Archive for Short Track
NEWS FROM NASCAR SANCTIONED GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY, BECHTELSVILLE, PA
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Grandview Speedway
Track promoter: Bruce Rogers @ 610.754.7688
MEDIA CONTACT: Ernie Saxton@215.752.7797
Cell:267.934.7286
Email:Esaxton144@aol.com
RACE RESULT STORY BY VICKI GEHRIS WITH ADDITIONS BY ERNIE SAXTON
KEVIN HIRTHLER AND RANDY STOUDT BECOME THREE TIME NASCAR FEATURE WINNERS ON INGERSOLL RAND NIGHT, BRAD ARNOLD GETS HIS FIRST CAREER VICTORY AT GRANDVIEW
BECHTELSVILLE, PA JULY 12, 2015 . . . For the third time this season veteran racer Kevin Hirthler was able to wheel the Pioneer Pole Buildings/ Green Lane Wm.Penn/4 Star Lettering No.117 to victory in the 30-lap Ingersoll Rand Night feature for T.P. Trailers NASCAR 358 Modifieds at Grandview Speedway on Saturday night. Defending BRC Late Model champion Randy Stoudt drove to his third win of the season in the 25-lap main event for the BRC Late Models wheeling the J&H Automotive No. 10. Young Brad Arnold drove the family owned WEEU sponsored entry to his first career win in the 25-lap Sportsman feature. All of the racing action was videotaped for later showing on RCN4 cable television.
All feature winners received monetary awards from T.P. Trailers and an Ingersoll-Rand Tool Kit valued at $600 plus if they were running VP Gas and met the necessary requirements were awarded product awards.
On Saturday, July 18th Hatfield Quality Meats, a long time sponsor of racing at Grandview, will have their mascot on hand to shoot t-shirts and Hatfield hot dogs into the stands. Early arrivers will be able to sample the new Hatfield “Dry Rub” tenderloin and fillet. Mascot “Smiley” will be on hand to say hello to fans and pose with feature winners during the evening.
The Hatfield Meats sponsored night will include T.P.Trailers NASCAR 358 Modifieds, BRC Late Models and Sportsman stock cars along with the popular Blast from the Past Vintage racers with racing starting at 7:30 p.m.
Hirthler is still running his car from last year since he’s not quite satisfied with the new car after hitting the wall earlier in the season. Upset with his second-place finish last week to Craig VonDohren in the 30-lap T.P. Trailers NASCAR Whelen Modified feature he was determined to do better this week.
By the fourth lap of the feature Hirthler advanced into second from his seventh-place starting grid and put on a torrid side-by-side battle with polesitter Ryan Kunkle for first.
The lead was swapped on the seventh lap as Hirthler was in front of the pack. The real action for positions behind him was hot and heavy between Kunkle, Danny Erb, Bobby Gunther Walsh and Ryan Grim
It didn’t take long for Hirthler to outdistance himself leaving Kunkle, Erb and now Duane Howard in a three-way battle for second. Back further it was bumper to bumper for positions between Tim Buckwalter, VonDohren, Gunther Walsh and Grim with everyone determined to advance.
Hirthler, bidding for his third win of the year, approached lap traffic by the 21st lap and with his fellow competitors’ nose to tail that gave him more leeway. He approaching the back runners heeding the move over flag and as he realized they were racing for positions as well.
Once Hirthler was in command there was no looking back because no cautions were needed to regroup the field to give him a run for the money. At the drop of the checkered Hirthler once again credited fellow driver Rick Laubach for his help. Chasing him across the line for his best finish since returning to action full time was Erb trailed by Howard, VonDohren and Kunkle, who posted his best finish ever. Tim Buckwalter, Jeff Strunk, Gunther Walsh, Grim and Kyle Weiss completed the top ten.
Hirthler, J. Strunk and John Willman won the heats. The consi was won by Ray Swinehart.
In the BRC NASCAR 25-lap Late Model feature Stoudt, shut out last week, won his third feature of the year. Even though he started on the pole and led from start to finish there were some tense moments in the later stages when he experienced brake issues, but still managed to hold off runner-up Chuck Schutz.
Stoudt motored the J&H Automotive No. 10 out quickly leaving Lou Egrie Jr., Cory Merkel, Kory Fleming and Kyle Merkel behind.
C. Merkel, while running fourth, stopped along the backstretch out of contention for the seventh lap caution. Stoudt maintained first, but he had to fend off Egrie Jr.’s challenges as the pair raced side-by-side for several laps.
Egrie Jr.’s fine run ended on the 12th lap when he spun in turn two. Stoudt continued his pace, but now pressure came from Fleming, Schutz and S. Merkel as they were embraced by their own race for second which gave Stoudt some space.
No one was able to catch Stoudt, the defending point champion that came out of retirement, and he went on to chalk up his 66th career win. Finishing second was current point leader Schutz followed by S. Merkel, Fleming and Dave Ogin. Sixth through tenth were Joe Fanelli, Dan Green, Wayne Pfeil, Bill Henning and Steve Wilson.
Heats were won by C. Merkel and Stoudt.
The NASCAR 25-lap Sportsman feature saw Brad Arnold, who switched to the division after running Modifieds last year, motor the WEEU 830 Radio entry to the outside of leader Mike Lisowski, who he dueled with fiercely for numerous laps and regained the lead on the white flag lap. Arnold was close on numerous occasion to scoring his first career win, but this time he was successful and hung on for the triumph.
Mark Kemmerer led for three laps until Lisowski overtook the lead.
With Lisowski now ahead Kemmerer, Ryan Beltz, Arnold and Dean Bachman vied for the remaining positions.
Arnold put himself in a challenging spot on the 12th lap and put his bids in for first.
Ken Eckert Jr. stopped in the fourth turn to bring out the yellow on lap 14. On this restart Arnold moved ahead with Lisowski giving him no room to slip-up since he wanted the lead back.
The yellow was thrown for Paul Effrig’s fourth turn spin on the 19th lap. After three attempts to get the next lap completed, Lisowski was back in the lead. That didn’t deter Arnold as he stuck with the high groove trying to regain first. Behind the duo, Kenny Gilmore, Craig Whitmoyer and Brett Kressley awaited a false move.
With one to go Arnold tried to pass Lisowski again and this time it worked and he was on top.
Arnold never surrendered the lead and went on for a well-deserved win. Lisowski hung on for second followed by K. Gilmore, Whitmoyer and Brett Kressley. Rounding out the top ten were Ryan Lilick, Brian Hirthler, Brett Gilmore, Beltz and Brian Kressley.
Beltz, Kyle Lilick and K. Gilmore won the heats. Jason Neidlinger won the consi.
