By Brian Liskai
PORT ROYAL, PA (4-28-12) – Confidence. Simply put, it’s
important in any sport, but particularly in sprint car racing. And when
Greg Hodnett of Thomasville, Pa. walks through the gates at Port Royal
Speedway, he exudes confidence. He led 29 of the 30 laps of the Weikert’s
Livestock University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions Bob
Weikert Memorial Saturday to take home $10,000 plus $2,900 in lap money.
“I’m very fortunate to have a team that has always run well here. We had a
little racing luck tonight…several guys didn’t transfer from their heat and
that put us in the dash and we were able to capitalize and start up front
in the feature. I don’t know what it is, but this place just fits my
driving style. I’ve been good here since the first time I raced here with
the All Stars in 1998,” said Hodnett beside his Trone Outdoor, Eagle Steel,
Macri Concrete, H&H Excavating, Apple Chevrolet, Eagle Evergreens, Brickers
backed #39.
It was Hodnett’s second consecutive win of the Bob Weikert Memorial and his
third win of 2012 at Port Royal. He now has 27 career victories at Port
Royal. Hodnett now has six wins in 2012. The UNOH All Star victory is
Hodnett’s 15th career win with the series.
The UNOH All Star drivers fared well at the Juniata County oval, taking
four of the top seven finishing positions against the Pennsylvania Posse.
Watertown, Connecticut’s David Gravel and Hodnett started on the pole and
flew the UNOH All Star colors high throughout the event after leading the
first lap, as did third place starter Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Danny
Holtgraver.
After Gravel led the first circuit of the race, Hodnett pulled a slider in
the first corner to take the lead and began to pull away. Hodnett’s pace
was halted before three laps could be completed however when fifth starter
Stevie Smith looped his car exiting turn two and got hit hard by Blaine
Heimbach. The red flag unfurled for the crash that saw Heimbach’s #12 turn
over. There were no injuries, but both drivers were done for the night.
Hodnett restarted in control and flew away the final 28 non-stop laps.
Holtgraver blasted into second on lap 11 after a spirited battle with
Gravel, and for a short time, was able to close on Hodnett as he worked
lapped traffic. But, Hodnett’s experience at the oval was just too much, as
he was able to extend his lead over the last half of the event, taking the
checkered with nearly a half track advantage. Holtgraver, competing at Port
Royal for the first time in his career, would finish second followed by
Gravel. The top three finishers would receive a jacket from the National
Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum.
Fourth went to Sam Hafertepe Jr. with All Star regular Paul McMahan
finishing fifth. All Star East Region point leader Daryn Pittman would come
home sixth with three time series champion and current national points
leader Dale Blaney seventh followed by Aaron Ott, Mark Smith and Fred
Rahmer.
“I caught him (Hodnett) once in traffic, but once he got clear he was gone.
I’m happy as hell to hold on to second having never seen this place before.
It’s a fun track…very fast. I can’t wait to come back here,” said
Holtgraver beside his Kargo Quality Cars, Alternative Power Source, Mel
Bagley Auto Service, BKW Transport backed machine.
Gravel too expressed how impressed he was with Hodnett’s performance.
“I don’t know what they did between the dash and feature…we beat him pretty
good in the dash. What ever it was, he was gone. We will take third and
continue to work hard. I know we have some wins coming our way,” said
Gravel beside his Musco Fuel, P&M Transportation, JRC Transportation, Model
Craft backed #89G.
Heat races for the 38-car field worth $100 each in honor of late journalist
Jerry Reigle as sponsored by hoseheads.com went to Tim Shaffer, Chad
Layton, Brian Montieth and Doug Esh.
Jac Haudenschild set fast time over the stellar field with a fast lap of
15.693 seconds, just off of the track record of 15.652. Haudenschild
pocketed $200 for his efforts.
Gravel won the dash to earn the pole for the feature and set a new six-lap
track record with a time of 1:40.595.
Rahmer set a new 12-lap track record by scoring the B Main with a time of
3:30.028.
Mike Erdley, who suffered motor ills in warm-ups and scratched for the
night, and Nate Snyder each received $100 as the highest drivers in Port
Royal points who failed to qualify for the event. The awards were sponsored
by Crankwerkz of Newville and Guisewite Moving Services of Paxtonville.
