bwa39
06-29-2008, 11:15 PM
On a night that featured rain delays, lights that malfunctioned in turns three and four, and breakdowns by a few pieces of the track prep equipment, Richie Hartman still managed a big smile when the racing program finally concluded.
And smile he should, as Hartman pulled off two victories in last Saturday's Greenawalt Photos Micro-Sprint show at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. The Shoemakersville, PA ace notched his second triumph of 2008 in the 270cc Two-Stroke micros, and added his fourth victory of the current season in the 25-lapper for the 250cc Four-Strokes.
A special visit by the Hoosier Tire Xcel 600 Modifieds highlighted the evening, with Butch Getz earning the win over a fine field of 31 cars.
Brett Wanner, also from Shoemakersville, picked up the first micro-sprint victory of his young career in the Sportsman feature. Wanner, who is speech and hearing-impaired, sported a huge grin as he climbed from his No. 54 in victory lane.
Mark Yoder, Reinholds, was victorious in the 125cc main event that was run despite the absence of lights in turns three and four.
Hartman knew this was the night to gain significant ground in the 270cc point chase, due to the fact that Mike Rutherford and Heath Hehnly, two of his biggest challengers for the title, were off competing in the first race of PA 600 Speedweek. And Richie did exactly what he had to do, ripping off a hard-earned win in the 25-lap feature.
Penn State University student Dave Grube set the pace from laps two through 18, after he wrestled the top spot from Greg Fitzpatrick. Hartman, who started ninth, flew into the runner-up position on the sixth trip around the banked oval.
Grube held off a number of Hartman assaults, and it appeared that Richie might have to settle for second as the laps ticked away. Lapped traffic, however, proved to be the difference, as Grube hesitated for a split second when he ran up on a couple of backmarkers with seven to go.
Hartman took full advantage of the leader's indecision, passing Grube to snatch the top spot. The RTS, Little Nicky's Pizza No. 39 then sprinted away, winning by 1.5 seconds over Grube, who shook off the bad luck that has plagued his season by finishing an impressive second.
Dave Falini, Jason Swavely, and Tyler Pannebecker rounded out the top five.
Heat wins went to Grube and Swavely.
The drivers of the Hoosier Tire Xcel 600 Modified series love the high banks of the Clyde, calling the track "their Bristol". This was their first appearance at the Lanco facility in two years, and Butch Getz of Kresgeville, PA, made it a very pleasurable visit for his Ray Everitt-owned team.
Getz slipped under Mark Schaffer to grab the top spot on lap five. After a lengthy rain delay, the green flew once again, and Getz was off and running. His Big Creek Concrete No. 4jr. was hooked up in the low groove, and he motored away from the field.
Dave Baldwin, Jr. roared from fifth to third on lap ten, then set his sights on the former Legends competitor, Schaffer.
Schaffer took some shots at Getz on restarts, but the leader was just too strong on this night. With Baldwin, Jr. lurking right behind the front-running duo, Schaffer had to drive defensively, too, limiting his ability to take some chances in trying to pass Getz.
With the scoreboard showing 21 complete, the lights in turns three and four suddenly shut down, causing the little modifieds to scramble a bit as they slowed and the yellow light flashed on. Almost simultaneously, the rain began falling once again, and the race was called official.
Getz was declared the winner, with Schaffer and Baldwin, Jr. finishing second and third.
Hartman began his winning ways on Saturday by copping the 250cc Four-Stroke headliner. Starting 11th, he rumbled quickly toward the front of the field, passing George Potts, Jr. for the lead on lap seven.
As Richie raced into his own zip code, his closest challengers in the Four-Stroke standings were having a more difficult time trying to work their way forward.
Four-time winner Craig DeSantis and point leader Chad Rhoads were stuck in the middle of the pack, with Rhoads falling as far back as 13th after taking the green in tenth.
After a brief rain delay, DeSantis remained in the pit area as they others were pushed off for the restart. When they got back to racing, Rhoads' No. 93 snapped to life, slicing through traffic and entering the top five by the halfway mark of the 25-lap affair.
