Allegany County Speedway
June 4, 2011
_______________________________________

Sponaugle earns first win in BedRock 358 Shootout at Allegany County Speedway

CUMBERLAND, Md. – Matt Sponaugle made the right moves to earn the first race win for the BedRock 358 Shootouts on Saturday night at The Rock, Allegany County Speedway.

Joining Sponaugle, Brian Duffy, Justin Michael, Jason Stoner and Steve Settle were victorious in their respective classes in The Rock’s second race of the season.

Sponaugle started the 25-lap race from fourth and steadily picked off the drivers ahead of him. Brian Lowery claimed second, just over one second behind Sponaugle at the finish. Nathan LaSalle, Scott Daniels and Barry Miller finished third through fifth after Khi Swanger came up light at the scales after the race.

Matt Emerick led early on while Sponaugle got third on lap two and then second two laps later. Emerick and Sponaugle fought for the lead over the next lap and Sponaugle grabbed the lead for good on lap six. Emerick later dropped out of the race.

A caution on lap 19 erased a lead of three seconds for Sponaugle and the restart let Lowery get second from Miller. The fifth and final caution came with two laps to go.

Duffy came up with another Street Stock victory on the final lap by getting ahead of Travis Brown, who had led the entire distance. Duffy also claimed the victory in May on the last lap.

After starting sixth, Duffy needed the first six laps to get up to second place. Brown lost his advantage when the caution came out on lap eight and had to contend with Duffy for the rest of the race.

Brown seemed poised to get the win after taking the white flag but came up empty after Duffy got by in turn two and Brown’s engine gave way just feet from the finish line. Daryl Whetstone, Rick Wright, John Whitfield and Kevin Deremer all came around with the rest of the top-five spots ahead of a disappointed Brown.

Michael won the 15-lap Hobby Stock feature with three car lengths to spare over Bill and Marcius VanMeter, David Riley and Bryan Morris. Michael led the entire way.

Bill and Marcius VanMeter came back from pit stops to keep the race close at the finish. Jimmy Moreland lost a spot in the top five when a wheel came off at lap 12, the second caution of the race.

Settle won the 4-Cylinder event by pulling away from Mark Seiler in the last four laps. Settle and Seiler worked themselves up to the top two spots over Neil Bauer and Nick Iski on lap three.

Bauer ended up third. DacRon Powell recovered from a flat tire to get fourth and Iski was fifth. Settle’s lead increased to 2.7 seconds by lap seven but a caution kept the race closer until lap 10.

Stoner got the 6/8-Cylinder class win over Ray Shepherd, Elwood Hyre, Will Worthington and Brandon Inglish. Shepherd led the first six laps while Stoner passed Hyre for second on lap four and caught Shepherd for the lead shortly thereafter.

Stoner took the checkered flag a full second ahead of Shepherd and Hyre.

The Rock will be back in action on June 18. For more information, visit the speedway’s web site at www.therockspeedway.com.

Race Results
The Rock, Allegany County Speedway
Saturday, June 4, 2011

LIMITED LM BEDROCK 358 SHOOTOUT #1 (25 Laps): 1. Matt Sponaugle, 2. Brian Lowery, 3. Nathan LaSalle, 4. Scott Daniels, 5. Barry Miller, 6. Matt Emerick, 7. Travis Calhoun, 8. Travis Stickley, 9. Corey Weaver, DQ: Khi Swanger.

STREET STOCKS (16 Laps): 1. Brian Duffy, 2. Daryl Whetstone, 3. Rick Wright, 4. John Whitfield, 5. Kevin Deremer, 6. Travis Brown, DNS: Justin Bonnett.

HOBBY STOCKS (15 Laps): 1. Justin Michael, 2. Bill VanMeter, 3. Marcius VanMeter, 4. David Riley, 5. Bryan Morris, 6. Mike Lewis, 7. Jimmy Moreland, 8. Jim DeArmitt, 9. Jarrod Brown.

4-CYLINDERS (12 Laps): 1. Steve Settle, 2. Mark Seiler, 3. Neil Bauer, 4. DacRon Powell, 5. Nick Iski, 6. Chris Shoemaker, 7. Tyler Larkin, 8. Steve Riggleman, 9. John Crowfis, 10. Jason Poland, 11. Kevin Beers, 12. Jason Riggleman.

6/8-CYLINDERS (12 Laps): 1. Jason Stoner, 2. Ray Shepherd, 3. Elwood Hyre, 4. Will Worthington, 5. Brandon Inglish, 6. Dave Comer, 7. James Clark, 8. Brian Ringer.