From Selinsgrove Speedway
Selinsgrove, PA — (July 6, 2013) — Saturday night’s Middleswarth Potato Chips Firecracker 30 for 358 sprint cars at Selinsgrove Speedway was a race to remember as front row starter Pat Cannon of Etters stormed into the early lead and was eventually tracked down and passed for the win on lap 21 by sixth-place starter Jason Shultz of Carlisle.
The popular victory for Shultz was worth $2,000 and was his third of the year and 11th career at the track driving the Mach 1 Chassis/Martin’s refrigeration No. 2. He became the ninth different driver to win the Firecracker race in the event’s 12th running. His margin of victory was a mere .41 of a second over Cannon at the checkered flag.
Cody Keller of Selinsgrove was the Fast Tees Fast Timer with a lap of 17.936 (106 average miles per hour) in sprint car qualifying.
Sixth-place starter Jim Bernheisel of Lebanon held off point leader and 12th-place starter Jeff Rine of Danville to score his second win of the season by just .16 of a second in the 25-lap late model feature.
Third-place starter Brad Mitch of McClure led flag-to-flag for his third win of the year in the 15-lap pro stock summer championship, while Bob Bussey of Northumberland, another sixth-place starter on the night, took his fourth win of the season in the 12-lap roadrunner race.
Selinsgrove Speedway will present the PA Speedweek Finale for 410 sprint cars plus super sportsman tomorrow night (Sunday, July 7) at 7:30 p.m. Track gates will open at 5 p.m.
There will be no racing on Saturday, July 13, for the track’s summer hiatus. The next four division show featuring 358 sprint cars, late models, pro stocks, and roadrunners will be the annual Jeff’s Auto Body & Recycling Center Driver & Fan Appreciation Night Saturday, July 20.
TJ Stutts and Pat Cannon shared the front row for the start of the sprint car feature. On the initial start, rookie driver Johnny Smith, who started 20th, flipped his sprint car violently through turns one and two after making contact with the first turn wall. Smith escaped injury.
On the second attempt to start the race, outside front row starter Cannon stormed into the lead and was chased by Stutts. The caution flag unfurled on lap three when Colby Womer and Phil Walter were involved in a pair of spins in turns one and two.
Cannon set a torrid pace on the lap four restart and opened up a straightaway lead while Stutts raced second and sixth-place starter Jason Shultz began his drive to the front of the pack. On lap 10, Shultz passed Stutts for second and set his sights on Cannon.
At the halfway point, Cannon was leading Shultz, Stutts, fourth-place starter Ryan Kissinger, and 10th-place starter Larry Kelleher. In the next five laps, Shultz began to close the gap with Cannon and by lap 20 was challenging for the lead. On the 21st circuit, Shultz made the winning pass by Cannon using the inside lane off turn two. But the race was anything but over at this point as Cannon kept the suspense level at an all-time high while he battled back and even put in subsequent bids for the lead.
Shultz ultimately kept Cannon at bay and took the checkered flag by half of a second. Stutts, 13th-place starter Kevin Nouse, and Kelleher completed the top five.
In the late model feature, third-place starter Chad Davis powered into the early lead over polesitter Dave Zona and second-place starter Tony Adams. By lap three, sixth-place starter Jim Bernheisel advanced to second and began to reel in Davis.
On a lap five restart, Bernheisel pressured Davis for the lead and made the winning pass using the high line out of turn four. For the next several laps, Bernheisel set the pace in front of Davis and fifth-place starter Steve Campbell. By lap 10, 12th-place starter Jeff Rine showed a lot of speed and rocketed into the top five. Two laps later, Rine was racing in the second position.
The caution flag unfurled on lap 18 when Davis stopped on the track. On the lap 19 restart, Rine dueled with Bernheisel for the lead lap after lap. Then, on the final lap, Rine made a last-ditch effort to pull off the win using the inside lane through turns three and four; however, Bernheisel held the momentum around the top of the race track and scored the win by a mere .16 of a second. Rine settled for second while Campbell, eighth-place starter Bryan Bernheisel, and 10th-place starter Dylan Yoder rounded out the top five.
Brad Mitch, who started the pro stock feature in the third position, charged into the lead at the drop of the green flag. Mitch was chased by fifth-place starter AJ Stroup for the entire distance, while sixth-place starter Nathan Long held down the third position.
A close battle for fourth unfolded between 12th-place starter Kyle Bachman and eighth-place starter Troy Miller. On several occasions, Stroup attempted to zero in on Mitch to no avail. At the checkered flag, Mitch was victorious by 2.6 seconds in the non-stop event that was timed in 6 minutes and 17 seconds. Long finished third, followed by Bachman and T. Miller.
