Cannon Wins at Selinsgrove

Pat Cannon. - Rick Rarer / SprintCarNews.com Photo
Pat Cannon. - Rick Rarer / SprintCarNews.com Photo
Pat Cannon. – Rick Rarer / SprintCarNews.com Photo

From Selinsgrove Speedway

Selinsgrove, PA — (June 1, 2013) — Pat Cannon of Etters had to track down Mark Smith of Sunbury to notch his third win of the season in Saturday night’s 25-lap 358 sprint car feature at Selinsgrove Speedway.

The $1,500 win was Cannon’s 44th career at the track in 358-360 sprint car competition driving the Highlands Tire & Service Center No. 3.

Jeff Rine of Danville won his third late model feature of the season and the 82nd of his career at the speedway in the division’s 25-lap main event. With the win, Rine took over the points lead in the chase for the track championship.

Kyle Bachman of Selinsgrove drove to his fourth win of the year in the 15-lap pro stock feature, while Brian Johnson of Ashland won the seventh annual Roadrunner 20 for the first time in his career. Bob Bussey of Northumberland was the roadrunner fast qualifier and set a new track record with a lap time of 26.150.

Selinsgrove Speedway will present the Paul Stine Chevrolet late model championship paying $2,500 to win plus 358 sprint cars, pro stocks, and roadrunners at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 8. Track gates will open at 5 p.m.

Polesitter Scott Wilson powered into the lead at the start of the sprint car feature. Wilson led the first two laps of the main event until seventh-place starter Mark Smith took the lead with an inside pass in turn three.

Pat Cannon, who started ninth, advanced to second on the seventh lap and quickly started to reel in Smith in traffic by lap 15. Two laps later, Cannon made the winning pass using the inside lane through turns one and two.

Once he had the lead, Cannon checked out from the field and posted a convincing 4.4-second margin of victory over Smith, 10th-place starter Jason Shultz, sixth-place starter Larry Kelleher, and third-place starter Matt Horst.

Third-place starter Chad Davis stormed into the lead at the start of the late model feature. He was trailed by fourth-place starter Tony Adams. Following a lap four restart, second-place starter Donnie Schick reclaimed the runner-up position and tracked down Davis.

On lap nine, Schick took command of the field with an inside pass by Davis in turn four.  For the next two laps, seventh-place starter Jim Bernheisel dueled with Schick for the front spots until ninth-place starter Jeff Rine stormed into the lead with an inside pass in turn four by Schick.

Despite a string of caution flag periods late in the race, Rine was able to stretch his lead on each of the subsequent restarts. At the checkered flag, Rine was victorious by one second over sixth-place starter Bryan Bernheisel, who moved into second with five laps remaining.  Adams, 19th-place starter Matt Cochran, and fifth-place starter Kenny Trevitz rounded out the top five.

Second-place starter Brad Mitch pulled into the lead at the start of the pro stock feature and was trailed by polesitter AJ Stroup. On the fourth circuit, a close three-car battle for third resulted in contact between Shaun Miller and Nathan Long, whose car made contact with the frontstretch guardrail.

When the race resumed, Mitch set the pace as fourth-place starter Kyle Bachman stormed into second. On the seventh lap, Bachman made the winning pass by Mitch using the inside lane off turn four.

Once in front of the pack, Bachman stretched his lead and posted a 2.5-second margin of victory over Mitch, Troy Miller, Stroup, and Pete Lauver.

Outside front-row starter Brian Johnson beat polesitter John Fowler Jr. into the first turn for the early lead in the Roadrunner 20. At the completion of the first lap, however, third-place starter Bob Bussey powered into the second position and chased Johnson for the lead. Fowler then made it a close three-car battle at the front of the pack.

At the halfway point, Johnson, Bussey, and Fowler raced nose-to-tail around the top of the race track in the top three positions. The caution flag unfurled on lap 12 when Brandon Shultz’s car lost a wheel in turn four. On the restart, Bussey was struck with misfortune and withdrew from the race with a flat tire.

In the final laps, Fowler attempted to reel in Johnson at the front of the pack to no avail. Johnson led flag-to-flag for his first Roadrunner 20 victory over Fowler, Ricky Bender, Dustin Snook, and Corey Collier.

SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 1 June 2013
358 Sprint Cars – 19 Entries
25-Lap A-Main:  1) 3 Pat Cannon  2) 1 Mark Smith  3) 2 Jason Shultz  4) 76 Larry Kelleher  5) 29 Matt Horst  6) 23 TJ Stutts  7) 66 Ryan Kissinger  8) 99B Nyle Berkes  9) 19 Colby Womer  10) 21 Duane Mausteller  11) 38 Scott Wilson  12) 1W Eric Tomecek  13) 5 Phil Walter  14) 29S Derek Steward  15) 67 Jason Cherry  16) 77 Derek Locke DNF  17) 22M Brian Garland DNF  18) 42 Alan Spriggle DNS  19) 99K Cody Keller DNS
Heat Winners:  Scott Wilson, Matt Horst
Late Models – 20 Entries
25-Lap A-Main:   1) 2J Jeff Rine  2) 119B Bryan Bernheisel  3) 88 Tony Adams  4) 16 Matt Cocharan  5) 61 Ken Trevitz  6) 91 Chad Davis  7) 90 Kyle Rhoads  8) 27 Jim Yoder  9) 7M Meade Hahn  10) 45 Eric Hons  11) 9 Hayes Mattern  12)  Dylan Yoder DNF  13) 99 Steve Stitt  14) 6 Donnie Schick DNF  15) 2C Adam Campbell DNF  16) 119 Jim Bernheisel DNF  17) 99X Ken Stitt Jr. DNF  18) 10 Dave Stamm DNF  19) 92 Nate Romig DNF  20) 24R Jon Rohacevich DNS
Heat Winners:  Tony Adams, Eric Hons
Pro Stocks – 12 Entries
15-Lap A-Main:  1) 99 Kyle Bachman  2) 10M Brad Mitch  3) 115 Troy Miller  4) 26 AJ Stroup  5) 85L Pete Lauver  6) 85 Terry Lauver  7) 06 Frank Reisser  8) 28J Jeff Ceballo    9) 8M Brandon Moser DNF  10) 115S Shaun Miller DNF  11) 34 Hank Steffen DNF  12) 63 Nathan Long DNF
Heat Winners:  Brad Mitch, AJ Stroup
Roadrunners – 11 Entries
20-Lap A-Main:  1) 201 Brian Johnson 2) 02 John Fowler  3) 29B Ricky Bender  4) 14 Dustin Snook  5) 44 Corey Collier  6) 7 Butch Shaffer  7) 89 John Schoch  8) 76 Bob Bussey DNF  9) 31B Brandon Shultz DNF  10) 99 Chris Hoffman DNF  11) 8K Jeremy Kline DNF
Time Trials:  1) 76 Bob Bussey 26.150 (NTR)  2) 201 Brian Johnson 26.581  3) 02 John Fowler 26.631  4) 29B Ricky Bender 27.051  5) 15 Dustin Snook 27. 087  6) 44 Corey Collies 27.312  7) 7 Butch Shaffer 27.982  8) 89 John Schoch 28.080  9) 8K Jeremy Kline 28.450  10) 31B Brandon Shultz 28.826  11) 99 Chris Hoffman 29.415