Matt Parks got the season off in a good way by scorching the field in the Bedford Speedway 2013 opener Sunday night. Robbie Black had a similar fate by snagging the Limited season opener after holding off a late charge from Rick Singleton. In other action, Kerry Molovich ran third in the Semi Late event but was declared the victor after post race inspections, Bill Replogle won the Pure Stock event and CaleMartin won the wild 4 Cylinder finale
Parks came from deep in the field to score a heat race win earlier and almost duplicated that fete in the 25 lap feature. He started fifth in that field but was on the move from the start. Chuck Clise started on the front row and grabbed the early lead, but Parks was up to second by lap three. After a quick slowdown for a multi car tangle which included second heat race winner Jeff Rine, Parks was on the move. He jumped around Clise on lap five and set sail.
Parks got away from the field on each of several restarts, but J T Spence was working through the field. After starting tenth , Spence was up to third by lap 11. He got by Clise for second on lap 12 but was unable to close on Parks. Behind them, Clise, Andy Haus and DJ Troutman put on a wild battle for third. Haus bounced off the front stretch wall on lap 22 and brought out the caution one lap later as his car gave up in turn three..
On the two lap run for the finish, Parks was able to hold off Spence for the glory. Clise took third at the line followed by Rine from the rear, Troutman, Matt Cosner, Mike Altobelli Jr, Wayne Johnson, Tom Decker III and Haus. Rine and Parks won the heats.
Black started fourth in the Limited event but like Parks was on the move from the start. Khi Swanger was the early leader but Black was second by the end of the first lap. He blew by Swanger on lap two and opened up over the field. Travis Stickley moved in to second by lap three but Black was gone. Late in the race Rick Singleton arrived in second spot from his 16th starting spot and began to run Black down.
Singleton closed each lap and appeared to be poised to make the big move by lap 18, but when they encountered a lapped car, Black got by cleanly while Singleton lost time. Over the last two laps, Black ran off to a ten lenght win. Singleton was second, followed by Stickley, Dave Leidy, Nathan Lasalle, Donnie Farlling, Curtis Heath, Craig Perigo, Ron Bottenfield and Scott Daniels. Black and Tim Smith won the heats.
Ryan Beckett led the first Semi Late lap but Bob Jay zipped by on lap two,. Jay,s car got sick and headed pitward on lap five. At that point Chris Chamberlain was the new leader and he ran to the finish, But in the tech line the rear suspension of the 31 and of second plae finisher Lou Wannyn did not pass, handing the win to surprised Kerry Molovich. In the resulting shuffle, Jamey Swank was moved to second, ahead of Jesse Snyder, Tom Wakefield and George Beckett. Chamberlain and Swank won the heats.
The Semi Late even was spiced up on lap 6 as Dennis Collins took a flip ride in turn three. He was uninjured.
Big 2012 Pure Stock winner Bill Replogle returned for more in the opener. When pole sitter Mike Norris faltered on the opening lap, Replogle took the spot and led flag to flag. Charlie Walter emerged from a race long four car battle to take second, ahead of Travis Group, Mike Ott and Jarrod Brown. Replogle and Ed Vogel won the heats.
It took three tries to get the wild 4 cylinder event underway. Casey Fleegle led the first lap before Cale Martin got by. Fleegle and Martin went hard at it for the 12 lap duration before Fleegle banked off the wall on the last lap allowing Andrew Pluta to grab second at the line. Fleegle was third followed by last place starter Ian Will and John Diehl. Fleegle, Martin and Brandon Conrad won the heats.
LATE MODEL 25 LAP 1 Matt Parks, 2 JT Spence, 3 Chuck Clise, 4 Jeff Rine, 5 DJ Troutman, 6 Matt Cosner, 7 Mike Altobelli Jr, 8 Wayne Johnson, 9 Tom Decker III, 10 Andy Haus, 11 Matt Sponaugle, 12 Eric Zembower, 13 Justin Kann, 14 Cory Weaver, 15 Travis Cottle, 16 Sam Schaffer 17 Dan Cornman..DNS Steve Campbell. Tom Decker Jr
LIMITED 1 Robby Black, 2 Rick Singleton, 3 Travis Stickley, 4 Dave Leidy, 5 Nathan Lasalle, 6 Donnie Farlling, 7 Curtis Heath, 8 Craig Perigo, 9 Ron Bottenfield, 10 Scott Daniels, 11 Bob Foote, 12 Larry Foor, 13 Khi Swanger 14 Josh Berrier. DNS Tim Smith, Travis Calhoun
SEMI LATE 1 Kerry Molovich, 2 Jamey swank, 3 Jesse Snyder, 4 Tom Wakefield, 5 George Beckett, 6 Daniel Farlling, 7 Tyler Farlling, 8 Bob Jay, 9 Scott Grubb, 10 Dennis Collins, Ryan Beckett DQ Chamberlain, Wannyn
PURE STOCK 1 Bill Replogle, 2 Charlie Walter, Travis Group, Mike Ott, Jarrod Brown, David Riley, Ed Vogel, Bill Kennell, Greg Hainsey, K Beckett, Brad Karns Adam Daniels, Greg Beckett, Dave Lambert, RT Troutman, Mike Bowser, Mike Norris. DNS Rod Mock, Trent Clark.
4 CYLINDER 1Cale Martin, Andrew Pluta, Casey Flegle, Ian Will, John Diehl, Pat Breahm, EJ Johnson, Brandon Conrad, Nick Zboroavancik, Cindy Rhodes, Wayne Brenize, Steve Frederick, Matt Diehl, Ed Plummer, Phil Best, Bailey Johnson, Garrett Watkins, Rustin Martin, Jeff Vasos, Jordan Helsel, Robert Pluta, DNS Dustin Drake, Bill Valentine.
