps it was a dogfight.
“It looked like it was going to be all or nothing,” Hoffman said. “It wound up being all for him. The last thing we wanted to do was going around.
“He’ll remember this one. And he should.”
Blake Brown lengthened his lead in the Mid-Ams with a feature victory over Ron Vandermeir Jr. and David Einhaus.
Scotty Gardner was a runaway winner in the street stock feature over James Dean and Chad Bayuk.
Scott Koerner won in the Illini Midgets feature.