By Kalida Landis
HANOVER, Pa.: Pill draw is crucial to the success of any Sprint Car team, regardless of the class or who is parked in the pit area.
But it can be overcome. Jake Frye’s performance proved that Friday night in the 305 Sprint Car division at Trail-Way Speedway.
Frye pulled a six for the feature redraw. That didn’t matter, as he charged to the front and took the win in the 25-lap feature. It was his first career PA Sprint Series victory.
“We battled such hard luck and another bad pill draw and just pulled it together, finally,” Frye said. “Those caution laps were the longest ones of my life. That happened over-and-over again, and I had enough of them.
“I was able to regroup every time and pull myself back together and put the car where it needed to be. It all just came together, tonight, and I can’t be any happier.”
It didn’t hurt that Frye got a tremendous jump at the start. He advanced from sixth to second in the opening lap and was on the tail tank of Larry McVay through the opening two circuits.
Doug Dodson, who started fifth, was also making progress. He slipped under Jaremi Hanson for fourth on Lap 3 and was stalking Johnny Scarborough on the fifth circuit.
The caution was displayed on Lap 8, when Mike Melair stopped in Turn 2. Before the caution, Scarborough was under Frye and a car-length off the leader’s pace.
On the restart, McVay and Scarborough hit the cone. The caution was thrown, and both drivers were put back two positions. That put Frye up front and in good position to take the win.
Frye was able to open up a .860-second lead on the ensuing restart. Hanson took third from McVay, and Scarborough followed one lap later.
Another caution came out on Lap 12, this time for Landon Price. Eric Mathiot hit the cone on the restart to bring out another caution.
Cautions nor the competition were going to stop Frye on this night. He led the rest of the way and took the win by 3.259 seconds at the stripe.
“My mom and dad, they’ve been sticking with it for 11 years now, and we had a rough month,” Frye, of Lewisberry, Pa., said. “We kept putting it back together and trying again. Finally, it all came together for once, and we put the whole night together.”
Doug Dodson held on for second, with Scarborough placing third. Hanson, and McVay completed the top five in the main event.
In the 270 Micro Sprint feature, Cameron Smith was declared the winner after nine of 20 laps was complete. The race was shortened due to the time limit and number of cautions. There were eight stoppages.
Smith started second on the grid and led all nine circuits. It was his first career 270 Micro Sprint victory. Tim McClelland, Steven Cox, Brian Marriott, and Wyatt Rutz completed the top five. Mason Dixon 270 Racing Series point leader Cory Myers stopped twice on the track and finished 19th.
The Central PA Legends presented by Harvest Chapel were also on the program and ended with Travis Perry in Victory Lane after 20 laps.
Bill Diehl started on the pole and led the first 12 laps. Perry, of Shippensburg, Pa., took advantage of lapped traffic and went underneath the leader coming off Turn 4.
But Diehl didn’t go away. He continued to stalk Perry over the final seven laps but fell short at the line by a mere .337 seconds. Chris Transeau, Seth Kearchner, and Stephen Wurtzer completed the top five.
Nick McDaniel, of Littlestown, topped the 20-car field in the 15-lap Limited Stock feature. He started 12th on the grid but managed to carve his way to the front.
Jason Chronister took the lead from Justin Oberlin on the sixth circuit and led through Lap 12. McDaniel blasted out front on Lap 13 and led the final two circuits to claim the win.
Matt Worley was third, followed by Carl Cassell, and Chad Weaver. Oberlin had problems and dropped from competition on Lap 12. He finished 13th.
Roland Brown collected the win in the 20-lap Classic Car main event. He took the lead from Steve Cantwell on Lap 14 and cruised to the win over Dylan Brown, Conner Cantwell, Sharon Unitas, and Ron Grove.
Trail-Way Speedway
Hanover, Pa.
Friday, July 17. 2020
For Immediate Release
PA SPRINT SERIES 305 SPRINT CARS
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 56-Jake Frye[6]; 2. 20-Doug Dodson[5]; 3. 61C-Johnny Scarborough[3]; 4. 36-Jaremi Hanson[1]; 5. 83NJ-Larry McVay[2]; 6. 83-Billy Ney[8]; 7. 95-Garrett Bard[13]; 8. 83K-Kristina Pratt[12]; 9. 69-Eric Mathiot[4]; 10. 54-Mike Melair[14]; 11. (DNF) 80-Dave Wickham[10]; 12. (DNF) 19-Kruz Kepner[11]; 13. (DNF) 69P-Landon Price[7]; 14. (DNF) 5-John Walp[9].
Lap Leaders: Larry McVay (1-8), Jake Frye (9-25)
305 Sprint Car Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 61C-Johnny Scarborough[3]; 2. 83NJ-Larry McVay[1]; 3. 20-Doug Dodson[6]; 4. 69P-Landon Price[4]; 5. 5-John Walp[5]; 6. 19-Kruz Kepner[7]; 7. (DNS) 95-Garrett Bard.
305 Sprint Car Heat 2 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 56-Jake Frye[3]; 2. 69-Eric Mathiot[1]; 3. 36-Jaremi Hanson[5]; 4. 83-Billy Ney[6]; 5. 80-Dave Wickham[2]; 6. 83K-Kristina Pratt[4]; 7. 54-Mike Melair[7].