By Shawn Brouse
Port Royal – Greg Hodnett of Thomasville led all but the first lap of the 30-lap Weikert’s Livestock UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions Sprints Bob Weikert Memorial at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday night.
For his second win in a row in the prestigious event and third overall, Hodnett pocketed $10,000 for the victory plus $2,900 in lap money. It was his third win of the season so far at the track and the 27th overall of his career.
In the 15-lap pro stock main, John Heane led the entire distance for his first win of the season.
Gravel started on the pole and flew the All Star colors high throughout the event after leading the first circuit as did third starter Danny Holtgraver.
After Gravel led the first circuit of the race Hodnett pulled a slider in the first corner to take the lead in his bid for the victory.
His pace was halted before three laps could be completed however when fifth starter Stevie Smith looped his car exiting the second corner and got hit hard by Blane Heimbach.
The red flag unfurled for the accident that saw Heimbach’s No. 12 turn over. There were no injuries.
Hodnett restarted in control and the final 28 laps went non-stop at a torrid pace.
Holtgraver motored into second with 11 down and for a short time was able to close on leader Hodnett as he worked lapped traffic.
But Hodnett did nothing except extend his lead over the last half of the event to find himself racing toward the checkered flag on the backstretch as his closest pursuers crossed the stripe to complete the 29th loop.
Holtgraver crossed as runner up to collect $3,500 for the finish followed by Gravel who pocketed $2,500 plus another $100 for leading the first lap.
The top three finishers received free jackets from the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
Fourth went to Sam Hafertepe Jr. with Paul McMahan finishing fifth to give the All Stars three of the top five finishing positions.
Sixth through 10th went to All Stars East point leader Daryn Pittman, Dale Blaney, Aaron Ott, Mark Smith and Fred Rahmer.
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.
Heane of McClure withstood a pair of restarts as the leader of the pro stock feature.
He led the entire way with second place being swapped several times between Dave Brouse Jr. and AJ Stroup.
Stroup secured the spot in the end with Brouse ending up third followed by one-time winner Jeff Bryner and Harold Ranck.
Sixth through 10th went to Derrick Garman, Nate Fisher, Scott Landis, Matt Hornberger and Andrew Shoop.
Twin heats went to Stroup and Brouse Jr.
Stroup set a new one-lap track record in the division during his heat race by posting a time of 24.077 seconds.
Brouse established a new five-lap track record in his heat by posting a time of 2:02.541.
The speedway returns to action on May 5 at 7 p.m. with 410 sprint cars, late models and ARDC Midgets plus a make up late model feature held over from March 31.
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.
April 28, 2012 Feature Finishes:
Bob Weikert Memorial, 30 laps: 1. Greg Hodnett, 2. Danny Holtgraver, 3. David Gravel, 4. Sam Hafertepe Jr., 5. Paul McMahan, 6. Daryn Pittman, 7. Dale Blaney, 8. Aaron Ott, 9. Mark Smith, 10. Fred Rahmer, 11. Chad Layton, 12. Tim Shaffer, 13. Cap Henry, 14. Lance Dewease, 15. Rick Lafferty, 16. Mike Wagner, 17. Justin Henderson, 18. Brian Montieth, 19. Doug Esh, 20. Jessica Zemken, 21. TJ Stutts, 22. Jac Haudenschild, 23. Stevie Smith. 24. Blane Heimbach
Lap leaders: Gravel, 1; Hodnett, 2 – 30