RESULTS
Ingersoll-Rand T.P. Modified Feature Finish (30 Laps): 1. Kevin Hirthler, 2. Danny Erb, 3. Duane Howard, 4. Craig VonDohren, 5. Ryan Kunkle, 6. Tim Buckwalter, 7. Jeff Strunk, 8. Bobby Gunther Walsh, 9. Ryan Grim, 10. Kyle Weiss, 11. Frank Cozze, 12. Doug Manmiller, 13. Ray Swinehart, 14. John Willman, 15. Don Norris Jr., 16. Glenn Strunk, 17. Eric Biehn, 18. Mike Bailey, DNF: 19. Todd Smith, 20. Brian Houseknecht, 21. Mike Laise, 22. Jarrad Miller, 23. Glenn Owens, 24. Ron Seltmann Jr., 25. Kyle Borror, 26. Mike Gular, 27. Mike Kellner, 28. Jared Umbenhauer. DNQ: Mark Kratz, Meme DeSantis, Ron Haring Jr. and Chris Gambler.
Ingersoll-Rand BRC Late Model Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Randy Stoudt, 2. Chuck Schutz, 3. Sean Merkel, 4. Kory Fleming, 5. Dave Ogin, 6. Joe Fanelli, 7. Dan Green, 8. Wayne Pfeil, 9. Bill Henning, 10. Steve Wilson, 11. Dirk Rimrott, 12. Lou Egrie Jr., DNF: 13. Kyle Merkel, 14. George Irwin, 15. Cory Merkel, 16. Shawn Horning, 17. Steve Batdorf, 18. Rick Todorow.
Ingersoll-Rand NASCAR Sportsman Feature Finish (25 Laps): 1. Brad Arnold, 2. Mike Lisowski, 3. Kenny Gilmore, 4. Craig Whitmoyer, 5. Brett Kressley, 6. Ryan Lilick, 7. Brian Hirthler, 8. Brett Gilmore, 9. Ryan Beltz, 10. Brian Kressley, 11. Paul Kline, 12. Jim Housworth, 13. Jordan Henn, 14. Corey Sechrist, 15. Erik Renninger, 16. Kyle Lilick, 17. Ken Eckert Jr., 18. Ryan Shupp, 19. Mark Kemmerer, 20. Jason Neidlinger, 21. Mike Koffel, 22. Nathan Mohr, DNF: 23. Dean Bachman, 24. Paul Effrig. DNQ: Lex Shive, Pat Conrad.
Fans are reminded to continue to participate in the Ingersoll Rand Testing Contest. From 11 a.m. each Saturday to 11 p.m. on Sunday fans are invited to text IRToolsGRV to 313131 to chance to win an IR prize pack.
Grandview Speedway, a one-third-mile, banked clay track, is located on Passmore Road just off Route 100 in Bechtelsville, PA, 10 miles north of Pottstown. A full assortment of great concessions and novelty items are available. Free parking on the grounds. Fans are invited to the competition area after the events are completed to meet the racers. For information telephone 610.754.7688 or check in at www.grandviewspeedway.com, Twitter@GrandviewSpeedway and www.facebook.com/grandviewspeedway along with Rainedout.com(for rainout information).
COMING EVENTS:
Saturday, July 18, 7:30 p.m. Hatfield Quality Meats Night featuring T.P.Trailers NASCAR 358 Modifieds, BRC Late Models and Sportsman stock cars along with the Blast from the Past Vintage Racers.
Sunday, July 19, 1:00 p.m. Outlaw Enduro Racing and Blast From the Past Vintage Racing.
Saturday, July 25, 7:30 p.m. Atlas Paving Night featuring the T.P.Trailers NASCAR 358 Modifieds, BRC Late Models and Sportsman stock cars.
Tuesday, July 28, 7:30 p.m. NAPA Thunder on the Hill Series featuring 410 Sprints and NASCAR T.P.Trailers 358 Modifieds (NASCAR points are awarded). Rain date July 30th 7:30 p.m.
Each Saturday night has spectator gates opening at 5:30 p.m. with a Low Down and Dirty Meet & Greet that allows fans to meet drivers and get up close look at race cars.
ERNIE SAXTON COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Public Relations, Sponsorship Consultant
Journalist - Announcer - Publisher
www.saxtonsponsormarket.com
215.752.7797 & 267.934.7286
Esaxton144@aol.com
USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car News – July 11, 2015
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The United States Auto Club.
Gas City, Indiana.......AMSOIL National Sprint Car point leader Chase Stockon started off "Indiana Sprint Week" in style, as he notched his first victory of the season at Gas City I-69 Speedway on Friday night. The Elizabethtown, Indiana conquered a challenging surface for the fifth win of his career aboard the Superior Tank & Trailer - Crescent Electric Supply #32 DRC/Fisher.
"It's huge for us to come in here and win this. We've been really strong, especially lately, and things are going our way. I knew Jerry was committed to the top, and I just wanted to keep with him and wait until it slowed down a little up there. I knew it was go time before we got to traffic, and I found a line that worked for me to get by him. It was constantly changing with slick spots and rough spots, so it was important to be able to see to get in the right spot," Stockon said.
Most recent National Sprint Car winner Jerry Coons, Jr. led from the front row, as Stockon quickly sliced by Scotty Weir for the second spot. Coons and Stockon pulled away from the field as Weir raced with Hunter Schuerenberg, Robert Ballou, and Kevin Thomas, Jr. for top-five spots.
The lead duo raced hard for the top spot, as Coons used the outside lane while Stockon tried to move through the middle. On lap eight, Stockon held the lead by inches at the line but Coons took it back on lap nine. They continued to battle as they neared lapped traffic, with Stockon again nosing past for the lead on lap thirteen. Just a lap later, Tyler Courtney spun in turn-two to bring out the only caution of the race.
After the restart, Coons would not let Stockon get away, as he again reeled him in and looked for the lead with less than ten to go. Coons caught a rut, however, and lost a bunch of ground to Stockon, falling into the clutches of Schuerenberg in the closing laps while Stockon pulled away.
As Coons again caught a hole in turn-four, Schuerenberg slipped past just as they came to the white flag, with the Sikeston, Missouri driver taking the runner-up spot in the Epperson Painting - PPG #2E Spike/Claxton.
"It was difficult out there tonight, and I'm pretty happy here for still getting used to the non-wing car. We kept the car pretty basic tonight and just tried to get used to driving again. You had to try to make the least amount of mistakes possible, because it was a handful for everybody out there. Tony Epperson and Gary Ooley are great to drive for, and they really deserve to win every race for as much fun as they make it. I didn't expect to set the world on fire out of the box, but he doesn't put on much pressure, and it's fun to be around guys like that," Schuerenberg said.
