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MATT LUX
WINS ALL STAR 50 FOR THE E MODS; CHAD MYERS SCORES IN THUNDERCAR CLASH;
KEVIN BOLLAND, DAVE FERRINGER AND BOBBY WHITLING WIN QUALIFIERS September 3, 2005 FRANKLIN, PA ... The first night of Tri-City Speedway’s 2005 Oil Region Labor Day Classic was filled with racing excitement as Matt Lux won the All Star 50 for the RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods and Chad Myers captured the 4 Your Car Connection Thundercar Clash 20. In other action, Kevin Bolland won the 20-lap Schwab’s Ford Kodiak Memorial DIRT Modified Qualifier, and Dave Ferringer and Bobby Whitling won the Twin 20 Qualifiers for the E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks, which determined the first 12 starters for Sunday’s William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron 30. Matt Lux of Franklin, Pa., ended his championship season by winning the All Star 50 for the E Mods. Taking the lead on the 28th circuit after early race leader Josh Skarzenski spun following contact with a lapped car, Lux held off fellow local Late Model hotshoe Chad Ruhlman for the $1,000 win in Scott Bidwell’s Fame RV Center/Maloney Tool & Mold Pierce No. 21. The race was extended to a 51-lap event after a late caution. It was Lux’s eighth win of the season at Tri-City. “These guys deserve this win,” said Lux in victory lane. “It’s been a dream season for this team. I love racing against Chad. When that last caution came out, I was so upset because I was running well and I couldn’t hear him back there. But Chad gave me a lot of room, even with that slide job. Hopefully, this win will lead to a great fall racing season for this team.” Josh Skarzenski and Carl McKinney started on the front row of the feature race by the luck of the draw, and Skarzenski jumped in the lead. With lap money awarded to the leader of each lap, Skarzenski racked up the dollars while the battle waged behind him. By the fifth circuit, Kari Gasser was running second over New York invader Scott Pangrazio, Lux and Ruhlman, who was on a tear through the field. Using the outside lane, Ruhlman rocketed by Lux into fourth on the seventh circuit and raced by Pangrazio for third on the 10th circuit. Three laps later, he passed Gasser and set his sights on Skarzenski. Over the next three laps, Lux began his charge forward passing Pangrazio and Gasser to take third. As the leaders worked into lapped traffic by the 20th circuit, Ruhlman gradually closed the gap on Skarzenski. Ruhlman continued to take stabs at Skarzenski’s lead from the outside lane, but Skarzenski held him off. Then, Lux entered the battle. On the 24th circuit, Ruhlman almost spun in front of Lux in turn two, which allowed Skarzenski to move further ahead. As a result, Skarzenski collected an extra $100 for leading the 25th circuit. Behind him, Lux used the lapped traffic to his advantage to slip under Ruhlman for second in turn two. The race took a sudden turn two laps later. As the cars completed the 27th circuit, Skarzenski was trying to lap Shawn Shingledecker off turn four. The two made some contact in the frontstretch, and that became harder contact in turn two sending Skarzenski into a wild spin in front of the field. The first caution of the race ended Skarzenski’s winning effort and handed the lead to Lux. As Lux, Ruhlman and Pangrazio paced the field out front following the restart, Gasser tried valiantly to hold off Russ Dempsey and Mike Potosky, who started 20th. Dempsey managed to race past Gasser into fourth on the 33rd circuit. After Jeff Taylor suffered a flat tire from a front wall hit on the 36th circuit causing the second caution, Gasser lost fifth to Potosky on the restart. That same restart foreshadowed the battle at the end of the race. Ruhlman almost took the lead from Lux