 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
ROD GEORGE,
JEREMIAH SHINGLEDECKER AND DOUG IORIO II REPEAT AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY;
CARL McKINNEY WINS FIRST E MOD FEATURE SINCE ’04; JON HUFF UPSETS THUNDERCARS May 13, 2007 FRANKLIN, PA ... Tri-City Speedway celebrated Mother’s Day under sunny and pleasant skies on Sunday night as Rod George (4 Your Car Connection Super Sprints), Jeremiah Shingledecker (Schwab's Ford DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds), Carl McKinney (RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods), Doug Iorio II (E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks) and Jon Huff (Klapec Auto Body Thundercars) captured feature wins at the Venango County half-mile oval. On Saturday night, Rod George of Kittanning, Pa., barely held off a hard-charging Rob Eyler at Mercer Raceway Park for a feature win. George repeated the feat on Sunday night in a wild duel with Eyler over the last four laps of the 20-lap Super Sprint feature. In the end, George scored his second win of the season and the 42nd Super Sprint win of his career at Tri-City aboard his Notary Express/Dr. John Crawford III Family Practice Maxim No. 4. “Rob is a fast racer,” said George after his second win of the weekend. “I didn’t expect him to catch me at all. He’s always fast. I’d like to thank all the fans for coming out tonight, and I’d like to wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day.” Starting on the outside of the front row, George immediately took the lead from polesitter Brent Covell, who spun in turn four after one lap. Following Covell’s spin, the rest of the race was caution-free. George was the class of the field and opened a huge lead. Behind him, Eyler worked his way through the top five. He was fourth by lap six, third by lap seven and second by the 12th circuit. It appeared as if George eased his pace a little apparently believing he had an insurmountable lead. Unknown to him was the fact that Eyler was flying from behind. On the 16th circuit, Eyler raced around George off turn four to the lead with the crowd cheering wildly. Two laps later, Eyler raced too hard into turn two, and George dashed under him. Amidst lapped traffic, George held off Eyler for the victory. Todd Bauer finished third over Jack Sodeman Jr. and Gary Rankin. Covell and Sodeman won the Super Sprint heats. Bob Felmlee suffered a broken rocker arm in his engine during his heat race, and was scratched from competition as a result. Jeremiah Shingledecker continued his stellar season with his second victory of 2007 in the 20-lap DIRTcar Big Block Modified feature. Driving his Carmate Trailers/Quaker Steak & Lube/Lou Heath & Son Excavating and Trucking Bicknell No. 37MD, Shingledecker survived a three-car battle with early leader Chris Schiffer and Andy Priest to take the lead on the ninth circuit. Racing into turn three side-by-side, Priest made contact with Schiffer, which sent Schiffer spinning and Priest to the rear of the field. Once out front, Shingledecker cruised to his seventh career win at Tri-City. “I didn’t see Chris spin at all,” said Shingledecker after his seventh career win at Tri-City. “That’s a shame because he ran a good race. We’re just excited with the start to our season. We finally have an engine that we need. I’d like to thank my mom, my mother-in-law, and my wife for everything.” Schiffer started on the pole position and assumed command at the outset of the race. Priest quickly moved into second and charged after Schiffer. However, Schiffer was up to the challenge and held Priest at bay lap after lap. Shingledecker entered the mix on the fifth circuit. On the ninth circuit, the trio was three-wide entering the third turn. Shingledecker was up high, Schiffer was in the middle, and Priest dove to the inside making contact with Schiffer, which caused him to spin. On the ensuing restart, Shingledecker dashed away from the field for the win. After a lot of slicing and dicing among the top five over the last half of the race, the father and son duo of Rex and Russell King finished second and third followed by Del Rougeux Jr. and Kevin Bolland. Bolland and Rougeux captured the DIRTcar Big Block Modified heat races. Carl McKinney of Cranberry Township, Pa., captured his first E Mod feature win at Tri-City since August 22, 2004, in the 16-lap E Mod feature event. Taking the lead on the fourth circuit in Mike Hendrickson’s Holden Precision Machine Pierce No. 6M, McKinney scored his second career feature win at the track. “I’d really like to thank Mike for giving me a chance to drive this car,” said McKinney. “In last week’s race, I realized that this car worked well on the top groove. So, we decided to stick to the top side tonight, and it was great.” Chip Mahood led the two laps of the race before Evan Taylor took the lead. Following a restart on the fourth lap, McKinney raced around Taylor in turn two to snare the lead. Taylor then tried to hold off defending Pro Stock track champion Bobby Whitling and Russ Dunn to no avail. Dunn charged into second by the seventh circuit. Whitling challenged Dunn thereafter and finally secured the runner-up position on the 12th lap. A late caution for a wild frontstretch spin by point leader Shawn Shingledecker added a lap to the race distance. That was no problem for McKinney as the former Sharon Speedway track champion took the win. Whitling edged Dunn at the finish line over Jim Frontz and Mike Potosky. McKinney and Jason Johns won the E Mod heats For the second week in a row, Doug Iorio II of Kennerdell, Pa., won the 15-lap