From Limaland Motorsports Park
Lima, OH — (August 9, 2013) – Whenever the white flag is involved in motorsports it indicates to all concerned that there is just a single lap remaining in whatever total length the race at the moment has been contested. Through the years at Limaland Motorsports Park there have been quite a few dramatic circumstances that have produced thrilling final lap encounters. On this particular Friday night, both Jared Horstman and Shawn Valenti were able to deal successfully with those defining moments and add another chapter to their stellar 2013 seasons.
Horstman started on the outside of the front row for the 25-lap K & L Ready Mix NRA sprint car feature. He is the only driver, along with Randy Hannagan, to have won an NRA or track division sprint car feature at the western Allen County facility in 2013.
Pole starter Butch Schroeder led the field into the opening circuit before a five-car collision in turn number three ultimately took three competitors out of the race. Schroeder’s hold on the lead was short lived as part timer Dustin Stroup produced an impressive slide job pass through turn number two to take the lead on lap three.
Stroup rocketed his red colored #10X entry to the top of the racing surface and took command of the event. He was pulling away from the rest of the field and had built a full turn advantage over Schroeder, Horstman and the hard charging Nick Roberts. Unfortunately for Stroup, one of Kyle Sauder’s open wheels appeared to make contact with Tim Allison through turn three on the initial white flag lap and resulted in a dramatic rollover accident for Sauder.
The incident forced a white flag restart with Dustin Stroup looking to finish off his otherwise strong performance. While Stroup stayed in the middle to upper groove into the final lap, Butch Schroeder drove his car to the bottom and attempted to slip in front of Stroup coming out of turn two. The two cars collided as Schroeder’s pass halted Stroup’s momentum and effectively took both cars out of contention.
A second white flag restart set up a showdown for the new race leader, rookie Nick Roberts and the veteran Jared Horstman. While Roberts had the on-track advantage with the single file restart, Horstman went to the faster high side and was able to get past Roberts coming out of turn four to cross the finish line first. It was Horstman’s third win of 2013.
“We have been preaching patience for the whole season,” said Horstman after the thrilling finish. “The 10 car (Stroup) sure had a good car and I don’t know if we had much for him. Butch (Schroeder) was also fast, but I just held my own even though I about stuffed my car in the fence a couple times. We are bringing it home in one piece on the trailer and we are excited about that.”
The 15-lap Budweiser Thunderstocks feature produced another stirring battle between Shawn Valenti and Jeff Koz. The two drivers have posted a collective eight wins on the season including the recent Fricke Thunderstock Select race.
Front row starter Nick Bowers led the first lap around before Jeff Koz took over from his outside row two starting position on the second trip around. A pair of caution periods didn’t slow Koz at the front, although Shawn Valenti had moved to the runner-up position and was in hot pursuit. Beyond lap number ten, the two drivers were engaged in a thrilling side-by-side battle with Valenti taking the lead on lap number 14.
The first of two white flag restarts resulted in a caution that set up a second time for the final lap showdown. Again, a side-by-side matchup brought the crowd to its feet. Jeff Koz slipped just a bit and that was all it took for Valenti to nudge ahead at the finish line for the triumph.
“My hat is off to Jeff Koz as there was a couple of times he could have turned me but didn’t,” said a grateful Valenti. “I was fortunate to hold him off on the restart and not get a slider too bad and we were able to pull it off. He’s fun to race with and I’m just glad we were able to put on that show for the fans.”
The 20-lap K & N Modified feature saw multi-time former champion Terry Hull set the pace from his pole starting position through the opening four laps. UNOH Racer Kody Weisner was noticeably charging to the outside of Hull and eventually made an impressive pass for the lead on the fifth circuit.
The race saw three caution periods, but none of the restarts proved significant because on this evening the ‘Michigan Missile’, Weisner, was too strong for the rest of the field. He ruled the event from the top of the track and was never threatened, despite a season best runner-up finish for the veteran Hull in only his third start of the campaign.
“I was able to get through traffic really well tonight,” said Weisner, surrounded by his Racer teammates on the front straight. “Two weeks ago I wasn’t really aggressive enough as I should have been. Tonight I had to make up for that. My guys with the school (UNOH) are great and now we are in the point’s battle for next weeks championships.”
Limaland Motorsports Park returns to action on Friday, August 16, for the 2013 Limaland and NRA Championships along with the King of the Quarter Mile races. Champions will be decided in the Budweiser Thunderstocks, Elwer Fence Sprints, K&N UMP Modifieds and the K & L Ready Mix NRA Sprint Invaders. The extra payout King of the Quarter Mile Races will match up the respective feature race winners from throughout the season in ten lap showdowns. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. Racing begins promptly at 7:30 p.m.
All the latest news and information about America’s premier quarter-mile dirt track, can be found at www.limaland.com. You can also find 2013 Limaland Motorsports Park on Facebook and Twitter.
