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ROD GEORGE,
REX KING, SHAWN SHINGLEDECKER, DOUG IORIO II AND CURTIS J. BISH TOP
WINNERS LIST AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY June 24, 2007 FRANKLIN, PA ... Tri-City Speedway was back in action on a hot summer Sunday night, and Rod George (4 Your Car Connection Super Sprints), Rex King (Schwab’s Ford DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds), Shawn Shingledecker (RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods), Doug Iorio II (E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks) and Curtis J. Bish (Klapec Auto Body Thundercars) were hot on the track scoring feature wins on Fisher and Father/Red Express Fan Appreciation and Kids Night at the Venango County half-mile oval. Iorio won the second William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series race at Tri-City in 2007. For the fifth time this season, Rod George of Kittanning, Pa., captured the Super Sprint feature win. Taking the lead on the 15th circuit from early race leader Rob Eyler, George raced on to his 45th career win in the 20-lap main event driving his Notary Express/Dr. John Crawford III Family Practice Maxim No. 4. It was his fifth win in the last six area races, including a win on Saturday night at Mercer Raceway Park. “There were some great racing veterans up front tonight, and I just love racing those guys,” said George. “I’m not as brave as Rob running that high line. This team’s been together since 2002, and we’ve had some great races together.” Although some believed it was George’s 100th career feature win, it was actually the 104th victory of his stellar career, which included wins during a stint in Central Pennsylvania. It was his 98th career win in the Western Pennsylvania/Eastern Ohio region. Cory Good took the lead at the start of the race with Eyler hot on his tail. Running the top side of the track, Eyler stormed to the front of the field on the third circuit. One lap later, George passed Brent Covell for third. The race ran non-stop and it appeared that Eyler would cruise to his second win of the season. However, George gradually closed on the top two. On the eighth lap, he drove around Good to take second. Amidst lapped traffic, George’s car got faster and faster, especially on the inside groove. On the 15th lap, Eyler raced high into turn one, and George drove right past him on the inside. From there, George raced home the winner unchallenged. Eyler finished second over Bob Felmlee, Good and Covell. George and Felmlee won the Super Sprint heat races. Rex King of Bristolville, Ohio, scored his third win in a row in the 20-lap DIRTcar Big Block Modified feature. Starting from the pole position, King eclipsed outside polesitter Del Rougeux Jr. on the second circuit, then held off the hard charging Kevin Bolland to win his third feature of the season aboard his King Bros./Cortland Bank Bicknell No. 65. With mechanical problems suffered by Jeremiah Shingledecker, King also took over the point lead in the division. “It’s good to start up front,” said King after his 13th career feature win at Tri-City, which moved him into sixth on the all-time list. “Guys like Kevin, Del and even my boy, Russell, are good on these dry, slick tracks. I’m the underdog. We’re having a great run this year, but we don’t want to focus on the point chase.” After taking the lead from Rougeux on the second circuit, Bolland chased King into second. Bolland tried every move in the book to get around the wily veteran, but King was up to the challenge. Shingledecker passed Rougeux for third on the eighth lap, but unknown mechanical problems forced him pitside immediately after the move. Then, Russell King entered the mix. The younger King was running third on the ninth circuit and a caution at the halfway mark allowed him to close on the leaders. With his father out front, Russell King watched as Bolland tried to use the high