Coons held on for the third spot in the Edison Motorsports - Crume Evans Insurance #10E Spike/Chevy, as the Kokomo-based team brought out an older car after a crash on Sunday destroyed their winning mount from Lincoln Park on July 4th.
"I'm kinda upset with giving that spot away coming for the white. The holes kept changing and a line that was smooth for a while would turn into something that would bounce you. I was searching and found a bad spot. We ran three nights last weekend and these guys had to build a new car to race this week, and I appreciate all that hard work from them. I'm happy to get them a solid finish for as hard as they work. We had a good battle with Chase, and I got pretty racy with him even after he got by us for a couple laps, but he got away from us. Glad to see him win," Coons said.
Ballou made his way to fourth at the checkers in the Blakesley Auto - Twister X #12 Maxim/Ott, and Thomas rounded out the top-five in the Bakken Concrete - Indiana Underground Construction #17RW Maxim/Fisher.
Chad Boespflug set the night's ProSource "Fast Time Award" before finishing 14th in the Feature. Brady Bacon earned the B&W Auto Mart "Hard Charger Award" after going from 19th to finish ninth. Logan Jarrett received the American Racing Ministries "Perseverance Award" as the final transfer out of the night's Semi-Feature.
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AMSOIL USAC SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 10, 2015 - Gas City, Indiana - Gas City I-69 Speedway - 28th Annual "Indiana Sprint Week"
QUALIFYING: 1. Chad Boespflug 66, Amati-12.161; 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 17RW, Dutcher-12.323; 3. Hunter Schuerenberg, 2E, Epperson-12.340; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32/TBI-12.355; 5. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-12.397; 6. Dave Darland, 71P, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-12.402; 7. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-12.418; 8. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-12.462; 9. Kody Swanson, 41, SST-12.512; 10. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-12.512; 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 10E, Edison-12.515; 12. Scotty Weir, 11, Walker-12.521; 13. Tracy Hines, 4, THR-12.541; 14. Tyler Courtney, 23E, Eberhardt-12.544; 15. C.J. Leary, 5, Baldwin-12.562; 16. Casey Shuman, 2X, Barnhill-12.578; 17. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-12.586; 18. Thomas Meseraull, 18X, Keen-12.657; 19. Justin Grant, 40, Hery-12.664; 20. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-12.667; 21. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-12.669; 22. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-12.693; 23. Lee Dakus, 75, Dakus-12.707; 24. Chris Windom, 21X, Pollock-12.712; 25. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-12.733; 26. Josh Spencer, 66J, Spencer-12.780; 27. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-12.826; 28. Stuart Hanft, 69H, Hanft-12.847; 29. Nathan Moore, 48, Moore-12.882; 30. Max McGhee, 17, McGhee-12.917; 31. Chris Gurley, 12G, Team Automotive-12.934; 32. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-12.991; 33. Travis Welpott, 18T, Welpott-13.061; 34. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Byram-13.133; 35. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-13.158; 36. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-13.214; 37. Tony DiMattia, 50, DiMattia-13.345; 38. Mike Gass, 17G, Gass-13.361; 39. Cole Ketcham, 41K, Ketcham-13.389; 40. Jamie Frederickson, 3W, Sweat-13.671; 41. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, Hewitt-13.778; 42. Travis Hery, 21H, Hery-14.225; 43. Tom Harris, 5E, East-14.382; 44. Colten Cottle, 42E, Jackson-14.497; 45. Dallas Hewitt, 16, Pearson-NT.46. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-NT (Time of 14.251 disallowed).
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Boespflug, 3. Robbins, 4. T.Hines, 5. Ballou, 6. Hodges, 7. K.Swanson, 8. DiMattia, 9. Welpott, 10. Moore, 11. T.Hewitt. 2:01.65
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Meseraull, 2. Short, 3. Courtney, 4. Farney, 5. McGhee, 6. Thomas, 7. Darland, 8. Cummins, 9. Spencer, 10. Hery, 11. Bell, 12. Gass. NT
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Grant, 2. Schuerenberg, 3. Coons, 4. Leary, 5. Jarrett, 6. Ketcham, 7. Gurley, 8. J.Swanson, 9. Harris, 10. Andretti, 11. Dakus. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Stockon, 3. Weir, 4. Windom, 5. S.Cottle, 6. Simon, 7. Shuman, 8. Frederickson, 9. Goodnight, 10. Hanft, 11. C.Cottle. NT
QUALIFYING RACE: (10 laps) 1. Ketcham, 2. Jarrett, 3. Simon, 4. DiMattia, 5. T.Hewitt, 6. Frederickson, 7. Harris, 8. D.Hewitt, 9. Bell, 10. Hery, 11. Cummins, 12. Welpott. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Thomas, 3. S.Cottle, 4. Darland, 5. Andretti, 6. Jarrett, 7. K.Swanson, 8. J.Swanson, 9. Ketcham, 10. Spencer, 11. DiMattia, 12. Gurley, 13. Hanft, 14. Goodnight, 15. Shuman, 16. Hodges, 17. Simon ,18. Moore, 19. McGhee, 20. Dakus. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Chase Stockon, 2. Hunter Schuerenberg, 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 4. Robert Ballou, 5. Kevin Thomas Jr., 6. Scotty Weir, 7. Shane Cottle, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Brady Short, 11. Jarett Andretti, 12. C.J. Leary, 13. Chris Windom, 14. Chad Boespflug, 15. Thomas Meseraull, 16. Tyler Courtney, 17. Jon Stanbrough, 18. Tracy Hines, 19. Justin Grant, 20. Kyle Robbins, 21. Aaron Farney, 22. Logan Jarrett. NT
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**Hodges cartwheeled during qualifying. Gass flipped during the second heat. Andretti flipped during the third heat. Welpott flipped during the qualifying race.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Coons, Lap 8 Stockon, Laps 9-12 Coons, Laps 13-30 Stockon.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Stockon-1,058, 2-Ballou-1,033, 3-Darland-992, 4-Stanbrough-914, 5-Bacon-896, 6-Thomas-847, 7-Hines-817, 8-Leary-749, 9-Windom-607, 10-Grant-594.
NEW INDIANA SPRINT WEEK POINTS: 1-Stockon-70, 2-Schuerenberg-68, 3-Coons-60, 4-Ballou-57, 5-Thomas-56, 6-Weir-51, 7-Bacon and S.Cottle-44, 9-Darland-41, 10-Short-40.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: July 11 - Kokomo (IN) Speedway - 28th "Indiana Sprint Week"
USAC Honda National Midget News – July 6, 2015
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
ABREU USES LAST CORNER PASS ON THORSON FOR "PEPSI NATIONALS" CROWN
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.......It took a final corner slidejob for Rico Abreu to win the "Pepsi Nationals" on Sunday night at the Angell Park Speedway as the reigning Honda National Midget champion added another big midget win to his list, as he edged out teammate Tanner Thorson by just .093 seconds for the tenth win in his National Midget career.
