Hagerstown Speedway
August 25, 2012
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HAGERSTOWNS’ SMALL CAR NATIONALS QUALIFIERS ARE LOCKED IN

by Bob Vores
Hagerstown, Md. – Drivers locking in a guaranteed starting position for Hagerstown Speedway’s 8th Annual Small Car Nationals on September 14-15 with their wins Saturday night included Scott Palmer of Greencastle, winner in the Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic late model sportsman, Darrin Younker of Berkley Springs, WV, in the Ernie D’s pure stocks, Greencastle’s Kenny Thomas in the D&D Auto Recycling Hobby Stocks and for the four cylinders, Ft. Loudon, PA’s Ryan Laye. Michael Hyatt, only racing for the fourth time, won the $500 A-1 Towing and Auto Repair non- feature winners race for the hobby stocks.  

For Palmer, it was his first win since May 29, 2010 with a lot of ups and downs since then.

“I feel pretty good that I got that monkey off my back after two or three years now so it’s time to keep going that way,” Palmer said.

It also was the last point race for the late model sportsman division as St. Thomas, PA’s Wayne Walls recorded his fifth championship and first since 1999 when he won four consecutive.

Younker’s victory was his second for the season and besides Thomas’s fifth victory, he also will receive his honors for the championship on September 14th with Palmer.  Tony Catlett leads the pure stock points with one race remaining. It was the overall eighth four cylinder mini-stock win for Laye.

The late model sportsman got off to a rough start for several when Ronnie Dennis ended turned around off turn four of the opening lap with the fourth turn nearly blocked and the cars of Pete Weaver, Chaz Walls and Keith Walls finished for the night while Andy Fries, Justin Weaver, Dennis, Ty Shatzer were able to make some repairs and reline on the rear for the restart.

Fred Harden pulled into the lead over Tyler Castle while seventh starting Palmer was to third by the second lap. Palmer took second on the sixth lap and slowly closed the gap on Harden until arriving on his bumper by the 14th lap and taking the lead prior to a caution the next circuit.  

Behind the leaders the race for the championship progressed with W.Walls Jr. 20 points ahead of Fries who restarted on the rear and was up to fifth by the halfway mark and had passed 10th starting Walls. Walls got up on the wheel and caught Fries two laps later.

While Palmer was nearly two seconds ahead, Fries passed Harden for the runner up spot with two laps remaining while Walls charged past Harden on the final lap to secure the championship. Palmer got the checkered 1.569 seconds ahead of Fries who also earned the Liberty Auto and Tire Hard Charger Award after initially starting 20th.

“I could tell early tonight the car was pretty good from about lap four on,” Palmer said. “When Fred got that lead I kept telling myself, ‘be smooth’  and eventually I could see I was reeling him in and once you get that feeling, you know you‘re in the right spot.”
Harden ended fourth with fifth going to ninth starter Terry Flaherty. Cory Houck, Paul Cursey, Nick Pappas were next with Dennis rebounding to ninth ahead of Ryan Walls. R. Walls, Castle and Flaherty were the heat winners.  

Younker pulled into the pure stock lead on the opening lap after starting fourth with Dave Stouffer Jr. getting to second. Dave Kaiser came from 11th to take second on the ninth lap and then charge past Younker two laps later and take the win by .708 seconds. His Winchester rules were protested and Kaiser gave up the win as he only wanted to test the car on the track as Younker was awarded the win. Kevin Boyer was a close second with Kevin Koontz, Stouffer and Steve Lowery next. Eighth starting Frank Dibella was the Ecton and Son Repair and Service Hard Charger after coming from 19th to eighth. Boyer, Kevin and Keith Koontz were heat winners.  

The hobby stocks got off to an even worse start and a three wide run on the front stretch saw Jason Sarver the meat in the middle and ending by rolling over several times into the first turn with Gary Proctor spinning and Dave Shatto also into the fence. Sarver climbed from his car and was okay.  

Michael Hyatt then led until the fifth lap with Matt Smith challenging when both got high in the second turn and Thomas took the opportunity to quickly get past before both recovered. Thomas then led all the way to the finish and ended 1.60 seconds ahead of Hyatt and Smith.

