Allegany County Speedway
May 19, 2012
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Altobelli wins second straight at The Rock

by Matt Felten
CUMBERLAND, Md. -- Mike Altobelli Jr. made it two-for-two in the Romney Cycles Limited Late Model main event on Saturday night at The Rock, Allegany County Speedway.

With double championship points on the line in the May Madness race, Altobelli was one of three drivers to repeat from last week’s event. Jimmy Iser captured the Ernie D’s Street Stock race again and Brandon Inglish won the 6/8-Cylinder race for the third straight time. New winners were Jimmy Moreland among the TC Race Cars Hobby Stocks and Mike Lauffer among the Sponaugle Towing 4-Cylinders.

Altobelli started sixth in the 20-lap Limited Late Model race and took advantage of a quick caution to take third on the restart. He got by Brian Duffy for second one lap later and made what proved to be the winning move on Steve Bard for the lead on lap three.

Once out front, Altobelli led runner-up D.J Troutman by as much as two seconds before giving up ground in the final six laps. Troutman cut Altobelli’s lead to four car lengths with three laps remaining but ended up eight car lengths back at the finish. Duffy, Bard and Travis Calhoun completed the top five.

Iser topped Duffy and Zane Weicht in the 16-lap Street Stock feature for his second consecutive win. Iser made up from an early spin that relegated him deeper in the field. Five laps into the race, Iser captured the lead from Weicht and went on to win by two seconds.

Duffy, who pulled off a double stint minutes later in the Limited Late Model feature, ended up second after getting around Weicht on lap 12. Marcius VanMeter, after competing in the Hobby Stock race, too, finished fourth and Daryl Whetstone rounded out the top five.

Moreland won his first of the season after holding off VanMeter by two car lengths in the 15-lap Hobby Stock feature. He led the entire way.

Cautions kept the field tight for much of the race with Moreland leading the field through four restarts. VanMeter used the final caution on lap nine to get to Moreland’s door on the outside but Moreland maintained his line and kept the lead in turn three.

David Riley jumped in the mix to grab second until VanMeter took it back before the final lap. Riley, Justin Michael and Travis Group rounded out the top five.

The 4-Cylinder race was dominated by Lauffer for all 12 laps. Lauffer’s high line paid off with a smooth race to the checkered flag over Nick Iski by 4.5 seconds. After Iski grabbed the runner-up spot early on, the top three spread out over the track. Dave Lambert got third over Steve Riggleman and Chris Shoemaker.

Inglish took the lead from Ray Shepherd on lap two and closed out another 6/8-Cylinder victory by three seconds over Shepherd at the finish. Brian Ringer and Daniel Wratchford finished third and fourth.

No racing is scheduled for next weekend. Racing will return on Saturday, June 2 for the Summer Championship for Limited Late Models and Armed Forces night. Gates open at 5 p.m. with racing at 7:15 p.m.


The Rock - Allegany County Speedway
Saturday
May 19, 2012
Race Results

ROMNEY CYCLES LIMITED LATE MODEL (20 laps): 1. Mike Altobelli Jr., 2. D.J. Troutman, 3. Brian Duffy, 4. Steve Bard, 5. Travis Calhoun, 6. Scott Merryman, DNS: Buddy Jones.

ERNIE D'S STREET STOCK SPRING CHAMPIONSHIP (18 laps): 1. Jimmy Iser, 2. Brian Duffy, 3. Zane Weicht, 4. Marcius VanMeter, 5. Daryl Whetstone, 6. Elwood Hyre, 7. David Puckett, 8. Rick Wright, 9. John Whitfield, 10. Justin Bonnett, 11. Joe Marple.

TC RACE CARS HOBBY STOCK (15 laps): 1. Jimmy Moreland, 2. Marcius VanMeter, 3. David Riley, 4. Justin Michael, 5. Travis Group, 6. Jimmy Sacco, 7. Mike Lewis, 8. Kevin Van Horn, 9. Bryan Morris, 10. Mike VanMeter, 11. Rick Donson.

SPONAUGLE TOWING 4-CYLINDER (12 laps): 1. Mike Lauffer, 2. Nick Iski, 3. Dave Lambert, 4. Steve Riggleman, 5. Chris Shoemaker, 6. Dwain Rhodes, 7. Jason Poland, 8. Kevin See, 9. Shelton Lucas, 10. John Crowfis Jr., 11. Irvin Fleegle, 12. Irvin Fleegle, 13. Jason Riggleman, DQ: Ian Will, Cale Martin.

FACTORY STOCK 6/8-CYLINDER (12 laps): 1. Brandon Inglish, 2. Ray Shepherd, 3. Brian Ringer, 4. Daniel Wratchford.