Lima, OH — (May 19, 2012) — During the past 15 seasons that the University of Northwestern Ohio has owned and operated Limaland Motorsports Park, the Modified division has consistently been among the most competitive racing at the track. The May 18th twenty lap feature produced another thrilling contest and finish that ranks with the best ever. Jerry Bowersock’s all-out charge through the final four laps gave him an early season comeback win for the ages.
A pair of first-time 2012 campaigners gained the attention at the start of the race with Aaron Orr occupying the pole and second row starter Brian Shaw leading the first lap to the line. A five-car pileup between turns one and two at the start ended the night for the lone two-time winner this season Jake Reufer and Cory Seeling.
When the race resumed, Brian Shaw, Orr, Bowersock, Todd Sherman and Terry Hull all pushed forward at the front of the field. There was three-wide racing coming out of turn four that thrilled the crowd at the high-banked ¼-mile oval.
A rare collision on the backstretch during the ninth lap, involving the track’s two greatest Modified winners, left defending champion Todd Sherman in the infield and Terry Hull still racing, but heavily damaged on the right side door panel.
Another three-wide battle developed with Aaron Orr, Shaw and Bowersock dueling for the lead. Brian Shaw took the top position on lap 13 and it held until a caution period set-up the amazing four-lap dash to finish.
Shaw held the middle of the track with Bowersock chasing from the high side. The two racers went side-by-side with Bowersock working sling shot momentum off the turns hoping to produce a pass before the 20 laps ended.
As the usual big crowd at Limaland Motorsports Park sat on the edge of their seats, Bowersock was finally able to sustain a defining push through the fourth and final turn of the last lap. He edged Shaw at the finish line in classic nose-to-nose racing fashion. “I didn’t think he was going to give me enough room, but he did,” recalled the Wapakoneta driver in the winner’s circle. “I feel pretty good and hope we have come out of our bad luck.” It was Jerry Bowersock’s first win of 2012 and the fifth of his career at the track.
The Elwer Fence Sprints 25-lap finale was as exciting as the Modifieds, although without the dramatic finish. At the line through the first lap, Shawn Dancer topped a hard charging field of sprinters with Randy Hannagan and Jared Horstman on his tail. On lap six, Hannagan was able to pass Dancer, with Horstman still very much in the mix.
The race saw a yellow flag in the air on three occasions through the next four laps resulting in Butch Schroeder and Jarrod Delong being put out of the competition with car troubles.
After a restart on lap 10, Hannagan and Dancer resumed their thrilling battle. Dancer took the point position with an outside pass on lap 12 while Hannagan retook the lead on lap 13. From there, Hannagan masterfully negotiated lapped traffic and held off Dancer and eventual race runner-up Jared Horstman to capture his second feature win of the season and fourth of his career at the track.
“It was a good run,” said the Californian. “The track dried out a lot more than I thought it might, so I had to really get up on the wheel pretty hard. Shawn Dancer did a really good job. He surprised me on the restart when he drove right around me. I knew at that point I had to get in gear, so I got off the bottom a bit, stayed patient and it was all good.”
The Budweiser Thunderstocks 15-lap feature was controlled by Lima’s Jeff Koz as he won the race from the pole and led every lap. The triumph was impressive in that he had to hold off Shawn Valenti, who had won the season’s previous three races and started alongside Koz in the front row.
The race saw four caution periods that helped Koz to solidify his lock on the lead and secure the eventual conquest. “The racetrack was awesome,” he said, marking the third win of his career. “I held my lane on the bottom where it was working tonight. I just tried to keep my nose clean with a good line and everything worked out for me.” Defending track champion Tony Anderson and Valenti followed Koz across the finish line.
Limaland Motorsports Park returns to action on Friday, May 25, for the Memorial Cup as the Engine Pro NRA Sprint Invaders battle with the Sprints on Dirt for $2,000 to win. The K & N UMP Modifieds and Budweiser Thunderstocks will also compete. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. Racing starts promptly at 7:30 p.m.
