From Selinsgrove Speedway
Selinsgrove, PA — (August 4, 2012) — Mark Smith of Sunbury avoided a 12-car melee at the start of Saturday night’s 25-lap 358 sprint car feature at Selinsgrove Speedway and went on to score his second win of the season at the track driving the Mach 1 Chassis No. 1 racer.
Nick Dickson of Lewistown wired the field for his second career win in the 14th annual Foss Jewelers Late Model Open. The victory in the 30-lap feature was Dickson’s fourth of the season at four different speedways and was worth $5,000. Andy Haus of Hamburg set fast time with a lap of 19.538.
Saturday night’s late model race marked a milestone in the track’s history as it was the 1,000th feature race won by a late model driver since the track reopened in 1963.
Jason Smith of Williamsport scored his second win of the season in the 15-lap pro stock feature.
Bill McIntyre of the Hoosier Tire Mid-Atlantic Central PA 358 Sprint Car Series was on-hand to present Cody Keller of Selinsgrove with the 2012 Most Popular Driver Award. Keller won this year’s contest by receiving the most votes from fans in Central Pennsylvania.
Selinsgrove Speedway will be back in action Sunday night (Aug. 5) with the Mach 1 Chassis Mid-Atlantic Championship Series for 358-360 sprint cars plus the PASS 305 sprint cars starting at 7:30 p.m. Track gates will open at 5 p.m.
The speedway will present another open wheel doubleheader featuring the United Racing Company (URC) sprint cars and 358 sprints cars plus late models and roadrunners at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11.
A 12-car melee unfolded in turn four at the start of the sprint car feature, with the cars driven by 10th-place starter TJ Stutts and 14th-place starter Joel VanBuskirk flipping over. All drivers escaped injury and seven of the 12 cars involved in the accident were able to restart the race.
When the green flag waved to restart the feature, polesitter Brock Zearfoss stormed into the early lead with original fifth-place starter Cody Keller racing in close pursuit. By the sixth circuit, sixth-place starter Mark Smith closed in on Keller in a bid for the runner-up position. Three laps later, Keller, Smith, and 12th-place starter Pat Cannon, who had to restart on the rear of the field after getting involved in the first-lap incident, reeled in Zearfoss at the front of the pack.
Smith passed Keller for second and quickly caught Zearfoss. At the halfway point, Smith made the winning pass by Zearfoss using the inside lane entering turn one. On the 16th circuit, eighth-place starter Jason Shultz began to show a lot of speed and raced into the second position.
In the final five laps of the race, Smith opened up a straightaway lead over Shultz. At the checkered flag, Smith was victorious by a convincing 6.2-second margin over Cannon, who snagged the runner-up position with two laps remaining. Shultz, Zearfoss, and Keller completed the top five.
In the Late Model Open, polesitter Nick Dickson pulled into the lead at the drop of the green flag and wired the field for the victory, but not without a few suspenseful laps in traffic to decide the outcome of the race.
On the second circuit, third-place starter Dan Stone horsepowered his way by second-place starter Jeff Rine for the runner-up position, while eighth-place starter Jamie Lathroum and fifth-place starter Jim Bernheisel dueled for the top five positions.
The event’s first caution flag unfurled on lap five when Matt Cochran’s race car developed mechanical problems and rolled to a stop in turn four. When the race resumed, Stone kept Dickson in his sites for the next several laps. Meanwhile, Rine and Bernheisel raced wheel-to-wheel for the third position.
At the midway point of the race, Dickson was leading Stone, Rine, Lathroum, fourth-place starter Gregg Satterlee, and 12th-place starter Jason Covert.
With only five laps remaining, Stone moved in striking distance of Dickson in heavy lapped traffic. Dickson managed to keep his car ahead of Stone’s for the remaining laps and posted a mere .49 of a second margin of victory over Stone, Rine, Covert, and Satterlee.
Second-place starter Shaun Miller powered into the lead at the start of the pro stock feature. Miller was chased by fourth-place starter Nathan Long for the first three laps until seventh-place starter AJ Hoffman advanced to second.
Hoffman took command of the field on lap seven as sixth-place starter Jason Smith followed him into the runner-up position. For a full circuit, Hoffman, Smith, and Miller raced wheel-to-wheel for the front spot. On the ninth circuit, Smith pull alongside of Hoffman and was scored as the leader just before a caution flag regrouped the field.
