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ASCS National Sprint Series
Wild Final Lap Yields Another Lucas Oil ASCS Victory For Sammy Swindell At Lucas Oil Speedway
WHEATLAND, Mo. (September 22, 2017) In a wild turn of events, Sammy Swindell found his way to Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour victory lane yet again as the wily veteran led the final three-fourths of Friday's A-Feature after race-long leader, Wayne Johnson, looped his Outlaw Wings No. 2c in the first and second turns of the Lucas Oil Speedway.
"I was just hoping there was going to be enough room (to get by). I saw him start to lose it, and it was really tight where he needed to be," commented Swindell when asked about what he saw coming through turns one and two.
Making the win all the more impressive, was the fact that Sammy was able to avoid the spin despite his brakes having gone away in the closing laps of Friday's non-stop A-Feature event.
"With about eight or nine laps to go we lost the brakes, so I was having to be really careful but I knew if we finished right up there in the top-three we'd be right up on the front row tomorrow so I didn't want to give that up. I'd been using them pretty hard and might have got them too hot or something, but I couldn't pump them up or get anything so I was just trying not to get into another car."
Winning from seventh on Thursday to open the 7th annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway, Friday's triumph came from the eighth start spot in the A.G. Rains owned No. 3s. Having to pick his way to the front, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. and Blake Hahn raced slide for slide with Swindell for most of the race, with traffic finally playing into Sammy's hands.
Sammy Swindell parked the Rains Racing No. 3s on Friday night at Lucas Oil Speedway with a last lap spin by Wayne Johnson putting the win in Sammy's hands. (ASCS / Kenny Shaw Photo)
Starting to catch Johnson with three laps to go as the pair weaved their way through slower traffic, Sammy was within a few car lengths of Wayne Johnson at the wave the white flag. Working under a slower car in the first and second turns, the rear end of Johnson's car suddenly swung around. Keeping on the throttle, Wayne righted his path, but not before losing several positions as Sammy grabbed his 14th career Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour victory.
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. would end up crossing runner-up with Blake Hahn rebounding from a spin on Thursday night to the final podium step in the Griffith Truck and Equipment No. 52. Tony Bruce, Jr. would cross fourth with Wayne Johnson holding on to complete the top-five.
Coming from 10th, Matt Covington crossed sixth with Johnny Herrera tearing through the field from 17th to seventh. Scott Bogucki eighth was followed by Jeff Swindell and Thomas Kennedy to round out the top-ten.
With event points totaled from Thursday and Friday, Sammy Swindell will start on the pole of Saturday's $10,000 to win A-Feature with Sam Hafertepe, Jr. alongside. The remaining six drivers that are locked into the show include Wayne Johnson, Blake Hahn, Johnny Herrera, Matt Covington, Aaron Reutzel, and Jeff Swindell. The remainder of the field will drop into four Qualifier Races on Saturday night with the top-two moving on to the A-Main and the rest to B-Mains.
The 7th annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial concludes on Saturday, September 23, 2017 with Hot Laps at 5:30 P.M. (CDT).
For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the seven regional tours that make up the over 150 races across the ASCS Nation in 2017, log onto www.ascsracing.com. Make sure to like the American Sprint Car Series on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/LucasOilASCS, follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/LucasOilASCS, and check out our Instagram @LucasOilASCS.
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
ASCS Warrior Region
7th annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial - Night 2
Friday, September 22, 2017
Car Count: 54
Event Count: 55
Heat Races (Top 40 in Passing Points advance to Qualifiers)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, [1]; 2. 85-Forrest Sutherland, [2]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, [7]; 4. 26M-Fred Mattox, [3]; 5. 8M-Kade Morton, [6]; 6. 77X-Alex Hill, [4]; 7. 36-Jason Martin, [8]; 8. 3V-Nate VanHaaften, [5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [1]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee, [4]; 3. 27-Danny Thoman, [2]; 4. 0-Ned Powers, [8]; 5. 12S-Carson McCarl, [6]; 6. 21-Miles Paulus, [5]; 7. 44-Jared Sewell, [3]; 8. 49B-Ben Brown, [7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Dustin Barks, [2]; 2. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [1]; 3. 3S-Sammy Swindell, [5]; 4. 7M-Chance Morton, [3]; 5. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, [4]; 6. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [6]; 7. 93-Dustin Morgan, [8]; 8. 57-TJ Artz, [7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn, [2]; 2. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [3]; 3. 28-Jonathan Cornell, [7]; 4. 81-Jack Dover, [6]; 5. 21R-Andrew Deal, [1]; 6. 44M-Chris Martin, [8]; 7. 18-Ryan Roberts, [5]; 8. 92J-J.R. Topper, [4]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [2]; 2. 2-Kyle Sauder, [5]; 3. 81A-Chris Morgan, [1]; 4. 22S-Sean McClelland, [6]; 5. 84-Brandon Hanks, [4]; 6. 8-Alex Sewell, [3]; 7. 11X-John Carney II, [7]; (DNS) 24C-Lanny Carpenter,
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [6]; 3. 94-Jeff Swindell, [5]; 4. 17W-Harli White, [3]; 5. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [1]; 6. 23-Seth Bergman, [4]; 7. (DNF) 9M-Tyler Blank, [7]
Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Giovanni Scelzi, [1]; 2. 84B-Scott Bogucki, [4]; 3. 4-Evan Martin, [2]; 4. 05-Brad Loyet, [6]; 5. 3Z-Zach Davis, [5]; 6. 17-Josh Baughman, [7]; 7. 11G-Mike Goodman, [3]
Hoosier Tire Qualifiers (Top 16 in combined Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Qualifier 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [6]; 2. 22S-Sean McClelland, [1]; 3. 94-Jeff Swindell, [2]; 4. 1-Giovanni Scelzi, [3]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee, [4]; 6. 8M-Kade Morton, [8]; 7. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, [9]; 8. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [10]; 9. 22-Dustin Barks, [5]; 10. (DNF) 81A-Chris Morgan, [7]
Qualifier 2 (8 Laps): 1. 05-Brad Loyet, [1]; 2. 84B-Scott Bogucki, [4]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn, [5]; 4. 0-Ned Powers, [3]; 5. 84-Brandon Hanks, [9]; 6. 2-Kyle Sauder, [6]; 7. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [10]; 8. 85-Forrest Sutherland, [2]; 9. 26M-Fred Mattox, [7]; 10. 12S-Carson McCarl, [8]
Qualifier 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [2]; 2. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [5]; 3. 95-Matt Covington, [4]; 4. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [3]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel, [6]; 6. 21-Miles Paulus, [10]; 7. 44M-Chris Martin, [8]; 8. 17-Josh Baughman, [9]; 9. 7M-Chance Morton, [7]; 10. 27-Danny Thoman, [1]
Qualifier 4 (8 Laps): 1. 81-Jack Dover, [2]; 2. 3S-Sammy Swindell, [3]; 3. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [5]; 4. 28-Jonathan Cornell, [6]; 5. 17W-Harli White, [7]; 6. 4-Evan Martin, [1]; 7. 36-Jason Martin, [10]; 8. 21R-Andrew Deal, [9]; 9. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [4]; 10. 3Z-Zach Davis, [8]
BMRS B-Main (Top 2 advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [1]; 2. 84-Brandon Hanks, [2]; 3. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [6]; 4. 21-Miles Paulus, [3]; 5. 8-Alex Sewell, [10]; 6. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [5]; 7. 12S-Carson McCarl, [8]; 8. 93-Dustin Morgan, [9]; 9. 18-Ryan Roberts, [11]; 10. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, [4]; 11. 26M-Fred Mattox, [7]; 12. 49B-Ben Brown, [12]; (DNS) 92J-J.R. Topper,