groove to take the lead. It was to no avail, and Bolland opened the door on the final circuit to allow Russell King to steal second at the finish. Bolland finished third followed by Rougeux and Chris Schiffer. Dave Murdick and Shingledecker won the DIRTcar Big Block Modified heats. Shawn Shingledecker of Franklin, Pa., returned to his winning ways as he captured the 15-lap E Mod feature. After winning on opening night, Shingledecker struggled. He was peerless on this night, however, as he drove his Red Express/Venango Steel/Madera Equipment Pierce No. 54S to his second victory of the season and his fifth career win at Tri-City. “We finally got back to the way it worked last year,” said Shingledecker, whose 2006 teammate Brent Rhebergen won the track title. “We had a good start up front and the car was hooked up tonight.” Jim Frontz and Shingledecker started on the front row of the main event, and Shingledecker managed to beat Frontz to the line at the end of the first circuit. Once out front, Shingledecker was unstoppable. Behind him, point leader Carl McKinney moved into second on the fourth circuit. Try as he might, McKinney could not catch Shingledecker, even after the second and final restart on the sixth circuit. McKinney actually had more trouble fending off Mike Potosky, who took second on the seventh circuit. Two laps later, McKinney drove back around Potosky to take second for good. Then, Bobby Whitling entered the fray. He took third from Potosky with one lap to go after dueling with the former track champion for several laps. At the finish, Shingledecker was the winner over McKinney, Whitling, Potosky and last week’s winner Jason Johns. McKinney and Whitling won the E Mod heats. Doug Iorio II of Kennerdell, Pa., marched to his third win of the season in the 20-lap Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series event. Like King and Shingledecker, Iorio started on the front row. He drew the pole position in a pre-race draw, and that ultimately proved to be the winning move. It was the 11th career win for Iorio in his Dahlstrom Iron & Metal Chevrolet No. 28. “The power steering broke on lap two, and my arms are tired,” said Iorio. “We had a problem after warm-ups and the crew did a great job getting the car fixed. The track was slick and fast on that inside cushion.” After two cautions, including a fie-car wreck in turn two, on the opening circuit, the third time was a charm, and Iorio immediately took command. Behind him, Gerry Bruce dueled with Jason Reagle the entire distance. Bruce took second on the fourth circuit, but had to use every move in the book to hold off Reagle. Run under sunny conditions, the track dried out quickly and became slick. As a result, Iorio’s inside cushion worked to perfection. Reagle tried to make the outside cushion work, but he drifted high instead on the 12th circuit. That allowed Dave Ferringer to slip by him for third. At the finish, Iorio captured the win over Bruce, Ferringer, Reagle and Bobby Whitling. At the scales, Reagle turned up light. As a result, he was disqualified. Whitling was then awarded fourth and Matt Thomas finished fifth. Russ Coyne and Reagle won the heats. Competing in the third race of his life, Curtis J. Bish of Oil City, Pa., scored the feature win in the 12-lap Thundercar main. His father and brother, Curt Bish Sr. and Jr., have both won races at Tri-City, and his brother, Curtis E. Bish, is a rookie in the class. On this night, however, Curtis J. Bish took the reins of the Beast Boutique/Les Frickshun/Specialty Tool Chevrolet No. 30, and captured an improbable feature win. “This is an awesome race car,” said Bish after his first career win. “I set the car up each week, and my younger brother drives it. Tonight, he decided to let me have a shot. It’s his car. I knew I could win. I just dragged Bill Myers into the corner and took it away from him. This car had good bite in the corners.” Charlie McMillen paced