Thorson got the jump from outside the front row and led throughout. Behind him, ProSource "Fast Qualifier" Bryan Clauson quickly moved into second, but he slowed on lap five with a right-rear wheel packed with mud. He visited the work area but was able to restart.
Thorson led Kevin Thomas, Jr. from there, as Abreu slipped to third when Darren Hagen slapped the big cushion in turn-four and darted up the track. After another yellow, Hagen went to the extreme high side in one and two and came with a full head of steam just as Abreu bobbled in the middle of the corner, with the two making contact that slowed Hagen and put him well back in the field before he regained speed.
The Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports team ran 1-4 as the race hit halfway, but the red flag flew on lap 18 for Tracy Hines, who flipped in turn-four while running in the fifth spot.
The race went green from there, as Thorson and Abreu pulled away from their teammate Thomas, while Clauson and Hagen fought back through the pack. With a few laps to go, Thorson hesitated with a lapped car, allowing Abreu to draw near. At the white flag, Abreu was not close enough for a pass, so he went to the extreme high side and gathered momentum as he exited turn-two.
With a full head of steam down the backstretch, he dove to the bottom and swept past Thorson for the top spot, leaving Thorson to cross back underneath him and try to beat him back to the line. It wasn't enough, though, as Abreu finished it off by just a nose in the Toyota TRD - Curb Records #97 Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
"I don't know how it looked from the stands, but that was just a hell of a race from my seat. The last lap was one of those laps where you have to tell yourself 'Go Big or Go Home.' I got above the cushion and kept my car straight on exit to get all the speed I could and was able to pull the trigger on him at the other end. You cherish moments like that, winning on the final lap in front of a great crowd. It's special to win the Pepsi Nationals and knock another big race off my bucket list. I'm having a lot of fun right now just getting to do this," Abreu said.
Thorson came home in the runner-up spot in the first race since his spectacular crash during "Indiana Midget Week" at Lincoln Park Speedway on June 11th. Still sporting some blood in his eyes, the Minden, Nevada driver returned to the seat with a strong finish aboard the Toyota TRD - Abreu Vineyards #67 Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
"It's good to be back in the car, and I felt great from the start. I could hear one of them back there working something, and I figured it was Rico after hearing him above me a few times. My teammates are out there trying everything imaginable to find a way by me while I'm leading, so it's tough to be out front the entire time. This is a new car, and we got my confidence back quickly to be able to run hard with these guys after being out for a few weeks," Thorson said.
Kevin Thomas, Jr. joined his teammates on the podium and put himself atop the series point standings with the Toyota TRD - Bakken Concrete #67K Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
"You never want to come home third, but these guys are good and it's a solid night for us to end up on the podium. In the big picture, we gave ourselves another good finish towards the season-long goal," Thomas said.
Clauson cleared Andrew Felker in the final laps to take home fourth in the Curb Records - Dooling Machine #63 Spike/Stanton Mopar, and Hagen also slipped into the top-five at the finish aboard the KBR Performance - Great Clips #17 Boss/Esslinger.
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USAC HONDA NATIONAL MIDGET RACE RESULTS: July 5, 2015 - Sun Prairie, Wisconsin - Angell Park Speedway - "Pepsi Nationals" (co-sanctioned by POWRi)
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Bryan Clauson, 63, RKR/Curb-Agajanian-14.316; 2. Rico Abreu, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.333; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.372; 4. Bill Balog, 57, Ecker-14.467; 5. Austin Brown, 7, KBR-14.539; 6. Davey Ray, 33, Team RAYPRO-14.600; 7. Tanner Thorson, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.606; 8. Ryan Robinson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.620; 9. Jimi Quin, 8, Quin-14.647; 10. Tracy Hines, 24, Parker-14.677; 11. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-14.699; 12. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Klaasmeyer-14.724; 13. Darren Hagen, 17, KBR-14.727; 14. Andrew Felker, 11A, Felker-14.776; 15. Kyle Schuett, 9K, Schuett-14.821; 16. Spencer Bayston, 39, Clauson-14.960; 17. David Budres, 31, Manic-15.061; 18. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-15.107; 19. Eric Johnson, 82, Johnson-15.345; 20. Brandon Waelti, 15, Triple H-15.552; 21. Kurt Mayhew, 21K, Mayhew-16.003; 22. Scott Zane, 77, Zane-16.790; 23. Isaac Chapple, 52, Chapple-NT; 24. Cody Weisensel, 20, Weisensel-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Bayston, 2. Hagen, 3. Clauson, 4. Thorson, 5. Hines, 6. Balog, 7. Johnson. 2:29.80
SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. T. Thomas, 2. Felker, 3. Brown, 4. Robinson, 5. Abreu, 6. Chapple, 7. Budres. 2:30.56
THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Quin, 2. K. Thomas, 3. Schuett, 4. Klaasmeyer, 5. Leer, 6. Mayhew, 7. Ray, 8. Weisensel. 2:33.07
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Rico Abreu, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Darren Hagen, 6. Andrew Felker, 7. Spencer Bayston, 8. Ryan Robinson, 9. Tyler Thomas, 10. Kyle Schuett, 11. Isaac Chapple, 12. Kurt Mayhew, 13. Austin Brown, 14. Tracy Hines, 15. Katlynn Leer, 16. Eric Johnson, 17. Jimi Quin, 18. Bill Balog, 19. David Budres, 20. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 21. Cody Weisensel. NT
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**Hines flipped on Lap 17 of the Feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-29 Thorson, Lap 30 Abreu.
NEW HONDA NATIONAL MIDGET POINTS: 1-K.Thomas-360; 2-T.Thomas-339; 3-Hines-333; 4-Abreu-326; 5-Hagen-321; 6-Bayston-300; 7-Jerry Coons, Jr.-287; 8-Thorson-280; 9-Dave Darland-159; 10-Christopher Bell-152.
NEXT HONDA NATIONAL MIDGET RACE: July 28 - Beloit, KS - Solomon Valley Raceway - "Chad McDaniel Memorial"
BLEWETT BACK ON TRACK; WINS MILITARY HEROES 30 OVER PAUCH AT NEW EGYPT
Posted by: | Comments New Egypt, NJ. .....“Showtime” Jimmy Blewett, of Howell NJ, brought his patriotic red white and blue number 76 to victory lane on Saturday night at New Egypt Speedway for their “Military Heroes 30” July 4th event. Blewett, who captured the lead on lap four, outsmarted Billy Pauch on numerous restarts by choosing the outside lane, proving that he was the man to beat. Sammy Piazza finished third, Neal Williams brought home a fourth place finish and Dominick Buffalino charged from his 18th starting position to round out the top five.
