Selinsgrove, PA — (April 13, 2013) — Defending champion Pat Cannon of Etters scored his first win of the season in Saturday night’s 25-lap 358 sprint car feature on a smooth, “glass-top” racing surface at Selinsgrove Speedway.
The $1,500 win was Cannon’s 42nd career at the track in 358-360 sprint car competition at the wheel of the Highlands’ Tire & Service Centers No. 3.
Jerry Bard of Shippensburg held off defending champion Jeff Rine of Danville for his first career win at Selinsgrove in the 25-lap late model feature. Bard became the third different winner in as many races this season.
Nathan Long, an 18-year-old high school senior from Selinsgrove, wired the field for his first career win in the 15-lap pro stock feature, while Brian Johnson of Ashland became the first repeat roadrunner winner of the year in the division’s 12-lap race.
Selinsgrove Speedway will present a four division show of 358 sprint cars, late models, pro stocks, and roadrunners at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 20, sponsored by Advanced Concrete Systems of Middleburg.
Polesitter Duane Mausteller took the lead at the start of the sprint car feature. Fourth-place starter Derek Locke followed Mausteller in second while third-place starter Cody Keller held down the third position.
On the fourth lap, Keller made an inside pass by Mausteller entering the first turn for the lead. A lap later, eighth-place starter Pat Cannon advanced to second. The caution flag unfurled on the fifth lap when point leader Mark Smith rolled to a stop in turn three with reportedly no brakes on his racer.
When the race resumed, Keller held the lead for another lap until Cannon made the winning pass using the inside lane off turn four on lap seven. Once in front of the pack, Cannon stretched his lead to nearly a straightaway over Keller.
Sixth-place starter TJ Stutts showed a lot of speed in the second half of the event. At one point, Stutts closed the lead to under one second only to have Cannon distance himself again in the final laps. At the finish, Cannon was victorious by 1.8 seconds over Stutts, Locke, fifth-place starter Jason Shultz and Keller.
Original fourth-place starter Chad Davis stormed into the lead when the green flag waved on the late model feature. Davis was trailed by polesitter Jim Bernheisel and eighth-place starter Jerry Bard for most of the race.
While a close three-car battle unfolded at the front of the pack, seventh-place starter Jeff Rine dueled with third-place starter Tony Adams for the fourth position. At the halfway point, Bard passed Bernheisel for second and set his sites on Davis. With 10 laps remaining, Rine raced by Bernheisel for the third position.
Davis and Bard were in a wheel-to-wheel race for the lead when the caution flag came out on lap 17. On the lap 18 restart, Davis drifted high in turn one and allowed Bard to drive into the lead. Rine also advanced to second and another high-speed chase for the lead ensued.
Rine made several attempts to clear Bard for the lead to no avail. At the finish, Bard took the checkered flag by just .19 of a second over Rine, Bernheisel, Adams, and Matt Cochran.
Polesitter Nathan Long pulled into the lead at the start of the pro stock feature. Long was chased by second-place starter Matt Hornberger and fourth-place starter Troy Miller for the first five laps. On the sixth circuit, Miller advanced to second and attempted to reel in Long.
The first caution flag unfurled on lap 11 for two cars in turn two, erasing the straightaway lead Long had developed over Miller. With the field regrouped, Long maintained the lead on the restart, while Miller, Hornberger, and fifth-place starter Tommy Slanker raced in the top five.
Another caution flag waved with one lap to race, setting up a chase to the checkered flag between Long and Miller. At the checkered flag, Long was victorious by half-of-a-second over Miller, Hornberger, Shaun Miller, and Slanker.
In the roadrunner feature, polesitter Ricky Bender led the first lap. When Bender drifted high racing out of turn four on the second circuit, fourth-place starter Brian Johnson swept underneath him and took command of the field. At the same time, sixth-place starter Bob Bussey drove into the runner-up position.
For the duration of the race, Johnson and Bussey dueled for the lead while Bender and fifth-place starter John Fowler Jr. raced for the third position. In the final two laps, Bussey and Johnson raced side-by-side.
At the finish, Johnson was victorious by the slimmest of margins over Bussey, Bender, Fowler, and seventh-place starter Brandon Shultz.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 13 April 2013
358 Sprint Cars – 17 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 3 Pat Cannon 2) 23 TJ Stutts 3) 77 Derek Locke 4) 2 Jason Shultz 5) 99K Cody Keller 6) 5 Phil Walter 7) 13 Eric Tomecek 8) 5B Josh Beard 9) 66 Ryan Kissinger 10) 21 Duane Mausteller 11) 29S Derek Steward 12) 22M Brian Garland 13) 67 Jason Cherry 14) 29 Matt Horst (DNF) 15) 1 Mark Smith (DNF) 16) 07 Bill Schoffstall (DNS) 17) 19 Colby Womer (DNS)
Heat Winners: TJ Stutts, Cody Keller
Late Models – 17 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 26 Jerry Bard 2) 2J Jeff Rine 3) 119 Jim Bernheisel 4) 88 Tony Adams 5) 16 Matt Cochran 6) 119B Bryan Bernheisel 7) 27 Jim Yoder 8) 99Z Dave Zona 9) 91 Chad Davis 10) 61 Ken Trevitz 11) 90 Kyle Rhoads 12) 10 Dave Stamm 13) 15 Luke Hoffner (DNF) 14) 9 Hayes Mattern (DNF) 15) 24 Dylan Yoder (DNF) 16) 51 Dave Graber (DNF) 17) 7 Meade Hahn (DNS)
Heat Winners: Jerry Bard, Jim Bernheisel
Pro Stocks – 14 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1) 63 Nathan Long 2) 115 Troy Miller 3) 88 Matt Hornberger 4) 115S Shaun Miller 5) 19H Tommy Slanker 6) 11 Jake Buck 7) 99 Kyle Bachman 8) 28J Jeff Ceballo 9) 4 Jim Payne (DNF) 10) 32 Tom Hartman (DNF) 11) 34 Hank Steffen (DNF) 12) 85 Terry Lauver (DNF) 13) 10M Brad Mitch (DNF) 14) 26 AJ Stroup (DNF)
Heat Winners: Kyle Bachman, Brad Mitch
Roadrunners – 12 Entries
12-Lap A-Main: 1) 201 Brian Johnson 2) 76 Bob Bussey 3) 29B Ricky Bender 4) 02 John Fowler 5) 31B Brandon Shultz 6) 28 Curtis Lawton 7) 7 Butch Shaffer 8) 8K Jeremy Kline 9) 88 Toby Chase 10) 55 Lori Croop 11) 22 Ray Rothfuss 12) 89 John Schoch
Heat Winners: Ricky Bender, Brian Johnson