From Steve Inch
Selinsgrove, PA — (June 14, 2014) — TJ Stutts of Liverpool and Mark Smith of Sunbury exchanged the lead several times before Stutts settled the suspenseful war on wheel s with a victory in Saturday nightโs 30-lap Patriot Sprint Tour/11th Annual Joe Whitcomb Memorial for 358-360 sprint cars at Selinsgrove Speedway.
The $2,571 win was Stuttsโ third of the season and third career in the Whitcomb Memorial at the wheel of the Mountain View Travel/Shimockโs Furniture No. 23. ย The victory also marked the 20th of his career in 358-360 sprint car competition at the track.
Brock Zearfoss of Jonestown was the nightโs Fast Tees Fast Qualifier with a lap time of ย 17.414.
Dylan Yoder of Selinsgrove won his first race of the season at Selinsgrove and fourth overall this year in record-setting fashion in the 25-lap super late model feature. Yoder became the divisionโs seventh different feature winner in eight races and set a new track record for the distance in 9 minutes, 3 seconds, and .30 of a second.
Nathan Long of Selinsgrove scored an exciting win in another close finish in the 15-lap pro stock feature. Long became the divisionโs third different winner this season.
Selinsgrove Speedway will present a four division show of 360 sprint cars, late models, pro stocks, and roadrunners on Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Night (JDRF) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 21. Track gates will open at 5 p.m.
At the start of the Whitcomb Memorial, second-place starter Mark Smith pulled into the lead over polesitter Jason Shultz. Before the completion of lap one, sixth-place starter TJ Stutts raced into the third position. ย The caution flag unfurled on lap two when Ryan Kissingerโs car made contact with the first turn wall.
When the race resumed, Stutts passed Shultz for the second spot and set his sights on Smith. A two-car tangle in turn three regrouped the field for a lap five restart. Stutts drew even with Smith entering turn one but Smith maintained the lead with momentum around the top of the racetrack.
In the early laps of the race, Smith led the field over Stutts, fourth-place starter Cody Keller, 11th-place starter Pat Cannon, and Shultz. On the 14th circuit, Smith drifted high in turn two traffic and allowed Stutts to make a pass for the lead using the inside groove.
A caution on lap 15 became a red flag for a fuel stop. During the second half of the race, Stutts maintained a solid lead while Smith kept him in his sights. Ninth-place starter and fast qualifier Brock Zearfoss entered the top five with nine laps to race. The final caution flag waved on lap 25, setting up a five-lap dash to the checkered flag.
The final laps produced an exciting wheel-to-wheel duel between Stutts and Smith, swapping the lead several times through the turns. Stutts eventually settled into the lead and went on to post a mere 1.3-second margin of victory over Smith, Cannon, Shultz, and Zearfoss.
Second-place starter Eric Hons powered into the lead at the start of the late model feature. Hons was chased by polesitter Matt Cochran. By lap five, fourth-place starter Jerry Bard moved into the third position and the top three began to pull away from the field.
On the eighth lap, 10th-place starter Dylan Yoder advanced to fourth and quickly reeled in the leaders. At the halfway point, Yoder showed a lot of speed and moved by Bard and Cochran to take over the second position. Hons and Yoder dueled for the lead and it wasnโt until lap 17 when Yoder made the winning pass using the inside lane through turns one and two.
Late in the race, Jeff Rine rocketed into the top five and eventually took over the second spot with two laps to go. At the finish, Yoder was victorious by two seconds over Rine, Hons, Bard and Cochran.
In the pro stock feature, second-place starter Matt Wilson led the first lap with sixth-place starter Nathan Long in pursuit. On a lap two restart, Long took command of the field with an inside pass racing off turn four. At the same time, fourth-place starter Jake Buck followed Long into the second position.