Limaland Motorsports Park – 8/9/2013
McDonald’s Dash for Cash
1.Bill Reimund
UMP Modifieds
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 54-Matt Westfall; 2. 10-Bryan Barber; 3. 42-Bob Baldwin; 4. 4B-Darryl Banks;
5. 67-Eddie Shaner; 6. 8R-Jesse Rush; 7. 6-David Sibberson
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. O1-Joel Ortberg; 2. 40-Terry Hull; 3. 65-Todd Sherman; 4. OO-Dwight Niehoff;
5. 5X-Jerry Bowersock; 6. 19B-Brandon Ordway; 7. 18N-Derrick Noffsinger
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 20-Kody Weisner; 2. 67W-Rocky Wilson; 3. 44-Zack Schroeder;
4. 20K-Bill Keeler; 5. 69-Tommy Beezley; 6. 19-Ryan Ordway
Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 55M-Justin Matson; 2. 28-Chad Rosenbeck; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson;
4. 21S-Mike Hohlbein; 5. 22B-Andy Bibler; 6. L5-Casey Luedeke
B-Main – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 5X-Jerry Bowersock; 2. 69-Tommy Beezley; 3. 67-Eddie Shaner;
4. 18N-Derrick Noffsinger; 5. 19B-Brandon Ordway; 6. 19-Ryan Ordway;
7. 8R-Jesse Rush; 8. 6-David Sibberson
A-Main – (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 20-Kody Weisner[4]; 2. 40-Terry Hull[1]; 3. 10-Bryan Barber[2];
4. 54-Matt Westfall[6]; 5. O1-Joel Ortberg[5]; 6. 65-Todd Sherman[10];
7. 5X-Jerry Bowersock[17]; 8. OO-Dwight Niehoff[14]; 9. 67W-Rocky Wilson[7];
10. 4B-Darryl Banks[13]; 11. 28-Chad Rosenbeck[8]; 12. 44-Zack Schroeder[11];
13. 42-Bob Baldwin[9]; 14. 69-Tommy Beezley[18]; 15. 22T-Tony Anderson[12];
16. 20K-Bill Keeler[15]; 17. 21S-Mike Hohlbein[16]; 18. 18N-Derrick Noffsinger[20]; 19. 67-Eddie Shaner[19]; 20. 55M-Justin Matson[3]
Sprints
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 11-Tim Allison; 2. B20-Butch Schroeder; 3. 12R-Nick Roberts; 4. 12-Kody Swanson; 5. 2-Brent Gehr; 6. 4X-Bobby Clark; 7. 4J-Bob Gehr
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 7K-Cole Duncan; 2. 49-Shawn Dancer; 3. 2M-Dallas Hewitt; 4. 10J-Jarrod Delong; 5. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 6. 23M-Jack Miller
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 10X-Dustin Stroup; 2. 23-Devon Dobie; 3. 7C-Max Stambaugh;
4. 49T-Gregg Dalman; 5. 69-Scott Curren; 6. 22R-Kevin Roberts; 7. 4K-Tj Michael
Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 17-Jared Horstman; 2. 6S-Jr Stewart; 3. 2S-Kyle Sauder; 4. 18-Todd Heuerman;
5. 28H-Hud Horton; 6. 27-Beau Stewart; 7. 29-John Ivy
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 2. 29-John Ivy; 3. 28H-Hud Horton; 4. 27-Beau Stewart;
5. 22R-Kevin Roberts; 6. 4X-Bobby Clark; 7. 2-Brent Gehr; 8. 4J-Bob Gehr;
9. 23M-Jack Miller; 10. 4K-Tj Michael; 11. 69-Scott Curren
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 17-Jared Horstman[2]; 2. 12R-Nick Roberts[9]; 3. 11-Tim Allison[5];
4. 7K-Cole Duncan[4]; 5. 7C-Max Stambaugh[11]; 6. 2M-Dallas Hewitt[10];
7. 6S-Jr Stewart[8]; 8. 49T-Gregg Dalman[15]; 9. 27-Beau Stewart[20];
10. 29-John Ivy[18]; 11. 22D-Dennis Yoakam[17]; 12. 28H-Hud Horton[19];
13. 12-Kody Swanson[13]; 14. 10X-Dustin Stroup[3]; 15. B20-Butch Schroeder[1];
16. 2S-Kyle Sauder[12]; 17. 23-Devon Dobie[7]; 18. 49-Shawn Dancer[6];
19. 18-Todd Heuerman[16]; 20. 10J-Jarrod Delong[14]
Stocks
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 8 Transfer)
1. 22T-Tony Anderson; 2. 7C-Jordan Conover; 3. 48-Tim Cole; 4. 21H-Dave Hollon;
5. 89-Keith Shockency; 6. 2-Cody Hodge; 7. 32-Scott Boyde Jr.; 8. OO- Travis Walters
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 8 Transfer)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti; 2. 25-Nick Bowers; 3. 19-Bill Reimund; 4. 27-Frank Paladino;
5. O1-Bobby Rose; 6. 9-Dave Keysor; 7. 8C-Brad Conover
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 8 Transfer)
1. 16-Jeff Koz; 2. 82-Chris Douglas; 3. OOM-Bryan Martin; 4. 6-Emily Gade;
5. 1-Elvin Sawyer; 6. 21K-James Kepling; 7. 93-Zack Gustatson
A-Main – (15 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[5]; 2. 16-Jeff Koz[4]; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson[6];
4. 82-Chris Douglas[1]; 5. 19-Bill Reimund[8]; 6. 48-Tim Cole[7]; 7. 6-Emily Gade[12]; 8. OOM-Bryan Martin[9]; 9. 25-Nick Bowers[2]; 10. 8C-Brad Conover[20];
11. O1-Bobby Rose[14]; 12. 21H-Dave Hollon[10]; 13. 27-Frank Paladino[11];
14. 89-Keith Shockency[13]; 15. 1-Elvin Sawyer[15]; 16. 93-Zack Gustatson[21];
17. 2-Cody Hodge[16]; 18. 7C-Jordan Conover[3]; 19. 32-Scott Boyde Jr.[19];
20. OO- Travis Walters[22]