Results Summary from Lanco on July 19... [Archive]

bwa39

07-20-2008, 04:36 PM

Brickerville, PA - Matt Pupello kept his composure, despite heavy pressure from a couple of different competitors, and it paid off as the New Yorker won the first Lanco 600cc main event of his career on Saturday night.
Joining Pupello in the winner's circle at the Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway were Greg Miller (270cc); Sonny Sweitzer (125cc); Kenny Miller (Sportsman); and Richie Hartman (250cc Four-Strokes).

In the Lias Tire/American Racer 600cc feature race, Pupello jumped from his outside-pole starting spot to grab the lead over pole-sitter Christi Sweigart as the green flag waved.
As Pupello set the pace, Mike Freed and Chris Gerhart zipped through the field, and it appeared as though these two wheel-twisters were strong contenders for the victory. It was Gerhart, however, who offered the biggest challenge to Pupello.
With Pupello's SB3 Chassis No. 42 stuck to the high groove, Gerhart worked the bottom, sticking his nose under the leader on several occasions. Contact with the lapped car of Doug Smith ruined Gerhart's chance at victory. As Smith performed a half-spin directly in front of the leaders, Pupello tip-toed around the high side and got by, but Gerhart, with no choice but to try and dive under Smith's No. 53, slid into the disabled micro. Gerhart whacked the left side of Smith's machine, damaging the right-rear corner of his Quaker Sheds No. 51. Although he restarted and held on to second for a few laps, Gerhart finally succumbed to the severe vibration caused by the wobbling right-rear wheel on his car.
Freed's Washington Avenue Bible Church/ Predator also suffered mechanical woes as the yellow flew for the Smith/ Gerhart jumble, forcing him to retire from the race.
Mike Rutherford was now the runner-up, but Pupello never wavered, racing under Tim Gehret's checkered flag by .227 seconds over Rutherford. Jimmy Glenn charged from 13th at the start to finish third, with 16th starting Mike Dicely coming on to grab fourth near the end of the 25-lapper. Heath Hehnly, who rolled off from the 21st starting position, climbed steadily forward to record a fifth-place finish.
Freed, Lex Burritt, and Kenny Miller captured heat races for the 27-car field of 600's. Ryan Wilson took the consolation victory.

Greg Miller, from Hershey, notched his first Lanco triumph of 2008, winning the 270cc main event sponsored by Lias Tire/American Racer Tires.
Miller started second, then beat Greg Fitzpatrick down the backstretch on lap one to assume command.
Todd Steffy throttled into the runner-up spot in the early going, then zeroed in on the leader. Dave Falini, who took the green in the eighth position, blasted into third with Dave Grube and Mike Rutherford in tow.
Steffy ducked under Miller in three and four with ten to go, bumping wheels with the No. 77. As Steffy began to spin, Falini's Viper turned into a monser truck, climbing over Steffy's left-rear wheel. Falini's right-front tire wound up behind Steffy's pipe, and the momentum of the No. 74F tore the pipe off of Steffy's mount. Falini was able to continue without stopping, thereby restarting in second after the caution to get Steffy's car off the track.
With Falini and Rutherford now second and third, respectively, Miller's lead appeared to be in jeopardy. Greg was simply too strong on this night, however, and he gassed his Viper out to a comfortable advantage on the ensuing green.
Miller won by half-a-second over Falini, with Rutherford hanging on for third. Bob Brubaker registered his best finish of the season with a fourth-place effort, while Richie Hartman rebounded from an early race incident to earn fifth-place money.
Dave Grube and Falini were victorious in the twin heats for the 270 micros.

Sonny Sweitzer shook off the mechanical gremlins that have plagued his '08 racing season, taking a wire-to-wire victory in the Lias Tire/American Racer Tires 125cc feature.
The veteran from York, PA, survived a close battle with Dave Grube to score the win. Grube raced much of the 25-lap event with a broken shock, but remained within striking distance of Sweitzer before settling for runner-up honors.
Heath Hehnly, last week's 125cc victor, raced from eighth to third. His teammate, current point leader and defending champion Jesse Maurer, weaved his way from 11th at the start to finish fourth, with Nathan Weidman in fifth.
Heat races for the 125cc racers went to Steve Brown and Weidman.

The Lias Tire/American Racer Sportsman feature fell to Kenny Miller. The triumph was Miller's second in a row and fourth of the year in Sportsman competition.
Miller, from Birdsboro, sat 12th as the race began. He moved into second on the seventh trip around the 1/8-mile oval, then darted under Steve Drevicki to snatch the lead three tours later.
Billy Logeman, the defending Sportsman champ, squeezed between Drevicki and a lapped car to claim the runner-up spot just past the halfway mark. Logeman closed in on Miller as the laps clicked off, but he wasn't able to muster a serious challenge.
As Miller rocketed under the black-and-white silks with Logeman several car-lengths back in second and Brett Wanner third, a mad scramble took place from fourth on back.
Drevicki wound up fourth, with Sheena Schaefer nosing ahead in a three-wide tussle for fifth.
The qualifying heats were taken by Drevicki, Wanner, and Schaefer. Jason Swavely won the consolation.

