New winners graced the first regular program of the 2021 season at Bedford Friday night Drake Troutman scored the win in the Late model season opener and Devin Hart scored the Limited event before old hands Bill Replogle Kevin Weyandt and James Fairall took support wins.
The Late Model event featured excitement at the start as Chuck Clise made a spectacular move to grab the lead but spun in turn two in front of the field. As Clise was relegated to the rear on the restart, Jeff Rine joined Drake Troutman on the front row.
A subsequent restart was aborted when Rine got over anxious. On the third try, Troutman got the jump and never looked back.
Rine was all over Troutman running up along side the leader several times as the pair got away from the field, but that ended when Rine blew a tire on lap 16. The extended caution as track crews collected tire debris allowed the Elbin crew to get Rine back into the action.
On the restart, Troutman was alone at the front and ran off from Shawn Jones for the win. Matt Sponaugle and Trevor Feathers trailed. Rine returned from the rear for fifth. Sponaugle and Jones won the heats.
Fifty six years after his famous grandfather Butch Renninger first graced Bedford’s Victory Lane, Devin Hart did the same as he scored a win in Limited action.
Like the Late Model event, the Limited 20 lapper started out wildly as much of the field crashed together in turn one at the start. It was a 48 battle on the restart as Donnie Farlling led Greg Moore from the start. But Hart, after starting deep in the field, ran the pair down late.
After a serious battle, Hart slipped by Moore on lap 12 and began cutting into Farlling’s lead. By lap 17 he had caught the leader and he rushed by a lap later to celebrate the historic win. Farlling, Moore and Clinton Hersh trailed. Farlling and Brian Lowery won the heats.
Bill Replogle kept a streak alive as he has not been defeated since he returned from an off track injury last year. With the pill draw format, Replogle had a front row starting spot and he wrestled with Kyle Weyandt for the duration of the Semi Late event.
Replogle was aided late in the event as Weyandt found himself occupied with defending his spot from challengers Nick Bechtel, Brian Weyandt Jr and late arriving Chubby Childers. At the finish, Replogle scored the win ahead of Kyle Weyandt, Brian Weyandt, Childers and Bechtel. Kyle and Bechtel won the heats.
For the first time in 15 years, Kevin Weyandt graced a Victory Lane. He started in the pole in the Pure Stock action and led the distance. But behind Weyandt the action was intense as the pursuers were in a mob racing from second to tenth. Lap after lap that group traded paint running two and three wide as they traded the spots around.
On lap eight, the inevitable happened as the bumping resulted in third place runner Charlie Clise flipping in turn two. Things settled down a bit after that red flag delay, but Weyandt was able to hold off Dalton Ritchey for the duration. Dalton Weyandt knifed through the mob from his ninth starting position to take third ahead of Kyle Deneen and Andrew Slough. Derek Hinish and Clise won the heats.
It was almost business as usual as James Fairall stormed to another 4 Cylinder win. Ernie Hewitt led early but Fairall rushed by on lap three. Fairall opened up a huge lead over the field as Talley and Hewitt led the battle for second. Hewitt dropped out and Talley finished second ahead of Todd Price, Michael Kneeland and Josh Williamson. Harlan Group and Fairall won the heats.
LATE MODEL 25 LAP 1 Drake Troutman, Shawn Jones, Matt Sponaugle, Trevor Feathers, Jeff Rine, Jim Bernheisel, Nathan Lasalle, Deshawn Gingrich, Pancho Lawler, Chuck Clise, Billy Wampler.
LIMITED 20 LAPS 1 Devin Hart, Donnie Farlling, Greg Moore, Clinton Hersh, Matt Murphy. Bryan Benton, Travis Wilson, James Loar, Brad Feight, Brian Lowery, Devin Weyandt, DNS Taylor Farlling
SEMI LATE 15 LAP 1 Bill Replogle, Kyle Weyandt, Brian Weyandt J, Chubby Childers, Nick Bechtel, Travis Calhoun, Jarrod Brown, Mike Desch, Cale Martin, Erik Weyandt, Josh Bumburger, Brian Savno Laura Reilly, Laura Chamberlain, Brandon Grubb
PURE STOCKS 15 LAP 1 Kevin Weyandt, Dalton Ritchey, Dalton Weyandt, Kyle Deneen, Andrew Slough, Denver Dishong, Barry Clark, Jeremy Fama, Leander Group, Bill Shehan, Cody King, Derek Hinish, Anthony Fama, Charlie Clise, Reed Stickel, James Morris, DNS Geoff Sosnowski
4 CYLINDERS 12 LAPS 1 James Fairall, Jay Talley, Todd Price, Michael Kneeland, Josh Williamson, Shawn Smith, Dominic Shipley, Alex Anderson, Zachery Pheasant, Jeff Merlott, JOe May, Keshawn Dempsey, JOhn Diehl, George Shore, Dalton Long, Ernie Hewitt, Josh Ringer, Harlan Group, Dustin Kinser, DNS Jonathan Middaugh, Colin Welsh, Isaac Komarinski
