Eriez Speedway
July 22, 2012
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Hess races to second Super Late Model win at Eriez Speedway

HAMMETT, PA (July 22) - Wellie Yaple, one of the strongest supporters of racing in the history of Eriez Speedway was remembered with the highest-paying Street Stock feature in this area Sunday night with Greg Fenno starting from the pole, slipping back to third early in the event, then regaining the lead one-third of the way through the event to score a decisive win in the race. In other featured action Dave Hess Jr won the Super Late Model feature for the 30th time in his career at Eriez, defeating Chub Frank and Andy Kania. Max Blair continued his winning ways in the FASTRAK Late Model feature with Joel Watson dominating the E-Mod feature. Fifteen year old Jake Finnerty, showing improvement all season long, broke into the Winner’s Circle with his first-ever feature win over 2011 champion Chris Ottaway. Wade Watson, Sportsmen, and Kasey Hammond, Challengers, continued their winning streaks.

By virtue of winning the qualifying race two weeks ago, Greg Fenno started the Wellie Yaple Memorial from the pole with 1st heat winner Jackson Humanic outside. The starting lineup for the Bonnell Collision Center Street Stocks was determined through four heats and two B-Mains with the top ten in the Eriez point’s standings being guaranteed starting berths. The final two starting spots were the choice of Wellie Yaple’s family. The back straight was “Calamity Lane” on lap one when Ryan Blood got turned sideways and cars had to scatter. Blood, and John Phelps Jr were banged up enough their to end their night. Fenno led the first lap then gave way to Gary Fisher, who had won the second qualifying heat. Caution at the end of two found Rush Firestone now in third next to Fenno for the restart. With five complete, four cars piled up coming out of turn four, eliminating B-Main winner David Baker from the event. Defending track champion Pat McGuire retired while running third on lap eight due to mechanical woes. Fenno came back to the lead at lap ten but Fisher stayed right with him for two more laps before Fenno pulled out to a three car-length lead. At halfway the running order was Fenno, Fisher, Rush Firestone, Chris Withers, and Joe Rohrer. Rohrer moved to fourth at lap 17. At lap 24 Rohrer got inside Firestone coming into turn three but Firestone drove down into Rohrer. With Rohrer fighting back the two cars came up the track with Firestone coming to a halt against the outside wall. Under yellow, Firestone rammed the front of Rohrer’s car, resulting in Firestone being disqualified from the event. Rohrer was able to continue, restarting from the fourth position. Fenno went on to the richest Street Stock feature purse in Eriez Speedway history. Withers got by Fisher for second with Rohrer finishing fourth. Ken Lamp Jr filled out the top five. Fenno’s win was worth $2000 to the runner-up $1000 for Withers.

Former champion Andy Kania took the immediate lead from pole-sitter Dave Lyon in the Jay’s Auto Wrecking Super Late Model feature, opening a big lead over Lyon and “Chubzilla” Chub Frank before the first caution. At lap nine Chuck Parker spun his car in turn one, bringing caution over the speedway. Using the “Delaware” restart Frank wasted no time dispatching Lyon to third and set sail for Kania. Again at lap 14 Parker spun, again in turn one, and again bunching the field. Dave Hess came to second at the green and was leading one lap later. Hess went on to the win, his third of the season. Frank got by Kania for second at lap 20 and went on to the runner-up spot. Kania held on for third over Rob Blair and Chris Hackett. It was Hess’s second win of the weekend with Frank right behind both nights.

Bob Dorman and Max Blair led the Dan’s Rt 8 Boardwalk Bar & Grill FASTRAK Late Models to the green with Blair leading at the end of lap one. Kyle Zimmerman was second by the end of three and Chad Wright fourth behind Dorman, making the order the same as the current point standings. Wright came to third one lap after a lap nine caution period. The order at the finish was Blair, Zimmerman, Wright, Dorman, and Ryan Scott.