On the lap 10 restart, Smith set the pace and held off Hoffman for the duration of the event, posting a narrow .64 of a second margin of victory. 15th-place starter Hayes Mattern, Miller, and eighth-place starter Troy Miller rounded out the top five.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 4 August 2012
358 Sprint Cars – 25 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 1 Mark Smith 2) 3 Pat Cannon 3) 2 Jason Shultz 4) 3Z Brock Zearfoss 5) 99K Cody Keller 6) 38 Scott Wilson 7) 71 Jessica Anderson 8) 99B Nyle Berkes 9) 14 Mike Walter 10) 77 Derek Locke 11) 21 Duane Mausteller 12) 19 Colby Womer 13) 42 Alan Spriggle 14) 80M Rocky Magaro 15) 66 Ryan Kissinger DNF 16) 9 Phil Walter II DNF 17) 5W Phil Walter DNF 18) 81 John Troxell 19) 10 Ryan Greth DNF 20) 23 TJ Stutts DNF 21) 76 Larry Kelleher DNF 22) 11 Joel VanBuskirk DNF 23) 55 Bob Beidleman DNF 24) 23M Tom Wise DNF 25) 3Z John Smith DNS
Heat Winners: Pat Cannon, Brock Zearfoss, Cody Keller
Late Models – 31 Entries
30-Lap Open: 1) 17 Nick Dickson ($5,000) 2) 21D Dan Stone 3) 2J Jeff Rine 4) 43A Jason Covert 5) 22 Gregg Satterlee 6) 119 Jim Bernheisel 7) 6 Jamie Lathroum 8) 21 Scott Haus 9) 26 Jerry Bard 10) 32 Coleby Frye 11) 119B Bryan Bernheisel 12) 23 Gary Stuhler 13) 2 Steve Campbell 14) 99Z Dave Zona 15) 44 Donnie Schick 16) 24 Dylan Yoder 17) 91 Chad Davis 18) 27 Jim Yoder 19) 99 Jeff Smith 20) 88 Tony Adams 21) 55 Chris Shuey 22) 90 Kyle Rhoads 23) 7M Meade Hahn DNF 24) 23S Todd Snook DNF 25) 16 Matt Cochran DNF
Time Trials: 1) 76 Andy Haus 19.538 2) 24 Dylan Yoder 19.572 3) 43A Jason Covert 19.580 4) 21D Dan Stone 19.582 5) 2 Steve Campbell 19.619 6) 21 Scott Haus 19.697 7) 2J Jeff Rine 19.749 8) 17 Nick Dickson 19.781 9) 6 Jamie Lathroum 19.871 10) 44 Donnie Schick 19.906 11) 99Z Dave Zona 19.917 12) 22 Greg Satterlee 19.979 13) 119 Jim Bernheisel 19.993 14) 32 Coleby Frye 19.994 15) 26 Jerry Bard 20.067 16) 119B Bryan Bernheisel 20.070 17) 45 Eric Hons 20.071 18) 27 Jim Yoder 20.087 19) 88 Tony Adams 20.116 20) 23S Todd Snook 20.142 21) 23 Gary Stuhler 20.238 22) 99 Jeff Smith 20.266 23) 16 Matt Cochran 20.399 24) 91 Chad Davis 20.524 25) 55 Chris Shuey 20.553 26) 90 Kyle Rhoads 20.708 27) 15 Luke Hoffner 20.865 28) 61 Ken Trevitz 20.978 29) 7M Meade Hahn 21.114 30) 14 Dave Brouse Sr. 21.359 31) 4D Chad Hollenbeck DNT
Heat Winners: Nick Dickson, Dan Stone, Jeff Rine, Gregg Satterlee
B-Main Winner: Gary Stuhler
Pro Stocks – 16 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1) 28 Jason Smith 2) 19 AJ Hoffman 3) 9 Hayes Mattern 4) 115 Shaun Miller 5) 1 Troy Miller 6) 10M Brad Mitch 7) 3G Jim Gearhart 8) 63 Nathan Long 9) 85L Pete Lauver 10) 11 Jake Buck 11) 4 Jim Payne 12) 85R Jeff Ceballo 13) 99 Kyle Bachman DNF 14) 06 Frank Reisser DNS 15) 28J Terry Lauver DNS 16) 99H Peanut Heintzelman DNS
Heat Winners: Jason Smith, Shaun Miller