Jimmy Blewett (WoS photo)
In his first race back after a vicious flip occurring a few weeks before, Blewett, who started in the sixth position, made a comeback that was just what he needed to build up the confidence that he was lacking due to the sour season he was experiencing.
“The flip was actually a blessing in disguise believe it or not. We had bought all new chassis this year and the comfort just wasn’t there. We did have one second place finish this year, but after that we could never just get the handle of the car the way that I wanted it. Even that night, the comfort just wasn’t there,” explains Blewett. “With that said, we had bought this car prior to flipping that other car, and it was already for us to use if we needed it. After the wreck, we took some parts off of the wrecked car and put it on this car, and we used the same set up that I used the last time I won here last year, and it actually ran better than the car I won with before!”
When Blewett took the lead over from Chuck Steuer on lap four, Billy Pauch, who started in 11th, was on the move advancing to second on lap six. Blewett held a five car lead over Pauch until lap ten when the caution came out for Andrew Krause who spun his number 27 in turns one and two.
“On the restart, I looked over and seen Billy alongside of me, and I was going to choose the bottom to restart in, but then I said to myself ‘Nah, I aint taking the bottom with him, he’s gonna go to the top!’ So I took the top, and we were able to get him on the restart, and then I realized where I can be better for the next one, and the next one after that. I feel like after every restart, I was able to get better and better jumps on him,” comments Blewett on the skill he acquired that ultimately won him the race.
When the green flag waved, Pauch and Blewett were side by side heading into turn one, and as they were exiting turn two, the number 76 had a better run off the top, pulling ahead of Pauch going down the backstretch.
Ryan Godown, who made moves early in the race moving forward from 16th, took third from PJ Oliver who appeared to have gotten out of shape coming down the front stretch on lap 11. By half way, it was Blewett, Pauch, Godown, Piazza and Williams running in the top five nose to tail, with Jimmy Horton also moving up from way back in the field, was looking to crack into the top five as well.
With five laps to go, Ryan Godown, who seemed as a threat to the leaders throughout the race, brought the final caution out due to a mechanical failure on his E&G Tire & Auto Center number 747 after running majority of the feature in third place. It was later found out that the failure was caused by a broken drive shaft.
The final restart of the night was executed in single file fashion, with Jimmy Blewett hitting his marks right pulling away just enough from Billy Pauch to claim his first victory of 2015.
“This win was good for me. You get to a point where sometimes you doubt yourself, you start to doubt what you’re doing, and right now I have a very small team compared to what I used to have. When the morale gets down with just a little bit of people around, you feel lost,” Jimmy indicated. “I really want to thank my crew, and everybody who came out tonight to support what we’re doing, Brent Tittle who plays a big role in helping me get the cars ready during the week, my buddy Ryan who came out to help me tonight, my nephew John, Kyle Reinhardt for running up north to pick up a car for me when we needed it, and especially my Grandpop. Without him paying the bills, I wouldn’t be able to drive nice cars like these.”
Eric Palmer (WoS photo)
Eric Palmer won the shortened Crate Modified feature over Ryan Simmons, Adam Cox, Tom Princiotta, and Billy Osmun. The feature was cut short due to the class surpassing their time limit because of the numerous cautions that were displayed throughout the race. Palmer claimed his second feature win of the season, and was pressured all during the course of the race by fourth place starting Ryan Simmons.
“We were getting better as the race went on, Eric seemed to be pushing near the end and I drove under him on lap eight in an attempt to go for the lead. We drag raced down the straight away but he seemed to have more gear coming out the corner and he just got me,” commented Simmons, who is looking for his first win of the season.
Dave Brown Jr (WoS photo)
Dave Brown Jr. brought his DCR’s Racing Racesaver number 44 305 sprint car to victory lane for the third time this season, winning two races at New Egypt and one at Grandview Speedway back in May. Brown started on the pole, took command of the lead over second place starting Jeff Geiges, and never looked back, leading Mark Bitner, Rick Stief, Adam Carberry and Mike Haggenbottom across the finish line of the twenty lap feature.
MODIFIED FEATURE (30 Laps): Jimmy Blewett, Billy Pauch, Sammy Piazza, Neal Williams, Dominick Buffalino, Jimmy Horton, David Van Horn, Billy Pauch Jr., Willie Osmun, Chris Grbac, PJ Oliver, Chris Esposito, Chuck Steuer, Chad Barney, Danny Bouc, Doug Oswald, Ryan Godown, Tad Cox, Andrew Krause, Tommy Farrell, John Stangle, John McClelland, Bryan Kuhl, Andrew Bohn
CRATE MODIFIED FEATURE (10 laps): Eric Palmer, Ryan Simmons, Adam Cox, Tom Princiotta, Billy Osmun, Joe Reid, Jordan Cox, Frank Dorry, Matt Carmen, Jeremy Martino, Jarett Rozycki, Brandon Grosso, Mike Carmen, Connor King, Heidi Heddin, Dan Fleming, Dakota Kessler, Scott Hyland, Aaron Weaver, Matt Stangle, George Gareis Jr., Brian Papiez
NERS SPRINT FEATURE (20 laps): Dave Brown Jr., Mark Bitner, Rick Stief, Adam Carberry, Mike Haggenbottom, Jeff Geiges, John Barnett, Ryan Stillwaggon, Jamie Kostic, Joe Lord, Gabe Fox, Karl Fryer, Ryan Cox, Harris Kohen, Erika Palmai Wagner, Zack Burd
USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car News – July 5, 2015
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
Putnamville, Indiana.......Jerry Coons, Jr. returned to right where he spent Independence Day last year, parked in victory lane at Lincoln Park Speedway, this time as the winner of the finale of the inaugural "Bill Gardner Sprintacular." The former series champion's 17th career victory came in wire-to-wire fashion as he was flawless in the Edison Motorsports - Crume Evans Insurance #10E Spike/Chevy.
"It's always a lot of fun to win with this group of guys. They're as laid-back as they come and were still happy with me last night even after I went backwards and was frustrated. We've struggled a little bit with the slick stuff especially, and a lot of things fell in line for us tonight, but we were really good tonight. You'd think as long as we've been doing this that we wouldn't still be learning, but I'm real happy with what we picked up tonight," Coons said.
Coons took the early lead with Chad Boespflug in pursuit on the high side, as series point-leader Robert Ballou made his early move from row-three to throttle around the high side for the third spot. Those three broke away from the field, but on lap nine, Ballou had problems on the left-rear and spun in turn-three to bring out the yellow. He went to the work area, but was unable to rejoin the field in time for the green.