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 99-Skylar Gee, [1]; 2. 22-Dustin Barks, [3]; 3. 36-Jason Martin, [5]; 4. 17W-Harli White, [2]; 5. 44M-Chris Martin, [4]; 6. 77X-Alex Hill, [9]; 7. 11X-John Carney II, [10]; 8. 27-Danny Thoman, [8]; 9. 24C-Lanny Carpenter, [13]; 10. 44-Jared Sewell, [11]; 11. 57-TJ Artz, [12]; 12. (DNF) 17-Josh Baughman, [6]; 13. (DNF) 7M-Chance Morton, [7]
B Feature 3 (12 Laps): 1. 2-Kyle Sauder, [1]; 2. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [4]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman, [7]; 4. 8M-Kade Morton, [2]; 5. 11G-Mike Goodman, [9]; 6. 21R-Andrew Deal, [6]; 7. 4-Evan Martin, [3]; 8. 3Z-Zach Davis, [8]; 9. 3V-Nate VanHaaften, [11]; 10. 85-Forrest Sutherland, [5]; 11. (DNF) 9M-Tyler Blank, [10]; (DNS) 81A-Chris Morgan,
Protect the Harvest A-Feature:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 3S-Sammy Swindell, [8]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [1]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn, [4]; 4. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [5]; 5. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [2]; 6. 95-Matt Covington, [10]; 7. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [17]; 8. 84B-Scott Bogucki, [3]; 9. 94-Jeff Swindell, [14]; 10. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [6]; 11. 81-Jack Dover, [9]; 12. 28-Jonathan Cornell, [7]; 13. 1-Giovanni Scelzi, [15]; 14. 22S-Sean McClelland, [13]; 15. 84-Brandon Hanks, [20]; 16. 05-Brad Loyet, [11]; 17. 22-Dustin Barks, [21]; 18. 23-Seth Bergman, [23]; 19. 99-Skylar Gee, [18]; 20. 17W-Harli White, [24]; 21. 0-Ned Powers, [16]; 22. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [22]; 23. 2-Kyle Sauder, [19]; 24. (DNF) 87-Aaron Reutzel, [12]
Lap Leader(s): Wayne Johnson 1-24; Sammy Swindell 25
CP-Carrillo Hard Charger: Johnny Herrera +10
FSR High Point Driver: Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
Provisional(s): Seth Bergman; Harli White
2017 Lucas Oil ASCS A-Main Winner(s):
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. - 13 (3/17 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 3/18 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 4/7 - Texas Motor Speedway; 4/8 - Texas Motor Speedway; 4/15 - Missouri State Fair Speedway; 6/13 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 6/14 - Lawton Speedway; 6/23 - Skagit Speedway; 6/24 - Skagit Speedway; 7/14 - Black Hills Speedway; 8/20 - Missouri State Fair Speedway; 8/27 - Smoky Mountain Speedway; 9/2 - Jackson Motorplex); Aaron Reutzel - 5 (5/11 - Lakeside Speedway; 6/15 - Creek County Speedway; 6/17 - Lucas Oil Speedway; 6/22 - Skagit Speedway; 7/15 - Black Hills Speedway); Wayne Johnson - 2 (7/7 - Gallatin Speedway; 7/8 - Gallatin Speedway); Sammy Swindell - 2 (9/21 - Lucas Oil Speedway; 9/22 - Lucas Oil Speedway); Jake Bubak - 1 (6/9 - West Texas Raceway); Kyle Bellm - 1(6/10 - Route 66 Motor Speedway); Brian Brown - 1 (6/16 - Randolph County Raceway); Matt Covington - 1 (6/30 - Grays Harbor Raceway); Roger Crockett - 1 (7/1 - Grays Harbor Raceway); Terry McCarl - 1 (7/29 - Knoxville Raceway); Gregg Bakker - 1 (7/30 - Mason City Motor Speedway); Tim Shaffer - 1 (8/3 - Knoxville Raceway); Greg Hodnett - 1 (8/4 - Knoxville Raceway); Clint Garner - 1 (8/5 - Knoxville Raceway); Tim Crawley - 1 (8/24 - Riverside International Speedway);
2017 Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 4,258; 2. Aaron Reutzel 3,977; 3. Wayne Johnson 3,903; 4. Johnny Herrera 3,813; 5. Matt Covington 3,811; 6. Seth Bergman 3,725; 7. Blake Hahn 3,645; 8. Skylar Gee 3,374; 9. Harli White 3,000, 10. Josh Baughman 1,790;
Sammy Swindell Captures Night One Of The Hockett/McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway
Posted by: | CommentsASCS National Sprint Series
Sammy Swindell Captures Night One Of The Hockett/McMillin Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway
WHEATLAND, Mo. (September 21, 2017) With a set of Hockett style donuts through the third and fourth turns of the Lucas Oil Speedway, Sammy Swindell put an exclamation point on his 13th career victory against the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, and first at the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" to kick off the 7th annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial.
Race No. 900 for the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, Sammy won by several car lengths over early race leader, Aaron Reutzel. While slower traffic came into play at the end of the race, it was not enough to give the No. 87 a fighting chance.
"I knew we had a good car, and as long as somebody didn't take me out or something, it was going to be okay. There was one lapped car at the end that didn't want to get passed, but it didn't stop me," commented Swindell, who is the 15th different winner in National Tour competition in 2017.
Bettering his finish from one year ago by one during the Hockett/McMillin Memorial opener, the triumph for Swindell brings a big relief in a season of extreme ups and downs, "We've struggled a little bit with some things. We lost our good engine we had last year, so we're going between two other ones and got this one where it's rolling pretty good. Over the last few weeks, we found what it likes, but we have a good racecar. We just needed the chance to prove it. I feel like we should have about 10 or 12 wins this year, but things have happened."
Rolling off seventh on the start, Swindell was quick to jump to the front with a ferocious battle in the opening laps with Wayne Johnson and Blake for the third spot as Aaron Reutzel pulled to a sizable advantage. Racing with Hahn, the No. 52 would end up going around in the first and second turns to draw the caution on Lap 6.
Restarting with Aaron Reutzel and Miles Paulus occupying the first two spots, the restart saw Swindell and Johnson going slide for slide past the No. 21 with each answering the other's bid for the silver until the caution again flew on Lap 9 as Paulus rolled to a stop on the front stretch. Seeing his 3.070-second lead evaporate, Reutzel committed to the cushion as Swindell worked the hub of the Lucas Oil Speedway. With the low line coming in, Sammy had Aaron in his sights, and off the fourth turn working Lap 12, the A.G. Rains owned No. 3s bolted to the race lead.
From there, Swindell slowly marched away from the field for his fourth overall score the 2017 season. Johnson and Reutzel exchanged second for a few laps before Aaron gained the advantage with Wayne setting for the show position.
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. raced from 10th to fourth with Jason Martin fifth. Racing around the top five most of the A-Feature, Derek Hagar ended up sixth with Johnny Herrera seventh after starting 12th. Brad Loyet eighth was trailed by Jeff Swindell with 2017 ASCS Warrior Region Champion, Jonathan Cornell, making up the top-ten.
In event points following Thursday's festivities, Sammy Swindell leads with 194 markers of a possible 200. Aaron Reutzel is second with 189, followed by Wayne Johnson (179), Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (170), and Jason Martin (169) to make up the top-five.
A field of 55 drivers was on hand to open the 7th annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial with seven Heat Races won by John Carney II, Wade Nygaard, Harli White, Johnny Herrera, Aaron Reutzel, Wayne Johnson, and Miles Paulus. Qualifiers were topped by Sammy Swindell, Matt Covington, Derek Hagar, and Sam Hafertepe, Jr. B-Main wins went to Tony Bruce, Jr., Dustin Morgan, and Seth Bergman. One provisional was used by Harli White.
The 7th annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial continues on Friday, September 22, 2017 with Hot Laps at 5:45 P.M. (CDT). For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the seven regional tours that make up the over 150 races across the ASCS Nation in 2017, log onto www.ascsracing.com. Make sure to like the American Sprint Car Series on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/LucasOilASCS, follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/LucasOilASCS, and check out our Instagram @LucasOilASCS.
