From Bob Miller
Delmar, DE — (May 28th, 2011) — Dave Ely of West Lawn, PA won a thriller Saturday night at the Delaware International Speedway for the fifth show of the Rislone URC Sprint Series, taking place on Taylor & Messick Night. On the score sheets, Ely led the entire twenty-five lap distance but on lap sixteen, Curt Michael in the Valley Forge INC sprinter took the lead for a short time before Ely regained the top spot during a wild exchange of positions with lapped cars. Ely survived several late race cautions to score the win, his first of 2011 and twelfth URC career win. Ely earned $2,000 for the win, driving the Gene Franckowiak owned URC sprint car.
Twenty-seven URC sprints turned out for the program with heat wins going to Randy West, Dave Ely and Curt Michael as Tim Hogue won the “B” Main.
Dave Ely and Curt Michael made-up the front row to start the twenty-five lap Rislone URC Sprint Feature. At the drop of the green flag, Ely immediately took charge and set the pace as Michael and Davie “No Panic” Franek followed. Josh Weller and JJ Grasso made up the top five. At different stages of the race, Michael would reel in the leader and as the race approached the halfway point, slower traffic became a challenge. At the halfway point the top five was unchanged with Ely leading and holding a comfortable margin.
On lap sixteen, race leader Dave Ely got caught up with some lapped traffic and Curt Michael moved his Valley Forge INC sprinter to the front of the pack. Ely quickly evaluated the situation and regained the lead before a lap could be completed.
The battle continued, but now Ely had a clear lane ahead as Curt Michael tried to pull out all the stops. A late race caution brought the field together once again and on the restart, Davie “No Panic” Franek passed Michael for second. A mix-up on the backstretch took place opening the door for a caution, moving Michael back to second since a lap was not completed.
On the restart, with just two laps to go, Michael looked for an opportunity to challenge Ely for the lead but at the same time, he had to hold off a determined Franek. Ely ran off with a comfortable lead and held the top spot for the final two laps. Curt Michael finished second followed by Davie Franek, Josh Weller and JJ Grasso.
FEATURE FINISH: Dave Ely, Curt Michael, Davie Franek, Josh Weller, JJ Grasso, Randy West, Rory Janney, Robbie Stillwaggon, Becca Anderson, Ed Aikin, Kramer Williamson, Andy Best, Art Liedl, Jonathan Swanson, Kevin Darling, Tim Hogue, Tim Iulg, Jimmy Stitzel, Tim Higgins, Steve Whary, Dave Martin, Chris Coyle, Joe Zuczek, Scott Pursell. DNQ—Andy Best, Jeff Fithian, Chris Weiss
Fred’s Trailer Parts Hard Charger – – – Robbie Stillwaggon advanced 8 spots
LikeWise Fast Time of the Night- – – Davie Franek
Engler Tool & Machine 1st Heat- – – Randy West
Brad Penn Oil 2nd Heat- – – Dave Ely
Pioneer Pole Building 3rd Heat- -Curt Michael
Bar’s Leaks “B” Main- – – Tim Hogue
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Rislone URC Sprint Series Coming Events:
MAY 29 Georgetown Speedway, Georgetown, DE Gates Open 4 PM Warm-ups 6 PM
JUNE 3 Williams Grove MACH 1 Chassis
JUNE 11 Grandview Speedway
JUNE 18 Delaware International Speedway