On the annual kids night at Bedford it was ironic that the youngest driver in the field scored the Late Model win Friday night. Other winners on the program were George Dixon in the EMods, John Miller in the Semo Lates, Denver Dishong in the Pure Stocks and Darren Howsare in the 4 Cylinders.
Chuck Clise and Matt Sponaugle brought the Late Model field to the green but it was Clise and Tim Smith battling for the lead at the end of lap one. After a stirring battle, Smith slid by to take over on lap 3 before Clise banked off the turn 1 wall two laps later, retiring from the event.
Troutman slid by Sponaugle for second on the restart and immediately went to work on Smith. After quite a few laps of often side by side racing, Troutman got by for the lead on lap 14.
But once again, many were watching Matt Cosner roaring through the field. Cosner arrived in third and started working on Smith for second. Smith put up a rousing fight but Cosner got by for second on lap 19. Over the last 6 laps, Cosner ran down Troutman and was all over the leader at the end, but the laps ran out and Troutman took the win by .24 seconds at the finish.
Smith held on to finish third, ahead of Jeff Rine and Danny Snyder. Clise and Troutman won the heats.
George Dixon made it look easy in the EMod event. He shot into the lead on lap one and held off Mike Altobelli for the distance. Drake Troutman made it to third on lap three but never threatened the top two.
Behind the leaders, Mitch Thomas and Jonathan Taylor waged a almost race long battle for fourth, trading the spot several times. Taylor made a successful last lap move to beat Thomas to the finish line and take fourth narrowly. Thomas was fifth. Dixon and Troutman won the heats.
The Semi Late 15 lap event was a dog fight for the duration. Jesse Snyder, returning from a brief respite, led the first few laps but John Miller inched by on lap 4 to take over. But Miller received almost instant heat from Bill Replogle and the pair went side by side several times as Replogle tried to get by. Behind the leaders, Brian Weyandt Jr, Nick Bechtel and Travis Calhoun went at it hard for third, trading that spot several times. Bechtel lost it and did a 350 spin on lap 6, bringing out the caution,. Bechtel saved it without stopping and under the track blend rule was allowed to restart penalized only the spots that he lost in the thrill.
But the battles up front continued. Pressure mounted as Laura Reilly found the front stretch wall with three laps to go, causing a lengthy caution . The two heated battles picked up again on the restart. Replogle made a last lap desperate move which fell short at the line as Miller put his Ford into Victory Lane. Weyandt held off Calhoun for third, ahead of fifth finisher Greg Hainsey, who came all the way from 14th. Weyandt Jr and Replogle won the heats.
After a rough season start, 2022s hard luck drivers Denver Dishong and Barry Clark started the Pure Stock event on the front row. The pair then ran the distance never more than a few feet apart as Dishong rallied to take his first win of the season. Clark chased him for the 12 lap distance but came up short at the line.
Behind the leaders, three drivers battled hard for third, with Anthony Fama taking third at the line. But Fama failed in the tech line, moving Derek Hinish, Kyle Deneen and Cody Jarvie into the top 5. Dalton Ritchey and Deneen won the heats.
Darren Howsare shot from fifth to first on lap one of the 4 Cylinder event, then led the distance. He was hounded by Shawn Smith and Colin Welsh who finished in that order to score his first win of the season. Smith and Keshawn Dempsey won the heats.
LATE MODEL 25 LAPS 1 Drake Troutman, Matt Cosner, Tim Smith, Jeff Rine, Danny Snyder, Wayne Johnson, Jim McBee, Clinton Hersh, Matt Sponaugle, Chuck Clise, Alex Libby
EMOD 20 LAPS 1 George Dixon, Mike Altobelli, Drake Troutman, Jonathan Taylor, Mitch Thomas, David Green, John Whitfield, Rodney Hartman, Ed Vogel, Jacob Whitt, Mike Meck, DNS Dan Patterson.
SEMI LATE 15 LAPS 1 John Miller, Bill Replogle, Brian Weyandt, Travis Calhoun, Greg Hainsey, Jesse Snyder, Nick Bechtel Laura Chamberlain, Bill Pluta Cale Martin, Erik Weyandt, Tony Catlett, Bob Torquato, Brandon Grubb, Jeremy Fama, Chuck Renner, Laura reilly, Kyle Weyandt, Ron Ramsey
PURE STOCK 15 LAPS 1 Denver Dishong, Barry Clark, Derek Hinish, Kyle Deneen, Cody Jarvie, Dalton Ritchey, Dalton Weyant, Brian Showalter, Bill Shehan, Charlie Clise, DQ Anthony Fama,
4 CYLINDERS 12 LAPS 1 Darren Howsare Shawn Smith, Colin Welsh, Dustin Stine, Keshawn Dempsey, Like Hribar, Ryan Beckett, Todd Price, Jason Woods, Paul Shore, Matthew Jones, George Shore, Ernie Hewitt, Howard Crawford, Jimmy Delozier, Jeff Marlett, Jacob Miller, Jay Talley, Richard Athey, Roger Fagan,
