From Tyler Altmeyer
ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. (August 24, 2019) – Earning a first-ever Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory is certainly special, but to attain that feat in the heart of Pennsylvania Posse Country is on an entirely different level, especially with MAVTV Motorsports Network cameras on the prowl.
Leduc, Alberta, Canada’s Skylar Gee reached that level on Saturday night in the Pigeon Hills, eventually dominating All Star Circuit of Champions feature competition at the ‘Fabulous’ Lincoln Speedway by leading all 30 circuits, doing so from the pole position.
Not only did Gee lead every lap, but the All Star Rookie of the Year contender did it in incredible fashion, ultimately crossing under the final checkers by a margin of victory surpassing two seconds. Impressive enough, Gee’s lead reached nearly three seconds by the midpoint of the program, but a caution on lap 17 knocked his wicked pace back to idle.
Six-time All Star champion and all-time Series win leader, Dale Blaney, chased Gee to the finish, followed by Ryan Smith, Adam Wilt and Jeff Halligan.
“Hats off to my team. They gave me one hell of a race car tonight,” said Skylar Gee in victory lane, who nearly swept the program by setting fast time, winning the dash, and finally, winning the $5,000 main event. “This was a fun race track. I can’t wait to come back here.”
With six cautions, including an unforeseen fuel stop on lap four, cutting-up the 30-lapper, the only real challenges for Gee were the multiple restarts. In fact, the third generation ace was forced to survive two complete restarts before getting underway, officially.
A tap against the turn four, outside retaining wall gave Gee a stir on lap 22, ultimately trimming his near-three second command over Blaney to a single second. Despite the fact, Blaney was unable to capitalize. Even when a lapped car blocked Gee’s preferred top lane in the final corner, nobody was present to potentially overtake. The ASCS graduate did not falter, however, and simply dived through the corner to set-up a straight shot at the flagstand.
“I’m looking at the board and I’m seeing Dale Blaney and the 72 [Ryan Smith] and I think ‘I better get going here,’” Gee continued, pilot of the Moto Gator/Raw Machinery/Carlan Services/No. 99 sprint car. “I just kept trying to change it up and plan my starts right; I think I did a pretty good job of that. It really hasn’t sunk in yet. I really don’t know what to say.”
Fans should note they can relive the action from Lincoln Speedway via MAVTV Motorsports Network on Sunday, October 27.
Justin Snyder’s Salute to the Troops event at BAPS Motor Speedway will conclude the All Star weekend road trip on Sunday evening, August 25. Like the events at Grandview Speedway and Lincoln Speedway, the Sunday night showstopper will award a $5,000 payday.
BAPS Motor Speedway near York Haven, Pennsylvania, will open pit gates at 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 25. A mandatory All Star Circuit of Champions drivers meeting will be conducted at 5:45 p.m., followed by hot laps at 6:15 p.m., sharp. Those seeking additional information should visit BAPS Motor Speedway live on the Web at www.bapsmotorspeedway.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Lincoln Speedway – August 24, 2019:
Entries: 30
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Cory Eliason – 13.365 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Skylar Gee – 13.258 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Ryan Smith
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Jeff Halligan
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Dale Blaney
JE Pistons presented by Fatheadz Eyewear Dash: Skylar Gee
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting B-Main Winner: Brandon Rahmer
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Skylar Gee
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Alan Krimes (+12)
Cometic Gasket Most A-Main Laps Led: Skylar Gee
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Tim Wagaman
