By Dave Harclerode
BEDFORD, PA – A jam packed pit area graced the Bedford Speedway Friday night, and fans enjoyed excellent racing in all five divisions. A wet and tacky track played right into Jeff Rine’s hands, as he battled veteran driver Scott Haus and DJ Myers to earn his first victory of the year at the historic 5/8th mile oval. Matt Sponaugle took the checkered in the wild Limited Late Model division, and Jim Sayler started the year off on the right foot by winning the Street Stock main event. Two previous season champions also won the features in their divisions, with Charlie Walter picking up the win in the Hobby Stocks, and Mike Lauffer in the 4-Cylinders.
Four time track Champion Scott Haus grabbed the lead from Tom Decker, Jr. at the drop of the green and appeared to have a good grip on the field until Jeff Rine made things interesting with 18 laps to go. Rine worked his way into second from his fourth starting spot, and ran side by side with leader Haus for 3 laps before wrangling the lead away with 15 to go. Rine stayed strong through a few cautions and won his 9th career Bedford Feature. DJ Myers worked his way around Haus to finish second, Haus third, Jeff Miller fourth, and Nick Dickson fifth. Steve Everhart, Greg Fetter, Jack Pencil, Allen Lemin, and Derek Byler rounded out the top ten. Twenty-four cars entered the evening’s event, and Haus, Everhart, and Dickson won the preliminary heats.
Matt Sponaugle won his 6th career Limited Late Model feature, holding off a hard charging Rick Singleton. Sponaugle started on the pole and held the point with confidence as Singleton battled his way to second from his 8th starting spot. At the checkered it was Sponaugle, Singleton, Justin Kann, Matt Howsare, and Rance Garlock. Completing the top ten was Daniel Cornman, Matt Cosner, Donnie Farlling, Brian Lesley, and Robbie Black. Heat winners for the 25 car field were Singleton, Cornman, and Sponaugle.
Jim Sayler won career feature number 18 in the Street Stock division. Sayler led from flag to flag ahead of a wild pack, holding off early advances from Darryl Whetstone and later Chris Chamberlain. Following Sayler to the checkered was Chamberlain, Whetstone, Greg Hainsey, and Brian Duffy. Completing the top ten was Jim Henney, Donald Wyles, Bob Jay, Zane Weicht, and Travis Brown. Heats went to Henney and Whetstone.
Charlie Walter picked up where he left off last week and won the Hobby Stock feature. Walter, the division’s track champ the last two years, came from his fourth starting position to steal the lead from Chuck Weyant to earn his 13th career win. Weyant finished second, Chad Gambol third, Reed Stickel, Jr. fourth, and Terry Norris fifth. Heat winners were Norris and Ryan Beckett.
Mike Lauffer went to door to door with last week’s 4 cylinder feature winner Paul Crynock, with Lauffer coming out on top in the end. Crynock settled for second, Chris Anderson third, and Jeremy Miller and Ronnie Valentine completing the top five. Heat winners for the 19 car field were Jeff Treece and Lauffer.
Next week at the speedway is the Roaring Knob shootout for Super Late Models, along with Limited Lates, Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks, and 4 Cylinders. Kids race car rides will also be available before the racing begins. Check out www.bedfordspeedway.com for more details.
SUPER LATE MODELS
FEATURE: 1. Jeff Rine 2. DJ Myers 3. Scott Haus 4. Jeff Miller 5. Nick Dickson 6. Steve Everhart 7. Greg Fetters 8. Jack Pencil 9. Allen Lemin 10. Derek Byler 11. Eric Zembower 12. Chuck Clise 13. Scott Rhodes 14. Wayne Johnson 15. Tom Decker, Jr. 16. Matt Sala (DNF) 17. Matt Parks (DNF) 18. Mason Zeigler (DNF) 19. Randy Burkholder (DNF) 20. DJ Troutman (DNF) 21. Chris Harr (DNF)
DNS: Shawn Claar, Tyler Hershey, Chad Walter
HEAT 1: Haus, Decker, Harr
HEAT 2: Everhart, Lemin, Zembower
HEAT 3: Dickson, Rine, Miller
LIMITED LATE MODELS
FEATURE: 1. Matt Sponaugle 2. Rick Singleton 3. Justin Kann 4. Matt Howsare 5. Rance Garlock 6. Daniel Cornman 7. Matt Cosner 8. Donnie Farlling 9. Brian Lesley 10. Robbie Blacki 11. Mike Altobelli, Jr. 12. Steve Bard 13. Josh Berrier 14. Corey Weaver 15. Eric Irvin 16. Travis Calhoun (DNF) 17. Darrell Dick (DNF) 18. Eddie Cornett (DNF) 19. Ralph Morgan, Jr. (DNF) 20. Travis Stickley (DNF) 21. Mike Duck (DNF)
DNS: Brian Lowery, Andy Teno, Craig Perigo, Tim Smith, Jr.
HEAT 1: Singleton, Smith, Garlock
HEAT 2: Cornman, Lesley, Dick
HEAT 3: Sponaugle, Howsare, Kann
STREET STOCKS
FEATURE: 1. Jim Sayler 2. Chris Chamberlain 3. Darryl Whetstone 4. Greg Hainsey 5. Brian Duffy 6. Bill Henney 7. Donald Wyles 8. Bob Jay 9. Zane Weicht 10. Travis Brown 11. Cody Buterbaugh 12. Rich Swope (DNF) 13. Kerry Molovich (DNF) 14. Jesse Snyder (DNF)
HEAT 1: Henney, Jay, Hainsey
HEAT 2: Whetstone, Swope, Snyder
HOBBY STOCKS
FEATURE: 1. Charlie Walter 2. Chuck Weyant 3. Chad Gambol 4. Reed Stickel, Jr. 5. Terry Norris 6. Ryan Beckett 7. Bill Replogle 8. Brandon LaSalle 9. Jarrod Brown 10. David Riley 11. Travis Group 12. Ray Shepherd 13. Ed Vogel 14. Justin Milburn (DNF) 15. Mandy Jay (DNF)
HEAT 1: Norris, Replogle, Gambol
HEAT 2: Beckett, Stickel, Riley
4 CYLINDERS
FEATURE: 1. Mike Lauffer 2. Paul Crynock 3. Chris Anderson 4. Jeremy Miller 5. Ronnie Valentine 6. Juan Ryan 7. Robert Pluta 8. Tyler Beckett 9. Steve Frederick 10. Ralph Miller 11. Phil Best 12. Jon Gephart 13. Cindy Rhodes 14. Jeff Treece (DNF) 15. Kevin See (DNF) 16. Davey Lambert (DNF) 17. Daniel Jackson (DNF)
DNS: Joe Miller, Andrew Pluta, Jr.
HEAT 1: Treece, Crynock, Jeremy Miller
HEAT 2: Lauffer, Anderson, Best