After another caution a lap later, the race went green the rest of the way with Coons opening up a comfortable lead while Boespflug still tried to run the high side, but to no avail. Kyle Cummins came on to take the second spot from him, but behind them were cars dicing for the balance of the top-ten spots with Chase Stockon and Jon Stanbrough the big movers, along with Dave Darland.
Coons' lead shrunk with less than ten laps to go, but he pulled away to a 1.057-second win over Cummins, who matched his best career finish in the Rock Steady Racing - Greenwell Auto Body #3R Mach-1/Chevy.
"We've got ourselves a race car now that we can work with and try to race with these guys. We've struggled and been frustrated for the most part this year, to the point I even pulled off during the feature last night, and the major changes we made to bring this thing to life a little had some instant success tonight. I was reeling him in a bit at one point for the lead, but he was stuck on the bottom and just didn't ever mess up," Cummins said.
Stockon finished off his spirited run to take third from 14th in the Superior Tank & Trailer - Crescent Electric Supply #32 DRC/Fisher, re-taking the point lead over Ballou in the process.
"If this thing was a 40-lap race, I think we had a chance to win it. We got a tough draw and didn't qualify all that well, so that put us in a spot from behind where we had to pass cars. We were able to roll up through the middle and make up most of our ground there, but even on the bottom I think we were a tick quicker than the top-two. Matt Hummel of FK Indy has gotten our shocks tuned and running really well in the slick, and (crew chief) D.J. (Ott) gave me a great car tonight that could move around to pass cars," Stockon said.
Boespflug wound up fourth in the Amati Racing - Marion Underground Construction #66 DRC/Dynotech, and Jon Stanbrough earned the B&W Auto Mart "Hard Charger Award" for his drive from 17th to finish fifth in the MP Environmental Services - AED Motorsports Products #81 Spike/J&D.
Carson Short started the night by taking the ProSource "Fast Time Award."
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AMSOIL USAC SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 4, 2015 - Putnamville, Indiana - Lincoln Park Speedway - "Bill Gardner Sprintacular"
QUALIFYING: 1. Carson Short, 21, Short-13.282; 2. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.485; 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17RW, Dutcher-13.491; 4. Tyler Courtney, 23E, Eberhardt-13.626; 5. Casey Shuman, 21K, Krockenberger-13.684; 6. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Byram-13.703; 7. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-13.704; 8. Hunter Schuerenberg, 2E, Epperson-13.742; 9. Chris Babcock, 35, Babcock-13.749; 10. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-13.773; 11. Chad Boespflug, 66, Amati-13.773; 12. Cole Smith, 29x, Smith-13.778 13. Jerry Coons Jr., 10E, Edison-13.780; 14. Lukas Smith, 26, Smith-13.821; 15. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-13.844; 16. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.847; 17. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-13.885; 18. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.939; 19. Jimmy Light, 23, Two-Three-13.980; 20. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-13.984; 21. Max McGhee, 17, McGhee-14.021; 22. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-14.024; 23. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.039; 24. Chris Gurley, 12G, Team Automotive-14.116; 25. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-14.153; 26. Scott Hampton, 4J, Ottinger-14.278; 27. Jeff Bland Jr., 04, Burton-14.319; 28. Shelby VanGilder, 22V, VanGilder-14.413; 29. Mike Gass, 17G, Gass-14.418; 30. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.462; 31. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-14.462; 32. Kurt Gross, 1x, Gross-14.465; 33. Kevin Studley, 57K, Studley-14.526; 34. Matthew McDonald, 5M, McDonald-14.568; 35. Riley VanHise, 96, VanHise-14.704; 36. Chris Phillips, 6, Phillips-14.776; 37. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-14.859; 38. C.J. Leary, 5, Baldwin-19.551; 39. Kyle Wissmiller, 3, Simmons-NT; 40. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. McGhee, 2. Coons, 3. Beauchamp, 4. Farney, 5. Short, 6. Shuman, 7. Babcock, 8. Gass, 9. Bell, 10. Studley. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Simon, 3. Cummins, 4. Bacon, 5. Hines, 6. Leary, 7. Andretti, 8. Hampton, 9. L.Smith, 10. McDonald. NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Darland, 3. Cottle, 4. Mattox, 5. Thomas, 6. Jarrett, 7. Light, 8. Bland, 9. Wissmiller, 10. VanHise. 2:23.29
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Hodges, 4. C.Smith, 5. Courtney, 6. Phillips, 7. Gurley, 8. VanGilder, 9. Schuerenberg, 10. Gross, NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Short, 2. Thomas, 3. Schuerenberg, 4. Shuman, 5. Babcock, 6. Courtney, 7. Hines, 8. Light, 9. Jarrett, 10. L.Smith, 11. Leary, 12. Bland, 13. Andretti, 14. Gurley, 15. Hampton, 16. Gass, 17. Phillips, 18. Studley, 19. VanGilder, 20. Wissmiller, 21. Bell, 22. VanHise. 2:44.81
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Chad Boespflug, 5. Jon Stanbrough, 6. Tyler Courtney, 7. Casey Shuman, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Shane Cottle, 10. Tracy Hines, 11. Kevin Thomas Jr., 12. Josh Hodges, 13. C.J. Leary, 14. Cole Smith, 15. Max McGhee, 16. Carson Short, 17. Brady Bacon, 18. Chris Babcock, 19. Brandon Mattox, 20. Brent Beauchamp, 21. Landon Simon, 22. Hunter Schuerenberg, 23. Robert Ballou, 24. Aaron Farney. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Coons.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Stockon-988, 2-Ballou-976, 3-Darland-951, 4-Stanbrough-887, 5-Bacon-852, 6-Hines-795, 7-Thomas-791, 8-Leary-715, 9-Chris Windom-575, 10-Justin Grant-571.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: July 10 - Gas City (IN) I-69 Speedway - "Indiana Sprint Week"
USAC Silver Crown News – July 3, 2015
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
Terre Haute, Indiana.......Shane Cockrum survived a late-race challenge and used a little luck to hold on for Thursday night's "Sumar Classic" win at the Terre Haute Action Track. After capturing his first Silver Crown Series win last fall at Du Quoin, Illinois, Cockrum led most of the night's 100-lap feature only to see his lead taken away in the late stages by C.J. Leary, but a timely caution and strong finish propelled the Benton, Illinois driver to a .424-second victory in the Hardy Boys Motorsports - Financial Transportation Services #71 Maxim/Chevy.
"This is championship dirt car racing, and it's exciting right now with a ton of talented drivers out there, and it's awesome to be able to come out on top of them. It's a thinking man's game in these races, so you have to be methodical and move around to find where you need to be. I knew being out front put us in a tough spot, and the bottom usually comes in here, so I wasn't surprised to see someone coming. Leary is a talented kid and is gonna win a lot of races; it's a tough deal to lose the lead like that late, but we'll definitely take it. We've worked hard with our team to stay up front after last year, and it's satisfying to get another big win in this series," Cockrum said.