the field for the first circuit in a tightly bunched pack. Bill Myers then assumed command of the race. After the event’s lone cautions on the third circuit, Myers was leading and Bish was in fifth. Within two laps, Bish worked the outside and inside cushions to move all the way to second. He then closed on Myers, who was able to breakaway from the pack. On the seventh lap, Bish drove under him to take the lead. Bish held it to the end for the win. Myers finished second to take the point lead. Joe Blake, McMillen and Ed Deloe rounded out the top five. Myers and Bish won the Thundercar heats. Tri-City Speedway returns to action for two days next week. On Sunday July 1st, Tri-City celebrates Independence Day with a five-star show featuring 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 E Mods will compete in their second Allegheny Toyota E Series event of the season. The annual Edward Jones Investments Fireworks Extravaganza will round out the show. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Adult grandstand admission will be a family friendly $11. Then, on Tuesday July 3rd, Tri-City Speedway hosts the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Series. The event, dubbed The Freedom Fifty, will feature an entire slate of time trials and preliminary races leading up to the 30-lap All Star event. Sharon Speedway’s Limited Sprints will also be on the card in a 20-lap special. The Klapec Auto Body Thundercars will round out the show. Gates open at 4 p.m. and time trials start at 6 p.m. Adult grandstand admission is $20. SUPER SPRINTS (20 Laps): 1. ROD GEORGE, 2. Rob Eyler, 3. Bob Felmlee, 4. Cory Good, 5. Brent Covell, 6. Arnie Kent, 7. Todd Bauer, 8. Brent Matus, 9. Russ Sansosti, 10. Tracy Potter, 11. Gale Ruth Jr., 12. Jack Helget, 13. Jeff Taylor, 14. Joe Butera, 15. Nate Stein, 16. Eric Williams. DIRTcar BIG BLOCK MODIFIEDS (20 Laps): 1. REX KING, 2. Russell King, 3. Kevin Bolland, 4. Del Rougeux Jr., 5. Chris Schiffer, 6. Dave Schrader, 7. Kevin Hoffman, 8. Skip Moore, 9. Rex King Jr., 10. Carl Murdick, 11. Lenny Leibold Jr., 12. Chanda Reitz Leibold, 13. Mike Turner, 14. Dave Murdick, 15. Jeremiah Shingledecker, 16. Jeremy Paup. E MODS (15 Laps): 1. SHAWN SHINGLEDECKER, 2. Carl McKinney, 3. Bobby Whitling, 4. Mike Potosky, 5. Jason Johns, 6. Shawn Domhoff, 7. Jim Frontz, 8. Jeff Walters, 9. Chip Mahodd, 10. Tim Engles, 11. Evan Taylor, 12. Jonathan Taylor, 13. Jeff Deeter, 14. Adam Beck, 15. Robert Double, 16. Jared Domhoff, 17. Butch Lambert, 18. Mike Samuelson, 19. Gary Sullivan. DETROIT IRON PRO STOCK SERIES (20 Laps): 1. DOUG IORIO II, 2. Gerry Bruce, 3. Dave Ferringer, 4. Bobby Whitling, 5. Matt Thomas, 6. Danny Exley, 7. Denny Crawford, 8. Don Kramer, 9. Jeff Lockhart, 10. Terry Wheeler, 11. Chris Haines, 12. Jeff Manners, 13. Craig Kamicker, 14. Jim Keith, 15. Randy Wyant, 16. Bobby Sutley, 17. Jackson Humanic, 18. A.J. MacQuarrie, 19. Russ Coyne, 20. Matt Keith, 21. Rod Laskey, 22. Bill Kluck Jr., 23. Bob Sloss. DISQ: Jason Reagle. THUNDERCARS (12 Laps): 1. CURTIS J. BISH, 2. Bill Myers, 3. Joe Blake, 4. Charlie McMillen, 5. Ed Deloe, 6. Regina Deloe, 7. Cody Manners, 8. Josh Seippel, 9. Patrick Fielding, 10. Bill Winters, 11. Greg Myers, 12. Bill Baker, 13. Jason Swartz, 14. Chester Raup, 15. Weanre Cook, 16. Bill Hale, 17. John K. Miller II. DNS: Curt Bish Sr.
UPCOMING
EVENTS July 3 – “The Freedom Fifty” Featuring All Star Circuit of Champions Sprints, Limited Sprints and Thundercars July 8 – Super Sprints, DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, E Mods, Pro Stocks and Thundercars (Buyer’s Fair Pennzoil Night) (Scout Night – All Scouts in Uniform Receive Free Grandstand Admission) July 15 – Super Sprints, DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds (BRP Modified Tour 2007/Schwab’s Ford Big Block Modified Challenge Series 15th Annual Kodiak Memorial), E Mods, Pro Stocks and Thundercars (Atkinson Fire Safety Equipment Night) |