with a slide job entering turn two, but Lux held him off with a strong charge off the top of turns one and two. He then gradually pulled away from Ruhlman. Pangrazio held onto third. Potosky and Dempsey engaged in a great battle for fourth over the last 10 laps. Potosky took the spot on the 42nd lap and held off Dempsey’s strong charges to reassume the position. It appeared that Lux was on his way to victory when the third and final caution was displayed after the 49th lap for a Mike Samuelson spin. That forced the race into overtime. With two laps required to complete the race, Lux held off Ruhlman’s restart slide job attempt for a second time and raced on to a 1.411-second win. Ruhlman finished second over Pangrazio, who placed third in his maiden voyage at Tri-City. Potosky and Dempsey rounded out the top five. In qualifying, Lux set fast time for at 20.365 seconds. Lux, Todd Roncaglione, Pangrazio and Gasser won the E Mod heat races. Roncaglione captured the American Racer E Mod Dash. Dale Applebee and Ron Roncaglione won the B Mains. Chad Myers of Oil City, Pa., captured the 20-lap Thundercar Clash for his ninth win of the season at Tri-City in his Sehman Tire Service/Perk Place Café Buick No. 01. The win was worth $420 for Myers in the first-ever purse paying event for the Thundercars. Myers took command on the 17th circuit when leader Jeff Manners suffered mechanical problems that forced him out of the event. “I didn’t think I would catch Jeff tonight,” said Myers. “I got stuck in traffic back there and he was running away with it. I’d like to thank all the sponsors for all of their support of this event.” After Dave Winters lost a tire on the opening lap, Regina Deloe took the lead at the start of the race. Manners, who started ninth, was on the charge from the get-go. Streaking through the field, Manners drove under Deloe to take the lead on the fourth circuit. He then opened a huge lead on the rest of the field. Behind him, Deloe, Myers, Ed Deloe and Joe Blake engaged in a stirring four-car battle for second. By the 10th circuit, Manners still led Blake, E. Deloe, Myers and R. Deloe. Three circuits later, E. Deloe and Myers raced by Blake when he bobbled in turn two. Then, one lap later, Myers drove around E. Deloe for second in turn one. Fans wondered whether Myers would catch Manners, but the matter became moot on the 17th circuit. With a lead of about 10 car lengths, Manners suddenly pulled up limp. With his engine sputtering, Myers passed Manners, whose heartbroken run ended pitside. Myers then cruised to the win over Blake, Ed Deloe, Curt Bish Sr. and Regina Deloe. Manners and Bish won the Thundercar heats. Although the DIRT Modifieds were scheduled to run Twin 20 Qualifiers, Kevin Bolland of New Brighton, Pa., won the sole 21-lap race. Despite offering the highest purse event in the region with the two-day event, only 17 DIRT Modifieds were pitside for the first night. As a result, track officials ruled that the division would run one race, rather than two races with small fields, in order to ensure that the fans were treated to the best show possible. Taking the lead on the second circuit from Rex King, Bolland outdistanced the field for the race win. King finished second over track champion Del Rougeux Jr., Russell King and Andy Priest. On Sunday, the top 12 finishers will redraw for their starting spots in the Schwab’s Ford Kodiak Memorial 30. Bolland set fast time in the DIRT Modifieds at 19.729 seconds. Dave Ferringer of Cochranton, Pa., and Bobby Whitling of Seneca, Pa., won the Twin 20 Qualifiers for the Pro Stocks. The top six finishers in each race, which were riddled with cautions, transferred to the Detroit Iron 30 for the William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series. Ferringer topped Terry Wheeler, track champion Gerry