From Inside Line Promotions
Imperial, PA — (September, 27, 2014) — Greg Wilson etched his name into the Renegade Sprints history book on Saturday when he powered to the action-packed victory.
Wilson became the second different winner in as many events and the first ever at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, where the grandstands packed with fans witnessed three-wide racing for a majority of the 25-lap feature.
“The race track was awesome,” he said. “I was able to really move around on the track a lot.”
Wilson, who started the main event on the inside of the fourth row, maneuvered into third place by the midpoint of the feature. He then joined the epic battle with polesitter Danny Holtgraver and Randy Hannagan for the lead.
The trio raced three wide for several laps before a caution on Lap 14. Hannagan, who claimed the inaugural Renegade Sprints event on Aug. 23, restarted in the lead with Wilson running second and Holtgraver third.
“The track was nice and wide,” Hannagan said. “You could go anywhere. Greg showed his nose right before one of the cautions and I tried to block him on the restart, but it didn’t work.”
Hannagan and Wilson traded the lead several times following the restart with Holtgraver remaining within striking distance. Wilson took the lead for good with a handful of laps remaining and he worked through traffic effectively to notch the victory.
“The new series is going to be an awesome deal,” he said.
Holtgraver, a native of nearby Pittsburgh, recorded the runner-up result with Hannagan rounding out the podium.
“The track was perfect,” Holtgraver said. “You had to hustle the top or you could slow down on the bottom. You could race all over. We were three wide quite a few times. Wilson was unbelievable on the bottom.”
The action was just as packed behind the contest for the lead, including numerous three-wide combats.
Chad Kemenah charged from 14th to earn a fourth-place result with Sheldon Haudenschild ending fifth. Brandon Matus won the B Main and advanced from 12th to sixth place in the main event. Logan Wagner placed seventh, Ed Lynch Jr. eighth and Cole Duncan ninth. Local driver Tim Shaffer rebounded from an engine issue early in the night to rally from 24th to 10th in the feature, which earned the Hard Charger Award.
Hannagan kicked off the night by establishing a new track record during qualifying with Travis Philo, Dean Jacobs, Ralph Spithaler and Caleb Helms each claiming a heat race win. Drivers then went six wide for the parade lap around the half-mile oval to set the tone for the feature.
Spectators were also treated to an autograph session and a raffle, which included bicycles, flat screen TVs and a helmet signed by the drivers.
“Miley Motor Sports was extremely pleased with the turnout of the race cars and the staff of the Renegade Sprints,” Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway Owner Matt Miley said. “It was a handshake deal and we made it happen. We had a great show, great racing, gave away some good prizes and I look forward to having them back next year.”
The Renegade Sprints will return to action on Oct. 24-25 at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio, for the $15,000-to-win Open Wheel Championships.
PITTSBURGH’S PENNSYLVANIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY RESULTS (Sept. 27, 2014) –
Time Trials: 1. 11n-Randy Hannagan, 15.182; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer, 15.183; 3. 10h-Danny Holtgraver, 15.214; 4. 2l-Ed Lynch Jr., 15.317; 5. 15h-Mitch Harble, 15.475; 6. 8-Rod George, 15.547; 7. 97-Sheldon Haudenschild, 15.653; 8. w20-Greg Wilson, 15.696; 9. 49-Cole Duncan, 15.728; 10. 63-Kody Swanson, 15.763; 11. 57x-Andrew Palker, 15.788; 12. 13-Brandon Matus, 15.799; 13. 55-Logan Wagner, 15.812; 14. 2-A.J. Flick; 15.833; 15. 27-Chad Kemenah, 15.959; 16. 5k-Adam Kekich, 15.983; 17. 15-Scott Priester, 15.996; 18. 5t-Travis Philo, 16.018; 19. 9-Dean Jacobs, 16.046; 20. 08-Dan Kuriger, 16.084; 21. 40-Caleb Helms, 16.435; 22. 76-David Jones, 16.442; 23. 36d-Wayne Dadetto, 16.545; 24. 56-Ralph Spithaler, 16.676; 25. 33-Brent Matus, 16.760; 26. 5-Bob McMillian, 17.230; 27. 27m-Zach Morrow, 17.420; 28. 5m-Sye Lynch, 17.489; 29. 2s-Francis Sesco, 18.281; 30. 12-Mike Flynn, 19.395; 31. 24-Christopher Pochiro, No Time.
Heat 1 (Top 5 to feature): 1, 5t-Travis Philo (2). 2, 63-Kody Swanson (4). 3, 8-Rod George (5). 4, 2-A.J. Flick (3). 5, 11n-Randy Hannagan (6). 6, 45-Tim Shaffer (7). 7, 76-David Jones (1). 8, 2s-Francis Sesco (DNS).
Heat 2 (Top 5 to feature): 1, 9-Dean Jacobs (2). 2, 27-Chad Kemenah (3). 3, 10h-Danny Holtgraver (6). 4, 97-Sheldon Haudenschild (5). 5, 36d-Wayne Dadetto (1). 6, 5-Bob McMillian (7). 7, 57x-Andrew Palker (4). 8, 12-Mike Flynn (8).
Heat 3 (Top 5 to feature): 1, 56-Ralph Spithaler (1). 2, 2l-Ed Lynch Jr. (6). 3, w20-Greg Wilson (5). 4, 08-Dan Kuriger (2). 5, 4k-Adam Kekich (3). 6, 13-Brandon Matus (4). 7, 27m-Zach Morrow (7). 8, 24-Christopher Pochiro (8).
Heat 4 (Top 5 to feature): 1, 40-Caleb Helms (2). 2, 15h-Mitch Harble (6). 3, 33-Brent Matus (1). 4, 49-Cole Duncan (5). 5, 55-Logan Wagner (4). 6, 15-Scott Priester (3). 7, 5m-Sye Lynch (7).
Dash (6 laps): 1, 10h-Danny Holtgraver (1). 2, 11n-Randy Hannagan (4). 3, 97-Sheldon Haudenschild (3). 4, 8-Rod George (2). 5, 15h-Mitch Harble (5). 6, 2l-Ed Lynch Jr. (6).
B Main (12 laps/Top 4 transfer to feature): 1, 13-Brandon Matus (2). 2, 45-Tim Shaffer (5). 3, 57x-Andrew Palker (1). 4, 15-Scott Priester (3). 5, 5m-Sye Lynch (8). 6, 76-David Jones (4). 7, 5-Bob McMillian (6). 8, 27m-Zach Morrow (7). 9, 12-Mike Flynn (9). 10, Christopher Pochiro (10). 11, 2s-Francis Sesco (DNS).
A Main (25 laps): 1, w20-Greg Wilson (7). 2, 10h-Danny Holtgraver (1). 3, 11n-Randy Hannagan (2). 4, 27-Chad Kemenah (14). 5, 97-Sheldon Haudenschild (3). 6, 13-Brandon Matus (12). 7, 55-Logan Wagner (10). 8, 2l-Ed Lynch Jr. (6). 9, 49-Cole Duncan (8). 10, 45-Tim Shaffer (24). 11, 2-A.J. Flick (13). 12, 57x-Andrew Palker (11). 13, 63-Kody Swanson (9). 14, 5k-Adam Kekich (15). 15, 08-Dan Kuriger (19). 16, 8-Rod George (4). 17, 15-Scott Priester (16). 18, 15h-Mitch Harble (5). 19, 36d-Wayne Dadetto (21). 20, 33-Brent Matus (23). 21, 56-Ralph Spithaler (22). 22, 40-Caleb Helms (20). 23, 5t-Travis Philo (17). 24, 9-Dean Jacobs (18).