All the latest news and information about America’s premier quarter-mile dirt track, can be found at www.limaland.com
Limaland Motorsports Park – 5/18/2012
Whelen Night
Modifieds
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 40-Terry Hull; 2. F16-Jake Reufer; 3. 1S-Brain Shaw; 4. 22T-Tony Anderson; 5. 20W-Matt Westfall; 6. 19B-Brandon Ordway; 7. O1-Ryan O’Dette; 8. 35-Tim Cornett
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 65-Todd Sherman; 2. 28-Chad Rosenbeck; 3. L5-Casey Luedeke; 4. 18-Randy Lines; 5. 19-Ryan Ordway; 6. 20K-Bill Keeler; 7. 4S-J.R. Reufer; 8. 93-Tyler Stump
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 5X-Jerry Bowersock; 2. OO-Kody Weisner; 3. 188-Aaron Orr; 4. O3-Cory Seeling; 5. 22B-Andy Bibler; 6. 18N-Derrick Noffsinger; 7. 69-Tommy Beezley
B-Main – (8 Laps – Top 6 Transfer)
1. 19B-Brandon Ordway; 2. 20K-Bill Keeler; 3. 18N-Derrick Noffsinger; 4. O1-Ryan O’Dette; 5. 4S-J.R. Reufer; 6. 35-Tim Cornett
A-Main – (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 5X-Jerry Bowersock[7]; 2. 1S-Brian Shaw[3]; 3. 40-Terry Hull[9]; 4. 188-Aaron Orr[1]; 5. OO-Kody Weisner[4]; 6. L5-Casey Luedeke[2]; 7. 22T-Tony Anderson[10]; 8. 18-Randy Lines[11]; 9. 19-Ryan Ordway[14]; 10. 28-Chad Rosenbeck[5]; 11. 20K-Bill Keeler[17]; 12. 35-Tim Cornett[21]; 13. O1-Ryan O’Dette[19]; 14. 22B-Andy Bibler[15]; 15. 4S-J.R. Reufer[20]; 16. 65-Todd Sherman[8]; 17. F16-Jake Reufer[6]; 18. 20W-Matt Westfall[13]; 19. O3-Cory Seeling[12]; 20. 19B-Brandon Ordway[16]; 21. 18N-Derrick Noffsinger[18]
Elwer Fence Sprints
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 22H-Randy Hannagan; 2. 7-Darren Long; 3. 7K-Kyle Sauder; 4. 27-Beau Stewart; 5. 34-Jimmy Sneed; 6. 27B-Brad Lamberson; 7. 4J-Bob Gehr; 8. 10C-Bob Carmen; 9. 98J-John Kettlewell
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 28H-Hud Horton; 2. 49-Shawn Dancer; 3. B20-Butch Schroeder; 4. 11-Tim Allison; 5. 35-Ron Blair; 6. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 7. 23M-Jack Miller; 8. 82-Mike Miller; 9. 10J-Jarrod Delong
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 5M-Max Stambaugh; 2. 17-Jared Horstman; 3. 22-Ben Rutan; 4. 4U-Rick Boughan; 5. 31-Andy Teunessen; 6. 2-Brent Gehr; 7. 40-Caleb Helms; 8. 23-Devon Dobie
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 6 Transfer)
1. 40-Caleb Helms; 2. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 3. 10J-Jarrod Delong; 4. 4J-Bob Gehr; 5. 27B-Brad Lamberson; 6. 23-Devon Dobie; 7. 10C-Bob Carmen; 8. 2-Brent Gehr; 9. 23M-Jack Miller
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 22H-Randy Hannagan[4]; 2. 17-Jared Horstman[6]; 3. 28H-Hud Horton[1]; 4. 49-Shawn Dancer[3]; 5. 7K-Kyle Sauder[5]; 6. 5M-Max Stambaugh[2]; 7. 22D-Dennis Yoakam[15]; 8. 35-Ron Blair[14]; 9. 11-Tim Allison[9]; 10. 4U-Rick Boughan[12]; 11. 27-Beau Stewart[10]; 12. 31-Andy Teunessen[13]; 13. 23-Devon Dobie[19]; 14. 4J-Bob Gehr[17]; 15. 34-Jimmy Sneed[11]; 16. 27B-Brad Lamberson[20]; 17. 22-Ben Rutan[7]; 18. 10J-Jarrod Delong[18]; 19. B20-Butch Schroeder[8]; 20. 40-Caleb Helms[16]
Budweiser Tunderstocks
McDonald’s Dash – (5 Laps)
1. 82-Chris Douglas; 2. 7B-Shawn Valenti; 3. 16-Jeff Koz; 4. 22T-Tony Anderson
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 9 Transfer)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti; 2. 82-Chris Douglas; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson; 4. 2-Shane Wolf; 5. 19-Bill Reimund; 6. 52B-Sam Bodine; 7. 22X-R.K. Smith; 8. 89-Keith Shockency; 9. 93-Zach Gustafson
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 9 Transfer)
1. 16-Jeff Koz; 2. 57S-Billy Siferd; 3. 99-Andy King; 4. OOM-Bryan Martin; 5. 27-Frank Paladino; 6. O1-Joel Ortberg; 7. OON-Dwight Niehoff; 8. 327-Randy Crossley; 9. 1-Austin Frankart
A-Main – (15 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 16-Jeff Koz[1]; 2. 22T-Tony Anderson[5]; 3. 7B-Shawn Valenti[2]; 4. 82-Chris Douglas[3]; 5. OON-Dwight Niehoff[14]; 6. 2-Shane Wolf[7]; 7. 19-Bill Reimund[9]; 8. 27-Frank Paladino[10]; 9. O1-Joel Ortberg[12]; 10. 327-Randy Crossley[16]; 11. 1-Austin Frankart[18]; 12. 52B-Sam Bodine[11]; 13. 99-Andy King[6]; 14. 57S-Billy Siferd[4]; 15. 89-Keith Shockency[15]; 16. 22X-R.K. Smith[13]; 17. OOM-Bryan Martin[8]; 18. 93-Zach Gustafson[17]
Photo Gallery