Bruce, Andy Buckley, Tim Engles and Butch Lambert in the first race. Whitling won the second race over Danny Exley, Steve D’Apolito, Rusty Kellogg, Rod Laskey and Arthur Edwards. In the Pro Stock time trials, Engles set the fast time at 22.424 seconds over the 42-car field. On Sunday night, Tri-City’s Oil Region Labor Day Classic will continue as the World of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series invades Tri-City for the Bossard GM Store Todd Donovan Memorial 50. The 50-lap event pays $10,000-to-win out of a purse in excess of $42,000. Time trials, heats and qualifying events will precede the race. The DIRT Modifieds and Pro Stocks will return with B Mains and their feature events. The DIRT Modifieds will compete in the Schwab’s Ford Kodiak Memorial 30, which pays $2,000-to-win. The Pro Stocks will run the Detroit Iron 30, the third race for Tri-City’s William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Series. The event pays $700-to-win. Gates open at 4 p.m. and time trials start at 6 p.m. Adult grandstand admission is $25. E MODS (51 Laps): 1. MATT LUX, 2. Chad Ruhlman, 3. Scott Pangrazio, 4. Mike Potosky, 5. Russ Dempsey, 6. Todd Roncaglione, 7. Kari Gasser, 8. Josh Skarzenski, 9. David Atkinson, 10. Carl McKinney, 11. Aurie Weaver, 12. Jeff Walters, 13. Jim Frontz, 14. Shawn Shingledecker, 15. Bruce Powell, 16. Jeff Taylor, 17. Jeff Johnson, 18. Mike Samuelson, 19. Ron Roncaglione, 20. Butch Lambert, 21. Brandon Wearing, 22. Jason Longwell, 23. Howard Fraley, 24. Bob McCann, 25. Dale Applebee (DISQ). DNQ: Matt Swanson, Evan Taylor, Hugo Litwiler, J.D. Johnston, Rick Robinson, Dana Wellington, Bootie Petsko, Dennis Lunger, Tony Hyde, Max Blair, Jeff Hassay, Chip Mahood, THUNDERCARS (20 Laps): 1. CHAD MYERS, 2. Joe Blake, 3. Ed Deloe, 4. Curt Bish Sr., 5. Regina Deloe, 6. Josh Seippel, 7. Charlie McMillen, 8. Bill Winters, 9. Jeff Manners, 10. John K. Miller, 11. Tom Kistler, 12. Kenny Alcorn, 13. Dan Slagle, 14. Dave Winters, 15. Patrick Fielding. DNS: Gary Bedow. DIRT MODIFIED QUALIFIER NO. 1 (21 Laps): 1. KEVIN BOLLAND, 2. Rex King, 3. Del Rougeux Jr., 4. Russell King, 5. Andy Priest, 6. Skip Moore, 7. Dave Schrader, 8. Joe Crawford, 9. Chris Schiffer, 10. Rob McClimans, 11. Mark Chiddy, 12. Dean Pearson, 13. Keith Swartzlander, 14. Jeremy Paup, 15. Chanda Reitz, 16. Jeremiah Shingledecker, 17. Alex Anderson. PRO STOCK QUALIFIER NO. 1 (20 Laps): 1. DAVE FERRINGER, 2. Terry Wheeler, 3. Gerry Bruce, 4. Andy Buckley, 5. Tim Engles, 6. Butch Lambert, 7. Pat Hanley, 8. Gary Proper, 9. Mike Pegher Jr., 10. Andy Thompson, 11. Doug Iorio II, 12. Les Myers, 13. Denny Crawford, 14. Matt Thomas, 15. Stan Woomer, 16. Charlie DiLoreto, 17. Rick Norco, 18. Jason Reagle, 19. Jeff Lockhart, 20. Bobby Heim, 21. Bret McCarthy. PRO STOCK QUALIFIER NO. 2 (20 Laps): 1. BOBBY WHITLING, 2. Danny Exley, 3. Steve D’Apolito, 4. Rusty Kellogg, 5. Rod Laskey, 6. Arthur Edwards, 7. Tom Scott, 8. Matt Lux, 9. Ed Cornell, 10. Willie Aley, 11. Michael Aley, 12. Matt Keith, 13. Doug Iorio, 14. Gary Sullivan, 15. Ray Virgile, 16. Jason Fosnaught, 17. Russ Coyne, 18. Scott Myers, 19. Kelly Frederes, 20. Jason Johns. DNS: Bob Sloss. UPCOMING EVENTS OIL REGION LABOR DAY CLASSIC Sept. 4 – World of Outlaws Late Models (Bossard GM Todd Donovan Memorial 50, $10,000-to-win), DIRT Modifieds (Schwab’s Ford Kodiak Memorial 30, $2,000-to-win) and Pro Stocks (William R. Karns Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series 30, $700-to-win) Sept 11 – 9th Annual CSOnline Applefest 100 (William R. Karns Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning Detroit Iron Pro Stock Series, $2,000-to-win), Thundercars (Apple Core 20) and Lowry Auto Wrecking Compact Car Demo Derby (Gates Open at 2 p.m.; Racing Starts at 4 p.m.)
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