During the second half of the race, a torrid battle unfolded at the front of the pack between the top six runners. Long kept his No. 63 in front of the pack by the slimmest of margins. At the finish, Long took the checkered flag by just .58 of a second over 10th-place starter Brad Mitch, who made a late-race charge into the runner-up position. Rounding out the top five were eighth-place starter Derrick Garman, seventh-place starter AJ Stroup, and ninth-place starter Andrew Shoop.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – ย 14 June 2014
360 Sprint Cars โ 27 Entries
30-Lap Whitcomb Memorial: ย 1) 23 TJ Stutts ย ($2, 571) ย 2) 1 Mark Smith ย 3) 3 Pat Cannon ย 4) 29 Jason Shultz ย 5) 1W Brock Zearfoss ย 6) 99K Cody Keller ย 7) 35 Jared Zimbardi ย 8) 76 Larry Kelleher ย 9) 98 Joe Trenca ย 10) 79 Jordan Thomas ย 11) 21F Jared Fink ย 12) 61 Parker Evans ย 13) 19 Colby Womer ย 14) X Dan Mazy ย 15) 67 Steve Collins ย 16) 54J Dave Just ย 17) 71C Charlie Anderson ย 18) 00 ย Dane Lawerence ย 19) 66 Ryan Kissinger ย 20) 54Jr Scott Just ย 21) 13 Kevin Ward Jr. ย 22) 29S Derek Steward DNS ย 23) 81 Derek ย Jonathan DNS ย 24) 38 Brad Knab DNS ย 25) 33W Michael Walter II DNS ย 26) 3Z Bobby Parrow DNS ย 27) 77 Derek Locke DNS
Heat Winners: ย Brock Zearfoss, Cody Keller, Joe Trenca
Time Trials: ย 1) ย Brock Zearfoss 17.414 ย 2) Mark Smith ย 17.478 ย 3) Ryan Kissinger ย 17.495 ย 4) Derek Locke 17.546 ย 5) TJ Stutts 17.652 ย 6) Pat Cannon 17.673 ย 7) Jordan Thomas 17.765 ย 8) Larry Kelleher 17.792 ย 9) Cody Keller 17.801 ย 10) Jason Shultz 17.820 ย 11) Colby Womer 17.845 ย 12) Steve Collins 17.892 ย 13) Joe Trenca 17.952 ย 14) Kevin Ward Jr. 17.957 ย 15) Parker Evans 18.007 ย 16) Jared Zimbardi 18.060 ย 17) Michael Walter II 18.069 ย 18) Brad Knab 18.157 ย 19) Dan Mazy 18.384 ย 20) Jared Fink 18.489 ย 21) Derek Steward 18.493 ย 22) Dave Just 18.504 ย 23) Charlie Anderson 18.639 ย 24) Derek Jonathan 18.684 ย 25) Dane Lawerence 18.932 ย 26) Scott Just 19.082 ย 27) Bobby Parrow DNT
Late Models โ 24 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: ย 1) 24 Dylan Yoder ย 2) 2J Jeff Rine ย 3) 45 Eric Hons ย 4) 26 Jerry Bard ย 5) 16 Matt Cochran ย 6) 32 Coleby Frye ย 7) 2 Steve Campbell ย 8) 119B Bryan Bernheisel ย 9) 6 Donnie Schick ย 10) 88 Tony Adams ย 11) 9 Hayes Mattern ย 12) 27 Jim Yoder ย 13) 4D Chad Hollenbeck ย 14) 61 Ken Trevitz ย 15) 99Z Dave Zona ย 16) 41 Derrick Casner ย 17) 2Y Andrew Yoder ย 18) 93 Pancho Lawler ย 19) 23P Bud Phillips ย 20) 111 Dave Shulski ย 21) 7M Meade Hahn 22) 8K Kyle Rapp ย 23) 10 Dave Stamm ย 24) 5E Glenn Elliott
Heat Winners: ย Steve Cambell, Matt Cochran, Eric Hons
Pro Stocks โ 19 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: ย 1) 63 Nathan Long ย 2) 10M Brad Mitch ย 3) 111 Derrick Garman ย 4) 26 AJ Stroup ย 5) 8S Andrew Shoop ย 6) 11 Jake Buck ย 7) 99 Kyle Bachman ย 8) 1C Jamin Chapman ย 9) 40 Tommy Slanker ย 10) 71 Kurt Wray ย 11) 2C Adam Campbell ย 12) 3 Brandon Moser ย 13) 83 Matt Wilson ย 14) 6C Pete Lauver ย 15) 01 David Berry ย 16) 28J Jeff Ceballo ย 17) 28 Dan Condo ย 18) 4 Jim Payne ย 19) 32 Tom Hartman
Heat Winners: ย Kurt Wray, Jake Buck