By Steve Inch
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – JJ Grasso of Pedricktown, N.J., scored an emotional victory Saturday at Selinsgrove Speedway in the 25-lap URC 360 sprint car feature on a night filled with tributes to the late legendary driver Kramer Williamson who died last weekend from injuries he sustained in a URC-sanctioned race at Lincoln Speedway last Saturday.
The win for Grasso, the points leader, was his third of the year and second this season at Selinsgrove at the wheel of the Viper Venom/Eldreth Construction No. 25, which was a Kramer Kraft sprint car manufactured by Williamson’s chassis shop.
Fans, crew members, and drivers came out dressed in their pink shirts and apparel to honor Williamson and his famous “Pink Panther” No. 73. The Williamson family, wife Sharon, son Kurt, and daughter Felecia, joined Grasso in Victory Lane as part of Saturday’s tribute.
Pat Cannon of Etters had his Highland’s Tire & Service Centers No. 3 358 sprint car in overdrive as he rocketed to his seventh win of the year in the division’s 25-lap feature.
Bryan Bernheisel of Lebanon drove to his first career super late model win in the division’s 25-lap feature, while Shaun Miller of Tower City won his third 15-lap pro stock feature of the season.
In the URC feature, second-place starter Dan Mazy pulled into the early lead but was passed by polesitter Randy West at the completion of the second lap. On the fourth lap, third-place starter Davie Franek powered into second. Four laps later, seventh-place starter JJ Grasso advanced to third as 12th-place starter Mark Smith moved into fourth.
A suspenseful four-car battle unfolded at the front of the pack between West, Franek, Grasso and Smith. On a lap 13 restart, Grasso slid into the second spot and set his sights on West as Smith moved into the third position. On the 17th lap, Grasso made the winning pass using the inside line down the frontstretch.
The event’s final caution flag unfurled with one lap to go when Josh Weller’s car stopped on the backstretch. On the restart, Grasso drove to a half of a second margin of victory over Smith, West, Chad Trout, and Franek.
At the start of the 358 sprint car feature, polesitter Jessica Anderson led the field to the green flag. On lap two, a four-car tangle in turns one and two resulted in a flip by Shannon Fisher. All drivers escaped injury. When the race resumed, sixth-place starter Ryan Kissinger made a pass for the lead in turn two.
By the completion of the fifth lap, Kissinger was leading second-place starter Scott Wilson, eighth-place starter Derek Locke, 12th-place starter Pat Cannon in close battle at the front of the pack.
On the eighth lap Cannon advanced to second and started challenging Kissinger for the lead. Three laps later, Kissinger and Cannon see-sawed for the lead for several laps. Cannon finally secured the lead on lap 12 with an inside pass through turns three and four. Despite heavy traffic in the final laps of the race, Cannon posted a 4.8 second margin of victory over Kissinger, Locke, Jason Shultz, and Josh Beard.
Second-place starter Hayes Mattern led fourth-place starter Dave Zona for the first six laps. On the seventh circuit, Mattern bobbled in turn two and allowed Zona to take command of the field. By the 10th circuit, 10th-place starter Jim Yoder advanced to second as third-place starter Chris Shuey and eighth-place starter Bryan Bernheisel made it a tight four-car battle at the front of the pack.
On the 16th circuit, B. Bernheisel made a powerhouse move using the inside lane in turn two and took the lead. In the final laps, 11th-place starter Jeff Rine showed a lot of speed and took over the runner-up position. Rine started to track down B. Bernheisel but came up short at the finish. B. Bernheisel was victorious by 5.8 seconds over Rine, Yoder, Zona, and seventh-place starter Matt Cochran.
After two attempts to start the pro stock feature, original sixth-place starter Shaun Miller pulled into the lead and kept his No. 115-S out in front of the pack for the entire distance. Miller was chased by fifth-place starter AJ Stroup all the way to the finish while seventh-place starter Kyle Bachman raced a close third.
At the finish, Miller was victorious by 2.4 seconds over Stroup, Bachman, Troy Miller, and Brad Mitch.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 10 August 2013
URC Sprint Cars – 21 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1)25 JJ Grasso 2) 1 Mark Smith 3) 56 Randy West 4) 7C Chad Trout 5) 28F Davie Franek 6) 89 Robbie Stillwaggon 7) 9D Kevin Darling 8) 7 Ed Aikin 9) X Dan Mazy 10) 1W Jason Shultz 11) 21 Duane Mausteller 12) 33 Scott Lutz 13) 29 Josh Weller DNF 14) 74 JR Berry 15) 71 Jessica Anderson DNF 16) 28 Keith Prutzman DNF 17) 17J Jonathan Swanson DNF 18) 9X Troy Betts DNS 19) 88B Andy Best DNS 20) 8C Brian Carber DNS
Heat Winners: Robbie Stillwaggon, JJ Grasso
358 Sprint Cars – 22 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 3 Pat Cannon 2) 66 Ryan Kissinger 3) 77 Derek Locke 4) 2 Jason Shultz 5) 5B Josh Beard 6) 76 Larry Kelleher 7) 99K Cody Keller 8) 38 Scott Wilson 9) 21 Duane Mausteller 10) 99B Nyle Berkes 11) 19 Colby Womer 12) 22M Brian Garland 13) 71 Jessica Anderson 14) 67 Jason Cherry 15) 29S Derek Steward 16) 33 John Troxell 17) 23 TJ Stutts 18) 100 Mike Walter DNF 19) 15R Jay Reichard DNF 20) 35 Shannon Fisher DNF 21) 15 Johnny Smith DNF 22) 5 Phil Walter DNS
Heat Winners: Duane Mausteller, Scott Wilson, Cody Keller
Late Models – 21 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1)119B Bryan Bernheisel 2) 2J Jeff Rine 3)27 Jim Yoder 4) 99Z Dave Zona 5) 16 Matt Cochran 6) 6 Donnie Schick 7) 76 Andy Haus 8) 27X Dylan Yoder 9) 88 Tony Adams 10) 119 Jim Bernheisel 11) 61 Ken Trevitz 12) 7M Meade Hahn 13) 21 Scott Haus 14) 92 Nate Romig 15) 8 Jace Cresswell 16) 2C Adam Campbell 17) 55 Chris Shuey DNF 18) 9 Hayes Mattern DNF 19) 10 Dave Stamm DNF 20) 45 Eric Hons DNF 21) 90 Kyle Rhoads DNS
Heat Winners: Hayes Mattern, Bryan Bernheisel, Matt Cochran
Pro Stocks – 17 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1)115S Shaun Miller 2) 26 AJ Stroup 3) 99 Kyle Bachman 4) 115 Troy Miller 5) 10M Brad Mitch 6) 11 Jake Buck 7) 85 Terry Lauver 8) 32 Tommy Slanker 9) 8M Brandon Moser 10) 85L Pete Lauver 11) 3G Jim Gerhart 12) 28J Jeff Ceballo 13) 4 Jim Payne 14) 15S Shawn Stahl 15) 55 Randy Nowlen DNF 16) 63 Nathan Long DNF 17) 19H Tom Hartman DNS
Heat Winners: Kyle Bachman, Shaun Miller