July 10, 2009

FIVE DRIVERS GET FIRST WIN OF THE YEAR AT BEDFORD

By Dave Harclerode

BEDFORD, PA – It was ARCH Fan Club night at Bedford Speedway, and great weather greeted fans and drivers Friday evening.  Two drivers picked up their first win of the season, and three drivers earned their first career Bedford victory.  Kids bike races highlighted the evening, with 43 youngsters taking the green and checkered on Bedford’s historic front stretch.  DJ Myers took the checkered in the Bedford Valley Petroleum Super Late Models, and Derek Byler took top honors in the Miller Auto Parts Limited Lates.  Jesse Snyder earned his first career win in the TC Race Cars Street Stocks, Tyler Ritchey won his first ever in the Ritchey Sandblasting Hobby Stocks, and Paul Crynock, Jr. won his career first in the Thomas Chevrolet FWD 4 Cylinders.

DJ Myers started on the pole in the Super Late Model feature, and invader Austin Hubbard started along side.  Twenty-three cars entered the evening’s contest, with 20 cars making it for the start of the feature event.  Myers immediately took the top spot at the drop of the green, with Hubbard in tow.  Third starting Scott Haus brought out the first caution of the night with a sour engine, relinquishing a top five position.  Myers again assumed command when the green came back, keeping Hubbard at a five car length cushion.  Myers and Hubbard rolled the topside of the track as Jack Pencil and Jeff Rine battled for the third slot.  Racing action was hot mid pack with Tyler Hershey, Greg Fetters, and Jeff Miller  put on a show working through the field.  The top two had the race in check, and with 7 laps to go Jeff Rine pulled pit side with mechanical problems while running fourth.  Myers maintained a five car length cushion over Hubbard, and won his fifth career Bedford Super Model victory.  Hubbard came home second, Pencil third, invader Greg Satterlee fourth, and Jeff Miller fifth.  Sixth through tenth went to Greg Fetters, Tyler Hershey from the 14th starting spot, DJ Troutman, Chuck Clise, and Scott Rhodes.  Heat winners were Satterlee, Troutman, and Miller.

Derek Byler, the 2008 Limited Late track champ, has had a tough 2009 season.  With multiple DNF’s early in the season, Byler has progressed each week with improvements, and finally returned to championship form with his 5th career Bedford Limited Late victory.  Byler started in the second spot, and ran the same high line Myers ran in his feature.  Pole sitter Matt Parks followed suit, with the remainder of the field left to battle it out for third on back.  Robbie Garlock brought out the first caution after tagging the front stretch wall and rolling to a stop.  When racing resumed, Byler resumed command of the race with Parks, Tim Smith, Jr., and Rance Garlock following closely.  Mike Duck rolled to a stop with 8 laps to go, and went pit side after running tenth.  Rance Garlock brought out the final caution of the race while running fourth, and headed pit side with an apparent engine problem.  Byler took the checkered over Parks, Smith, Rick Singleton, and Brian Lesley.  Rounding out the top ten was Daniel Cornman, Travis Stickley (from 19th), Darrell Dick, Brandon Hoover, and Brian Lowery.  Cornman, Singleton, and Byler won the heat races for the 27 car field.

Donald Wyles and Jesse Snyder brought the 15 car Street Stock field to the green, and Snyder snatched the top spot in turn one.  A very scary incident happened on lap two involving Darryl Whetstone, the division’s point leader coming in to the evening.  Whetstone, racing within a large pack of cars, made contact with the outside wall at the beginning of the front stretch and flipped violently.  The number of flips is unknown, but the crash was probably the most violent of the year.  After several minutes, Whetstone emerged from his twisted and battered race cars to a standing ovation from the grandstands.  Once racing resumed, Snyder, hungry for his first career win, drove flawlessly to keep second place running Donald Wyles at bay.  Wyles unfortunately dropped back late in the race, handing the second spot to Kerry Molovich.  Brian Duffy was the big charger of the evening, making up to third to give Molovich a run, but at the end it was Snyder earning his first, Molovich second with his best run of the season, Duffy third, Bob Jay fourth, and Chris Chamberlain coming from 10th to finish fifth.  Sixth through tenth went to Tim Brindle, Ray Sheetz, Bill Pluta, Wyles, and Zane Weicht.  Heats went to Chamberlain and Jay.

The Hobby Stock feature was run in typical Hobby Stock fashion, with doors rubbing and bumpers inches apart.  Tyler Ritchey and Ryan Beckett brought the field to the green, and rarely were more than a few feet apart the entire race.  Beckett held the top position slightly over Ritchey, and Bill Replogle was moving up positions on a regular basis from his ninth starting spot.  Several cautions slowed the event, with the most severe happening in turn three when Ray Shepherd made hard contact with Jake Gongloff, causing both racers to spin, and Jason Gilliland was collected in the aftermath.  The battle continued up front when the green flew again, and Ritchey earned his first career win in dramatic fashion.  Pulling alongside Beckett in turn three and four on the final lap, the pair crossed the finish line side by side, with Ritchey taking the win by inches.  Bill Replogle finished third, Jarrod Brown fourth, and point leader Charlie Walter rounding out the top five.  Sixth through tenth went to Reed Stickel, Jr., Mandy Jay, Lou Wannyn, Preston Imler, and Donnie Imler.  Heat winners were Brown and Wannyn.

