JEREMIAH SHINGLEDECKER, BOBBY POWELL, MIKE POTOSKY, SHAWN SHINGLEDECKER, JASON REAGLE AND BILL MYERS SCORE WINS AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY
by Brian Spaid

July 6, 2008

   FRANKLIN, PA  ... Mother Nature finally smiled on Tri-City Speedway on Sunday night with hot and sunny weather ending two consecutive weeks of rainout conditions, and the action on the track was fast and furious as Jeremiah Shingledecker (Engles Trucking DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds), Bobby Powell (4 Your Connection FASTRAK Late Models), Mike Potosky and Shawn Shingledecker (RPM Auto Sales/Sherry Shawgo Real Estate E Mods), Jason Reagle (E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks), and Bill Myers (Klapec Auto Body Thundercars) captured feature wins on Buyers’ Fair/Pennzoil Night. The Edward Jones Fireworks Extravaganza amazed the crowd at the end of the show as well.

   Jeremiah Shingledecker of Polk, Pa., earned a stellar victory in the 20-lap DIRTcar Big Block Modified feature. After swapping the lead with two-time defending track champion Kevin Bolland a half dozen times, Shingledecker secured the lead on the 13^th circuit, and raced to his third win of the season and the 11^th of his career at Tri-City.

   The win was extra special for Shingledecker because the he suffered terminal engine woes racing at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night. His father, Mike, worked into the wee hours of the morning for his son to have the power necessary to grab the stirring win aboard the Lou Heath & Son Excavating/Hards Welding/Fastenal Bicknell No. 37MD

   “That was an amazing race,” said Shingledecker in victory lane. “I kept trying to get past Kevin and finally drove under him to block him. I have to dedicate this win to my dad. He worked all day Saturday until early this morning to get this car ready.”

   Starting on the outside pole position, Shingledecker took command at the start. Bolland quickly zipped under Shingledecker for the lead on the third lap following a restart. That started one of the most amazing races in recent memory. Lap after lap, Shingledecker would dive under Bolland into turn one, slide in front of him in the middle of the corner, and Bolland would shoot off the top side to take the lead back off turn two. At the other end of the track, Bolland stayed high while Shingledecker tried to make the low groove work.

   On the 13^th circuit, Shingledecker finally made his move in turn two stick. Behind him, Rex King was also moving to the front fast. He caught the lead duo at the same time Shingledecker made his final pass, and hooked Bolland’s bumper briefly. Bolland held on, but Shingledecker dashed away from him. As the laps wound down, Shingledecker stretched his advantage and scored the popular win. Bolland and King chased him to the line. King is scheduled for midweek neck surgery, so this was his final race for at least one month. Andy Priest and Rex King Jr. rounded out the top five. Shingledecker and Gary Smoker won the DIRTcar Big Block Modified heats.

   Bobby Powell of Waterford, Pa., finally scored his first career FASTRAK Late Model feature win at Tri-City in exciting fashion. Powell lost the lead to the veteran Steve Hollabaugh with two laps left in the 20-lap main event. However, using lapped traffic to his advantage, Powell rocketed past Hollabaugh off the final turn to win the race aboard Scott Bidwell’s Fame RV Center/Maloney Tool & Mold Rocket No. B1D.

   Although it was Powell’s first FASTRAK Late Model win at the track, the 2000 E Mod champion also has one E Mod win and 14 Pro Stock wins. This was his first victory at the track since 2000.

   “I’m whooped,” said Powell, who snapped Max Blair’s four-race win streak. “That was a hard race. I’m friends with Steve and I didn’t know he was there. He got by me, and I thought I ruined our chance to win when I hit the backstretch wall. Lapped traffic helped us tonight. It feels good to win here again, and I have to thank everyone, especially Scott and his entire crew.”

   Powell took the lead at the start, and Hollabaugh was within striking distance the entire race. Two early cautions slowed the pace, but not Powell. Behind the lead duo, Mike Pegher Jr., Dave Lyon, Butch Lambert and Blair battled furiously for the remaining top five spots. While the fans watched those four drivers battle, out front, Hollabaugh slowly reeled in Powell.

   On the 18^th circuit, Hollabaugh found the grip under Powell to take the lead at the line. As they raced through turns one and two, Powell tried to gain more momentum, and rapped the outside wall in the backstretch. It barely slowed Powell, and he stayed close to Hollabaugh, who entered lapped traffic on the final circuit. Racing through the final corners, Powell cruised to the top side of the half-mile oval to take the lead off turn four and score the win by 0.117 seconds at the line. Hollabaugh finished a disappointed second. Pegher held onto third followed by Lyon, Blair and Lambert. Powell and Lambert won the FASTRAK Late Model heats.

   Mike Potoksy of Guys Mills, Pa., parlayed an outside pole position into his second win of the season in the 20-lap Welding Technologies E Series feature. He held off the final charge of Shawn Shingledecker to score the win aboard his Tool City Welding/Tech Precision Molded Plastics Pierce No. M20. It was Potosky’s 10^th career win at Tri-City, which moved him into sole possession of third on the all-time E Mod win list behind Brent Rhebergen and Matt Lux. Potosky also won the first 2008 E Series race on June 1^st.
   “Shawn wanted to be where I was, and I wasn’t going to let him by,” smiled Potosky after the race. “This car has been good all year, we just haven’t caught the right breaks to win more.”