Port Royal Speedway thanks the following sponsors of the 2012 Bob Weikert
Memorial: Weikerts Livestock, Fairfield PA; Virginia Cattle Compay,
Moorefield WV; Hickory Bridge Farms, Orrtanna PA; Folkens Brothers Hauling,
Lester IA; Roadcap Livestock, Quicksburg VA; Highland Farms, Gettysburg PA;
Scott’s Body Shop, Gettysburg PA; South Branch Livestock Exchange,
Moorefield WV; Craig Livestock Market, Shippensburg PA; Nicholas Packing,
Loganton PA; Joel Stein Show horses, Fairfield PA; Weiss Transport, Adrian
MN; Upper Marsh Creek, Orrtanna PA; Miller & Associates Real Estate LLC,
Gettysburg PA; Virginia Livestock Inc, Front Royal VA; Greencastle
Livestock Market, Greencastle PA; Stan’s Beverage, Carlisle PA; Antelope
Springs Ranch, Blackwell TX; Steven K Bierly Trucking, Mill Hall PA; Mike
Vis, Valley Springs, SD; Seth Snyder, Gettysburg PA; Omaha Commodities,
Omaha NE; JB Cattle LLC, Biglerville PA; Hy Plains Feedyard, Montezuma KS;
Heritage Cattle Company, Garden City KS; JAB Livestock Hauling LLC, Jersey
Shore PA; JW Trueth Inc., Baltimore, MD; M&R Livestock Hauling, Gettysburg,
PA; Stone Ridge Manor, Gettysburg PA; Flying W Express Inc., Fairfield PA;
Todd Grim, East Berlin PA; Holtapp Trucking, Pomeroy IA; S & B Livestock,
Herndon PA; Puckett and Associates, Nathalie VA; Crankwerkz, Newville PA;
hoseheads.com, Drums PA; Guisewite Moving Services, Paxtonville PA;
National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, Knoxville IA.
Port Royal Speedway – 4/28/2012
UNOH Night
All Star Circuit of Champions (38 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 5-Jac Haudenschild, 15.693; 2. 19-Stevie Smith, 15.705; 3. 45-Paul
McMahon, 15.725; 4. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 15.763; 5. 1-Sam Hafertepe Jr.,
15.775; 6. 89G-David Gravel, 15.879; 7. 51-Fred Rahmer, 15.909; 8. 39-Greg
Hodnett, 15.912; 9. 12-Blane Heimbach, 15.942; 10. 2-Dale Blaney, 15.943;
11. O-Rick Lafferty, 15.960; 12. 27-Daryn Pittman , 15.971; 13. M1-Mark
Smith, 15.987; 14. 7-Chad Layton, 15.993; 15. 77-Aaron Ott, 16.003; 16.
20S-Derek Sell, 16.005; 17. 54-Cap Henry, 16.011; 18. 30C-Lance Dewease,
16.040; 19. 21-Brian Montieth, 16.062; 20. 29-Justin Henderson, 16.087; 21.
83-Tim Shaffer, 16.155; 22. 747-Davey Sammons, 16.215; 23. 1Z-Jessica
Zemken, 16.219; 24. 30-Doug Esh, 16.225; 25. 55-Mike Wagner, 16.253; 26.
3W-Sheldon Haudenschild, 16.303; 27. 3-Pete Miller III, 16.350; 28.
24-Cliff Brian , 16.352; 29. 2T-T.J. Stutts, 16.398; 30. 56-Nate Snyder,
16.427; 31. 8R-Mike Ruttkamp, 16.432; 32. 44-Joey Hershey, 16.622; 33.
5C-Dylan Cisney, 16.633; 34. 8H-Keith Kaufman, 16.730; 35. O7-Mark Coldren
, 16.797; 36. 5G-Curt Michael, 16.862; 37. 33-Brian Ehrenzeller, 17.583;
38. 11-Mike Erdley, 99.999
Heat 1 – Kears Speed Shop (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the
A-feature)
1. 83-Tim Shaffer[1] ; 2. 12-Blane Heimbach[4] ; 3. 1-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[5]
; 4. M1-Mark Smith[3] ; 5. 2T-T.J. Stutts[8] ; 6. 55-Mike Wagner[7] ; 7.