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
ASCS Warrior Region
7th annual Hockett/McMillin Memorial - Night 1
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Car Count: 55
Heat Races (Top 40 in Passing Points advance to Qualifiers)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 11X-John Carney II, [2]; 2. 1-Giovanni Scelzi, [1]; 3. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [4]; 4. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [3]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman, [8]; 6. 22S-Sean McClelland, [5]; 7. 81A-Chris Morgan, [7]; 8. 92J-J.R. Topper, [6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [2]; 2. 36-Jason Martin, [1]; 3. 94-Jeff Swindell, [7]; 4. 93-Dustin Morgan, [5]; 5. 8-Alex Sewell, [4]; 6. 44M-Chris Martin, [3]; 7. 44-Jared Sewell, [6]; (DNS) 49B-Ben Brown,
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 17W-Harli White, [4]; 2. 28-Jonathan Cornell, [8]; 3. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [6]; 4. 7M-Chance Morton, [5]; 5. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, [1]; 6. 26M-Fred Mattox, [3]; 7. 12S-Carson McCarl, [7]; 8. (DNF) 0-Ned Powers, [2]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [2]; 2. 81-Jack Dover, [7]; 3. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [1]; 4. 18-Ryan Roberts, [4]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [8]; 6. 8M-Kade Morton, [5]; 7. 77X-Alex Hill, [6]; 8. 3Z-Zach Davis, [3]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 84-Brandon Hanks; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel; 3. 34-Corey Nelson; 4. 4-Evan Martin; 5. 57-TJ Artz; 6. 85-Forrest Sutherland; 7. 52-Blake Hahn; 8. 21R-Andrew Deal
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [3]; 2. 84B-Scott Bogucki, [2]; 3. 3S-Sammy Swindell, [4]; 4. 95-Matt Covington, [6]; 5. 2-Kyle Sauder, [8]; 6. 3V-Nate VanHaaften, [1]; 7. 22-Dustin Barks, [7]; 8. 24C-Lanny Carpenter, [5]
Heat 7 (8 Laps): 1. 21-Miles Paulus, [4]; 2. 05-Brad Loyet, [1]; 3. 17-Josh Baughman, [7]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee, [2]; 5. 27-Danny Thoman, [5]; 6. 9M-Tyler Blank, [6]; 7. 11G-Mike Goodman, [3]
Hoosier Tire Qualifiers (Top 16 in combined Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Qualifier 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3S-Sammy Swindell, [1]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn, [3]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [5]; 4. 84-Brandon Hanks, [2]; 5. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [8]; 6. 22S-Sean McClelland, [10]; 7. 28-Jonathan Cornell, [6]; 8. 21R-Andrew Deal, [7]; 9. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [4]; 10. 27-Danny Thoman, [9]
Qualifier 2 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, [1]; 2. 05-Brad Loyet, [2]; 3. 94-Jeff Swindell, [5]; 4. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [4]; 5. 2-Kyle Sauder, [7]; 6. 81-Jack Dover, [6]; 7. 18-Ryan Roberts, [8]; 8. 8-Alex Sewell, [9]; 9. 8M-Kade Morton, [10]; 10. (DNF) 84B-Scott Bogucki, [3]
Qualifier 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, [4]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman, [1]; 4. 1-Giovanni Scelzi, [3]; 5. 17-Josh Baughman, [5]; 6. 93-Dustin Morgan, [7]; 7. 17W-Harli White, [6]; 8. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, [9]; 9. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [8]; 10. 44M-Chris Martin, [10]
Qualifier 4 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [1]; 2. 36-Jason Martin, [3]; 3. 21-Miles Paulus, [6]; 4. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [4]; 5. 11X-John Carney II, [5]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee, [8]; 7. 4-Evan Martin, [2]; 8. 9M-Tyler Blank, [9]; 9. 7M-Chance Morton, [7]; 10. 26M-Fred Mattox, [10]
BMRS B-Main (Top 2 advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [2]; 2. 84-Brandon Hanks, [3]; 3. 11X-John Carney II, [1]; 4. 22S-Sean McClelland, [4]; 5. 27-Danny Thoman, [8]; 6. 22-Dustin Barks, [10]; 7. 4-Evan Martin, [5]; 8. 77X-Alex Hill, [11]; 9. 7M-Chance Morton, [6]; 10. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [7]; 11. 34-Corey Nelson, [9]; 12. 3Z-Zach Davis, [13]; 13. 92J-J.R. Topper, [12]
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 93-Dustin Morgan, [3]; 2. 1-Giovanni Scelzi, [2]; 3. 21R-Andrew Deal, [5]; 4. 18-Ryan Roberts, [4]; 5. 17W-Harli White, [1]; 6. 44M-Chris Martin, [8]; 7. 3-Ayrton Gennetten, [6]; 8. 57-TJ Artz, [12]; 9. 84B-Scott Bogucki, [7]; 10. 81A-Chris Morgan, [9]; 11. 85-Forrest Sutherland, [11]; 12. 0-Ned Powers, [13]; 13. (DNF) 3V-Nate VanHaaften, [10]
B Feature 3 (12 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman, [1]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee, [3]; 3. 2-Kyle Sauder, [2]; 4. 9M-Tyler Blank, [6]; 5. 8-Alex Sewell, [5]; 6. 9N-Wade Nygaard, [4]; 7. 24C-Lanny Carpenter, [12]; 8. 8M-Kade Morton, [7]; 9. 26M-Fred Mattox, [8]; 10. 44-Jared Sewell, [10]; 11. 11G-Mike Goodman, [11]; 12. 12S-Carson McCarl, [9]; 13. 49B-Ben Brown, [13]
Protect the Harvest A-Feature:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 3S-Sammy Swindell, [7]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, [2]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [3]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [10]; 5. 36-Jason Martin, [8]; 6. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [5]; 7. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [12]; 8. 05-Brad Loyet, [11]; 9. 94-Jeff Swindell, [4]; 10. 28-Jonathan Cornell, [15]; 11. 52-Blake Hahn, [6]; 12. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [14]; 13. 95-Matt Covington, [9]; 14. 99-Skylar Gee, [22]; 15. 1-Giovanni Scelzi, [21]; 16. 17-Josh Baughman, [16]; 17. 93-Dustin Morgan, [18]; 18. (DNF) 84-Brandon Hanks, [20]; 19. (DNF) 23-Seth Bergman, [19]; 20. (DNF) 17W-Harli White, [23]; 21. (DNF) 21-Miles Paulus, [1]; 22. (DNF) 81-Jack Dover, [13]; 23. (DNF) 86-Tony Bruce Jr, [17]
Lap Leader(s): Aaron Reutzel 1-11; Sammy Swindell 12-25
CP-Carrillo Hard Charger: Skylar Gee +8
FSR High Point Driver: Miles Paulus
Provisional(s): Harli White
2017 Lucas Oil ASCS A-Main Winner(s):
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. - 13 (3/17 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 3/18 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 4/7 - Texas Motor Speedway; 4/8 - Texas Motor Speedway; 4/15 - Missouri State Fair Speedway; 6/13 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 6/14 - Lawton Speedway; 6/23 - Skagit Speedway; 6/24 - Skagit Speedway; 7/14 - Black Hills Speedway; 8/20 - Missouri State Fair Speedway; 8/27 - Smoky Mountain Speedway; 9/2 - Jackson Motorplex); Aaron Reutzel - 5 (5/11 - Lakeside Speedway; 6/15 - Creek County Speedway; 6/17 - Lucas Oil Speedway; 6/22 - Skagit Speedway; 7/15 - Black Hills Speedway); Wayne Johnson - 2 (7/7 - Gallatin Speedway; 7/8 - Gallatin Speedway); Jake Bubak - 1 (6/9 - West Texas Raceway); Kyle Bellm - 1(6/10 - Route 66 Motor Speedway); Brian Brown - 1 (6/16 - Randolph County Raceway); Matt Covington - 1 (6/30 - Grays Harbor Raceway); Roger Crockett - 1 (7/1 - Grays Harbor Raceway); Terry McCarl - 1 (7/29 - Knoxville Raceway); Gregg Bakker - 1 (7/30 - Mason City Motor Speedway); Tim Shaffer - 1 (8/3 - Knoxville Raceway); Greg Hodnett - 1 (8/4 - Knoxville Raceway); Clint Garner - 1 (8/5 - Knoxville Raceway); Tim Crawley - 1 (8/24 - Riverside International Speedway); Sammy Swindell - 1 (9/21 - Lucas Oil Speedway);
2017 Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 4,116; 2. Aaron Reutzel 3,889; 3. Wayne Johnson 3,778; 4. Johnny Herrera 3,694; 5. Matt Covington 3,689; 6. Seth Bergman 3,660; 7. Blake Hahn 3,510; 8. Skylar Gee 3,280; 9. Harli White 2,935, 10. Josh Baughman 1,725;
A USAC RACING FEAST: 36TH 4-CROWN NATIONALS ARRIVE AT ELDORA SATURDAY
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Rico Abreu returns to Eldora Speedway this Saturday night to defend
his '4-Crown Nationals' USAC National Midget victory. (Rich Forman Photo)
A USAC RACING FEAST: 36TH 4-CROWN NATIONALS ARRIVE AT ELDORA SATURDAY
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Only one event brings together USAC's best of the best from a variety of disciplines. Only one event brings all three of USAC's national divisions together at one venue. Only one event showcases what race fans could only dream of: a racer's delight featuring a pit overflowing with the baddest racing machines on planet earth.
All converge on Eldora Speedway this Saturday night, September 23rd for the 36th running of the "4-Crown Nationals" - a grand event that's seen its share of heroes instantly become legends at this fabled dirt track stadium. You could say to win one of these is a feather in a driver's cap or, in this case, a prong on their crown.