The Plyler Overhead Door E-Mod feature started with outside pole-sitter Joel Watson leading pole-sitter Scott Gurdak right from the start with Ron Davies, in a brand new mount, coming to second. Watson, currently second behind Rich Michael in points, and Davies began distancing themselves from third-running John Boyd, himself a former champion. By halfway, Boyd was starting to reel in the leaders as they ran side by side with Davies inside and Watson outside. Watson moved back to sole possession of the lead and had a five-car length advantage with five laps remaining, Everything changed at lap 17 when Steve Sornberger spun in turn one, putting Davies and Boyd right behind Watson for the single file restart. Boyd immediately got by Davies for second but Davies held on for third in front of Gurdak and Shane Crotty. It was Watson’s fourth win of the season and closes the gap between him and the point’s leader Rich Michael Jr, who ran sixth in the race.

Dan Maxim led Jake Finnerty at the start of the Conway & O’Malley Limited Late Model feature with Chris Ottaway coming to second after three laps. Ottaway, the 2011 champion, was able to get next to Maxim but was unable to complete the pass, trying both the low and the high lines. At the halfway point Ottaway went too wide in turn two, allowing Finnerty to regain second. At lap 13 Maxim suffered mechanical problems and retired to the pit. Finnerty, looking for his first win ever, drove a flawless final seven laps, gaining his first win at age 15 over Ottaway, Steve Kania, Chris McGuire, and Tyler Green.

Wade Watson cruised to his seventh Gannon University Sportsmen feature win of the year over Don McGuire and Tim Card. Jim Kibbe was fourth with Brent Crandall fifth.

Jeff Nunemaker was the early leader in the Kandy’s Gentleman’s Club Challengers feature. With three laps complete Todd Hanlon pushed Zach Downes sideways through turn two, earning him the black flag. During the caution period Downes’ car caught fire, ending his run. At the restart Kasey Hammond pulled into the lead and went on to her fourth win in a row. Point’s leader Wesley Stull was second over early leader Nunemaker, Geoff Maloney, and Matt Marcy.

Jay’s Auto Wrecking Super Late Models:
Heat 1: Andy Boozel, Chris Hackett, Chub Frank, John Volpe, Greg Oakes, Scott Gurdak, Chuck Parker
Heat 2: Ron Davies, Dave Hess Jr, Rob Blair, Rich Gardner, Darrell Bossard, George Labarbera
Heat 3: Dave Lyon, Andy Kania, Jason Morell, Damon Haught, Jordan Eck, Scott Johnson
Burger King of the Hill: Rob Blair, Dave Hess Jr
Feature: Dave Hess Jr, Chub Frank, Andy Kania, Rob Blair, Chris Hackett, Dave Lyon, Andy Boozel, Jason Morell, John Volpe, Rich Gardner, Scott Gurdak, Darrell Bossard, George LaBarbera, Greg Oakes, damon Haught, Chuck Parker, Ron Davies, Jordan Eck (DNS), Scott Johnson (DNS)

Dan’s Route 8 Boardwalk Bar and Grill FASTRAK Late Models:
Heat 1: Steve Dixon, Kyle Zimmerman, Max Blair, Ryan Scott, Kevin Decker, Jamie Brown, Patrick Willar, Breyton Santee (DNS)
Heat 2: Chad Wright, Bob Dorman, Justin Kreider, Alex Anderson, Khole Wanzer, Dick Reinwald, Bobby Rohrer, Bruce Hordusky
Feature: Max Blair, Kyle Zimmerman, Chad Wright, Bob Dorman, Ryan Scott, Steve Dixon, Jamie Brown, Bob Rohrer, Bruce Hordusky, Justin Kreider, Alex Anderson, Breyton Santee, Khole Wanzer, Patrick Willar, Rob Bates, Kevin Decker