Roger Whitlock pulled off the outside pole to lead the four cylinders while fifth starting Kevin Thomas was past Gary Dehart and into second by the lap three. Thomas took the lead on the sixth circuit while Laye was coming from eighth and took the runner up spot on the eighth lap to begin closing on Thomas. Laye sped off the fourth turn to have the lead for the 13th lap and held Thomas to one length at the finish. Hunter Crane ended third with Dehart and Mike Potts next. Ronnie Garlock, Laye, and Potts were the heat winners while Ronnie Buck won the consolation race.  

The latest news, results, photos, schedule or rule changes can be on the speedway’s website:  www.hagerstownspeedway.com. Follow the speedway on Twitter and Facebook. Also check the website for any changes in weather conditions that may delay and/or cancel the program or contact the speedway office at 301-582-0640.
                       
Hagerstown Speedway Results

Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic Late Model Sportsman, 20 Laps, 25 Entries,  
(Lap Leaders: Fred Harden 1-14, Scott Palmer 15-20) 1.Scott Palmer, 2.Andy Fries (Liberty Auto and Tire Hard Charger), 3.Wayne Walls Jr. (2102 Champion), 4.Fred Harden, 5.Terry Flaherty, 6.Cory Houck, 7.Paul Cursey, 8.Nick Pappas, 9.Courtney Shreiner, 10.Ryan Walls, 11.Tyler Horst, 12.Ronnie Dennis, 13.Paul Pappas, 14.Ty Shatzer, 15.Kevin Palmer, 16.Ray Ciccarelli, 17.Elwood Sord, 18.Rodney Walls, 19.Mike Walls, 20.Tyler Castle, 21.Chad Myers, 22.Justin Weaver, 23.Pete Weaver, 24.Keith Walls, 25.Chaz Walls

Ernie D’s Pure Stocks, 15 Laps, 21 Entries, (Lap Leaders: Darrin Younker 1-10, David Kaiser 11-15) 1.Darrin Younker, 2.Kevin Boyer, 3.Kevin Koontz, 4.Dave Stouffer Jr., 5.Steve Lowery, 6.Drew Fitzsimmons, 7.Keith Koontz, 8.Frank Dibella (Ecton and Son Repair and Service Hard Charger) , 9.Tony Catlett, 10.Dustin Proctor, 11.Chris Ebersole, 12.Mike Sanders, 13.Nick Dibella, 14.Lane Hessong, 15.Wayne Hawbaker, 16.Bill Ecton Jr., 17.Kenny Day, 18.Brian Miller, DSQ-David Kaiser, DNS _ Tony Stoneberger, Dave Gross Jr.

D & D Auto Recycling Hobby Stocks, 15 Laps, 13 Entries, (Lap Leaders: Gary Proctor 1, Michael Hyatt 2-5, Kenny Thomas 5-15)1.Kenny Thomas, 2.Michael Hyatt, 3.Matt Smith, 4.Dylan Welsh, 5.Joe Daywalt, 6.William Crook (Bob Davis Home Improvement Lucky Seven Winner) 7.Bill Ecton Jr., 8.Marvin Durboraw, 9.Dave Shatto, 10.Jason Sarver, 11.Randy Kline, DNS – Nathaniel Younker, DSQ – Gary Proctor

A-1 Towing and Auto Repair Hobby Stock Non Feature Winners Race (Lap Leader (Michael Hyatt 1-15) 1.Michael Hyatt, 2.Matt Smith, 3.Joe Daywalt, 4.Dylan Welsh, 5. Bill Ecton Sr. DNS – Dave Shatto, Nathaniel Younker, Marvin Durboraw, Randy Kline  

Four Cylinders, Laps 15, Entries 27 (Lap Leaders: Roger Whitlock 1-5, Kevin Thomas 6-12, Ryan Laye 13-15) 1.Ryan Laye, 2.Kevin Thomas, 3.Hunter Crane, 4.Gary Dehart, 5.Mike Potts, 6.Roger Whitlock, 7.Michael Warrenfeltz, 8.Jeff Koller, 9.Ronnie Buck, 10.Ronnie Garlock, 11.Mike Hawbaker, 12.Austin Stover, 13.Dave Friedrich, 14.Frankie Gordon, 15.Eric Grubb, 16.Travis Semple, 17.Leroy Long, 18.Devin Whitsel, 19.Eric Seibert, 20.Deuce Wright, 21.Lyle  Barnes, 22.Matt Williamson, 23.Shaun Patterson, 24.Sonny Williamson, DNQ-William Kessler, Frank Gordon, Gary Newell.