At press time, the only one anticipated to go for all four crowns is Brady Bacon. The Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native picked up a sprint car win on this weekend under the sunshine on his way to the series title in 2014.
Among his arsenal this weekend is the Fred Gormly/RPM Auto Enterprise No. 199, the very same team that's won the last three 4-Crown Silver Crown events with drivers Jerry Coons, Jr. in 2014, Christopher Bell in 2015 and Chris Windom in 2016. Bacon is still seeking career Silver Crown victory number one.
4-Crown weekend last year was the beginning of Justin Grant and Sam McGhee Motorsports' winning ways. After capturing the victory in the 2016 sprint portion, the team has carried the momentum into 2017 where they won at Eldora earlier this May and have been at the top of the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car standings since day one.
Chris Windom trails Grant by 70, but Eldora and, specifically the 4-Crown, have been kind to him over the years. The Canton, Illinois driver picked off both the Sprint Car and Silver Crown features in 2013, the most recent driver to win both of those particular features in the same night.
Rocklin, California's Robert Ballou followed up Grant's victory in May at Eldora with a win the next night in the series' last visit to the Big E. Five of Ballou's 28 career USAC National Sprint Car victories have come at Eldora, including his first three as well as the 4-Crown a decade ago back in 2007.
Fellow Californian Thomas Meseraull finally broke through for his first USAC National Sprint Car win at the 2015 "4-Crown." Since then, he's become one of the series' most spectacular, highly-acclaimed drivers. This Saturday, he's aboard the SC Racing No. 9x, which he started last year's event in from the front row.
Only Jack Hewitt owns more 4-Crown victories than Dave Darland's 14, half of which have come at the 4-Crown. The "People's Champ" from Lincoln, Indiana aims to make this weekend's stop the place to extend his record streak of consecutive seasons with a USAC National win from 24 to 25.
Like Darland, the versatile Jerry Coons, Jr. has also won his fair share at the 4-Crown with four victories in the midget, sprint and Silver Crown divisions and currently runs second in the Silver Crown standings aboard Gene Nolen's #20 behind Kody Swanson.
Swanson has yet to win a USAC race at Eldora, last scoring a pair of runner-up finishes during the 2015 4-Crown in both DePalma Motorsports' sprint car and Silver Crown car. This Saturday, he makes his USAC debut under the Nolen Racing banner behind the wheel of the team's new Maxim Sprint Car with which he recorded a victory with in a non-sanctioned event at Lawrenceburg Speedway last weekend.
As the Kingsburg, California native closes out another banner season by wrapping up his third Silver Crown title in a four-year span, another past USAC champ and two-time 4-Crown winner makes his 4-Crown return in Keith Kunz's top-notch midget as well as his own sprinter in the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions portion of the program.
The always-exciting Rutherford, California native swept last year's midget program with fast time, a heat win and a stirring drive in the feature to back up his victory in 2013.
Spectator gates open Saturday at noon. An autograph session featuring USAC's drivers will begin in the fan zone located between turns three and four. The drivers meeting will take place at 4pm with cars hitting the track at 4:30pm. Racing is scheduled to start at 8pm.
Adult general admission tickets are $30. General admission for children age 12 and under is FREE! Reserved seating for adults is $34 with reserved tickets for children age 12 and under just $14.
All drivers competing in the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway this Saturday must fill out a membership. NO COST! Please fill out the driver info portion of the sheet, print off and bring with you to the track. The form can be found at www.eldoraspeedway.com/forms/competitor-membership-app.pdf.
“Blackjack” beats the All Stars at Bedford to complete weekend sweep
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Artic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
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Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
(724) 954-4915
altmeyer119@gmail.com
tyler@tonystewart.com
“Blackjack” beats the All Stars at Bedford to complete weekend sweep
BEDFORD, PA (September 17, 2017) - Completing a weekend sweep against the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, “Blackjack” Brian Brown led all 30 circuits on Sunday night at Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway, earning another $5,000 in the process to cap off a $13,000 weekend in Central Pennsylvania. It was Brown’s first-ever visit to the Bedford County half-mile, ultimately leading Findlay, Ohio’s Caleb Helms and Aussie invader, James McFadden, to the final checkers.
Brian Brown is now the sixth different Arctic Cat All Star winner at Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway in six Series appearances; a statistic carried over from Selinsgrove Speedway when Brown became the 16th different winner one night ago.
Brian Brown celebrating his Bedford victory with a wing dance - Michael Fry Photo Credit
“Hats off to my crew, everybody on this FVP/Casey’s General Stores/Impact team. To come out here to Central PA and win two in a row is a dream come true,” Brian Brown explained. “We thought if we could come out here and get a couple top-fives, that would be a successful trip. I never would have dreamed I’d come to Bedford my first time and win. They call it ‘motorsports’ for a reason and we have the best engine builder in the country.”
Brian Brown and Caleb Helms led the feature grid to green on Sunday night. Brown earned the initial jump, holding back Helms and Trey Starks as the field passed by the flag stand for the first time.
Utilizing the top of the speedway in turns one and two, as well as the bottom groove in turns three and four, Brown cruised at the top of the running order undisturbed until caution flags flew for the first time on lap 11. Trey Starks, who was racing for second at the time, was responsible for the caution, slowing as the leaders crossed the line to complete lap 10; Starks would not return.
Green flag conditions soon resumed with Brown returning to his familiar lines in all four corners. By the mid-point of the 30-lapper, Helms was beginning to pressure Brown for the lead, racing within two to three car lengths, even while in traffic, until caution flags flew again on lap 22. The Findlay, Ohio, native was working the top groove all the way around the legendary half-mile, making up the most ground on Brian Brown at the exit of turn four.
Including the pause on lap 22, a total of three cautions between laps 22 and 25 interrupted Brown’s campaign at the front of the field, each giving Helms another chance to work around the former Knoxville (IA) Raceway track champion. Despite Helms’ efforts, the restart on lap 25 proved to be all that Brown needed, slowly pulling away as each lap clicked complete.
“We’ve been getting lucky. The pill draws have been going our way. To say I could have won from tenth tonight would have been pretty tough,” said Brian Brown. “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and we’ll take the luck. We’ve been getting a lot of front row draws. When you get that opportunity, you have to take advantage of it. There have been some races the last month or so that I’ve given away as a driver. I’m just tickled to be here.”
With the final Pennsylvania appearance officially in the books, Tony Stewart’s Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will turn west and hop the Pennsylvania/Ohio border, anxious to battle in the Buckeye State for the final four dates on the 2017 campaign trail. Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, will host “America’s Series” on two occasions during the final four stops including a visit on Saturday, September 23, for the 36th Annual Four Crown Nationals.
Joining all three national USAC divisions, the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will compete for $5,000 during the Four Crown Nationals showstopper; a program that welcomed 37 entries in 2016. Ian Madsen earned high honors a year ago, holding back Chad Kemenah and Randy Hannagan at the finish.
