By Kalida Landis
Hanover, PA (08/29/14) – No one in attendance, including track officials, knew how he did it.
Brad McClelland wasn’t sure himself. But somehow, McClelland squeezed between two cars sitting sideways in turn four of lap 12 to hold onto the lead and go on to claim his seventh win of the year in the 25-lap “358” sprint car feature at Trail-Way Speedway Friday night.
“I can feel for Tony Stewart,” said McClelland in victory lane, “I simply didn’t see those guys in turn four. I heard ‘caution’ on the raceceiver, but I didn’t see them until the last second.”
“It was a little time-consuming,” McClelland said of the feature, “But stuff like that happens when you get more cars on a short track.”
One of the crashes that held up the race was a four-car melee in turns three and four of lap ten, which resulted in Austin Kirby flying into the catch fence and landing between the outside wall and the catch fence itself. Kirby’s car knocked four poles down and it took nearly a half-hour to get Kirby’s car back onto the race track to haul to the pits.
A redraw placed McClelland third for the start. McClelland caught outside front row starter Chris Arnold for second on the first lap, and wrestled the lead from polesitter Dwight Leppo on lap six.
The near-miss for McClelland came six laps later, when Seth Kearchner and Tyler Buchenauer got together and spun in turn four. The two sideways cars nearly blocked the track, and while most driver went to the extreme top or extreme bottom to miss them, McClelland was the first car to approach the spinners and drove between them, despite the fact that it didn’t look like there was enough room.
From there, McClelland drove to a 1.22-second win over runner-up Leppo, with Jeff Rohrbaugh, Randy Whisler, and Arnold completing the top five.
Sixth through tenth were visitor Jordan Givler, hard-charger Matt Campbell (who started 14th), Jeff Halligan, Buchenauer, and Cody Fletcher.
Heats for the season-high 19 “358” sprint cars were won by Halligan, Rohrbaugh, and Whisler.
Steve Storrie drove the Clair Wintermeyer #3W to the win in the 20-lap Pennsylvania Sprint Series “305” feature, the division’s first appearance at the TW in several years.
Storrie started sixth and caught polesitter and race-long leader Russ Hammaker at the flagstand to complete lap 14. He led the rest of the way, crossing 1.63 seconds ahead of Mark Watkins, with Eric Parker, Dalton Dietrich, and Tony Fiore rounding out the top five.
Hammaker crashed into the first-turn wall one lap after losing the race lead, and was done for the night.
Heats for the 15 PASS sprinters were won by Parker and Watkins.
The street stock championship was won by Dan Furman, his sixth Trail-Way win of the year.
Furman started third and raced the first seven laps with polesitter Eric Johnson for the runner-up spot until race leader Michael Goodwin lost his steering, slowed, and brought out the caution on lap eight. Johnson led from laps eight through 13 before Furman caught him in turns three and four and led the of the way, finishing 2.28 seconds ahead of Jeremy Stremmel, who lost the handle in the final turn and drove through the infield, back onto the track, and across the line.
Johnson, Cory Weishaar, and David Johnson completed the top five.
Qualifiers for the 12 street stocks were won by Eric Johnson and Goodwin.
Roland Brown bested younger brother Wes for the win in the 20-lap Classic Car feature.
The Browns made up the front row, and Roland led every lap except lap nine.
Third through fifth were Steve Clemo, Randy Doty (who started last), and Matt Wallace (who started next-to-last).
Heats for the 12 Classic Cars were won by the Browns.
Drew Ritchey picked up the win in the 15-lap ACMS 600 Stock Micro-Sprint feature.
Ritchey started third and took the lead from outside front row starter and race-long leader Alan Rhodes on lap seven. He paced the field the rest of the way, with Rhodes, Gunnar Layton, polesitter Sean Garman, and Logan Jones finishing second through fifth.
The lone qualifier for the seven ACMS micros was won by Rhodes.
Tomorrow (8/30), Trail-Way will hold a Junk Car Demolition Race. Also on the schedule are the Limited Stocks for a championship race, Figure 8, and Powder Puff. Gates open at 4 p.m. with racing beginning at 6 p.m.
Next Friday (9/5), Trail-Way will host the 358 Sprint Cars for the rescheduled first leg of the Trail-Way/ Lincoln “Shootout”. Also on the schedule are the Limited Stocks, Central PA Legends, and 600cc Micro Sprints. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and racing begins at 7:30 p.m.
For all the latest news and related information from Trail-Way Speedway, fans are reminded to visit the speedway website at www.trail-wayspeedway.com. The complete story and agate from each race night is posted shortly after the final checkered falls.