George Potts III skated past his father, George Jr., to secure the runner-up spot two circuits before the crossed flags were displayed. Rhoads dropped him to third, though, diving under Potts III with two to go to claim second place.
Hartman zipped under Tim Gehret's checkered by a large margin over Rhoads, with Potts III and Potts Jr. recording the best finishes of their Lanco careers by placing third and fourth, respectively.
Jared Gabers completed the top five.
Hartman and DeSantis won the two heat races for the Four-Strokes.
Steve Drevicki, a two-time victor in '08 Sportsman competition, paced the field from laps two through 11. As his car began to slow and slower traffic blocked his path, Jason Hehnly and Billy Logeman rocketed by his No. 91, dropping the Reading, Pa. speedster to third. Drevicki fell off the pace, ending up one lap down in 15th.
Hehnly and Logeman then waged a nip-and-tuck battle for the lead for several revolutions, with Hehnly repeatedly fending off the attacks by his old friend and former co-worker.
The action behind them was fast and furious, too, as Brett Wanner discovered the high line and immediately made swift progress in his march to the front. Wanner blasted into third with four laps remaining, then watched in amazement as the leaders tangled in corners three and four.
With Logeman diving to the inside of Hehnly as they raced down the backchute, the duo made contact as they set their cars for the banking of turn three. Hehnly spun and Logeman drove over his front end, managing to keep his No. 1 in motion as the yellow waved for Hehnly.
Track officials felt that Logeman caused the spin, however, placing both he and Hehnly to the rear for their roles in the incident. That decision handed the top spot to Wanner, and he made the most of his good fortune.
The youngster from Shoemakersville, Pa., rolled to the victory over Dwayne Mathias and Wesley Fasnacht. Keith Holiday and Sheena Schaefer made up the rest of the top five at the finish. Hehnly and Logeman raced back to finish ninth and tenth, respectively.
Sportsman heat races fell to Wesley Fasnacht, Logeman, and Drevicki. Donna Geib annexed the consolation victory.
Triathlete Mark Yoder also knows how to wheel a racecar, and he proved it in winning his first 125cc feature in a couple of years.
Yoder chased Cody Drace for 16 of the 25-laps, then darted under the leader as they caught some lapped traffic off turn four. With the handling going away on the Drace Trucking No. 11, Cody had to watch as Yoder throttled to a comfortable advantage during the final nine trips around the one-eighth mile of clay.
Drace gamely held on to the runner-up position until the last lap, when last week's victor, Nathan Weidman, was able to sneak by him. Kevin Garman ran the entire race in fourth, and three-time winner Brian Sholley put his No. 17 in the fifth position for the final 24 circuits.
Before the 25-lapper went green, the drivers were asked if they wanted to race in spite of the absence of lighting in turns three and four. They all agreed that there was still enough visibility without the lights, then proved it by running the distance in just 8 minutes, 25 seconds.
RESULTS:
270cc Two-Stroke Feature (25 laps): 1.Richie Hartman 2.Dave Grube 3.Dave Falini 4.Jason Swavely 5.Tyler Pannebecker 6.Scott Gingrich 7.Greg Fitzpatrick 8.Jared Davis 9.Mark Ewer 10.Christi Sweigart 11.Doug Karlene 12.Craig DeSantis 13.Jessica McDivitt 14.Todd Steffy 15.Jim Skias 16.Devin Harron. DNS: Greg Miller; Trevor Kobylarz; Zack Fouse; Bruce Ginther.
Xcel 600 Modified Feature (25 laps): 1.Butch Getz 2.Mark Schafer 3.Dave Baldwin, Jr. 4.Kevin Gruber 5.Mike Pychinka 6.Gary Suchy 7.Chris Stockham 8.Jeromy Guistwite 9.Rob Vivona 10.Ryan Higgs 11.Mike Keppler 12.Ryan Suchon 13.Tyler Bartik 14.Tyler Haydt 15.Dillon Stein 16.Brian Mady 17.Cody Coons 18.Ian Detweiler 19.George Loux 20.Bobby Scherf 21.Joe Fanelli 22.Ryan Kunkle 23.Brad Szulewski 24.Brett Arndt.