Those seeking additional news and notes regarding the Four Crown Nationals should visit Eldora Speedway live on the Web at www.eldoraspeedway.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway- Sunday, September 17, 2017:
Event Name: Inaugural Harvest Dirt Classic
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 26 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Brian Brown - 16.188 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Trey Starks - 15.968 seconds *New Track Record
Ford Performance Heat #1: Caleb Helms
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Carl Bowser
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: James McFadden
JE Pistons Dash #1: Brian Brown
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Brandon Matus
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Caleb Helms (2nd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Brent Matus (+5)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Greg Hodnett
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Carl Bowser (12th)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Brandon Matus
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 27-Greg Hodnett, 16.103; 2. 24-Lucas Wolfe, 16.217; 3. 1Z-Dale Blaney, 16.318; 4. 17-Caleb Helms, 16.413; 5. 55-Mike Wagner, 16.433; 6. 35-Tyler Esh, 16.469; 7. 13-Brandon Matus, 16.588; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 17.194; 9. 33-Brent Matus, 18.269
Group (B)
1. 94-Ryan Smith, 16.021; 2. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 16.373; 3. 98-Carl Bowser, 16.464; 4. 95-Hunter Mackison, 16.494; 5. 91-Anthony Fiore, 16.583; 6. 8M-TJ Michael, 16.686; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 16.7688; 8. 5-Justin Barger, 16.769
Group ( C )
1. 44-Trey Starks, 15.968; 2. 21-Brian Brown, 16.014; 3. 3-James McFadden, 16.355; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 16.431; 5. 3K-Tim Kaeding, 16.512; 6. 7W-Logan Wagner, 16.627; 7. 51-John Garvin, 17.271; 8. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 17.299
Heat #1 - Group (A) (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer
1. 17-Caleb Helms [1]; 2. 1Z-Dale Blaney [2]; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett [4]; 4. 24-Lucas Wolfe [3]; 5. 55-Mike Wagner [5]; 6. 35-Tyler Esh [6]; 7. 13-Brandon Matus [7]; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler [8]; 9. 33-Brent Matus [9]
Heat #2 - Group (B) (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer
1. 98-Carl Bowser [2]; 2. 94-Ryan Smith [4]; 3. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [3]; 4. 95-Hunter Mackison [1]; 5. 5-Justin Barger [8]; 6. 91-Anthony Fiore [5]; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison [7]; 8. 8M-TJ Michael [6]
Heat #3 - Group ( C ) (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer
1. 3-James McFadden [2]; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 3. 44-Trey Starks [4]; 4. 21-Brian Brown [3]; 5. 3K-Tim Kaeding [5]; 6. 7W-Logan Wagner [6]; 7. 51-John Garvin [7]; 8. 33M-Max Stambaugh [8]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 2. 17-Caleb Helms [1]; 3. 98-Carl Bowser [4]; 4. 44-Trey Starks [7]; 5. 3-James McFadden [3]; 6. 1Z-Dale Blaney [5]; 7. 10H-Chad Kemenah [6]; 8. 94-Ryan Smith [8]
B-Main (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer
1. 13-Brandon Matus [1]; 2. 8M-TJ Michael [2]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler [4]; 4. 1080-Jordan Mackison [3]; 5. 51-John Garvin [5]; 6. 33-Brent Matus [7]; 7. 33M-Max Stambaugh [6]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 2. 17-Caleb Helms [2]; 3. 3-James McFadden [5]; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah [7]; 5. 27-Greg Hodnett [9]; 6. 1Z-Dale Blaney [6]; 7. 24-Lucas Wolfe [11]; 8. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [10]; 9. 94-Ryan Smith [8]; 10. 3K-Tim Kaeding [12]; 11. 7W-Logan Wagner [16]; 12. 98-Carl Bowser [3]; 13. 5-Justin Barger [15]; 14. 35-Tyler Esh [14]; 15. 13-Brandon Matus [19]; 16. 8M-TJ Michael [18]; 17. 33-Brent Matus [22]; 18. 51-John Garvin [23]; 19. 1080-Jordan Mackison [20]; 20. 91-Anthony Fiore [17]; 21. 55-Mike Wagner [13]; 22. 22-Brandon Spithaler [21]; 23. 44-Trey Starks [4]; 24. 95-Hunter Mackison [24] Lap Leaders: Brian Brown [1-30]
Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (September 17, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah - 5966
2. Ryan Smith - 5626
3. Caleb Armstrong - 5364
4. Max Stambaugh - 4998
5. Caleb Helms - 4974
6. Brandon Spithaler - 4657
7. T.J. Michael - 4607
8. Tyler Esh - 4585
9. Brandon Matus - 4438
10. Tim Shaffer - 4350
Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit its official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.
About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
About Arctic Cat:
The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
(724) 954-4915
altmeyer119@gmail.com
tyler@tonystewart.com
Donny Schatz Scores 18th Win of the Season at Calistoga
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World of Outlaws
Contact: Anthony Corini
World of Outlaws PR
408-825-3360 | acorini@dirtcar.com
Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article
Donny Schatz Scores 18th Win of the Season at Calistoga
KKR Teammates Pittman and Sweet complete podium
CALISTOGA, CA - September 16, 2017 - Donny Schatz passed Brad Sweet on lap 25 to pick up his 18th win of the season Saturday night at Calistoga Speedway. Sweet, who swept Friday's event, held off a charge from Shane Stewart, who succumbed to a flat tire, before giving way to Schatz in heavy lapped traffic. Daryn Pittman surged late for second while Sweet settled for third.
It has been far from easy the last two weeks for the eight-time and defending champion. Schatz was forced to use a provisional both nights at Chico last weekend and had to switch to a backup car last night. It was evident Schatz wanted to wrap up the West Coast swing on a good note.
Schatz assumed second on lap 10 after Shane Stewart was forced pit-side with a flat tire and lurked behind Sweet's Ollie's Bargain Outlet No.49 as he maneuvered through lapped traffic around the half-mile. Sweet hiccupped in traffic on lap 22, allowing the rest of the field to close in. As Schatz began to make the bottom work, Jason Johnson pulled outside of Schatz looking to make a move of his own.
"I knew someone was outside of me. I had to go," Schatz said. Go he did, as Schatz darted to the bottom and slid up on Sweet to take command on lap 25. Sweet tried to return the favor but incidentally let Johnson get by for second.
An open red on lap 27 set up a three-lap dash to the finish. Schatz was strong on the restart as Pittman, who restarted fourth, slid underneath Johnson and Sweet to take second. The maneuvering behind him allowed Schatz to go unchallenged the final three laps and score his 18th victory of the season.
When asked about his troubles last night, Schatz said, "It was just one of those nights. You don't know if it's a nightmare or a freak show." "That's racing, you have to battle through adversity. These guys never stopped working and here we are," he added.
Pittman, who was working out the bugs of a new car, was happy with the progress his Great Clips No.9 made throughout the evening, "We didn't start off where we needed to be. But these guys worked really hard and made some great changes for the Feature. We'll take this and build on it heading back East."
Sweet, who set fast time and won his heat for the second night in a row, said, "I was trying to get runs on the lapped cars and I opened up the door for Donny. Still, it was a great weekend overall."
Johnson settled for fourth with David Gravel completing the top five. Shane Stewart made it back up to tenth from the rear. Austen Wheatley picked up KSE Hard Charger honors.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series now heads East and will compete Friday, September 22 at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio before heading to the Lernerville Speedway Saturday the 23rd for the running of the Commonwealth Clash.
RACE RESULTS FROM : Calistoga Speedway - September 16, 2017
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz [3][$12,000]; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman [4][$5,700]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [2][$3,500]; 4. 41-Jason Johnson [6][$3,000]; 5. 5-David Gravel [9][$2,600]; 6. 24-Rico Abreu [10][$2,400]; 7. 17-Jac Haudenschild [5][$2,300]; 8. 35-Jamie Veal [15][$2,200]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [14][$2,150]; 10. 2-Shane Stewart [1][$2,100]; 11. 7S-Jason Sides [7][$1,600]; 12. 19-Brent Marks [18][$1,350]; 13. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [8][$1,300]; 14. 44W-Austen Wheatley [22][$1,200]; 15. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [16][$1,100]; 16. 11K-Kraig Kinser [12][$1,000]; 17. 83-Kyle Hirst [11][$900]; 18. 3C-DJ Netto [17][$850]; 19. 22-Shane Golobic [21][$800]; 20. O-Bud Kaeding [19][$800]; 21. 20-Cory Eliason [23][$800]; 22. 1A-Jacob Allen [13][$800]; 23. 29-Willie Croft [24][$800]; 24. 4-Paul McMahan [20][$800]; 25. 1S-Logan Schuchart [25][$]
Lap Leaders: Brad Sweet 1-23, Donny Schatz 24-30;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 44W-Austen Wheatley[+8]
Qualifying: 1. 49-Brad Sweet, 16.057; 2. 41-Jason Johnson, 16.059; 3. 2-Shane Stewart, 16.202; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman, 16.298; 5. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 16.313; 6. 5-David Gravel, 16.326; 7. O-Bud Kaeding, 16.342; 8. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.373; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 16.384; 10. 7S-Jason Sides, 16.411; 11. 17-Jac Haudenschild, 16.46; 12. 15-Donny Schatz, 16.469; 13. 24-Rico Abreu, 16.508; 14. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 16.52; 15. 35-Jamie Veal, 16.551; 16. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 16.554; 17. 4-Paul McMahan, 16.562; 18. 19-Brent Marks, 16.581; 19. 1A-Jacob Allen, 16.592; 20. 83-Kyle Hirst, 16.722; 21. 29-Willie Croft, 16.726; 22. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 16.734; 23. 3C-DJ Netto, 16.753; 24. 22-Shane Golobic, 16.838; 25. 20-Cory Eliason, 17.031; 26. 68-Chase Johnson, 17.058; 27. 98-Sean Watts, 17.131; 28. 13-Clyde Knipp, 17.170