Cockrum got the jump on the start over polesitter Kody Swanson, who helped his series point lead by taking the ProSource "Fast Time Award" to begin the night. Cockrum led Jerry Coons, Jr. and Swanson early, as the top-three opened up on the rest of the field. A few laps later, Brady Bacon reeled in Swanson and took third. Coons got a run on Cockrum for the lead on lap 21 as he came roaring off turn-two, but Cockrum held him off. By lap 28, Coons was back again, this time riding the cushion off turn-two to the lead.
Cockrum didn't let Coons get away, however, as he stuck with him for a lap before scooting underneath to re-take the lead as they completed lap 29. A caution a few laps later put the race past lap 40, with Cockrum leading Coons, Bacon, Swanson, and Shane Cottle. Just before halfway, Cottle too went by Swanson to take over fourth.
After a restart with 35 laps to go, the track was changing rapidly, and C.J. Leary was on the move into the top-five as the leaders searched all over the track to find the fast way around. Another quick caution with 25 laps to go produced a restart that saw Leary surge forward on the very bottom, getting all the way to third on lap 81.
With 13 to go, a restart after Aaron Pierce stopped on the fronstretch saw a chain reaction in turn-four, with tenth-running Kevin Thomas, Jr. spinning and collecting Joey Moughan, who flipped over. He had been running 12th. He was unhurt but done for the event.
Leary reeled in Cockrum on the restart and was all over him for the lead as the race hit ten laps to go. Leary hit the bottom on lap 92 to wrestle the lead away from Cockrum, but before the lap could be completed, Tyler Courtney spun in turn-four to bring out the final caution of the night. That put Leary back behind Cockrum on the ensuing restart.
Cockrum pulled away from Leary in the final six-lap run to the checkers, leaving the young Greenfield, Indiana driver just short of his first USAC National win as Leary came home second in the Leary Construction Company - Jet Star #30 DRC/Claxton Toyota.
"That was a heartbreaker. I was biding my time for a while, and I knew we had something towards the end. I made my move after the restart there as we hit ten to go, and I got up next to Cockrum and cleared him, but the yellow came out just as we were completing the lap. He saw what I was doing and knew where to be on the restart, so we had to get the finish and come home second. This is Joe Devin's baby, and he's been working on this thing for a long time, so it's fun to go out and race such a strong DRC car," Leary said.
Coons made a bid on the final restart by running the extreme high side, but he could only threaten the top-two over the first set of corners before fading to a comfortable third aboard the Nolen Racing - Columbus Container #20 Eagle/Chevy.
"I was pretty good still in one and two up high, but I had to hit it just right, and it was easier on the restarts with coming to it just a little slower pace. I got a real good restart on that end, but once the top went away in three and four, I couldn't get through there at all. We've gotta get a little bit better, but a pretty good night. This is a new car to the Nolen team and to me, so we're still figuring it out some but we've got great race cars and hopefully take what we learn to the busy stretch coming," Coons said.
Cottle's run ended in the fourth spot aboard the Williams Precision Engines - QS Components #81 Maxim/Chevy, and Bacon rounded out the top-five in the Martens Machine Shop - Womack Machine Supply #48 DRC/Chevy.
Chase Stockon earned the B&W Auto Mart "Hard Charger Award" for his drive from 18th to finish 11th.
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USAC SILVER CROWN RACE RESULTS: July 2, 2015 - Terre Haute, Indiana - Terre Haute Action Track - "Sumar Classic"
QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 63, DePalma-20.712; 2. Shane Cockrum, 71, Hardy-21.162; 3. Brady Bacon, 48, Martens-21.212; 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 20, Nolen-21.227; 5. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary/6R-21.351; 6. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-21.466; 7. Justin Grant, 8, Carli-21.495; 8. Steve Buckwalter, 53, SET-21.650; 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17, RW-21.765; 10. Chris Windom, 99, RPM/Gormly-22.074; 11. Tracy Hines, 98, RPM/Gormly-22.075; 12. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-22.208; 13. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-22.216; 14. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-22.224; 15. Tyler Courtney, 153, Capie-22.265; 16. Joey Moughan, 29, Moughan-22.347; 17. Jacob Wilson, 07, WBR-22.380; 18. Chase Stockon, 14, McQuinn-22.498; 19. Rex Norris III, 16, Norris-23.441;0 20. Patrick Lawson, 2, Lawson-23.672; 21. Terry James, 23, Satterthwaite-23.679; 22. Dave Darland, 19, Longworth-NT (time of 21.091 disallowed), 23. Kent Wolters, 21, Swanson-NT (Time of 22.904 disallowed), 24. Austin Nemire, 91, Hamelgarn-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps) 1. Shane Cockrum, 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 4. Shane Cottle, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Justin Grant, 7. Kody Swanson, 8. Chris Windom, 9. Tracy Hines, 10. Kevin Thomas Jr., 11. Chase Stockon, 12. Tyler Courtney, 13. A.J. Fike, 14. Jacob Wilson, 15. Patrick Lawson, 16. Terry James, 17. Rex Norris III, 18. Dave Darland, 19. Joey Moughan, 20. Aaron Pierce, 21. Russ Gamester, 22. Kent Wolters, 23. Austin Nemire, 24. Steve Buckwalter. NT
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**Nemire flipped during practice. Moughan flipped on lap 88 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-27 Cockrum, Lap 28 Coons, Laps 29-100 Cockrum.
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Swanson-263, 2-Fike-225, 3-Pierce-217, 4-Coons-214, 5-Wilson-184, 6-David Byrne-162, 7-Leary-153, 8-Norris-146, 9-Nemire-144, 10-Bobby Santos-138.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 23 - Brownsburg, IN - Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis - "Rich Vogler Classic"
THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES NEWS
Posted by: | Comments
Thunder on the Hill
JUNE 27, 2015
CONTACT: BOB MILLER 443 513 4456
NAPA AUTO PARTS
THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES
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NAPA AUTO PARTS PRESENTS. . . . .
410 SPRINTS & 358 MODIFIEDS IN HUGE DOUBLE HEADER TUESDAY NIGHT, JUNE 30 AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY, GREG HODNETT LOOKS FOR FIVE THUNDER WINS IN A ROW
It was August of 1990 when the famed Black Bandit No. 19 sat in victory lane at the inaugural NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series event at the Grandview Speedway, Steve Smith Sr. would claim the victory. Now, twenty-five years later the younger Smith, Stevie Smith looks to pick up his first ever Grandview Speedway win, when the 410 Sprint Cars come to town with the NASCAR 358 Modifieds on Tuesday, June 30th as part of Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speed Week.