Richie Hartman started on the inside of row five as the 250cc Four-Stroke feature went green. Hartman wasted no time in getting to the front, though, taking the lead on the fifth circuit, then running away to his fifth victory of the year in this class.
With Hartman sitting in third place and closing fast, George Potts Jr. and Chris Lee dueled for the top spot. Potts' car pushed up the track on lap five, pinching Lee against the outside guardrail. The bottom lane was wide open, and Hartman utilized the opportunity to zoom past, taking a lead he would not relinquish.
Point leader Chad Rhoads assumed the runner-up position during the second half of the 25-lapper, but Hartman had checked out by that time. Rhoads chased Hartman to the stripe, with Ryan Gabers crossing in the third position. Eddie Nocera and George Potts III completed the top five.
Rhoads and Hartman copped the two heat races for the 250cc Four-Strokes.

This Saturday, July 26, is a very special one at Lanco. It's the annual Clyde Martin Memorial Race, with 35-lap features and double points scheduled for all five classes. In order to be eligible for the Memorial, drivers must be club members and must have attempted to start at least half of the point shows run to date. Specifically, drivers in the 600cc division must have attempted to start in at least four point-paying events, while drivers in each of the other four classes must have attempted to start at least five point shows.
Gates open at 3:30, with warm-ups slated for 5 p.m. The green flag will wave over the first heat race at 6:00.
General admission tickets for adults are just $8.00, with discounts for students and Senior Citizens. Kids between the ages of 6 and 12 are admitted for just $2.00, and children under the age of 6 are free.
It's the Clyde Martin Memorial, honoring those individuals who have passed on, but were instrumental in developing and building the Lanco Micro-Sprint club and facility into the outstanding organization that it is. The big trophies, symbolic for winning the Memorial, are handed down from year to year. If a driver wins three Memorials in the same class, the trophy is retired and given to that driver to keep permanently.
The Clyde Martin Memorial, with it's rich tradition, the longest main events of the season, and double-points, make this a "can't miss" event. You've just gotta come on out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco!

RESULTS:
600cc Feature (25 laps): 1.Matt Pupello 2.Mike Rutherford 3.Jimmy Glenn 4.Mike Dicely 5.Heath Hehnly 6.Lex Burritt 7.Billy Ney 8.Joe Lord 9.Shaun Brandel 10.Shane Lewis 11.Brent Ely 12.Jamie Kostic 13.Alex Bright 14.Ryan Wilson 15.Chris Snyder 16.Jeff Halligan 17.Kory Merkey 18.Christi Sweigart 19.Kerry Gilbert 20.Doug Smith 21.Chris Gerhart 22.Mike Freed 23.Kenny Miller 24.Scott Gingrich.

270cc Feature (25 laps): 1.Greg Miller 2.Dave Falini 3.Mike Rutherford 4.Bob Brubaker 5.Richie Hartman 6.Jason Swavely 7.Scott Gingrich 8.Dave Grube 9.Zack Fouse 10.Trevor Koybylarz 11.Jim Skias 12.Dave Williams 13.Lester Dice 14.Mark Ewer 15.Todd Steffy 16.Heath Hehnly 17.Josh Stoyer 18.Devin Harron 19.Greg Fitzpatrick 20.Bruce Ginther 21.Jared Davis. DNS: Byron Wagman.

125cc Feature (25 laps): 1.Sonny Sweitzer 2.Dave Grube 3.Heath Hehnly 4.Jesse Maurer 5.Nathan Weidman 6.Bret Habecker 7.Scott Gantert 8.Matt Budd 9.Brian Sholley 10.Steve Brown 11.Kory Merkey 12.Mark Yoder 13.K evin Garman 14.Derek Eckenrode 15.Sheena Schaefer 16.Cody Drace 17.Kyle Henninger. DNS: Dave Falini.

Sportsman Feature (25 laps): 1.Kenny Miller 2.Billy Logeman 3.Brett Wanner 4.Steve Drevicki 5.Sheena Schaefer 6.Jamie Fetterolf 7.Glenn Moyer 8.Jason Swavely 9.Dwayne Mathias 10.Dennis Ziegler 11.Wesley Fasnacht 12.Mark Ludwig 13.Lloyd Fasnacht 14.Jeff Hughes 15.Keith Holiday 16.Robert Shanaman 17.Paul May III 18.Pete Ober 19.Jenna Keppley 20.Tim Ziegler 21.Jason Hehnly 22.Dean Spangler, Jr. 23.Dennis Fenstermacher.

250cc Four-Stroke Feature (25 laps): 1.Richie Hartman 2.Chad Rhoads 3.Ryan Gabers 4.Ed Nocera 5.George Potts III 6.Jessica Enck 7.Ashley Enck 8.Brittany Brown 9.George Potts, Jr. 10.Jared Gabers 11.Chris Lee 12.Jake Booth 13.Kevin Kopp 14.Kim Enck 1 5.Greg Schmuck 16.Kayla Fetter 17.Phil Johnson 18.Jason Johnson 19.Lewis Kepple. DNS: Dick Huzzard; Craig DeSantis.

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