Heat #1 (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer: 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman [2]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [4]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [5]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen [7]; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [8]; 7. 20-Cory Eliason [9]; 8. O-Bud Kaeding [3]; 9. 13-Clyde Knipp [10]; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]
Heat #2 (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer: 1. 41-Jason Johnson [1]; 2. 17-Jac Haudenschild [4]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [2]; 4. 83-Kyle Hirst [7]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [3]; 6. 3C-DJ Netto [8]; 7. 4-Paul McMahan [6]; 8. 44W-Austen Wheatley [5]; 9. 68-Chase Johnson [9]
Heat #3 (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer: 1. 2-Shane Stewart [1]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 3. 5-David Gravel [2]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 5. 35-Jamie Veal [5]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [6]; 7. 22-Shane Golobic [8]; 8. 29-Willie Croft [7]; 9. 98-Sean Watts [9]
Craftsman Club Dash (6 Laps): 1. 2-Shane Stewart [2]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [4]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [6]; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman [1]; 5. 17-Jac Haudenschild [5]; 6. 41-Jason Johnson [3]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer: 1. O-Bud Kaeding [1][-]; 2. 4-Paul McMahan [4][-]; 3. 22-Shane Golobic [6][-]; 4. 44W-Austen Wheatley [2][-]; 5. 20-Cory Eliason [7][-]; 6. 29-Willie Croft [5][-]; 7. 13-Clyde Knipp [9][$300]; 8. 68-Chase Johnson [8][$250]; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3][$225]; 10. 98-Sean Watts [10][$200]
CONTINGENCY WINNERS: MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Paul McMahan; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Jac Haudenschild; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Jamie Veal; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Greg Wilson; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Shane Stewart; Extended Stay America ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Brent Marks; Super Flow ($50 cash): Sheldon Haudenschild; Craftsman Club ($100 cash): Brad Sweet, Shane Stewart, Daryn Pittman, Jac Haudenschild, Jason Johnson; Sears ($100): N/A; KSE Hard Charger: Austen Wheatley; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate: Donny Schatz; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Kraig Kinser; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Jacob Allen
SEASON WINNERS
Donny Schatz - 18 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, LoneStar Speedway on March 3, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 9, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 10, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 18, Missouri State Fair Speedway on May 5, 81 Speedway on May 6, Eldora Speedway May 13, Knoxville Raceway on June 10, Granite City on June 20, Dirt Oval at Route 66 on June 27, Dakota State Fair Speedway on July 1, Eldora Speedway on July 15, Lernerville Speedway on July 18, Knoxville Raceway on August 12 (NP), River Cities Speedway on August 18, Calistoga Speedway on September 16)
David Gravel - 13 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 17, Placerville Speedway on March 29, Perris Auto Speedway on April 1, Gator Motorplex on April 13, Plymouth Speedway on April 28, Lincoln Speedway on May 17, Williams Grove on May 19, New Egypt Speedway on May 24, River Cities Speedway on June 16, Attica Raceway Park on July 11, Hartford Speedway on July 28, Wilmot Raceway on July 29, August 20 at Nodak Speedway
Shane Stewart - 8 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 20, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 29, West Liberty Raceway on June 23, Beaver Dam Raceway on June 24, Black Hills Speedway on August 25, Skagit Speedway on September 1, Grays Harbor on September 4, Silver Dollar Speedway on September 9)
Brad Sweet - 5 (Stockton Dirt Track on March 25, Devil's Bowl on April 15, Jackson Motorplex on June 3, Knoxville Raceway on June 9, Calistoga Speedway on September 15)
Kerry Madsen - 4 (Jackson Motorplex on June 2, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 7, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 8, Eldora Speedway on July 13)
Logan Schuchart - 4 (Keller Auto Speedway on March 31, Eldora Speedway on May 12, Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, Ohsweken Speedway on July 25)
Jason Johnson - 4 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 17, Devil's Bowl on April 14, Red River Valley Speedway on August 19, Willamette Speedway on September 6)
Daryn Pittman – 3 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on August 4, Billings Motorsports Park on August 26, Skagit Speedway on September 2nd)
Brian Brown - 1 (Cocopah Speedway on April 7)
Rico Abreu - 1 (Arizona Speedway on April 8)
Parker Price-Miller - 1 (Tri-State Speedway on May 14)
Ian Madsen - 1 (Jackson Motorplex on June 1)
Kyle Larson - 1 (Eagle Raceway on June 13)
Kraig Kinser - 1 (Deer Creek Speedway on July 6)
Christopher Bell - 1 (Eldora Speedway on July 14)
Brock Zearfoss - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 21)
Kyle Hirst - 1 (Silver Dollar Speedway on September 8)
THOMAS GETS TRI-STATE REVENGE; DEFEATS CUMMINS BY 0.053 SECONDS TO WIN HAUBSTADT HUSTLER
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
THOMAS GETS TRI-STATE REVENGE; DEFEATS CUMMINS BY 0.053 SECONDS TO WIN "HAUBSTADT HUSTLER"
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Haubstadt, Indiana.....September 16, 2017 - Kevin Thomas, Jr. was bound and determined not to let history repeat itself in Saturday night's USAC AMSOIL National/MSCS Sprint Car "Haubstadt Hustler" at Tri-State Speedway.
For the second time in a row at the southwestern Indiana quarter-mile paperclip, a green-white-checker duel for the victory came down to he and July Tri-State winner Kyle Cummins.
The setting was the same in the Thomas v. Cummins sequel on the final restart. Thomas led Cummins when the green flag dropped, but heading into the final corner on the final lap, the roles became reversed when Thomas responded to Cummins' final haymaker by crossing underneath off turn four to defeat Cummins by the blink of an eye, a scant margin of 0.053 seconds to win the $12,500 prize.
Kevin Thomas, Jr. (in black) defeats Kyle Cummins to the line by 0.053 seconds to win Saturday night's USAC AMSOIL National/MSCS Sprint Car
'Haubstadt Hustler' at Tri-State Speedway. (Ryan Sellers Photo)
"You have to restart on a very racy racetrack with Kyle Cummins on your tail, what do you do," Thomas pondered. "You just got to drive your (rear) off and hope for the best. These guys gave me a great racecar. To set up a car here to run 40 laps with as much as the track changes, that's pretty amazing. Hats off to them for reading the racetrack right and making all the right changes. Kyle Cummins is the king of this place. To beat him here doesn't happen very often and, last time, it didn't happen."
In fact, it was even a similar scenario as the night before at the Terre Haute Action Track. Thomas led until four laps to go when Chris Windom used a slider to get by for the top spot. Thomas didn't have much of an opportunity to respond as he ran out of fuel two laps short of the finish. At Tri-State, lack of fuel came into play on the 40th and final lap. Another lap or another caution would've spelled doom for the Cullman, Alabama native who freely admitted in the post-race that his first investment is going to be the purchase of a larger tail tank heading into next Saturday's "4-Crown Nationals" at Eldora Speedway.
"I had to get going, so I tightened myself up and gave it as much throttle as I could to keep the wheels spinning," Thomas detailed. "I slung it in there and hoped for the best. All you can do here is choose the right line. The bottom started to dry up a little bit, so I tightened up and got some momentum. Going down the back straight on the last lap, I ran out of fuel. Cummins slid me getting into turn three, but the car picked up just enough to cross him under and get the bite coming off the corner to get back by him. Honestly, if he doesn't mess up or wheelie, he wins that race."
With all of his past accolades at Tri-State, Cummins was odds-on favorite after picking up the $500 Unique Breedz bonus for recording ProSource Fast Qualifying time, then winning his heat race. After pole-sitter C.J. Leary's car jumped out of gear as he led the field into turn one on the opening lap, the inside rows were moved up, placing Cummins in the envious position on the pole.
However, Thomas wouldn't let Cummins get away scot-free as he ran him down from his outside second row starting position, making the move for the lead with an inside turn two pass on the fourth circuit.
Thomas immediately stretched his lead out to as much as a half-straightaway over Cummins during the next few laps. Yet, the faster you break away, the faster you enter lap traffic, which Thomas did on lap 15. However, Thomas seemingly caught a break when the yellow flag waved for the stopped car of Shane Cottle in turn one, erasing the potential hazard of wading through the lappers for the time-being.
Thomas was gone again when he saw green on the lap 16 restart, but once again, eight laps later, just as Thomas was about to encounter the tail-end of the field, another yellow forced the stoppage of action when Jon Stanbrough spun off turn four in front of the second-place cars of Cummins and Thomas Meseraull, forcing the two to take evasive action to escape unscathed.
With that said, Cummins felt the traffic wouldn't have made much of a difference at that point in the race as his car hadn't fully came to him yet.
