BEDFORD, PA – August 13, 2017
After losing three consecutive Friday’s to Mother Nature, Bedford Speedway took advantage of a rare Sunday raindate for the annual Muss Weyant Tribute Show. Matt Cosner was the beneficiary, claiming his third Bedford Late Model win of the year. Bill Replogle won the special 30 lap Semi Late portion of the Weyant Tribute, with Barry Weyandt winning the 20 lap Pure Stock portion. Invader KC Burdette claimed his first ever Bedford modified win in his first career Bedford start and Chris Reckner won the Four Cylinder nightcap.
Nathan LaSalle and DJ Troutman led the Late Model field to the green for their 25 lap feature. Immediately on the start Troutman and Chad Hollenbeck made a move around LaSalle to go to the front. A quick yellow for debris on lap one then slowed the field. Following the restart Cosner passed Hollenbeck on lap five, setting his sights on the long gone Troutman. With no yellows to help him, Cosner tracked down Troutman setting the stage for a multi lap, side by side battle for the lead. With Cosner and Troutman using the entire track they raced hard through lapped traffic. Behind them Jeff Rine and Hollenbeck were racing just as hard for the third position. Cosner finally cleared Troutman on lap 18, leaving Troutman to deal with the fast closing Rine in lapped traffic. The second yellow fell on lap 23 when Nathan LaSalle got into the turn one wall very hard. Troutman and Rine were unable to challenge Cosner on the two lap shootout to the finish. At the end it was Cosner, Troutman, Rine, traveller Colten Burdette, in his first Bedford start, and Chuck Clise rounded the top five. Troutman and Cosner won the heats.
Rookie Drake Troutman took full advantage of his outside pole start to lead the first eight laps of the 18 lap modified feature. Behind him the pack was scattered with hard racing everywhere. West Virginia driver KC Burdette, learning quickly during his first start at the unique Bedford oval was charging hard from his seventh starting position. Burdette made it to third by lap three, and second by lap five. After several laps of stalking Troutman, Burdette was able to take the lead on lap eight, bringing ninth starting Vic Vandergrift with him. With only one caution slowing the field on lap 11, Burdette was stalked by Vandergrift for the duration of the feature. At the end Vandergrift had to settle for second, ahead of Rich Goodman, Bill Pluta and Drake Troutman. Burdette and Aikey were heat winners.
The Semi Late portion of the Muss Weyant Tribute is traditionally their longest show of the year, this year being 30 laps. First year Semi Late drivers Bill Replogle, Brandon Hoover and Brian Weyandt, Jr. took full advantage of the extra distance battling hard for the entire distance. Replogle led the distance with Weyandt getting second from Hoover on lap 24. Replogle continued to fight off Weyandt until the finish to take the big win. Snyder and Hoover won the heats.
The Pure Stocks also went extra distance, with them going 20 laps in honor of Muss Weyant. It was another Weyandt, Barry who would take the win over Denny Pittman and Trent Clark. In a race slowed by six cautions the lead pack had to battle hard the entire way. At the line following the first three was Kyle Weyant and Joe DeArmitt rounding out the top five. Barry Weyant, Feight and Pittman were heat winners.
Chris Reckner was the early leader of the Four Cylinder main, leading until halfway. Casey Fleegle got by on lap seven to take the initial win. Unfortunley Fleegle didn’t make weight in the tech area giving the win to Reckner who had fought Fleegle hard the whole race. Following Reckner was Darren Howsare, Kolny Crawley, Wayne Brenize and Chris Graybill. Graybill and Brenize won the four cylinder heats.
This Friday night, August 18th the Bedford Speedway returns to action with the Billy Winn Classic 81st Anniversary special. The Super Late Models are racing 50 laps for $8100 to win, joined by the Modifieds racing 25 laps for $800 to win, as well as the Laurel Highlands Racesaver Sprints. The Eastern Museum of Motor Racing will also be on hand with a classic car display and exhibition. The winner’s share of Friday night’s Classic purse is $8100, with $600 to take the green, as part of a $36,000 total purse.
Bedford Speedway hosted its first auto race on September 5th 1936, with Depression-era star Billy Winn taking the win. Over the past 81 years the track has hosted some of the greatest names in racing history. The track is located at the intersection of I-99 & US 30, with easy access from PA Turnpike exit 146, just blocks from beautiful downtown Bedford PA.
Information about the speedway is available at bedfordspeedway.com, as well as Facebook or Twitter or by calling the track hotline at 814-623-0500.
Late Model: Matt Cosner 2. DJ Troutman 3. Jeff Rine 4. Colten Burdette 5. Chuck Clise 6. Robbie Black 7. Matt Sponaugle 8. Wayne Johnson 9. Curtis Heath 10. Chad Hillenbeck 11. Nathan LaSalle 12. Andy Fries
Modified: 1. KC Burdette 2. Vic Vandergrift 3. Rich Goodman 4. Bill Pluta Jr. 5. Drake Troutman 6. Beau Aikey 7. John Whitfeild 8. Chris Rudolph 9. Aylissa Rowe 10. Mike Altobelli Jr. 11. Justin Milburn 12. Mike Meck 13. Darrell Edwards 14. Dacron Powell 15. Jamie Kohan 16. Branden LaSalle 17. Todd Goss 18. Dennis Perigo.
Semi Late: Bill Replogle 2. Brian Weyandt 3. Brandon Hoover 4. Dave Whetstone 5. Justin Michael 6. Daniel Coman 7. Tom Brady 8. Jessie Snyder 9 Tom Warren 10. Travis Calhoun 11. Cole Martin 12. Boyd Brode 13. Mark Patterson DNS 14. Kyle Weyant DNS
Pure Stock: Barry Weyandt 2. Denny Pittman 3. Trent Clark 4. Kyle Weyandt 5. Joe Dearmitt 6. Tyler Ritchey 7. Bill Replogle 8. Dave Lambert 9. Kyle Beckett 10. Dakota Foor 11. Cheyanne Ranker 12. Nathan Gilliland 13. Brad Feight 14. Erik Weyandt 15. David Green 16. Josh Frankenberry 17. Tyler Thomas 18. Nick Bechtel 19. Jim Dearmitt 20. Laura Chamberlian 21. Preston Imler 22. Jarrod Brown 23. Kevin Weyandt DNS
Four Cylinder: 1. Chris Reckner 2. Darren Howsare 3. Kolby Crawley 4. Wayne Brenize 5.Chris Graybill 6. Michael McDonald 7. Steve Frederick 8. Steven Martin 9. Josh Fetters 10. Shawn Miller 11.Michael Kneeland 12.Bryan Ickes 13.Eric Zimmerman 14. Todd Price 15.Delmar Donivan 16. Phil Best 17. Kyle Frankenberry 18. Steve Martin DNS: Rodney Hartman, Morgan Price DQ: Casey Fleegle
