The Bedford Speedway was finally greeted with warm weather for a Friday night program but a late afternoon shower moved in and delayed the start of festivities
Late Model driver Jeff Rine was among those happy that the program went on as he scored his first Bedford win of the season in that 25 lapper. The win was the 34th of his Bedford career, second on the all time list.
In other action in the wild program, Brian Weyandt Jr dominated the Semi Late event as did Shawn Smith in the 4 Cylinders, while George Dixon was the fourth and final Emod leader and Dalton Weyandt rallied late for the Pure Stock win.
With the rain delay, heats were cancelled for the Late Models and the field lined up in the Sweepstakes format. Pole sitter Bryan Bernheisel shot into the lead at the start and dominated the early laps, pulling to a straightaway lead over the first 16 all green laps. But Bernheisel’s dream ride ended at that point as he suffered a flat tire and brought out the only caution of the event.
At that point, Rine inherited the lead but a win was not a foregone conclusion as Matt Sponaugle shot from 4th to second on the restart and noticeably closed on Rine as the laps counted off.
But Sponaugle ran out of time and, after 4 second place runs in the last 5 races, Rine scored the win. The super fast surface due to the earlier rain weighed heavily on the field as only 5 cars went the distance. Behind Rine and Sponaugle at the end were Jeff Miller, Chuck Clise and Wayne Johnson.
Dalton Weyandt also got the jump on the Semi Late field and pulled away. Behind him a five car pack vied for second until Nick Bechtel snared that spot on lap 12. Bechtel closed slightly but could not catch Weyandt over the last three laps. Erik Weyandt, Laura Chamberlain and Greg Hainsey trailed, Bechtel and Khi Swanger won the heats.
The Emod event was a wild one. Brandon Hoover was the early leader with Jonathan Taylor in pursuit. Suddenly on lap 4, third place battlers Evan Taylor and Donnie Farlling made contact in turn 3, resulting in Farlling flipping wildly several times before running out of room and leaving the track in turn 4, bringing out the red. Farlling was uninjured but the car was destroyed.
On the restart, Jonathan Taylor shot by Hoover for the lead, and pulled out to a huge margin before he suddenly pitted on lap 17. George Dixon, who had taken second from Hoover on lap 5, then sailed the last three laps to grab the win. Beau Aikey, Hoover, Brandon Householder and Mike Altobelli trailed
Jim Frost was the early Pure Stock leader but he drew a crowd at the front. On lap 4 several in the group collided with Frost, who was spinning. Denver Dishong was the new leader, but with his car damaged from the earlier action, he was passed quickly on the restart.Dalton Weyandt took the lead followed by Derek Hinish and they ran that way to the end. Dalton Ritchey was third while Barry Clark and Cole Stickel came from starting in the teens to complete the top 5/ Hinish and Anthony Fama won the Heats.
Shawn Smith went pole to pole in the 4 Cylinder finale. Todd Price rallied late to take a distant second followed by Joshua Borland and Jay Talley.
LATE MODEL 25 LAPS 1 Jeff Rine, Matt Sponaugle, Jeff Miller, Chuck Clise, Wayne Johnson, Bryan Bernheisel, Tim Smith, Spike Moore Nathan Lasalle
EMOD 20 LAP 1George Dixon, Beau Aikey, Brandon Hoover,Brandon Householder, Mike Altobelli, David Green, Rodney Hartman, Jonathan Taylor, David Stremme, Mike Meck, Donnie Farlling, Evan Taylor, Tyler Stine,
SEMI LATE 15 LAP 1 Brian Weyandt Jr, Nick Bechtel, Erik Weyandt, Laura Chamberlain, Greg Hainsey Khi Swanger Andrew Stough, John Miller. Willy Ling, Laura Reilly, Jesse Snyder, Travis Calhoun, Bob Jay. Cale Martin, Kyle Weyandt, Rick Potter, Jeremy Fama Bill Pluta Bill Replogle
PURE STOCK 15 LAP Dalton Weyant Derek Hinish, Dalton Ritchey, Barry Clark, Cole Stickel, Charlie Clise, Anthony Fama, Denver Dishong, Ryan Beckett. Geoff Sosnoski, Cody Jarvie, Cortland Rush, Bill Shehan, Kevin Weyandt, Jim Frost, Kyle Deneen, Danner Ritchey. Cody Riggleman
4 CYLINDER 12 LAP Shawn Smith, Todd Price, Joshua Borland, Jay Talley, Ernie Hewitt, Colin Welsh Jim Burt, Richard Athey, Dustin Stine, James Norris, Jason Woods, Matthew Jones, Luke Hruber, Adam Plubell, Keshawn Dempsey DNS Dalton Long