   At the start of the event, polesitter Dave Lyon led before Potosky raced by Lyon off the fourth corner to complete the second circuit. Lyon, who started doing double duty in the FASTRAK Late Models and E Mods about three races ago, was impressive. He held off defending track champion McKinney for the first half of the race. Shingledecker then came into the picture. After starting ninth, he worked under Lyon off turn four on the 14^th circuit. McKinney quickly followed into third.

   A late race caution put Shingledecker on Potosky’s rear bumper with three laps to go. On the restart, Shingledecker got a wheel under Potosky and nearly completed a pass for the win. Potosky was a man on a mission, however, and continued to work the top side of the half-mile oval to his advantage staving off Shingledecker for the win. McKinney finished third over teammate Al Cressley and Jim Frontz. Jeff Deeter and Shingledecker won the E Mod heats.

   Shawn Shingledecker of Franklin, Pa., scored his first win of the season in the 15-lap E Mod feature that concluded the night. Piloting his Northwest Savings Bank/Madera Equipment Pierce No. 54S, Shingledecker led every circuit to win his seventh career E Mod feature at Tri-City. Due to the E Series race, the E Mod teams elected to run the rain-delayed feature from June 8^th at the end of the racing program, rather than at the start.

   “I forgot what victory lane looked like,” said Shingledecker from the checkered square on the inside of the frontstretch for the first time since July 1, 2007. “My crew did a nice job with the setup tonight. The track was great too.”

   Shingledecker started on the outside pole and led the first two circuits. Young Evan Taylor was hot on his heels, however, and managed to squeeze under Shingledecker off turn four to take command on the third circuit. Taylor tried to hold off Shingledecker, but the E Mod veteran raced outside Taylor into turn three to resume command.

   Two restarts gave Taylor a chance to try to pass Shingledecker again, but he made a critical error on the final restart on the 12^th circuit. Entering turn one, Taylor raced too low and hit the inside berm. The contact shot his car to the outside, and Mike Potosky and Carl McKinney dashed by him. McKinney took second and charged hard into the corners over the last two laps to try to catch Shingledecker to no avail. At the finish, Shingledecker was the winner over McKinney, Potosky, Taylor and Bruce Powell.

   Jason Reagle of Oil City, Pa., continued his winning ways in the 15-lap Pro Stock main as he scored his fourth victory of the season and the 12^th of his career tying him with 2007 track champion Doug Iorio II on the all-time Pro Stock win list. Taking the lead on the second lap, Reagle was peerless aboard his R.K. Virgile Scrap Metals Dodge No. 888.

   “This car works so well here,” remarked Reagle in victory lane. “I’ve had it for six or seven years, but it sat in the weeds outside our shop until about two years ago. We’ve tweaked it since then, and it just works perfect. This was a great track tonight too.”

   Rod Laskey jumped out to the lead of the race after the completion of the first circuit before Chris Haines spun in turn one. On the restart, Reagle was in second and rocketed past Laskey for first. Without another caution to slow the pace, Reagle opened a huge lead. Over the last half of the race, Jason Johns had the fastest car on the track. He passed Laskey for second with three laps to go, but it was impossible for him to catch Reagle. In the end, Reagle was the winner over Johns, Laskey, Dave Ferringer and Randy Wyant, who scored a career best fifth place finish. Johns and Gerry Bruce won the Pro Stock heat races.

   Bill Myers of Seneca, Pa., took a big step toward defending his Thundercar track championship with his third win of the season in the 13-lap feature. Taking the lead on the eighth lap, Myers drove his R.K. Virgile Scrap Metal/Corner Pocket Bar/Color Tek Chevrolet No. 43M to his ninth career Thundercar feature win following a late race caution that extended the event by one lap.

   “That was a tough run tonight,” said Myers, who was visibly exhausted in victory lane. “I think I reached my goal tonight of trying to catch Chadd (Uber) for the point lead. I’d like us to win the title again.”

   Charlie McMillen, who has struggled all season, took the lead at the start of the race. He held off Ed Deloe for the first seven circuits before Myers and Cody Manners entered the fray. Manners was running third on the seventh circuit when he made a move to the outside of Deloe in the backstretch. Racing for the same real estate, the two collided forcing both into the backstretch fence. The contact knocked Deloe out of the race on the next circuit, and Myers and Uber passed both drivers to grab second and third.

   After the restart following Deloe’s stoppage, Myers took the lead off turn four while completing the eighth circuit. Uber also worked by McMillen, but was penalized for rough driving during the final caution, which was caused when Regina Deloe lost a wheel running inside the top five with one lap to go.

   With the race extended from 12 to 13 laps, Myers managed to hold onto the lead for the green-white-checkered finish. Manners was second over McMillen, Greg Myers and Bill Winters. Bill Myers and Manners won the Thundercar heats.