250cc Four-Stroke Feature (25 laps): 1.Richie Hartman 2.Chad Rhoads 3.George Potts III 4.George Potts, Jr. 5.Jared Gabers 6.Jessica Enck 7.Ed Nocera 8.Jason Johnson 9.Kim Enck 10.Chris Lee 11.Brittany Brown 12.Kayla Fetter 13.Phil Johnson 14.Kevin Kopp 15.Craig DeSantis 16.Ryan Gabers 17.Lewis Kepple, Jr. 18.Greg Schmuck.
Sportsman Feature (25 laps): 1.Brett Wanner 2.Dwayne Mathias 3.Wesley Fasnacht 4.Keith Holiday 5.Sheena Schaefer 6.Jamie Fetterolf 7.Jeff Hughes 8.Glenn Moyer 9.Jason Hehnly 10.Billy Logeman 11.Tim Ziegler 12.Dennis Ziegler 13.Lloyd Fasnacht 14.Paul May 15.Steve Drevicki 16.Donna Geib 17.Dave Graybill 18.Jenna Keppley 19.Robert Shanaman 20.Earl Eveland 21.Gene Murphy 22.Dennis Fenstermacher 23.Matthew Swift.
125cc Feature (25 laps): 1.Mark Yoder 2.Nathan Weidman 3.Cody Drace 4.Kevin Garman 5.Brian Sholley 6.Steve Brown 7.Jesse Maurer 8.Bret Habecker 9.Sonny Sweitzer 10.Matt Budd 11.Dave Grube 12.Scott Gantert 13.Gary Gorski 14.Aaron Pannebecker 15.Sheena Schaefer 16.Kyle Henninger 17.Derek Eckenrode 18.Paul Moore 19.Jared Hartlieb 20.Dave Falini.
[END]
And smile he should, as Hartman pulled off two victories in last Saturday's Greenawalt Photos Micro-Sprint show at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway. The Shoemakersville, PA ace notched his second triumph of 2008 in the 270cc Two-Stroke micros, and added his fourth victory of the current season in the 25-lapper for the 250cc Four-Strokes.
A special visit by the Hoosier Tire Xcel 600 Modifieds highlighted the evening, with Butch Getz earning the win over a fine field of 31 cars.
Brett Wanner, also from Shoemakersville, picked up the first micro-sprint victory of his young career in the Sportsman feature. Wanner, who is speech and hearing-impaired, sported a huge grin as he climbed from his No. 54 in victory lane.
Mark Yoder, Reinholds, was victorious in the 125cc main event that was run despite the absence of lights in turns three and four.
Hartman knew this was the night to gain significant ground in the 270cc point chase, due to the fact that Mike Rutherford and Heath Hehnly, two of his biggest challengers for the title, were off competing in the first race of PA 600 Speedweek. And Richie did exactly what he had to do, ripping off a hard-earned win in the 25-lap feature.
Penn State University student Dave Grube set the pace from laps two through 18, after he wrestled the top spot from Greg Fitzpatrick. Hartman, who started ninth, flew into the runner-up position on the sixth trip around the banked oval.
Grube held off a number of Hartman assaults, and it appeared that Richie might have to settle for second as the laps ticked away. Lapped traffic, however, proved to be the difference, as Grube hesitated for a split second when he ran up on a couple of backmarkers with seven to go.
Hartman took full advantage of the leader's indecision, passing Grube to snatch the top spot. The RTS, Little Nicky's Pizza No. 39 then sprinted away, winning by 1.5 seconds over Grube, who shook off the bad luck that has plagued his season by finishing an impressive second.
Dave Falini, Jason Swavely, and Tyler Pannebecker rounded out the top five.
