By Steve Inch
Pat Cannon of Etters and Davie Franek of Wantage,
N.J., each won one of the twin 25-lap 358 sprint car features Saturday
night at Selinsgrove Speedway.
Cannon’s seventh win of the season at the track and his 12th overall came
in the make-up feature that was rained out on July 24. The victory marked
the 24th of his career at the track at the wheel of the Highland’s Tire
Service No. 3
For Franek, who dueled with Cannon for the lead in the second feature, his
victory at the wheel of the No. 4R was his second of the season at
Selinsgrove and the sixth of his career at the Snyder County oval.
In the chase for the 358 sprint car championship, Blane Heimbach of
Selinsgrove entered the night’s racing program with a 105-point lead over
Cannon, fell behind by 15 points after the first feature, only to regain
the lead by 45 points following the second feature. Cannon crashed out of
the second feature on lap 18 while dueling with Franek for the lead.
Heimbach, who was racing third, was also involved in the third-turn tangle
but able to rejoin the race and finish ninth.
Selinsgrove Speedway will present the Rislone URC sprint cars, 358 sprint
cars, and roadrunners at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21. Track gates will open
at 5 p.m.
Track officials also announced the tenth annual NRG Controls North National
Open for 358/360 sprint cars on Saturday, Sept. 4, will be a 35-lap event
paying $6,000 to win and $300 to start.
In the make-up 358 sprint car feature from July 24, last week’s winner and
second-place starter Matt Heimbach took the early lead, with fourth-place
starter Ryan Kissinger and sixth-place starter Jason Shultz in close
pursuit in the second and third positions.
By lap four, 10th-place starter Pat Cannon had advanced to fourth. On the
sixth lap, Cannon passed Shultz for the third position and two laps later
moved into second. The caution flag unfurled on lap nine when Bob
Beidleman’s car stopped in turn two. When the race resumed, Cannon made the
winning pass by M. Heimbach in turn two.
For the remainder of the race, Cannon had clear sailing, although
11th-place starter Nate Snyder began to show a lot of speed late in the
race and moved into the third position. At the checkered flag, Cannon was
victorious by 2.5 seconds over M. Heimbach, Snyder, Davie Franek, and
Shultz.
In the regularly scheduled 358 sprint car feature, polesitter Beidleman
powered into the lead at start of the race. Beidleman was trailed by
sixth-place starter Phil Walter for the first two laps until P. Walter made
an exciting pass for the lead entering turn three. On the fifth circuit,
however, P. Walter’s car rolled to a stop in turn four, moving Beidleman
back into the lead.
On the sixth lap, following a spirited wheel-to-wheel duel, ninth-place
starter Franek took the lead from Beidleman with an inside pass entering
turn three. On a lap seven restart, Cannon, who started the second feature
in the 10th position, horsepowered his way from fourth to second in less
than half of a lap.
With 10 laps completed, Franek was leading Cannon, Beidleman, second-place
starter Derek Locke, and 15th-place starter Blane Heimbach. By lap 15, the
leaders began to encounter heavy traffic, closing the gap in the race for
the front spot.
On lap 18, Franek and Cannon dueled for the lead entering turn three.
Contact between Franek and Cannon caused Cannon’s car to spin across the
race track, hit the outside wall and flip over. B. Heimbach, who was racing
a close third, made contact with Cannon’s car and rolled to a stop. All
drivers escaped injury from the wild turn three melee and B. Heimbach was
able to rejoin the race.
When the race resumed, Franek continued to set a torrid pace while
11th-place starter Snyder began to show his speed again late in the race
and moved into second. At the finish, Franek posted a convincing 4.3 second
margin of victory over Snyder, Beidleman, Larry Kelleher and Mike Walter.
Second-place starter Troy Miller was passed by fourth-place starter Dylan
Yoder for the lead in turn four on the second lap of the late model
feature. The race’s first caution flag unfurled on lap four for debris.
When the race resumed, sixth-place starter Donnie Schick was racing a close
second to D. Yoder while 15th-place starter Jeff Rine streaked into the
fourth spot.
Rine took over the third position from eighth-place starter Dave Zona on
lap five and passed Schick for second on the 15th lap. With five laps
remaining, D. Yoder led Rine, 10th-place starter Steve Campbell,
ninth-place starter Jim Yoder, and Schick.
On the 21st circuit, Campbell motored into second and attempted to reel in
D. Yoder to no avail. At the finish, D. Yoder was victorious by 2.3 seconds
over Campbell, J. Yoder, Rine, and Schick.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY SUMMARY – 14 August 2010
358 Sprint Cars – 30 Entries
25-Lap Make-Up A-Main (from July 24, 2010): 1) 3 Pat Cannon 2) 14 Matt
Heimbach 3) 56 Nate Snyder 4) 4R Davie Franek 5) 1 Jason Shultz 6) 5B
Josh Beard 7) 19 Colby Womer 8) 21 Adrian Shaffer 9) 5 Phil Walter 10)
12 Blane Heimbach 11) 77 Derek Locke 12) 76 Larry Kelleher 13) 71 Jessica
Anderson 14) 99M Kyle Moody 15) 16H Matt Horst 16) 42 Alan Spriggle 17)
63 Mike Walter DNF 18) 66 Ryan Kissinger DNF 19) 769 Steve Nederostek DNF
20) 1S Logan Shuchart DNF 21) 81 Bob Beidleman DNF 22) 80M Dan Richcreek
DNF 23) 9 Wes Irwin DNF 24) 19X Cody Keller DNF 25) 22 Matt Boland DNS
26) 1W Eric Tomececk DNS
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 4R Davie Franek 2) 56 Nate Snyder 3) 81 Bob Beidleman
4) 76 Larry Kelleher 5) 63 Mike Walter 6) 77 Derek Locke 7) 99B Nyle
Berkes 8) 14 Matt Heimbach 9) 12 Blane Heimbach 10) 71 Jessica Anderson
11) 66 Ryan Kissinger 12) 16H Matt Horst 13) 1 Jason Shultz 14) 42 Alan
Spriggle 15) 99M Kyle Moody 16) 3 Pat Cannon DNF 17) 21 Adrian Shaffer
DNF 18) 9 Wes Irwin DNF 19) 23M TJ Stutts DNF 20) 5B Josh Beard DNF 21)
19 Colby Womer DNF 22) 80M Dan Richcreek DNF 23) 99K Cody Keller DNF 24)
5 Phil Walter DNF
Heat Winners: Davie Franek, Pat Cannon, TJ Stutts
Consolation Winner: Mike Walter