Plyler Overhead Door E-Mods:
Heat 1: Butch Southwell, John Boyd, Shane Crotty, Russ Dunn, Brian Fardink, Rich Michael, John Boardman
Heat 2: Joel Watson, Ron Davies, Scott Gurdak, Steve Sornberger, Gary Eicher, Brandon Porter, Steve Simon
Feature: Joel Watson, John Boyd, Ron Davies, Scott Gurdak, Shane Crotty, Rich Michael Jr, Russ Dunn, Butch Southwell, John Boardman, Brian Fardink, Gary Eicher, Steve Simon, Steve Sornberger, Brandon Porter (DNS)
Conway & O’Malley Limited Late Models:
Heat 1: Ryan Scott, Dustin Eckman, Jake Finnerty, Mike Lozowski, Mike Moon, Chad Schauers, Ken Wanzer
Heat 2: Chris Ottaway, Tyler Green, Dan Maxim, Chris McGuire, Steve Kania, Stan Davis
Feature: Jake Finnerty, Chris Ottaway, Steve Kania, Chris McGuire, Tyler Green, Dustin Eckman, Ryan Scott, Mike Lozowski, Ken Wanzer, Dan Maxim, Chad Schauers, Mike Moon, Stan Davis

Gannon University Super Sportsman:
Heat: Tim Card, Wade Watson, Don McGuire, Jake Eller, Mike Murray, Jim Kibbe, Brent Crandall, Chris Market
Feature: Wade Watson, Don McGuire, Tim Card, Jim Kibbe, Brent Crandall, Mike Murray, Jake Eller, Chris Market
Bonnell’s Collision Center Street Stocks Wellie Yaple Memorial:
Heat 1: Jackson Humanic, Chris Withers, Jason Covey, Ken Lamp Jr, Brian Crandall, Mark Frontera, Rusty Wheeler, Kevin Hill, Greg Fenno
Heat 2: Gary Fisher, Joe Rohrer, Andy Faulhaber, Ron Johnson, Mark Thompson, Elaine Best, Jason Martin, Jeremy Williams
Heat 3: Kyle Weilacher, Ryan Blood, Sam Courson, Matt Thomas, Don Hebner, Kevin Wetherall, Michael Herman, Tyler Lyngarkos
Heat 4: Rush Firestone, Pat McGuire, John Phelps, Tim Thompson, Ed Bolyard, David Baker, Josh Hebner, Eric Reinwald, Jimmy Kennerknecht
B-Main 1: Brian Crandall, Rusty Wheeler, Kevin Hill, Kevin Wetherall, Michael Herman, Tyler Lyngarkos, Don Hebner, Mark Frontera
B-Main 2: David Baker, Jimmy Kennerknecht, Ed Bolyard, Elaine Best, Eric Reinwald, Josh Hebner, Jason Martin, Mark Thompson, Jeremy Williams
Feature: Greg Fenno, Chris Withers, Gary Fisher, Joe Rohrer, Ken Lamp Jr, Jackson Humanic, Rusty Wheeler, Brian Crandall, Kyle Weilacher, Tim Thompson, Mark Thompson, Ed Bolyard, Jimmy Kennerknecht, Mark Frontera, Sam Courson, Kevin Hill, Matt Thomas, Andy Faulhaber, Kevin Wetherall, Ron Johnson, Pat McGuire, David Baker, Jason Covey, Ryan Blood, John Phelps, Rush Firestone (DQ).

Kandy’s Gentleman’s Club Super Challengers:
Heat 1: Mike Pohl, Geoff Maloney, Zach Downes, Kasey Hammond, Todd Hanlon, Matt Marcy, Kelsey Parker, Jason Brightman, Ryan White, Kaylan Beach, Mike Swanson, Alan Zimmerman
Heat 2: Stephen Enlow, Doug Melter, Jeff Nunemaker, Wes Stull, Daniel Wasiela, Joe Beach, Tom Cupp, Eddie Orton, Justin Boardman, Steve Morse, Matt Tuzynski, Tim Fisher
Feature: Kasey Hammond, Wesley Stull, Jeff Nunemaker, Geoff Maloney, Matt Marcy, Jason Brightman, Justin Boardman, Eddie Orton, Tom Cupp, Ryan White, Alan Zimmerman, Kaylan Beach, Mike Pohl, Doug Melter, Joe Beach, Dan Wasiela, Zach Downes, Todd Hanlon, Mike Swanson, Kelsey Parker, Stephen Enlow, Steve Morse (DNS), Matt Tuzynski (DNS), Tim Fisher (DNS)