Pro Stock main event. Driving his Gil Dahlstrom Iron & Metal Chevrolet No. 28, Iorio took the lead on the third circuit from early pacesetter Denny Crawford. Despite numerous cautions, Iorio was untouchable as he raced to his second win of the 2007 season and the 10th of his career at Tri-City. “I probably should stand up here with the caution flag instead of the checkered flag,” quipped Iorio in victory lane. “I’d like to thank the whole crew, and I’d like to wish a Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there.” Crawford vaulted from the second row into the lead on the first lap of the race passing Russ Coyne and Gerry Bruce to pace the field. On a restart on the third circuit, Iorio got the better of Crawford and Bruce. Diving under both of them into the first corner, Iorio snagged the lead. He was unable to establish any rhythm, however, due to a total of six cautions. Crawford could not reel in Iorio and settled for a career best runner-up finish. Jason Reagle, who was making his return to Pro Stock competition, engaged in a stirring battle with Bruce over the last five laps. Reagle finished third over Bruce and Danny Exley. Dave Ferringer and Iorio won the Pro Stock heat races. In a huge upset, Jon Huff of Oil City, Pa., captured his first career Thundercar feature win. Having never finished in the top five before in any feature race, Huff led every circuit of the 12-lap Thundercar main to earn his initial ticket to victory lane aboard his Gil Dahlstrom Iron & Metal/Shook’s Garage Chevrolet No. 75 “The first two weeks we had a lot of bad luck,” said Huff, whose uncle, Jerry, is a former Pro Stock racer and helped build the engine in the winning car. “I have to thank a lot of people, especially my wife for putting up with this.” After two aborted starts, the second one occurring after point leader Charlie McMillen spun in turn two, Huff took the lead from polesitter and rookie Curtis E. Bish. Bill Myers moved into second, but contact between Myers and Huff forced Myers pitside. It also damaged Huff’s car enough to cause a trail of tire smoke the rest of the race. While Huff held the lead, Bish was trying to fend off Regina Deloe. Josh Seippel also entered the battle and secured second on the seventh circuit. By then, however, Huff was gone. Seippel and Deloe slowly reeled in Huff, but were unable to close the gap that the leader opened during the early stages of the race. At the finish, Huff was the winner over Seippel, Deloe, Greg Myers and Bish. Bill Myers and Joe Blake captured the Thundercar heats. In the nightcap event, 2006 Miss Tri-City Speedway Camille Ferringer of Cochranton, Pa., captured the 10-lap Powder Puff race, which featured Pro Stocks and Thundercars. Driving the Pro Stock normally piloted by her father, Dave Ferringer, the petite blue-eyed blonde captured her second career win in the event. Tri-City Speedway will be back in action next Sunday May 20th with a five-star racing program that includes the 4 Your Car Connection Super Sprints, Schwab's Ford DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods, E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks and Klapec Auto Body Thundercars. The Pro Stocks will compete in the first 20-lap William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series of the 2007 season. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Adult grandstand admission will be a family friendly $11.
SUPER
SPRINTS (20 Laps): 1. ROD GEORGE, 2. Rob Eyler, 3. Todd Bauer, 4. Jack
Sodeman Jr., 5. Gary Rankin, 6. Brent Covell, 7. Sheila Rankin, 8. Gale
Ruth, 9. Scott Rodgers. DNS: Bob Felmlee. E MODS (16 Laps): 1. CARL McKINNEY, 2. Bobby Whitling, 3. Russ Dunn, 4. Jim Frontz, 5. Mike Potosky, 6. Evan Taylor, 7. Jason Johns, 8. Butch Lambert, 9. Chip Mahood, 10. Gary Sullivan, 11. Mike Samuelson, 12. Tim Engles, 13. Jeff Deeter, 14. Jim Turley, 15. Arthur Edwards, 16. Jonathan Taylor, 17. Shawn Shingledecker, 18. Robert Double, 19. Vince Crisanti. PRO STOCKS (15 Laps): 1. DOUG IORIO II, 2. Denny Crawford, 3. Jason Reagle, 4. Gerry Bruce, 5. Danny Exley, 6. Dave Ferringer, 7. Matt Thomas, 8. Jackson Humanic, 9. Joe Lockhart, 10. Bobby Sutley, 11. Jeff Lockhart, 12. Don Kramer, 13. John Winters, 14. Dick Pascorell, 15. Chris Haines, 16. Randy Wyant, 17. Terry Wheeler, 18. Russ Coyne, 19. Rod Laskey, 20. Rusty Kellogg, 21. Jeff Manners, 22. Matt Keith. THUNDERCARS (12 Laps): 1. JON HUFF, 2. Josh Seippel, 3. Regina Deloe, 4. Greg Myers, 5. Curtis E. Bish, 6. Joe Blake, 7. Cody Manners, 8. Bill Winters, 9. Chad Ubber, 10. Patrick Fielding, 11. Kenny Alcorn, 12. Jason Swartz, 13. Dave Fleeger, 14. Charlie McMillen, 15. Bill Myers, 16. Ed Deloe, 17. Fred Schultz, 18. John K. Miller. DNS: Curt Bish Sr., Bill Baker. POWDER PUFF (10 Laps): 1. CAMILLE FERRINGER, 2. Casey Paup, 3. Ruby Myers, 4. Kerri Bruce, 5. Kim Rodgers, 6. Charity Blair, 7. Kristen Peterson, 8. Daisy Deloe, 9. Kathy Kistler, 10. Keely Baker, 11. Holly Huff, 12. Janelle Sloss, 13. Brandy Myers. DNS: Star Grimm.
UPCOMING
EVENTS May 27 – Rankin & Sons Excavating Presents 4th Annual Dick Rankin Memorial (Super Sprints, BRP Modified Tour 2007/Schwab’s Ford Big Block Modified Challenge Series, E Mods, Pro Stocks, Thundercars) June 3 – Super Sprints, DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, E Mods (Allegheny Toyota E Series), Pro Stocks and Thundercars (Little League Night – Leaguers in Uniform Admitted Free of Charge) June 10 – Super Sprints, DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, E Mods, Pro Stocks, Thundercars and One-on-One Spectator Races (WDDH 97.5 “The Hound” Night) |