Selinsgrove, PA — (July 6, 2014) — In race No. 8 in the 24th annual PA Speedweek Series, Brent Marks of Myerstown drove to his first 410 sprint car win of the season in the 30-lap Jan Opperman Memorial Sunday night at Selinsgrove Speedway.
For Marks, the victory at the wheel of the BAPS No. 19M was his second career at Selinsgrove and his first in a sprint car since he won the Ray Tilley Classic at the track in May of 2013.
Lucas Wolfe of Mechanicsburg clinched his second career PA Speedweek title by just six points over Greg Hodnett of Thomasville. Wolfe, who persevered through a challenging night that included a hard flip in practice laps and a blown engine in his heat race, was the night’s Fast Tees Fast Qualifier over the 26-car field with a lap time of 16.805.
Doug Dodson of Mechanicsburg won his first career super sportsman race in the division’s 20-lap feature and set a new track record for the distance in 7:17.57. Wayne Dadetto of Levittown scored the victory in the 20-lap 305 sprint car race and set a track record for the division in 7:00.944.
There will be no racing at Selinsgrove Speedway this Saturday, July 12. The speedway returns Saturday, July 19, with the annual Jeff’s Auto Body & Recycling Center Driver & Fan Appreciation Night featuring 360 sprint cars, late models, pro stocks, and roadrunners. The 360 sprint car and late model features on July 19 will each pay $2,500 to win.
Polesitter Brent Marks drove into the lead at the start of the sprint car feature and was chased by third-place starter Mike Erdley. The race’s only caution flag unfurled on lap three when Danny Dietrich’s car developed a flat tire and rolled to a stop in turn four.
When the race resumed, a war on wheels unfolded at the front of the pack between Marks and Erdley, who see-sawed for the lead for several laps. By lap 10, Marks secured the front spot and began to stretch his lead while another battle unfolded for the runner-up position between Erdley and second-place starter Kyle Reinhardt.
At the halfway mark, Marks was setting the pace in front of Reinhardt, seventh-place starter Blane Heimbach, and Erdley in a close four-car race at the front of the pack. On lap 20, Heimbach stormed into second and set his sights on Marks. In the final five laps, Marks stretched his lead and posted a 3.5-second margin of victory over Heimbach, Erdley, Reinhardt, and ninth-place starter Lucas Wolfe.
In the super sportsman feature, polesitter Davey Walsh led the first six laps until third-place starter Doug Dodson made the winning pass using the inside lane on the frontstretch. Two laps later, second-place starter Bobby Hockenberry reclaimed the runner-up position and started to track down Dodson.
At the halfway point, Dodson was the leader over Hockenberry, fifth-place starter Chad Trout, 12th-place starter Kevin Knouse, and 11th-place starter Carmen Perigo Jr. In the final laps, Hockenberry and Trout made a last-ditch effort to catch Dodson in traffic to no avail. Dodson took the checkered flag in a close finish by only .44 of a second over Hockenberry, Trout, Nouse, and Perigo.
Wayne Dadetto started on the pole in the 305 sprint car feature and pulled into the lead at the drop of the green flag. In the early laps, second-place starter John Braim and third-place starter Matt Heimbach dueled for the runner-up position.
At the halfway point, Dadetto held a straightaway lead over the rest of the field. In the closing laps, however, eighth-place starter Tyler Bear started to reel in Dadetto in lapped traffic. At the finish, Dadetto was victorious by just 1.4 seconds over Bear, fourth-place starter Jake Waters, Braim, and 12th-place starter Eric Parker.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 6 July 2014
410 Sprint Cars – 26 Entries
30-Lap A-Main: 1)19M Bent Marks ($5,000) 2) 12 Blane Heimbach 3) 11 Mike Erdley 4)21R Kyle Reinhardt 5) 1 Lucas Wolfe 6) 98H Dave Blaney 7) 27 Greg Hodnett 8) 94 Ryan Smith 9) 49 Mike Walter Sr. 10) 7 Chad Layton 11) 33 Curt Stroup 12) 56 Nate Snyder 13) 3 Pat Cannon 14) 17B Steve Buckwalter 15) 48 Danny Dietrich 16) I07 Jordan Givler 17) 33W Michael Walter II 18) 38 Scott Wilson 19) 49H Brad Howard 20) 75 Nicole Bower 21) 9 Rick Lafferty 22) 66 Ryan Kissinger 23) 44W Austen Wheatley 24) 5W Phil Walter 25) 24B Dustin Baney 26) 12H Matt Heimbach DNS
Heat Winners: Greg Hodnett, Blane Heimbach, Danny Dietrich
Time Trials: 1) 1 Lucas Wolfe 16.805 2) 98H Dave Blaney 16.867 3) 11Mike Erdley 17.077 4) 21R Kyle Reinhardt 17.117 5) 19M Brent Marks 17.144 6) 48 Danny Dietrich 17.152 7) 27 Greg Hodnett 17.188 8) 12 Blane Heimbach 17.280 9) 0 Rick Lafferty 17.467 10) 38 Scott Wilson 17.516 11) 56 Nate Snyder 17.516 12) 94 Ryan Smith 17.523 13) 44W Austen Wheatley 17.550 14) 33 Curt Stroup 17.570 15) 7 Chad Layton 17.580 16) 17B Steve Buckwalter 17.662 17) 3 Pat Cannon 17.904 18) I07 Jordan Givler 18.119 19) 49 Mike Walter Sr. 18.263 20) 66 Ryan Kissinger 18.266 21) 75 Nicole Bower 18.350 22) 49H Brad Howard 18.389 23) 5W Phil Walter 18.515 24) Michael Walter II 18.562 25) 24B Dustin Baney 18.972 26) 12 Matt Heimbach DNT
Super Sportsman – 23 Entries
20-Lap A-Main: 1) 43 Doug Dodson 2) 25 Bob Hockenberry 3) 7C Chad Trout 4) 1J Kevin Nouse 5) 93 Carmen Perigo Jr. 6) 77 Russ Mitten 7) 99 Frankie Herr 8) 3B Mike Enders 9) 11 Steve Fannasy 10) 30 Scott Dellinger 11) 222 Jay Fannasy 12) 45 Dave Socks 13) 20W Davie Walsh 14) 75 Kenny Edkin 15) 00 Rick Barr 16) 17G Steve Wilbur 17) 29W Adam Wray 18) 8 Rich Eichelberger 19) 07 JR Mull 20) 29 Dwayne Smith DNS 21) 32 Greg Foster DNS 22) 888 John Wolfe DNS 23) 77W Tom Wyckoff DNS
Heat Winners: Mike Enders, Kevin Nouse, Chad Trout
305 Sprint Cars – 23 Entries
20-Lap A-Main: 1) 36D Wayne Dadetto 2) 25B Tyler Bear 3) 10 Jake Waters 4) 44 John Braim 5) 39 Eric Parker 6) 79 Jordan Thomas 7) 55 Mike Wagner II 8) 47K Kody Lehman 9) 67 Ken Duke 10) 8 Randy Kayler 11) 22K Mike Koehler 12) 6R Reed Thompson 13) 4B Jason Bergstresser 14) 11Z Zach Newlin 15) 35B Derrick Bowersox 16) 2 Erin Statler 17) 26V Shawn Kirkpatrick 18) 24 Lance Newlin 19) 14 Matt Heimbach 20) 1S Mike Schuckers 21) 23 Nathan Gramley 22) 19 Tyler Cochran 23) 16 John Bott
Heat Winners: Reed Thompson, Jordan Thomas, Tyler Bear