By Bob Miller
The heavy rain in the morning cleared the path for a lightning fast Bedford Speedway on Friday night as the Rislone URC Sprint Series invaded the Bedford, PA speed plant. The feature event was a thriller with Randy West leading the first eleven laps when teammate Robbie Stillwaggon took the top spot. A late race double file restart on lap fourteen offered West an opportunity to take back the lead, and he did on lap seventeen. West set the pace until lap twenty when Stillwaggon regained the lead and went on to score the win. A happy face that could be seen from almost anywhere was that of Fred Kennedy, owner of both cars that finished first and second and presented one of the best battles for the win in current day history.
A field of twenty Rislone URC Sprints turned out for the fifth event of 2014 with heat race victories going to Robbie Stillwaggon and Davie “no panic” Franek. Josh Weller blew a motor in the second heat race. The Weller Team went immediately to work and changed the motor in time to start the feature, and without any hot laps on the motor. Weller started last and finished eighth, earing the Fred’s Trailer Parts Hard Charger Award.
In the twenty-five lap feature, Randy West of Boyertown, PA set the early over Brian Carber. Stillwaggon was on a mission and on lap seven, moved into second. Stillwaggon began to reel in West, then on lap twelve, he took the lead in commanding style.
At the halfway mark, Stillwaggon had the lead over West, Brian Carber, Davie Franek and Ed Aikin. On lap fourteen, West was fighting back and pulled along-side of Stillwaggon. Again on lap sixteen, West challenged for the lead but Stillwaggon remained in control.
Finally, on lap seventeen, West regained the top spot. Stillwaggon kept knocking on the door, staying on the rear bumper of West. As the field charged by the flag stand with five laps to go, Stillwaggon was again the leader. West stayed within striking distance but with just two laps to go, Ed Aikin was on run, closing in on West. Aikin actually looked fast enough to catch both Stillwaggon and West, but ran short of time.
With the checker flag waiving, Robbie Stillwaggon of Burlington, NJ took the win, his first of the season and eighth career URC victory. West finished second followed by Ed Aikin, Davie Franek and Brian Carber.
Stillwaggon, winner of this race last year at Bedford, once again thrilled the fans with his high energy post-race victory interview. The Stillwaggon win was certainly a crowd favorite.
FEATURE FINISH: Robbie Stillwaggon, Randy West, Ed Aikin, Davie Franek, Brian Carber, Joe Trenca, Will Eggiman, Josh Weller *Hard Charger advanced 10 spots, Nate Snyder, Chad Trout, Jimmy Stitzel, Troy Betts, Dan Mazy, Jonathan Swanson, Eric Riggins, Wes Irwin, Kevin Darling, Scott Lutz, Brad Franks.
The next event for URC is Saturday night, May 17 at the Delaware International Speedway. This event is the Kramer Williamson Memorial with an increased payoff for every spot plus additional bonus money.