By Shawn Brouse
SELINSGROVE, PA – Sprint car driver Blane Heimbach of Selinsgrove showed skill and tenacity in claiming his fourth 410 sprint feature win of the year at Port Royal Speedway on August 10.
Aboard the Creasy-Heimbach Racing No. 12 sprinter, Heimbach started fourth in the 25-lap contest and drove into third on the start while Port Royal iconic veteran Keith Kauffman led the field.
Heimbach took second from Dylan Cisney on the seventh lap and began to close on leader Kauffman.
And then it was on the ninth lap that Heimbach was scored the leader for the first time before a cagey Kauffman bolted back underneath to reclaim control.
After that, Heimbach was left to regroup for another run at Kauffman and he was in the process of doing so when a caution flag regrouped the field with 11 laps down.
On the restart Heimbach followed Kauffman through the first set of turns before blasting to Kauffman’s outside upon entering the third corner.
“The Selinsgrove Sensation” then pulled even with Kauffman to his outside in the fourth turn before pulling ahead and into control on the frontstretch.
The final 13 laps of the event went non-stop with Heimbach setting the pace the entire way, dodging in and out of lapped traffic to the $3,000 victory with a more than four-second advantage at the finish line.
Kauffman rode home second followed by Cisney, Mike Wagner and Chad Layton.
The win was the seventh of Heimbach’s career at Port Royal, tieing him with Jeff Shepard and Jimmy Nace on the all-time Port Royal win list.
It also helped him extend his point lead in a quest for his first-ever Port Royal track title with just six championship-paying point races left on the season.
The August 10 Port Royal win was the 71st overall 358/360/410 sprint car victory for the CHR team since it paired late in 2001.
Carrying primary sponsorship from Goff Racing, MTR Transport and Mach 1 Chassis, Heimbach and car owner Jeff Creasy are focusing solely on 410-sprint car racing this season for the first time during their tenure.
Catch the CHR No. 12 racing team piloted by “Selinsgrove Sensation” Blane Heimbach in action weekly at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday nights as well as in other select area shows throughout the rest of the season.