Paul Crynock, Jr. worked hard to earn his first FWD 4 cylinder feature event.  Last week’s feature winner Ed Vogel started on the front row, but found trouble before the field even hit the front stretch at the start.  Vogel’s car was heavily damaged and retired for the evening.  Crynock, Jr. took command of the race as the 2008 division champ Mike Lauffer knocked at the door.  Lauffer took the lead from Crynock and appeared to  heading to another feature win this season, but his engine soured, allowing Crynock back around.  At the finish it was Crynock, Bill Noll, Lauffer, Juan Ryan, and Cindy Rhodes.  Joe Means, Paul Crynock III, Kevin See, Davey Lambert, and Joel Vinglas, Jr.  Lambert won the lone heat event.

Next week, the Three State Flyer Series will make their second appearance at Bedford for the Super Late Models.  The event will pay $3,000 to the winner.  Also on hand will be the Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, and Hobby Stocks. 

 

SUPER LATE MODELS

FEATURE – 1.  DJ Myers  2. Austin Hubbard  3. Jack Pencil  4. Greg Satterlee  5. Jeff Miller  6. Greg Fetters  7. Tyler Hershey  8. DJ Troutman  9.  Chuck Clise  10. Scott Rhodes  11. Bo Feathers  12.  Alan Sagi  13. Andy Martz  14. Randy Burkholder  15.  Scott LeBarron  16. Brian Booze  17. Jeff Rine  18. Mike Altobelli, Jr.  19. Scott Haus  20. Wayne Johnson

DNS:  Tom Decker, Jr., Shawn Claar, Steve Everhart

HEAT 1:  Satterlee, Clise, Hubbard

HEAT 2:  Troutman, Rine, Pencil

HEAT 3:  Miller, Haus, Myers

 

LIMITED LATE MODELS

FEATURE – 1. Derek Byler  2. Matt Parks  3. Tim Smith, Jr.  4. Rick Singleton  5. Brian Lesley  6. Daniel Cornman  7. Travis Stickley  8. Darrell Dick  9. Brandon Hoover  10. Brian Lowery  11. Steve Bard  12. Craig Perigo  13. Matt Cosner  14. George Beckett  15. Allen Lemin  16. Grant Adams  17. George Dixon, Jr.  18. Donnie Hedge  19. Tim Snare, Jr.  20. Randy Wible  21. Travis Cottle  22. Rance Garlock (DNF)  23. Mike Duck (DNF)  24. Chad Walter (DNF)  25. Donnie Farlling (DNF)  26. Jake Griffith (DNF)  27. Robbie Garlock (DNF)

HEAT 1:  Cornman, Rance Garlock, Lesley

HEAT 2:  Singleton, Smith, Hoover

HEAT 3:  Byler, Duck, Parks

 

STREET STOCKS

FEATURE – 1.  Jesse Snyder  2. Kerry Molovich  3 Brian Duffy  4. Bob Jay  5. Chris Chamberlain  6. Tim Brindle  7. Ray Sheetz  8. Bill Pluta  9. Donald Wyles  10. Zane Weicht  11. Josh Gustaf  12. Jim Sayler  13. Greg Hainsey  14. Cody Buterbaugh  15.  Darryl Whetstone

HEAT 1:  Chamberlain, Whetstone, Wyles

HEAT 2:  Jay, Snyder, Sheetz

 

HOBBY STOCKS

FEATURE – 1. Tyler Ritchey  2. Ryan Beckett  3. Bill Replogle  4. Jarrod Brown  5. Charlie Walter  6.  Reed Stickel, Jr.  7. Mandy Jay  8. Lou Wannyn  9. Preston Imler  10.  Donn Imler  11. Travis Group  12. Jake Gongloff  13. Ray Shepherd  14. Terry Norris  15.  Jason Gililand  16. Kevin Hinish

HEAT 1:  Jarrod Brown, Ritchey, Group

HEAT 2:  Wannyn, Beckett, Jay

FWD 4 CYLINDERS

FEATURE – 1.  Paul Crynock, Jr.  2.  Bill Noll  3. Mike Lauffer  4. Juan Ryan  5. Cindy Rhodes  6. Joe Means  7. Paul Crynock III  8. Kevin See  9. Davey Lambert  10. Joel Vinglas, Jr.  11. Ed Vogel

HEAT – Lambert, Lauffer, Noll