From Selinsgrove Speedway
Selinsgrove, PA — (June 2, 2012) — Saturday night’s 358 sprint car feature at Selinsgrove Speedway could best be described as a war on wheels at the front of the pack between third-place starter Phil Walter of McClure, sixth-place starter Eric Tomecek of Abbottstown, and seventh-place starter Jason Shultz of Carlisle.
At the finish, it was Shultz who emerged the victor in the thrilling 25-lap main event for the second time this season driving the Mach 1 Chassis No. 2.
Jeff Rine of Danville stormed to his third win of the season in the 25-lap late model feature. The victory marked yet another milestone for the seven-time champion as it was his 75th career win in a late model at the Snyder County oval.
Rookie Hayes Mattern of Beavertown scored his second career victory in the 15-lap pro stock race, while Ricky Bender of Jolliett won his first race of the season in the 12-lap roadrunner main event.
Selinsgrove Speedway will present a four division show of 358 sprint cars, late models, pro stocks, and roadrunners at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 9, sponsored by Paul Stine Chevrolet. The late model feature will be a 30-lap championship event paying $2,500 to win and $250 to start.
On the start of the sprint car feature, polesitter Joel VanBuskirk and 20th-place starter Bob Beidleman collided in turn three. For the restart, third-place starter Phil Walter joined Charlie Anderson on the front row and pulled into the early lead.
Walter was chased by sixth-place starter Eric Tomecek at the onset, while fifth-place starter Duane Mausteller, seventh-place starter Jason Shultz, and eighth-place starter Derek Locke were in close pursuit.
On a lap five restart, a wheel-to-wheel duel unfolded for the lead between Walter and Tomecek. For the next three laps, Walter and Tomecek see-sawed for the lead position. Meanwhile, Shultz advanced to third and made it a close three-car battle at the front the pack.
On a lap 10 restart, Tomecek secured the lead and Shultz took over the second position. On the 12th circuit, Shultz made the winning pass using the inside lane in turn four. By lap 17, however, 10th-place starter Pat Cannon began to show a lot of speed and raced into the runner up position.
Cannon reeled in Shultz in lapped traffic but could not offer a challenge for the lead. At the checkered flag, Shultz was victorious by .44 of a second over Cannon, Tomecek, 12th-place starter Cody Keller, and Walter.
Polesitter Kyle Rhoads powered into the lead at the start of the late model feature and was chased by second-place starter Eric Hons. Entering turn one to start the second lap, a multi-car tangle involved Steve Campbell, Chad Davis, and Jim Bernheisel.
When the race resumed, 10th-place starter Jeff Rine horsepowered his way into the top five. By lap five, Rine was racing second and set his sites on Rhoads. On the eighth circuit, Rine made the winning pass using the outside line off turn four. Once in front of the pack, Rine checked out from the field.
At the midway point, fifth-place starter Jim Yoder held down the runner up position while original seventh-place starter Steve Campbell began making his way through the pack after having to restart on the rear of the field.
At the checkered flag, Rine scored a convincing victory by 4.3 seconds over Campbell, J. Yoder, Kenny Trevitz, and Dylan Yoder.
Polesitter Tim Krape was challenged by second-place starter Hayes Mattern and eighth-place starter AJ Hoffman for most of the pro stock feature. Mattern waited until late in the race on lap 14 to take command of the field. At the same time, fourth-place starter Jason Smith followed Mattern in the runner up position.
Following an intense nose-to-tail battle between the top three drivers, teenager Mattern won his second race of his rookie season by just .12 of a second over Smith, who made a last-ditch effort with a move to the bottom of the track racing off turn four to no avail. Krape, Nathan Long, and Frank Reisser rounded out the top five in a race that was heavily affected by attrition.
Polesitter Bruce Wyland Jr. led the first lap of the roadrunner race. On the second circuit, second-place starter Dustin Snook drove into the lead. Last week’s winner and sixth-place starter Brian Johnson was racing second when a flat tire forced him to withdraw from the race.
In the second half of the race, eighth-place starter Bob Bussey and seventh-place starter Ricky Bender began to pressure Snook for the lead. On the ninth lap, Bender made an inside pass by Snook for the lead.
At the finish, Bender was victorious by .60 of a second over Snook, Bussey, John Fowler Jr., and Matt Lawrence.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 2 June 2012
358 Sprint Cars – 21 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1)2 Jason Shultz 2) 3 Pat Cannon 3) 1W Eric Tomecek 4) 99K Cody Keller 5) 5W Phil Walter 6) 23 TJ Stutts 7) 1 Mark Smith 8) 77 Derek Locke 9) 81 Bob Beidleman 10) 76 Larry Kelleher 11) 21 Duane Maustellar 12) 44 Rodney Westhafer 13) 71c Charlie Anderson 14) 80M Rocky Magaro 15) 38 Scott Wilson 16) 15 Jay Reichard DNF 17) 1N Brian Nornhold DNF 18) 4R Davie Franek DNF 19) 11 Joel VanBuskirk DNF 20) 5b Josh Beard DNS 21) 3Z Brock Zearfoss DNS
Heat Winners: Pat Cannon, Jason Shultz, Josh Beard
Late Model – 17 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 2J Jeff Rine 2) 2 Steve Campbell 3) 27 Jim Yoder 4) 61 Ken Trevitz 5) 24 Dylan Yoder 6) 44 Donnie Schick 7) 16 Matt Cochran 8) 119 Jim Bernheisel 9) 119B Bryan Bernheisel 10) 90 Kyle Rhoadds 11) 7M Meade Hahn 12) 99Z Dave Zona 13) 91 Chad Davis 14) 88 Tony Adams DNF 15) 45 Eric Hons DNF 16) 99 Jeff Smith 17) 0n Ryan Nearhood DNS
Heat Winners: Bryan Bernheisel, Steve Campbell
Pro Stocks – 15 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1) 9 Hayes Matter 2) 28 Jason Smith 3) 07 Tim Krape 4) 63 Nathan Long 5) 06 Frank Reisser 6) 34 Hank Steffan 7) 85L Pete Lauver DNF 8) 12 Doug Minium DNF 9) 8K Nate Kerstetter DNF 10) 19 AJ Hoffman DNF 11) 99 Kyle Bachman DNF 12) 28J Jeff Ceballo DNF 13) 85R Russ Lauver DNF 14) 99H Peanut Heintzelman DNF 15) 85 Terry Lauver DNF
Heat Winners: Hayes Mattern, Tim Krape
Roadrunners – 16 Entries
12-Lap A-Main: 1) 29B Ricky Bender 2) 15 Dustin Snook 3) 76 Bob Bussey 4) 02 John Fowler 5) 111 Matt Lawrence 6) 3 Bruce Wyland Jr. 7) 8K Jeremy Kline 8) 28I Curtis Lawton 9) 7 Butch Shaffer 10) 111X Larry Alvord 11) 2 Adam Campbell DNF 12) 112 Ben Feree DNF 13) 41D Dennis Conrad DNF 14) 44 Corey Collier DNF 15) 201 Brian Johnson DNF 16) 00 Cory Long DNS
Heat Winners: Dustin Snook, Bruce Wyland Jr.