"Even in traffic, he was still better," Cummins credits Thomas. "In traffic, I still wasn't catching him. As the race went on, the car got a little bit better. I was always just bound up a little too tight. Once he passed me, I'm half throttle trying not to wheelie. I knew he was going to be quicker at the get-go. I kind of let him get out front there. Forty laps is a long race and I knew once it got slick, we were going to have a better car."
On the other hand, Thomas has a love-hate relationship with the lapped cars and, just like many things in racing, sometimes they can help in one instance and may be a hindrance on another occasion.
"Sometimes I like lap traffic and sometimes I don't," Thomas admits. "Tonight, a few of those times, I liked it. Then, there were a couple times, they were three-wide and there was nowhere to go. If you made one mistake and pushed, Kyle Cummins is going to peel your stickers off on his way by. You have to focus so hard on, not necessarily hitting your marks, but keeping your car rotated. You have to run the car so tight here. The corners are so sharp that, if you make a mistake, you'll push for a hundred yards it feels like. It's a big concentration track. It's mentally and physically tough. It's 40 laps around this place as hard as you can go. There's no cruising whatsoever. You're always working at the wheel."
On a restart with 13 laps remaining following a Dakota Jackson spin, Cummins finally stuck close to Thomas when the field got up to speed. For the next eight laps, Cummins was just two car-lengths away as both rode the lip of the cushion, ready to strike when opportunity arose until Dave Darland's left rear tire went flat with four to go, leaving rubber scattered on the racing surface to bring out the yellow once again.
On the lap 37 resumption, Thomas responded with a great restart, gapping Cummins by about four car-lengths over the next two trips around the oval. With two to go, Thomas' recurring nightmare reemerged when yet another late-race caution interrupted his run to the checker. The four-car incident in turn four involved Josh Hodges, Chase Stockon, Donny Brackett and Isaac Chapple. All were able to restart.
Once again, Thomas was set up in a green-white-checker situation with Tri-State Speedway master Kyle Cummins breathing down his HANS device. Thomas didn't exactly know who was behind him on the final restart, but he had an inkling.
"These corners are so sharp, you can turn your head and see a color of a car," Thomas explained. "On that longer green flag run toward the end, I could see a big white car. I just knew that had to be Cummins. It always is. Near the end, I kept looking back and I didn't see a white car, but I knew he didn't drop out, so I had the feeling he was on my tail."
Cummins threw his first shot heading into turn one on the restart, sliding past Thomas momentarily before snagging the turn two cushion with the right rear.
"I knew if I could break his momentum and get in front of him, he wouldn't be able to catch me," Cummins believed. "It was like we were the same speed. I knew I couldn't slide him. On the restart, I knew I was going to have to do something. I was all over him when we took the green. I got just enough of a run and just threw it in there. When I came up there, I was hard on the throttle and I was just trying to touch the cushion a little bit. It threw the front end and got me behind. If I wouldn't have messed the cushion up, I would've been a lot closer and I think it would've been a lot better."
Yet Cummins wasn't completely out of the picture frame. As he fell back roughly five to six car-lengths, he shadowed Thomas for a full circuit before sizing up his next move midway down the back straightaway on the final lap. At the same moment, Thomas was experiencing issues of his own.
"I had to get going, so I tightened myself up and gave it as much throttle as I could to keep the wheels spinning," Thomas details. "I slung it in there and hoped for the best. All you can do here is choose the right line. The bottom started to dry up a little bit, so I tightened up and got some momentum. But going down the back straight, that's when I ran out of fuel."
Cummins quickly erased the gap as he threw his car to the bottom on the entry to turn three as Thomas rode the cushion, surprising even Cummins to an extent.
"I thought there was no way I'd be that close to him," Cummins admitted. "I'm like 'where'd he go?'
Cummins took over the lead when he slid up in front of Thomas at the exit of turn four. Thomas quickly countered under Cummins and, in a drag race to the line, defeated Cummins by a mere 0.053 seconds to win his second "Haubstadt Hustler." Meseraull, Chet Williams and Tyler Courtney rounded out the top-five.
Kevin Thomas, Jr. (middle) proudly displays the $12,500 combined prizes for winning Saturday night's 'Haubstadt Hustler' at Tri-State Speedway. Thomas is joined in victory lane by second-place finisher Kyle Cummins (right) and third-place finisher Thomas Meseraull. (David Nearpass Photo)
Thomas picked up his third USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car points-paying feature of the year in his KT Motorsports/Jeff's Jam-It-In Storage - Abreu Vineyards/DRC/Speedway Chevy. It marked the first National victory with newly-hired crew chief Davey Jones who the team brought aboard during USAC/CRA's "California Sprint Week" a couple weeks back, marking three wins out of six for the combo since joining forces.
After throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Thomas on the final restart, Princeton, Indiana's Cummins came up just short, finishing in the runner-up position in his Rock Steady Racing/Debra Corn Foster Care - ProGlide Bearings/Mach-1/Cummins.
Throughout the race, Cummins' mount continually got better and better, but was quite a handful at the beginning of the 40-lapper.
"I knew at the beginning we were going to be way too tight," Cummins acknowledges. "The track looked like it had moisture, but then I thought it was going to blow off a little bit better, so we tightened it up quite a bit more. At the beginning, I had to be careful. The car was wanting to wheelie. I thought as the race went on, every time we had a yellow, the car got a little better."
"We know next time to go ahead and keep it a little looser," Cummins said in retrospect. "I got it as loose as I could with the shocks. At the end, I just got it to where it was good. If we had a chance to do it all over again, it would've been so much better. But at the last race, we said 'this is what we're going to do. We're going to tighten her up just a hair more.' But the track just didn't get slick enough for us. On the last lap, I didn't think it was even going to be close. I was so tight, even the middle was decent. But, now we know for the next time and we'll get it a little looser."
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Tri-State Speedway included Kyle Cummins (Unique Breedz/ProSource Fast Qualifier & Indy Race Parts Heat 4 winner), Chet Williams (13th Fastest Qualifier - Free Right Rear Tire from Roger & Barb Tapy), Thomas Meseraull (Simpson Race Products Heat 1 Winner), Chet Williams (Competition Suspension, Inc. Heat 2 Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Chalk Stix Heat 3 Winner), Brady Short (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Dave Darland (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 16, 2017 - Haubstadt, Indiana - Tri-State Speedway - "Haubstadt Hustler" (Co-Sanctioned by MSCS)
UNIQUE BREEDZ/PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.624; 2. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.843; 3. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-13.916; 4. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-13.942; 5. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-14.032; 6. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Schnapf-14.046; 7. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.126; 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9K, KT-14.126; 9. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-14.180; 10. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-14.185; 11. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-14.202; 12. Dave Darland, 17GP, Dutcher-14.238; 13. Chet Williams, 38, Williams-14.285; 14. Carson Short, 21, RCM-14.305; 15. Brian Karraker, 23, Karraker-14.339; 16. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-14.368; 17. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-14.388; 18. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-14.396; 19. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.417; 20. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-14.448; 21. Donny Brackett, 4B, Brackett-14.476; 22. Kendall Ruble, 17, Ruble-14.492; 23. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-14.504; 24. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-14.639; 25. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-14.643; 26. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling/Hayward-14.670; 27. Collin Ambrose, 36, Ambrose-14.714; 28. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-14.819; 29. Kent Schmidt, 5K, Schmidt-15.050; 30. Ben Knight, 45K, Knight-16.114; 31. Jeff Pritchett, 2J, Pritchett-NT; 32. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Meseraull, 2. Brackett, 3. Hodges, 4. Stanbrough, 5. Mattox, 6. Ambrose, 7. Knight, 8. Pritchett. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Williams, 2. Leary, 3. Chapple, 4. Courtney, 5. Boespflug, 6. Clouser, 7. Schmidt, 8. Karraker. NT
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Thomas, 2. Stockon, 3. Gentry, 4. Jackson, 5. Darland, 6. C. Short, 7. B. Short, 8. Weir. 2:20.46
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT (10 laps): 1. Cummins, 2. Grant, 3. Cottle, 4. Windom, 5. Ballou, 6. Bacon, 7. Schnapf, 8. Ruble. 2:17.45
SEMI (12 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Ballou, 3. C. Short, 4. Darland, 5. B. Short, 6. Mattox, 7. Weir, 8. Bacon, 9. Schanpf, 10. Ruble, 11. Ambrose, 12. Clouser, 13. Schmidt, 14. Knight, 15. Pritchett. NT
FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Chet Williams, 5. Tyler Courtney, 6. Chris Windom, 7. Brady Short, 8. Robert Ballou, 9. C.J. Leary, 10. Justin Grant, 11. Chad Boespflug, 12. Carson Short, 13. Dave Darland, 14. Donny Brackett, 15. Chase Stockon, 16. Isaac Chapple, 17. Josh Hodges, 18. Brady Bacon, 19. Dakota Jackson, 20. Aric Gentry, 21. Brandon Mattox, 22. Jon Stanbrough, 23. Shane Cottle, 24. Kendall Ruble. NT
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**Karraker flipped during the second heat. Knight flipped during the semi.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Cummins, Laps 4-40 Thomas.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brady Short (21st to 7th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Dave Darland
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1-Grant-1775, 2-Windom-1705, 3-Courtney-1622, 4-Boespflug-1593, 5-K. Thomas-1587, 6-Stockon-1515, 7-Leary-1385, 8-Bacon-1329, 9-Ballou-1266, 10-Darland-1158.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 23 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - 36th "4-Crown Nationals"
BELTZ AND SMITH WIN FEATURE RACES AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY FRIDAY NIGHT
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Grandview Speedway
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NEWS FROM NASCAR SANCTIONED ROGERS FAMILY GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY, Bechtelsville, PA
Event Organizer Kenny Rogers-Assistant Event Organizer Tina Rogers
Track phone: 610.754.7688 – www.grandviewspeedway.com
MEDIA CONTACT: Ernie Saxton @ 215.752.7797 or Esaxton144@aol.com or 267.934.7286 (cell)
Race Results by Randy Kane
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RYAN BELTZ WINS FREEDOM 38’ER SPORTSMAN FEATURE AND KYLE SMITH TAKES MASS SPRINT CAR WIN AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY ON SATURDAY NIGHT
BECHTELSVILLE, PA September 16, 2017. . . Seasoned veteran Ryan Beltz fought it out with youngster Ryan Lilick right down to the wire to go on and claim a very popular win, Friday night at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, PA, pocketing $1,500 for his triumph in the fourth annual Sportsman Freedom 38’er. With his win, the 43-year-old Beltz became the 13th different driver to earn a Sportsman feature win this season, taking his first win this season, the second of his career and his first since May 28, 2016. The win makes Beltz the fourth different driver to win the event in its four-year race history.