Third-place starter Dustin Snook led the first lap of the roadrunner race until sixth-place starter Bob Bussey made the winning pass using the inside lane in turn four on the second circuit. Once Bussey took the front spot, he quickly stretched his lead over Snook.
On lap eight, fifth-place starter Brian Johnson advanced to second and attempted to reel in Bussey. At the finish, Bussey posted a convincing victory by 2.5 seconds over Johnson, Snook, Brandon Shultz, and Ray Rothfuss.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 6 July 2013
358 Sprint Cars – 27 Entries
30-Lap A-Main: 1) 2 Jason Shultz ($2,000) 2) 3 Pat Cannon 3) 23 TJ Stutts 4) 4 Kevin Nouse 5) 76 Larry Kelleher 6) 99K Cody Keller 7) 66 Ryan Kissinger 8) 99B Nyle Berkes 9) 50 Tim Berkheimer 10) 77 Derek Locke 11) 1W Brock Zearfoss 12) 22M Brian Garland 13) 100 Mike Walter 14) 38 Scott Wilson 15) 29 Matt Horst 16) 29S Derek Steward 17) 42 Alan Spriggle 18) 19 Colby Womer DNF 19) 5 Phil Walter DNF 20) 15 Jay Reichard 21) 35 Shannon Fisher DNF 22) 67 Jason Cherry DNF 23) 25 Johnny Smith DNF 24) 71 Jessica Anderson DNS
Heat Winners: Cody Keller, Pat Cannon, Colby Womer
Time Trials: 1) 99K Cody Keller 17.936 2) 3 Pat Cannon 18.076 3) 66 Ryan Kissinger 18.083 4) 23 TJ Stutts 18.124 5) 29 Matt Horst 18.140 6) 77 Derek Locke 18.278 7) 42 Alan Spriggle 18.317 8) 22M Brian Garland 18.336 9) 76 Larry Kelleher 18.342 10) 99B Nyle Berkes 18.355 11) 2 Jason Shultz 18.355 12) 19 Colby Womer 18.409 13) 50 Tim Berkheimer 18.423 14) 4 Kevin Nouse 18.448 15) 38 Scott Wilson 18.473 16) 1W Brock Zearfoss 18.509 17) 71 Jessica Anderson 18.559 18) 5 Phil Walter 18.586 19) 25 Johnny Smith 18.745 20) 29S Derek Steward 18.914 21) 21 Duane Mausteller 19.203 22) 35 Shannon Fisher 19.250 23) 67 Jason Cherry 19.491 24) 15 Jay Reichard 19.545 25) 100 Mike Walter DNT 26) 33 John Troxell DNT 27) 34 Austin Reed DNT
Late Models – 22 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 119 Jim Bernheisel 2) 2J Jeff Rine 3) 2 Steve Campbell 4) 119B Bryan Bernheisel 5) 24 Dylan Yoder 6) 61 Ken Trevitz 7) 27 Jim Yoder 8) 6 Donnie Schick 9) 55 Chris Shuey 10)99Z Dave Zona 11) 90 Kyle Rhoads 12) 9 Hayes Mattern 13) 92 Nate Romig 14) 24R Jon Rohacevich 15) 28 Jason Smith 16) 10 Dave Stamm 17) 32 Coleby Frye DNF 18) 91 Chad Davis DNF 19) 88 Tony Adams DNF 20) 6M Harry Miller DNF 21) 16 Matt Cochran DNS 22) 2C Adam Campbell DNS
Heat Winners: Dave Zona, Tony Adams, Steve Campbell
Pro Stocks – 16 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1)10M Brad Mitch 2) 26 AJ Stroup 3) 63 Nathan Long 4) 99 Kyle Bachman 5) 115 Troy Miller 6) 115S Shaun Miller 7) 55 Randy Nowlen 8) 19H Tommy Slanker 9) 85L Pete Lauver 10) 06 Frank Reisser 11) 28J Jeff Ceballo 12) 85 Terry Lauver 13) 1 Rick Bixler DNF 14) 11 Jake Buck DNF 15) 70J John Schreffler DNF 16) 8M Brandon Moser DNS
Heat Winners: Brad Mitch, Nathan Long
Roadrunners – 13 Entries
12-Lap A-Main: 1) 76 Bob Bussey 2) 201 Brian Johnson 3) 15 Dustin Snook 4) 31B Brandon Shultz 5) 22 Ray Rothfuss 6) 28 Curtis Lawton 7) 7 Butch Shaffer 8) 99 Chris Hoffman 9) 8K Jeremy Kline 10) 41D Dennis Conrad 11) 89 John Shoch DNF 12) 02 John Fowler DNF 13) 32 Ken Schreffler DNF