By Shawn Wood
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Mark Smith ran his winning streak to to three straight on Saturday night at Selinsgrove Speedway as he drove past race leader Ryan Kissinger on a lap-20 restart to claim the inaugural win in the 25-lap Kramer Cup in United Racing Company 360 sprint car action.
Other winners on Saturday night were Jim Yoder (late models) and Kyle Bachman (pro stocks).
Selinsgrove Speedway will present a regular four-division show on Sat., Aug. 9, of 360 sprint cars, late models, pro stocks and roadrunners. Selinsgrove Raceway Park will present a program of go-karts and micro sprint cars on Friday, Aug. 11 at 7.
After an initial false start, Troy Betts lead the opening lap of the 25-lap sprint car feature that honored the late Kramer Williamson, the 1978 Selinsgrove Speedway sprint car track champion with Ryan Kissinger and T.J. Stutts right in his tire tracks.
On lap 3, Kissinger passed Betts on the high side of Turn 2 for the lead and one lap later, Stutts got by Betts for the runner-up spot. Kissinger and Stutts then begin a series of slide jobs over the next several laps as they battled for the lead before the first caution came out on lap 7 for Colby Womer who slowed in Turn 4.
On the restart, Stutts got a run on Kissinger and took the lead but Kissinger gained the spot right back as he drove around Stutts on the high side in Turn 4 on lap 8. Smith, who started ninth, moved into the top five on lap 10 and took over the runner-up sport from Stutts on lap 15.
The second caution of the race came on lap 20 for debris as Jimmy Stitzle spun in front of the leaders in Turn 3. Under the caution, Stutts pulled into the pits with mechanical issues.
On the double-file restart, Smith would pass Kissinger on the low side of Turn 1 to go on and lead the final five laps of the race. It was his sixth win of the year at Selinsgrove and his 10th career win, moving him into seventh place on the all-time 358-360 sprint car win list.
Kissinger held on for second with Robbie Stillwaggon, Mike Walter and Davie Franek, who came from 15th, rounding out the top five. Sixth through 10th were Josh Weller, Curt Michael, Jason Shultz, Hunter Schuerenberg and Larry Kelleher.
In the 25-lap late model feature, Scott Richwine paced the first seven circuits before Jim Yoder made an inside pass on him as the pair raced off of Turn 4. The first caution came out on lap 8 for Meade Hahn who had a tire let go entering Turn 1.
On the restart, Yoder led Richwine with Chad David, Hayes Mattern and Jim Bernheisel in tow as several cautions plagued the middle part of the race. Bernheisel moved into second on lap 13 before points leader Steve Campbell moved past him on lap 17. Campbell closed in on Yoder over the final few lap and was within striking distance on the final lap when he momentarily got held up by a lapped car.
Yoder would go on to win his 12th-career late model feature over Campbell by .095 seconds.
Jeff Rine, Bernheisel and Dan Stone rounded out the top five. Sixth through 10th were Matt Cochran, Dave Zona, Bryan Bernheisel, Tony Adams and Hayes Mattern.
Kyle Bachman raced to his division leading 44th pro stock feature win in the 12-lap main event. Cory Long led the majority of the race whiled holding off Peanut Heintzelman, Nathan Long and Brad Mitch in the early goings.
The race was slowed by three cautions.
Bachman made the winning move late in the race as points leader Mitch finished second with N. Long, C. Long and Derrick Garman rounding out the top five. Sixth through 10 were A.J. Stroup, Tommy Slanker, Kury Wray, Adam Campbell and Jamin Chapman.
Tickets are now on sale for the two-day World of Outlaws late model series weekend on Aug. 30-31. Tickets can be purchased at the speedway office on race day or during the week by calling the office at 570.374.2999
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY- 9 August 2014
United Racing Company 360 Sprint Cars – 29 entries
25-lap A-Main: 1) 1 Mark Smith, 2) 1W Ryan Kissinger, 3) 89 Robbie Stillwaggon, 4) 49 Mike Walter, 5) 28F Davie Franek, 6) 25 Josh Weller, 7) 5G Curt Michael, 8) 29 Jason Shultz, 9) 1H Hunter Schuerenberg, 10) 76 Larry Kelleher, 11) 79 Jordan Thomas, 12) 77 Derek Locke, 13) 33w Michael Walter II, 14) 08 Jason Clauss, 15) F5 Mark Bittner, 16) 71 Jessica Anderson, 17) 22 Troy Betts, 18) 23 T.J. Stutts, 19) 99K Cody Keller, 20) 4 Jimmy Stitzel, 21) 28 Keith Prutzman, 22) 12B Brad Franks, 23) 88b Andy Best, 24) 19 Colby Womer.
Heat Winners: Josh Weller, Cody Keller, Ryan Kissinger.
Consolation Winners: Jessica Anderson.
Late Models- 25 Entries
25-lap A-Main: 1) 27 Jim Yoder, 2) Steve Campbell, 3) 2J Jeff Rine, 4) 3 Jim Bernheisel, 5) 21D Dan Stone, 6) 16 Matt Cochran, 7) 99Z Dave Zona, 8) 119B Bryan Bernheisel, 9) 88 Tony Adams, 10) 9 Hayes Mattern, 11) 6 Donnie Schick, 12) 26 Jerry Bard, 13) 76 Andy Haus, 14) 4D Chad Hollenbeck, 15) 61 Ken Trevitz, 16) 3v Scott Richwine, 17) 28 Jason Smith, 18) 91 Chad Davis, 19) 4S Danny Snyder, 20) 51 Dave Graber, 21) 15s Shaun Miller, 22) 76H Scott Haus, 23) 7M Meade Hahn.
Heat Winners: Scott Haus, Dustin Hoffman, Hayes Mattern
Roadrunners – 22 Entries
12-lap A-Main: 1) 99 Kyle Bachman, 2) 10M Brad Mitch, 3) 63 Nathan Long, 4) 6c Cory Long, 5) 11G Derrick Garman, 6) 26 A.J. Stroup, 7) 40 Tommy Slanker, 8) 71 Kurt Wray, 9) 2c Adam Campbell, 10) 1c Jamin Chapman, 11) 83 Matt Wilson, 12) 8m Brandon Moser, 13) 26s Nate Stroup, 14) 01 David Berry, 15) 4 Jim Payne, 16) 6 Nate Herman, 17) 28J Jeff Ceballo, 18) 14c Bill Conrad, 19) 11 Jake Buck, 20) 1H Peanut Heintzelman, 21) 00 John Troxell, 22) 88 Matt Hornberger.
Heat winners: Cory Long, Peanut Heintzelman, A.J. Stroup