In a companion 25-lap feature event for the Mid-Atlantic 305 Sprint Series at the high-banked third-mile dirt track, a dominating triumph was scored by Kyle Smith in his first visit ever to the track.
“I am certain I drove the only four coil car at the track tonight to victory,” announced Beltz, following a roof dance in victory lane. “I’ve got to give thanks to Ryan Watt for all the help he has given us this season, plus Bicknell Race Cars. We just went back to basics tonight. We had a different engine in and just haven’t had a lot of luck here the last few weeks. We had a good race car and everything just came together for us here tonight.”
Following the heat races the top 20 qualified cars, all, picked for spots in a blind draw, with Brian Hirthler, 35, out of Perkiomenville, PA picking the pole to start, with former 358 Modified racer Doug Pannepacker pulling outside the front row. Beltz picked third to start in the 26-car starting field.
With the green waved by starter Ray Kemp it was Hirthler setting the early pace aboard his self-owned No. 4* Four Star Letting Sportsman mount over Pannepacker and Beltz through the first five tours. On lap 6 it was Beltz moving into the runner-up role, dropping Pannepacker to third.
With seven in the record books, Hirthler had nearly a full straightaway lead over Beltz, steering his self-owned KAM Fueled Racing No. 221 entry.
Craig Whitmoyer, 42, of Hamburg, PA, who won the event back in 2015 and started from eighth Friday night, was on the move and by lap 13 he advanced into fourth-place behind Beltz and Pannepacker. A lap 19 caution slowed things and regrouped the field, erasing the big lead held by Hirthler.
When racing resumed it was Hirthler out in front again over Whitmoyer, who ducked underneath Beltz through turn 3 on the restart, and Beltz now running in third. Pannepacker fell back to fourth, with Lilick, who started fourteenth, moving to fifth.
By lap 25 Hirthler again started to pull away, holding a comfortable lead.
Lilick began to pick off positions and took fourth with seven circuits to go. A lap later, Whitmoyer saw his night come to an early end when his motor expired in a huge cloud of smoke to bring out the caution with six to go.
On the double-file restart Hirthler selected to start from the outside, putting Beltz on the bottom. With the green, it was Beltz outgunning Hirthler and becoming the new race leader for lap 33. Lilick advanced to third and took second a lap later, as Hirthler dropped back to third.
“He kept picking the top on the restarts and I just kept praying, eventually, I’d get the jump and we did,” Beltz said. “Everybody was going to the top and I figured, eventually, they’d rub everything away up on top and I still had good grip on the bottom. I got a good run on him the previous restart, but he held on.”
With a lap remaining, Lilick hit Beltz hard, but Beltz held on, as they battled for the win.
“When he hit me I wound up losing my brakes. That last lap I was driving it balls to the wall or else without brakes,” explained the driver out of Schwenksville, PA. “I figured at the end if he went high I’d go low and if he stayed low I’d go high. I wasn’t about to give it away and settle for second.”
Racing through turns 3 and 4 with the checkered waving, Lilick drifted up to the top to protect, as Beltz drove it in on the bottom. Beltz had the edge exiting turn 4 and crossed the line first, winning by a narrow margin over Lilick at the line.
Third went to Hirthler, trailed by Brad Grim, Brett Gilmore and Brian Papiez, who started the event from 21st with the original green.
Heat races for 50 Sportsman entries were won by Hirthler, Mike Lisowski, Ryan Higgs and Beltz. Twin consolations went out to Papiez and Matt Stangle.
In the 25-lap Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series (MASS) feature race it was Brian Krummel, who started outside the front row taking the early lead over pole sitter Steph Carberry and third-starter Austin Bishop. By lap 6, Krummel held a safe lead.
Lap 12 it was still Krummel setting a torrid pace, as Bishop slipped into second, as the leaders raced through heavy slower, lapped traffic. Carberry fell into third. A lap later, Samantha Lieberman spun out in turn 3, as Bishop tried to avoid the spinning car. Bishop darted to the outside and smacked the boiler plate wall hard to bring out the red at the crossed flags.
With the restart it was Carberry outracing Krummel off turn 4 to become the new race leader. Smith roared into second spot, with Krummel falling to third. Smith quickly went by Carberry to become the new race leader, with Carberry dropping to second on lap 15. A lap later Krummel spun it out in turn 2 to bring out a caution.
Smith retook the top spot in front of Carberry and by lap 21 Smith was nearly a full straightaway out in front of Carberry. Eddie Wagner was running third, with Dave Brown now fourth.
Smith easily secured the win, with Carberry, Wagner, Eddie Strada and Tim Tanner Jr. chasing him.
Heat races for 30 Sprint Cars were claimed by Wagner, Bishop and Krummel. The consolation win went to Stephanie Dodson.
Some 25 358 Modified cars were also on hand for several practice sessions throughout the evening of racing.
Sportsman – 38-laps 1) Ryan Beltz 2) Ryan Lilick 3) Brian Hirthler 4) Brad Grim 5) Brett Gilmore 6) Brian Papiez 7) Louden Reimert 8) Doug Pannepacker 9) Jordan Henn 10) Kyle Lilick 11) Cale Ross 12) Jesse Landis 13) Kenny Bock 14) Nick Mady 15) Craig Whitmoyer 16) Roger Manning 17) Matt Stangle 18) Chad Kohler 19) Jack Butler 20) Ken Eckert Jr. 21) Joe Funk 22) Ryan Schupp 23) Ryan Higgs 24) Mike Lisowski 25 Andrew Kreis 26) Billy Osmun III
MASS Sprint Cars – 25-laps 1) Kyle Smith 2) Steph Carberry 3) Eddie Wagner 4) Eddie Strada 5) Tim Tanner Jr. 6) Dave Brown 7) Jeff Geiges 8) Tyler Reinhardt 9) Joe Kay 10) Jon Haegele 11) Brian Krummel 12) Cassidy Kreitz 13) Brandon Poff 14) Stephanie Dodson 15) Dave Graber 16) Keith Anderson 17) Scott Frack 18) Tom Carberry 19) Bryant Davis 20) Austin Bishop 21) Bobby Sandt 22) Samantha Lieberman 23) Tommy Carberry 24) Dave Bonner 25) Zack Burd
ERNIE SAXTON COMMUNICATIONS, INC
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