5-Jac Haudenschild[6] ; 8. 33-Brian Ehrenzeller[10] ; 9. 5C-Dylan Cisney[9]
; 10. 54-Cap Henry[2]
Heat 2 – All Pro Aluminum Heads (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the
A-feature)
1. 7-Chad Layton[3] ; 2. 30C-Lance Dewease[2] ; 3. 2-Dale Blaney[4] ; 4.
19-Stevie Smith[6] ; 5. 89G-David Gravel[5] ; 6. 747-Davey Sammons[1] ; 7.
8H-Keith Kaufman[9] ; 8. 3W-Sheldon Haudenschild[7] ; 9. 56-Nate Snyder[8]
; 10. 11-Mike Erdley[10]
Heat 3 – Dragon Race Fuel (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the
A-feature)
1. 21-Brian Montieth[2] ; 2. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[1] ; 3. O-Rick Lafferty[4] ;
4. 77-Aaron Ott[3] ; 5. 45-Paul McMahon[6] ; 6. 51-Fred Rahmer[5] ; 7.
3-Pete Miller III[7] ; 8. 8R-Mike Ruttkamp[8] ; 9. O7-Mark Coldren [9]
Heat 4 – Kinsler Fuel Injection (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the
A-feature)
1. 30-Doug Esh[1] ; 2. 29-Justin Henderson[2] ; 3. 27-Daryn Pittman [4] ;
4. 39-Greg Hodnett[5] ; 5. D4-Danny Holtgraver[6] ; 6. 20S-Derek Sell[3] ;
7. 24-Cliff Brian [7] ; 8. 5G-Curt Michael[9] ; 9. 44-Joey Hershey[8]
Dash – Outerwears Performance Products (6 Laps, finishing order determined
first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 89G-David Gravel[1] ; 2. 39-Greg Hodnett[2] ; 3. D4-Danny Holtgraver[3]
; 4. 45-Paul McMahon[6] ; 5. 19-Stevie Smith[5] ; 6. 1-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[4]
B-Main – MSD Ignition (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 51-Fred Rahmer[2] ; 2. 5-Jac Haudenschild[1] ; 3. 54-Cap Henry[4] ; 4.
55-Mike Wagner[6] ; 5. 747-Davey Sammons[5] ; 6. 20S-Derek Sell[3] ; 7.
3-Pete Miller III[8] ; 8. 24-Cliff Brian [9] ; 9. 3W-Sheldon
Haudenschild[7] ; 10. 8H-Keith Kaufman[14] ; 11. O7-Mark Coldren [15] ; 12.
44-Joey Hershey[12] ; 13. 8R-Mike Ruttkamp[11] ; 14. 56-Nate Snyder[10] ;
15. 33-Brian Ehrenzeller[17] ; 16. 5C-Dylan Cisney[13] ; 17. 5G-Curt
Michael[16] ; 18. 11-Mike Erdley[18]
A-Main – University of Northwestern Ohio (30 Laps)
1. 39-Greg Hodnett[2]; 2. D4-Danny Holtgraver[3]; 3. 89G-David Gravel[1];
4. 1-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[6]; 5. 45-Paul McMahon[4]; 6. 27-Daryn Pittman [10];
7. 2-Dale Blaney[8]; 8. 77-Aaron Ott[15]; 9. M1-Mark Smith[13]; 10. 51-Fred
Rahmer[12]; 11. 7-Chad Layton[14]; 12. 83-Tim Shaffer[20]; 13. 54-Cap
Henry[16]; 14. 30C-Lance Dewease[17]; 15. O-Rick Lafferty[9]; 16. 55-Mike
Wagner[23]; 17. 29-Justin Henderson[19]; 18. 21-Brian Montieth[18]; 19.
30-Doug Esh[22]; 20. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[21]; 21. 2T-T.J. Stutts[24]; 22.
5-Jac Haudenschild[11]; 23. 19-Stevie Smith[5]; 24. 12-Blane Heimbach[7]
Hard Charger: 83-Tim Shaffer[+8]