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation, Cometic Gasket: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.258; 2. 1X-Chad Trout, 13.381; 3. 72-Ryan Smith, 13.395; 4. 16-Matt Campbell, 13.469; 5. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 13.522; 6. 69-Tim Glatfelter, 13.528; 7. 59-Jim Siegel, 13.569; 8. 75-Chase Dietz, 13.617; 9. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.709; 10. 40-George Hobaugh, 14.019
Group (B)
1. 88-Brandon Rahmer, 13.514; 2. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.517; 3. 15-Adam Wilt, 13.530; 4. 58-Jeff Halligan, 13.582; 5. 70X-Justin Peck, 13.610; 6. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.673; 7. 87K-Alan Krimes, 13.744; 8. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe, 13.770; 9. 99M-Kyle Moody, 13.786; 10. 7-Trey Hivner, 14.130
Group (C)
1. 21-Brian Montieth, 13.543; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.561; 3. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.571; 4. 11-Dale Blaney, 13.584; 5. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 13.587; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 13.649; 7. 39-Cory Haas, 13.737; 8. 8-Billy Dietrich, 13.755; 9. 1s-Tim Wagaman, 13.846; 10. 73B-Brett Michalski, 14.215
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 72-Ryan Smith [2]; 2. 16-Matt Campbell [1]; 3. 1X-Chad Trout [3]; 4. 70-Brock Zearfoss [5]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee [4]; 6. 75-Chase Dietz [8]; 7. 59-Jim Siegel [7]; 8. 48-Danny Dietrich [9]; 9. 69-Tim Glatfelter [6]; 10. 40-George Hobaugh [10]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 58-Jeff Halligan [1]; 2. 15-Adam Wilt [2]; 3. W20-Greg Wilson [3]; 4. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 5. 70X-Justin Peck [5]; 6. 87K-Alan Krimes [7]; 7. 88-Brandon Rahmer [4]; 8. 99M-Kyle Moody [9]; 9. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe [8]; 10. 7-Trey Hivner [10]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 11-Dale Blaney [1]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 3. 21-Brian Montieth [4]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 5. 39-Cory Haas [7]; 6. 51-Freddie Rahmer [5]; 7. 1S-Tim Wagaman [9]; 8. 8-Billy Dietrich [8]; 9. 73B-Brett Michalski [10]; 10. O7-Gerard McIntyre [6]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 99-Skylar Gee [1]; 2. 16-Matt Campbell [3]; 3. 11-Dale Blaney [2]; 4. 72-Ryan Smith [4]; 5. 58-Jeff Halligan [6]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason [8]; 7. 1X-Chad Trout [7]; 8. 15-Adam Wilt [5]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 88-Brandon Rahmer [1]; 2. 59-Jim Siegel [3]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich [5]; 4. 69-Tim Glatfelter [2]; 5. 8-Billy Dietrich [6]; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre [10]; 7. 1S-Tim Wagaman [4]; 8. 99M-Kyle Moody [7]; 9. 73B-Brett Michalski [9]; 10. 7-Trey Hivner [12]; 11. 40-George Hobaugh [11]; 12. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe [8]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 99-Skylar Gee [1]; 2. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 3. 72-Ryan Smith [4]; 4. 15-Adam Wilt [8]; 5. 58-Jeff Halligan [5]; 6. 87K-Alan Krimes [18]; 7. 16-Matt Campbell [2]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel [12]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [9]; 10. 51-Freddie Rahmer [16]; 11. 70X-Justin Peck [14]; 12. 13-Paul McMahan [13]; 13. 59-Jim Siegel [19]; 14. 1X-Chad Trout [7]; 15. O7-Gerard McIntyre [24]; 16. 21-Brian Montieth [10]; 17. 70-Brock Zearfoss [11]; 18. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 19. 73B-Brett Michalski [26]; 20. 39-Cory Haas [15]; 21. 88-Brandon Rahmer [21]; 22. 75-Chase Dietz [17]; 23. 48-Danny Dietrich [20]; 24. 69-Tim Glatfelter [22]; 25. 99M-Kyle Moody [25]; 26. 8-Billy Dietrich [23] Lap Leaders: Skylar Gee (1-30)
2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (After 8/24/2019):
1. Aaron Reutzel -3760
2. Dale Blaney – 3752
3. Cory Eliason – 3658
4. Paul McMahan – 3622
5. Brock Zearfoss – 3512
6. Greg Wilson – 3468
7. Gerard McIntyre – 3352
8. Skylar Gee – 3304
9. George Hobaugh – 2858
10. Justin Peck – 2194