Heat wins went to Grube and Swavely.
The drivers of the Hoosier Tire Xcel 600 Modified series love the high banks of the Clyde, calling the track "their Bristol". This was their first appearance at the Lanco facility in two years, and Butch Getz of Kresgeville, PA, made it a very pleasurable visit for his Ray Everitt-owned team.
Getz slipped under Mark Schaffer to grab the top spot on lap five. After a lengthy rain delay, the green flew once again, and Getz was off and running. His Big Creek Concrete No. 4jr. was hooked up in the low groove, and he motored away from the field.
Dave Baldwin, Jr. roared from fifth to third on lap ten, then set his sights on the former Legends competitor, Schaffer.
Schaffer took some shots at Getz on restarts, but the leader was just too strong on this night. With Baldwin, Jr. lurking right behind the front-running duo, Schaffer had to drive defensively, too, limiting his ability to take some chances in trying to pass Getz.
With the scoreboard showing 21 complete, the lights in turns three and four suddenly shut down, causing the little modifieds to scramble a bit as they slowed and the yellow light flashed on. Almost simultaneously, the rain began falling once again, and the race was called official.
Getz was declared the winner, with Schaffer and Baldwin, Jr. finishing second and third.
Hartman began his winning ways on Saturday by copping the 250cc Four-Stroke headliner. Starting 11th, he rumbled quickly toward the front of the field, passing George Potts, Jr. for the lead on lap seven.
As Richie raced into his own zip code, his closest challengers in the Four-Stroke standings were having a more difficult time trying to work their way forward.
Four-time winner Craig DeSantis and point leader Chad Rhoads were stuck in the middle of the pack, with Rhoads falling as far back as 13th after taking the green in tenth.
After a brief rain delay, DeSantis remained in the pit area as they others were pushed off for the restart. When they got back to racing, Rhoads' No. 93 snapped to life, slicing through traffic and entering the top five by the halfway mark of the 25-lap affair.
George Potts III skated past his father, George Jr., to secure the runner-up spot two circuits before the crossed flags were displayed. Rhoads dropped him to third, though, diving under Potts III with two to go to claim second place.
Hartman zipped under Tim Gehret's checkered by a large margin over Rhoads, with Potts III and Potts Jr. recording the best finishes of their Lanco careers by placing third and fourth, respectively.
Jared Gabers completed the top five.
Hartman and DeSantis won the two heat races for the Four-Strokes.
Steve Drevicki, a two-time victor in '08 Sportsman competition, paced the field from laps two through 11. As his car began to slow and slower traffic blocked his path, Jason Hehnly and Billy Logeman rocketed by his No. 91, dropping the Reading, Pa. speedster to third. Drevicki fell off the pace, ending up one lap down in 15th.
Hehnly and Logeman then waged a nip-and-tuck battle for the lead for several revolutions, with Hehnly repeatedly fending off the attacks by his old friend and former co-worker.
The action behind them was fast and furious, too, as Brett Wanner discovered the high line and immediately made swift progress in his march to the front. Wanner blasted into third with four laps remaining, then watched in amazement as the leaders tangled in corners three and four.
With Logeman diving to the inside of Hehnly as they raced down the backchute, the duo made contact as they set their cars for the banking of turn three. Hehnly spun and Logeman drove over his front end, managing to keep his No. 1 in motion as the yellow waved for Hehnly.
Track officials felt that Logeman caused the spin, however, placing both he and Hehnly to the rear for their roles in the incident. That decision handed the top spot to Wanner, and he made the most of his good fortune.
The youngster from Shoemakersville, Pa., rolled to the victory over Dwayne Mathias and Wesley Fasnacht. Keith Holiday and Sheena Schaefer made up the rest of the top five at the finish. Hehnly and Logeman raced back to finish ninth and tenth, respectively.
Sportsman heat races fell to Wesley Fasnacht, Logeman, and Drevicki. Donna Geib annexed the consolation victory.
