By Steve Inch
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – All four of the 2012 track champions visited Victory Lane one last time before closing out the regular season points chases at Selinsgrove Speedway Saturday night.
Three-time champion Pat Cannon of Etters recorded his ninth win of the season in 358-360 sprint car competition at the track in the division’s 25-lap main event. The victory marked the 41st of Cannon’s career in the division driving the Highlands’ Tire & Service Center No. 3.
Eight-time champion Jeff Rine of Danville won his seventh race of the season and 79th of his career in the 25-lap late model feature, while three-time champion AJ Hoffman of Richfield won his fifth race of the year and his 41st career in the 15-lap pro stock feature.
Two-time champion Bob Bussey of Northumberland was awarded his ninth win of the year in the 12-lap roadrunner race when Nate Romig of Lewistown was disqualified after his car failed a post-race technical inspection.
Selinsgrove Speedway will present the final race of the season at 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, with the running of the $5,000-to-win Fall Classic for Late Models plus a $500-to-win Street Stock Challenge.
Second-place starter Ryan Kissinger pulled into the lead at the start of the sprint car feature as fourth-placed starter Cody Keller advanced to second. On the third circuit, sixth-place starter Mark Smith stormed into the runner-up position and set his sites on Kissinger.
Entering turn three on the eighth circuit, Smith made a pass for the lead using the high line around Kissinger. At the same time, fifth-place starter Derek Locke took over second but pitted with a flat tire on lap 11 when Keller struck the third turn wall and brought out the caution flag.
On the restart, Kissinger made an attempt to reclaim the lead from Smith to no avail. With 10 laps remaining, 10th-place starter Pat Cannon made it a three-car battle for the lead at the front of the pack. Cannon made the winning pass using the inside lane through turns three and four on the 21st lap and went on to take the checkered flag by two seconds over Smith, Jason Shultz, TJ Stutts, and Kissinger.
Front-row starter AJ Hoffman led the first two laps of the late model feature until sixth-place starter Chad Davis powered into the lead on a lap three restart. Eighth-place starter Dave Zona quickly made his way into the runner-up position while 13th-place starter Jeff Rine trailed in third.
The race was stopped on lap 10 for a seven-car melee at the end of the frontstretch. All drivers escaped injury. When the race resumed, Davis continued to lead as the race for second heated up between Zona and Rine.
With 10 laps remaining, Rine took over the second position and quickly reeled in Davis. On the 17th lap, Davis drifted into the first turn wall as Rine was making a pass for the leading using the inside lane.
In the final laps of the race, Rine streaked away from the field and posted a convincing six-second margin of victory over Zona, Dylan Yoder, Jim Bernheisel, and Jim Yoder.
Fourth-place starter Shaun Miller powered into the lead at the start of the pro stock feature. On the second circuit, eighth-place starter AJ Hoffman stormed into the lead and began to stretch his margin. Sixth-place starter Jason Smith reeled in Miller in a race for second and made a pass for the position on lap six when Miller made contact with the fourth turn wall.
In the second half of the race, Smith began to close in on Hoffman in lapped traffic. At the checkered flag, Hoffman was victorious by half of a second over Smith, Miller, Hayes Mattern, and Jason Davis.
Polesitter Jeremy Kline led the first half of the roadrunner feature until third-place starter Nate Romig powered into the front spot. Ninth-place starter Bob Bussey followed Romig into the runner-up position and put in several bids for the lead.
At the checkered flag, Romig took the checkered flag by just .31 of a second over Bussey. However, after Romig’s car failed a post-race inspection, Bussey was awarded the win over Brian Johnson, Kline, Matt Lawrence, and Adam Campbell.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY: 22 September 2012
358 Sprint Cars – 19 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 3 Pat Cannon 2) 1 Mark Smith 3) 2 Jason Shultz 4) 23 TJ Stutts 5) 66 Ryan Kissinger 6) 76 Larry Kelleher 7) 77 Derek Locke 8) 29 Matt Horst 9) 29W Ryan Wilson 10) 14 Mike Walter 11) 5 Phil Walter 12) 21 Duane Mausteller 13) 38 Scott Wilson 14) 71C Charlie Anderson 15) 42 Alan Spriggle 16) 6S Bill Sherman 17) 67 Jason Cherry 18) 99K Cody Keller DNF 19) 3Z John Smith DNS
Heat Winners: Derek Locke, Ryan Kissinger
Late Models – 27 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 2J Jeff Rine 2) 99Z Dave Zona 3) 24 Dylan Yoder 4) 119 Jim Bernheisel 5) 27 Jim Yoder 6) 44 Donnie Schick 7) 76 Andy Haus 8) 88 Tony Adams 9) 4D Chad Hollenbeck 10) 19 AJ Hoffman 11) 4S Danny Snyder 12) 2 Steve Campbell DNF 13) 91 Chad Davis DNF 14) 119B Bryan Bernheisel DNF 15) 7M Meade Hahn DNF 16) 90 Kyle Rhoads DNF 17) 55 Chris Shuey DNF 18) 16 Matt Cochran DNF 19) 99 Jeff Smith DNF 20) 7H Mitch Hack DNF 21) 1S Sam Schaeffer DNF 22) 45 Eric Hons DNF 23) 5 Derek Byler DNF 24) 92 Tim Gray DNF
Heat Winners: Chad Hollenbeck, AJ Hoffman, Andy Haus
Consolation Winner: Matt Cochran
Pro Stocks – 17 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1) 19 AJ Hoffman 2) 28 Jason Smith 3) 115 Shaun Miller 4) 9 Hayes Mattern 5) 88D Jason Davis 6) 85L Pete Lauver 7) 3G Jim Gerhart 8) 99H Peanut Heintzelman 9) 4 Jim Payne 10) 70J John Schreffler 11) 28J Jeff Ceballo 12) 19H Tommy Slanker DNF 13) 99 Kyle Bachman DNF 14) 44 Andrew Shoop DNF 15) 6 Tommy Jensen DNF 16) 66 Dustin Wolfgang DNS 17) 63 Nathan Long DNS
Heat Winners: Hayes Mattern, AJ Hoffman
Roadrunners – 23 Entries
12-Lap A-Main: 1) 76 Bob Bussey (Awarded Win) 2) 201 Brian Johnson 3) 8K Jeremy Kline 4) 111 Matt Lawerence 5) 2 Adam Campbell 6) 28J Curtis Lawton 7) 00 Cory Long 8) 3 Bruce Wyland Jr. 9) 99 Chris Hoffman 10) 89 John Schoch 11) 41D Dennis Conrad 12) 31B Brandon Shultz 13) 5D Dave Adams 14) 6 Dan Jensen Jr 15) 85 Terry Lauver 16) 11H Nathan Hill 17) 112 Mike Coppenhaver 18) 11 Keith Bissinger DNF 19) 28Z Jason Zook DNF 20) 111X Larry Alvord DNF 21) 7 Butch Shaffer DNS 22) 99Z Terry Kramer 23) 25J Nate Romig
Heat Winners: Keith Bissinger, Jeremy Kline