Kicking off the 2015 edition of Speed Week in fine fashion, Smith -- the hired gun of 13-time Speed Week Champion, Fred Rahmer – dominated the evening activities setting quick time and leading each of the 25 A-Main laps. In a victory lane interview, Rahmer was clear that he wanted to claim this year’s Pennsylvania Sprint Speed Week title. Stevie Smith took the win on Friday night over Greg Hodnett.
But at the Grandview Speedway high banks, stopping Hodnett isn’t going to be an easy task – even for the star-filled field expected to be on the Hill Tuesday night. Hodnett, has claimed eight total Thunder victories, including the past four 410 Sprint Car feature events at the Bechtelsville, PA oval – something no driver has done in all of Thunder on the Hill Racing Series history. Hodnett’s ‘drive for five’ is on everyone’s mind, and a Tuesday Night victory for Hodnett would see him tie Rahmer on the Thunder on the Hill All-Time Win list.
While all eyes are on Smith and Hodnett, the door sits wide open for someone to come in and steal the $5,000 top prize – and their first Thunder on the Hill win. That someone could be Gettysburg, PA’s Danny Dietrich – currently sitting third in the Speed Week Points – Dietrich finished 3rd in Grandview’s event last year. Other contenders include: Lucas Wolfe, who almost beat Hodnett last year; Brent Marks, who currently sits 5th in Speed Week points and finished 4th in the 2014 Grandview race; and Alan Krimes, who has a string of top-5 finishes in Grandview sprint car events. Krimes has been so close to winning to that first Thunder on the Hill victory, they can almost taste it. Other entries include Ryan Smith, Lance Dewease, JJ Grasso, Aaron Ott, Brady Bacon, Davey Sammons, Brian Carber, Freddie and Brandon Rahmer, Tim Glatfelter and Ryan Talor.
The 35 Lap 410 Sprint Car event pays $5,000 to win, $1,400 for fifth position, $1,000 for tenth position and $400 to start the feature event.
Things continue to heat up for the 358 NASCAR Modifieds – during the Traffic Jam event Oley, PA’s Duane Howard claimed the victory in dominant fashion with Jeff Strunk, Meme Desantis, Jared Umbenhauer and Doug Manmiller rounding out the top five finishers. It’s a battle for bragging rights and $3,000 when the mighty Modifieds take to the track in 30 laps of three-wide, wheel-banging, boiler plate bouncing action. The 358 Modifieds portion of this show is open to all competitors with heat race qualifying, a consolation and a 30 lap feature. T
Quaker Steak & Lube has upped the ante with a $50 bonus to sprint car heat race event winners, with the stipulation that they pre-register and $125 to all non-qualified 410 Sprint Cars.
Bonus awards for the 410 Sprint Cars include: $100 Quick Time Bonus and an additional $100 if the track record is broken. The current track record is held by Jeff Shepard who clocked a time of 11.433 in May of 2008.
For additional information or to pre-enter, please call 443-513-4456. Drivers should provide their name, car number, hometown and phone number.
Previous Grandview Speedway PA Speed Week Feature Winners include: Greg Hodnett (2014, 2012, 2003), Tyler Walker (2011, 2010), Chad Kemenah (2009), Fred Rahmer (2008, 2005, 2004, 2002, 1997), Todd Shaffer ( 2007), Billy Pauch (2001), Lance Dewease (1999, 1998)
Celebrating the 26th season of racing action NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series always includes fun for the fans with activities such as: Pre-Race Pit Tours, the Inside/Out Experience – where fans can sign-up to watch hot laps from the infield, the Low Down & Dirty Radio Show pre-race Meet & Greet, JOE “THE PIZZA DUDE”, giveaways, fireworks and appearances by the Thunder Girls.
General Admission ticket pricing for Tuesday, June 30 is $25 for Adults, Children 6-11 are $10 and Kids 5 & under are FREE! Pit Admission pricing is $35 without a license and $30 with license.
Advance tickets are available by calling 443-513-4456. Please provide your name, the number of tickets you will need and a phone number. Tickets may be paid for and picked-up at the WILL CALL Window on race night after 3:30 PM. Advance ticket holders may enter the grandstands at 4:30 PM a full half-hour before General Admission Tickets go on sale.
Pit Gates open at 3:00 PM, Advance Ticket Holders are able to enter at 4:30 PM, Grandstand Gates open at 5:00 PM and Racing starts at 7:30 PM
The June 30th event at the Grandview Speedway marks the third event of the Pennsylvania Sprint Speed Week schedule – which offers nine races in ten days, with $250,000 in race payouts. With sponsorship support from Wayback Burgers and associate sponsorship from Trone Outdoor Advertising a $25,000 point fund will be offered with $10,000 going to the series champion. Celebrating its 25 season, Pennsylvania Sprint Speed Week has hosted 163 races at 12 different tracks, with 36 different drivers scoring wins. More information on Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speed Week can be found at www.paspeedweeks.com.
NAPA Auto Parts continues their long run with Thunder on the Hill as the Series title sponsor joined by: Quaker Steak & Lube, Window World, GALCO Business Communications & Pioneer Pole Buildings.
Grandview Speedway
GPS USERS: 43 Passmore Road, Bechtelsville, PA 19505
Located less than a mile off Route 100, 10 miles north of Pottstown, PA
Speedway Phone: 610-754-7688
Thunder on the Hill Racing Series Phone: 443-513-4456
Series Website: www.thunderonthehillracingseries.com
Track Website: www.grandviewspeedway.com
Twitter/Instagram: @TOTHRACING
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thunderonthehill
About Thunder on the Hill Racing Series
The brainchild of Grandview Speedway owner Bruce Rogers, special events promoter Bob Miller and local driving star Dave Kelly, the Thunder on the Hill Racing Series celebrates 26 years of the most anticipated events on the racing calendar year after year. In 114 events over $3.8 million dollars has been divvied up among the area’s fastest racers. What started as a single 410 Sprint Car event in 1990 has blossomed to feature a variety of racing action including: 358 Modifieds, USAC Wingless Sprints, 360 & 410 Sprint Cars, Sportsman, Late Models, Midgets, Legends cars, DIRTcar and ROC Modified events.
About Grandview Speedway
Grandview Speedway is a high-banked one-third mile clay oval, celebrating their 53rd Anniversary season in 2015. The facility offers free parking, quality food at reasonable prices (be sure to try the french fries), a program book, Grandview Speedway and Thunder on the Hill race wear and great viewing from every seat in the house. Race fans may take part in the Inside/Out promotion, where you can sign up (no charge) to watch warm-ups from inside turn four. Race fans are also invited to victory lane following the racing program and, race fans may enter the pits after the races to meet the drivers. Be ready to enjoy the spine tingling fireworks salute on the feature event parade lap.