Triathlete Mark Yoder also knows how to wheel a racecar, and he proved it in winning his first 125cc feature in a couple of years.
Yoder chased Cody Drace for 16 of the 25-laps, then darted under the leader as they caught some lapped traffic off turn four. With the handling going away on the Drace Trucking No. 11, Cody had to watch as Yoder throttled to a comfortable advantage during the final nine trips around the one-eighth mile of clay.
Drace gamely held on to the runner-up position until the last lap, when last week's victor, Nathan Weidman, was able to sneak by him. Kevin Garman ran the entire race in fourth, and three-time winner Brian Sholley put his No. 17 in the fifth position for the final 24 circuits.
Before the 25-lapper went green, the drivers were asked if they wanted to race in spite of the absence of lighting in turns three and four. They all agreed that there was still enough visibility without the lights, then proved it by running the distance in just 8 minutes, 25 seconds.
RESULTS:
270cc Two-Stroke Feature (25 laps): 1.Richie Hartman 2.Dave Grube 3.Dave Falini 4.Jason Swavely 5.Tyler Pannebecker 6.Scott Gingrich 7.Greg Fitzpatrick 8.Jared Davis 9.Mark Ewer 10.Christi Sweigart 11.Doug Karlene 12.Craig DeSantis 13.Jessica McDivitt 14.Todd Steffy 15.Jim Skias 16.Devin Harron. DNS: Greg Miller; Trevor Kobylarz; Zack Fouse; Bruce Ginther.
Xcel 600 Modified Feature (25 laps): 1.Butch Getz 2.Mark Schafer 3.Dave Baldwin, Jr. 4.Kevin Gruber 5.Mike Pychinka 6.Gary Suchy 7.Chris Stockham 8.Jeromy Guistwite 9.Rob Vivona 10.Ryan Higgs 11.Mike Keppler 12.Ryan Suchon 13.Tyler Bartik 14.Tyler Haydt 15.Dillon Stein 16.Brian Mady 17.Cody Coons 18.Ian Detweiler 19.George Loux 20.Bobby Scherf 21.Joe Fanelli 22.Ryan Kunkle 23.Brad Szulewski 24.Brett Arndt.
250cc Four-Stroke Feature (25 laps): 1.Richie Hartman 2.Chad Rhoads 3.George Potts III 4.George Potts, Jr. 5.Jared Gabers 6.Jessica Enck 7.Ed Nocera 8.Jason Johnson 9.Kim Enck 10.Chris Lee 11.Brittany Brown 12.Kayla Fetter 13.Phil Johnson 14.Kevin Kopp 15.Craig DeSantis 16.Ryan Gabers 17.Lewis Kepple, Jr. 18.Greg Schmuck.
Sportsman Feature (25 laps): 1.Brett Wanner 2.Dwayne Mathias 3.Wesley Fasnacht 4.Keith Holiday 5.Sheena Schaefer 6.Jamie Fetterolf 7.Jeff Hughes 8.Glenn Moyer 9.Jason Hehnly 10.Billy Logeman 11.Tim Ziegler 12.Dennis Ziegler 13.Lloyd Fasnacht 14.Paul May 15.Steve Drevicki 16.Donna Geib 17.Dave Graybill 18.Jenna Keppley 19.Robert Shanaman 20.Earl Eveland 21.Gene Murphy 22.Dennis Fenstermacher 23.Matthew Swift.
125cc Feature (25 laps): 1.Mark Yoder 2.Nathan Weidman 3.Cody Drace 4.Kevin Garman 5.Brian Sholley 6.Steve Brown 7.Jesse Maurer 8.Bret Habecker 9.Sonny Sweitzer 10.Matt Budd 11.Dave Grube 12.Scott Gantert 13.Gary Gorski 14.Aaron Pannebecker 15.Sheena Schaefer 16.Kyle Henninger 17.Derek Eckenrode 18.Paul Moore 19.Jared Hartlieb 20.Dave Falini.
[END]