It was open wheel night as Bedford headed into its October season Saturday night, and Briggs Danner and Derek Hauck led the way. Danner took honors in the USAC wingless sprint event delayed from its original spring date by the tire issue. And Hauck took the 305 event, a makeup of the August rainout for that group.
On the stock car side, 2022 track champion Jeff Rine dominated the 30 lap Late Model special before Colin Welsh closed the evening with a 4 Cylinder win.
In the USAC sprint headliner, Kyle Spence set the early pace from his pole position start while a battle for second formed behind him. Bpbby Butler ran in that spot early but Briggs Danner, Kenny Miller and Alex Bright soon closed to make it a wild battle. Danner soon broke free of that group, grabbing second on lap 8 and went after the leader. Danner took the lead on lap 12 but soon had Bright on his tail at the point. A quick yellow on lap 22 closed the field and Bright took full advantage of the opportunity. He forged ahead on the restart to lead lap 23 but Danner recovered to get back by and lead the last two laps and secure the win.
At the finish, it was Danner followed by Bright, Kenny Miller, Joey Amantea, Ed Aiken and Preston Lattomus. Bright and Spence won the heats.
Jeff Rine, accustomed to starting deep in the field in the Bedford handicapping system, was the recipient of fantastic luck in the pill draw event when he drew a front row starting spot. He shot by pole sitter Khi Swanger at the start and said good bye to the field. After two quick early cautions, the field went 15 green laps with Rine stretching out to a huge margin. But the battle for second was intense.
Swanger ran second , holding off a mob until Bryan Bernheisel got by on lap 8. Eventually Dylan Yoder also got by Swanger and chased down Bernheisel. Things got wild as the trio began to encounter heavy lapped traffic by about lap 15. After Rine zipped through that pack, Bernheisel, Yoder, Swanger, Coltoon Flinner, Keith Jackson and Justin Weaver raced each other hard as they also negotiated the traffic. In the mob, Yoder got by Bernheissel just before a yellow flew again on lap 23 for a multi car accident.
Yoder closed in on Rine during the caution period but Rine flew away on the restart, running off to a 3 second lead at the finish. Yoder, driving the 27 car, finished second, ahead of Bernheisel, Justin Weaver and Keith Jackson. Jackson, Matt Sponaugle and Yoder won the heats.
Logan Jones led the first lap of 305 action but Derek Hauck got by on lap two and never looked back. Jeff Weaver and Roger Irvine arrived from deep in the pack to battle Jones for the duration, but nobody caught Hauck for the lead during the 20 laps.
Jeff Weaver rallied to take second at the line ahead of Jones, Irvine and Scott Frack.. Hauck and Jones won the heats.
Derek Long and Todd Price battled for the lead early in the 4 Cylinder finale, but Colin Welsh slid by them both to take the lead on lap 6 and go on to the win. Price ran second, ahead of Long. Unretired Wayne Brenize and Jeff Marlett. The event marked the return of long retired Tom Brady in a cameo appearance. He finished ninth. Welsh and Price won the heats.
USAC SPRINTS 25 LAPS Briggs Danner, Alex Bright, Kenny Miller, Joey Amantea, Ed Aiken, Preston Lattomus, Bobby Butler, Bruce Buckwalter, JT Ferry, Jason Cherry, Brett Rose, Troy Fraker, Lee Kauffman, Kyle Spence, John Fraker
305 SPRINTS 20 LAPS 1 Derek Hauck Jeff Weaver, Logan Jones, Roger Irvine, Scott Franck, Reed Thompson, Drew Ritchey, Owen Dimm, Jarrett Cavalot, Ryan Lynn, Jay Fry, Matt Kline, John Scarborough
LATE MODEL 30 LAP 1 Jeff Rine, Dylan Yoder, Bryan Bernheisel, Justin Weaver, Keith Jackson, Colton Flinner, Travis Stickley, Shawn Jones, Chuck Clise, Spike Moore, Khi Swanger, Nathan Lasalle, Jeff Miller, Chad Julius, Cory Lawler, Brandon Little, Gary Stuhler, Ethan Ours, Darriss Deneen, Matt Sponaugle, Jim Bernheisel, Tim Smith, John Weaver, DNS Tom Decker
4 CYLINDER 15 LAPS 1 Colin Welsh, Todd Price, Derek Long, Wayne Brenize, Jeff Marlett, Jeremy Miller, Mark Kauffman, Christine Kauffman, Tom Brady, Jimmy Delozier, Shelton Lucas, Dalton Long, Sam Jerome, Dominic Shipley