   Next Sunday July 13^th, Atkinson Fire Safety Equipment Presents Five-Star Racing featuring the 16^th Annual Kodiak Memorial for the BRP Modified Tour 2008 and the Engles Trucking DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds. In addition, the 4 Your Car Connection FASTRAK Late Models, RPM Auto Sales/Sherry Shawgo Real Estate E Mods, E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks and Klapec Auto Body Thundercars will be in action. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Adult grandstand admission will remain at $11 with students (13-15) at $6 and children 12 and under admitted free.

   DIRTcar BIG BLOCK MODIFIEDS (20 Laps): 1. JEREMIAH SHINGLEDECKER, 2. Kevin Bolland, 3. Rex King, 4. Andy Priest, 5. Rex King Jr., 6. Dave Schrader, 7. Gary Smoker, 8. Brad Rapp, 9. Kevin Hoffman, 10. Del Rougeux Jr., 11. Rob Kristyak, 12. Mike Turner, 13. Skip Moore, 14. Rick Hall, 15. Carl Murdick, 16. Dean Pearson, 17. Kyle Fink, 18. Joe Crawford, 19. Mark Flick, 20. Tommy Kristyak, 21. Chris Hartman, 22. Rich Whitney.

   FASTRAK LATE MODELS (20 Laps): 1. BOBBY POWELL, 2. Steve Hollabaugh, 3. Mike Pegher Jr., 4. Dave Lyon, 5. Max Blair, 6. Butch Lambert, 7. Chris Haines, 8. Chad Myers, 9. Bryant Hank, 10. Kyle Zimmerman, 11. Tyler Deitz, 12. Rusty Cade, 13. Dennis Lunger Jr., 14. Carl McKinney, 15. Bobby Whitling.

   E SERIES (E MODS) (20 Laps): 1. MIKE POTOSKY, 2. Shawn Shingledecker, 3. Carl McKinney, 4. Al Cressley, 5. Jim Frontz, 6. Evan Taylor, 7. Bob Connor, 8. Bruce Powell, 9. Randy Beck, 10. Jonathan Taylor, 11. Gary Sullivan, 12. Rick Pratschler, 13. Russ Dunn, 14. Dave Lyon, 15. Jeff Deeter, 16. Billy Henry, 17. Jared Domhoff, 18. Jeremy Boratyn. DNS: Chip Mahood, Butch Lambert, David Atkinson.

   E MODS (Rain Delayed from June 8^th) (15 Laps): 1. SHAWN SHINGLEDECKER, 2. Carl McKinney, 3. Mike Potosky, 4. Evan Taylor, 5. Bruce Powell, 6. Butch Lambert, 7. Jim Frontz, 8. Randy Beck, 9. Jeff Deeter, 10. Billy Henry, 11. Rick Pratschler, 12. Jonathan Taylor, 13. Gary Sullivan. DNS: Chip Mahood, Russ Dunn, David Atkinson, Dave Lyon.

   PRO STOCKS (15 Laps): 1. JASON REAGLE, 2. Jason Johns, 3. Rod Laskey, 4. Dave Ferringer, 5. Randy Wyant, 6. Denny Crawford, 7. Terry Wheeler, 8. Gerry Bruce, 9. Russ Coyne, 10. Matt Thomas, 11. Arthur Edwards, 12. Jim Keith, 13. A.J. MacQuarrie, 14. Chris Haines, 15. Ronnie Davis, 16. Kevin Carson. DNS: Bobby Sutley, Dave Shook, Jackson Humanic, Steve Prichard.

   THUNDERCARS (12 Laps): 1. BILL MYERS, 2. Cody Manners, 3. Charlie McMillen, 4. Greg Myers, 5. Bill Winters, 6. Dave Baker, 7. Joe Blake, 8. Don Blake Jr., 9. Bill Baker, 10. Joe Sloss, 11. Curt Bish Sr., 12. Chadd Uber, 13. Jon Huff, 14. Regina Deloe, 15. Jeff Manners, 16. Mike Dobrick, 17. Alan Perry, 18. Scott Kilgore, 19. Ed Deloe, 20. Curtis E. Bish. DNS: Pat Fielding, Kenny Alcorn, Cody Carson. 

   UPCOMING EVENTS 

   July 13 – Atkinson Fire Safety Equipment Presents Five-Star Racing with BRP Modified Tour 2008 16^th Annual Kodiak Memorial for DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, FASTRAK Late Models, E Mods, Pro Stocks and Thundercars

   July 20 – Joy Employee Fund Presents Five-Star Racing with DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, FASTRAK Late Models, E Mods, William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series, Thundercars and Lowry Auto Wrecking Mid-Sized Car Demolition Derby (Teen Night: Ages 13-19 Receive Free Grandstand Admission)

   July 27 – Speedway Closed

   Aug. 3 – Coors Brewing Presents Bonus Bucks Night and Five-Star Racing with DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, FASTRAK Late Models, E Mods, William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series and Thundercars

   Aug. 10 – Barr’s Insurance and McDonald’s Present Kids Night and Five-Star Racing with DIRTcar Big Block Modifieds, FASTRAK Late Models, E Mods, Pro Stocks and Thundercars (Kids Bike Races: Children 12 and Under)