By Mike Leone
(Hartford, OH)…After some sprinkles and light showers for much of the morning and early afternoon, skies cleared allowing Sharon Speedway to open the 94th anniversary season on Saturday night for the first “Steel Valley Thunder” program of 2023. Celebrating in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply victory lane were Dave Blaney-Hovis Auto & Truck Supply “410” Sprint Cars, Chad Ruhlman-Terry Bowser Excavating RUSH Sprint Cars, Ben Easler-HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds, and Dustin DeMattia-Whelen Econo Mods. It was Hovis Auto & Truck Supply night.
Hometown hero Dave Blaney turned in an excellent tune-up for next Saturday’s NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Car event by kicking off the season with a victory in the 30-lap Hovis Auto & Truck Supply “410” Sprint Car feature. The 60-year-old National Sprint Car Hall of Famer, who now calls High Point, North Carolina home, led from wire-to-wire to capture his milestone 30th career “410” victory at his home track which he co-owns.
Blaney took the $3,000 feature victory by a margin of 1.591 seconds in his #10 over invader, Dylan Cisney, who made the long tow from central Pennsylvania after the World of Outlaws cancellation at Williams Grove Speedway. Cisney started seventh and closed in on Blaney late, but ran out of time settling for a runner-up in his first visit to the Hartford, Ohio oval. A.J. Flick, who has taken a liking to Sharon in recent years, was third after starting from the pole. Lee Jacobs was fourth in his first race of 2023 over Adam Kekich.
Two-time All Star Champion, Greg Wilson, charged from 14th to sixth over fellow Ohio standout Cole Duncan. George Hobaugh, 19th starting Brett Brunkenhoefer and Darren Pifer completed the top 10. Dan Shetler set fast time overall against the strong 30-car field in qualifying with a lap of 15.018. Heat race winners were Dale Blaney, Dave Blaney, and Darin Gallagher, while Brunkenhoefer won the last chance B main.
Four-time RUSH Sprint Car Sunbelt Rentals Weekly Series Champion, Chad Ruhlman, looks primed for a fifth $5,000 title in six years. The 46-year-old Erie, Pa. driver of Tim Engles’ #68 led from green-to-checkered in the 20-lap Terry Bowser Excavating feature. One late race restart was all that slowed Ruhlman’s run to his 10th win in 25 races run all-time at Sharon.
Blaze Myers was 1.009 seconds behind Ruhlman as he fended off multi-division talent John Mollick for the runner-up spot. Brandon Blackshear was fourth over Brian Hartzell. Zack Wilson, Arnie Kent, Brian Cressley, Ricky Tucker, Jr., and Joe Buccola completed the top 10. Heat winners over the 23-car field were Ruhlman, Hartzell, and Myers.
Sharon Speedway
Hartford, Ohio
Saturday, May 13, 2023
Winged 410 Sprint Cars
410 Sprint Qualifying Group 1
1. 29-Dan Shetler, 15.018[3]
2. 2-AJ Flick, 15.263[8]
3. 6-Bob Felmlee, 15.472[1]
4. 32B-Dale Blaney, 15.629[9]
5. X7-Andy Cavanagh, 15.663[4]
6. 3-Joe Butera, 15.850[2]
7. 86-Michael Lutz Jr, 16.143[7]
8. 3V-Chris Verda, 16.185[10]
9. 901-Bob Lime, 16.447[6]
10. 13B-Steve Bright, 16.644[5]
410 Sprint Qualifying Group 2
1. 10-Dave Blaney, 15.369[2]
2. 81-Lee Jacobs, 15.936[7]
3. 13-Brandon Matus, 15.941[4]
4. 5-Dylan Cisney, 16.080[5]
5. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.296[6]
6. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer, 16.642[8]
7. 22-Cole Duncan, 16.910[9]
8. 20B-Cody Bova, 16.910[10]
9. 11J-David Kalb Jr, 16.910[3]
DNS: 21X-Brandon Meszaros, 16.910
410 Sprint Qualifying Group 3
1. 5K-Adam Kekich, 16.398[8]
2. 40-George Hobaugh Jr, 16.468[5]
3. 46-Michael Bauer, 16.471[4]
4. 12-Darin Gallagher, 16.742[3]
5. 23-Darren Pifer, 17.016[7]
6. 33-Brent Matus, 17.024[10]
7. 08-Danny Kuriger, 17.344[9]
8. 4W-Eric L Williams, 17.350[2]
9. 11-Carl Bowser, 17.350[1]
10. 99-Cameron Nastasi, 17.350[6]
410 Sprint Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 32B-Dale Blaney[1]
2. 2-AJ Flick[3]
3. 6-Bob Felmlee[2]
4. 29-Dan Shetler[4]
5. X7-Andy Cavanagh[5]
6. 3V-Chris Verda[8]
7. 86-Michael Lutz Jr[7]
8. 3-Joe Butera[6]
9. 901-Bob Lime[9]
10. 13B-Steve Bright[10]
410 Sprint Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 5-Dylan Cisney[1]
2. 13-Brandon Matus[2]
3. 10-Dave Blaney[4]
4. 81-Lee Jacobs[3]
5. W20-Greg Wilson[6]
6. 22-Cole Duncan[5]
7. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer[7]
8. 20B-Cody Bova[8]
9. 11J-David Kalb Jr[9]
DNS: 21X-Brandon Meszaros
410 Sprint Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 12-Darin Gallagher[1]
2. 5K-Adam Kekich[4]
3. 46-Michael Bauer[2]
4. 40-George Hobaugh Jr[3]
5. 23-Darren Pifer[5]
6. 08-Danny Kuriger[7]
7. 33-Brent Matus[6]
8. 4W-Eric L Williams[8]
DNS: 11-Carl Bowser
DNS: 99-Cameron Nastasi
410 Sprint B-Main (8 Laps)
1. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer[2]
2. 86-Michael Lutz Jr[1]
3. 11J-David Kalb Jr[8]
4. 33-Brent Matus[3]
5. 20B-Cody Bova[5]
6. 11-Carl Bowser[10]
7. 901-Bob Lime[7]
8. 4W-Eric L Williams[6]
9. 3-Joe Butera[4]
10. 13B-Steve Bright[9]
410 Sprint A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 10-Dave Blaney[2]
2. 5-Dylan Cisney[7]
3. 2-AJ Flick[1]
4. 81-Lee Jacobs[11]
5. 5K-Adam Kekich[9]
6. W20-Greg Wilson[14]
7. 22-Cole Duncan[17]
8. 40-George Hobaugh Jr[12]
9. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer[19]
10. 23-Darren Pifer[15]
11. 12-Darin Gallagher[4]
12. 46-Michael Bauer[8]
13. 08-Danny Kuriger[18]
14. 11-Carl Bowser[24]
15. 20B-Cody Bova[23]
16. 3V-Chris Verda[16]
17. 11J-David Kalb Jr[21]
18. X7-Andy Cavanagh[13]
19. 86-Michael Lutz Jr[20]
20. 33-Brent Matus[22]
21. 13-Brandon Matus[5]
22. 29-Dan Shetler[6]
23. 32B-Dale Blaney[10]
24. 6-Bob Felmlee[3]
RUSH Sprint Cars
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 68C-Chad Ruhlman[5]
2. 4J-John Mollick[2]
3. 10-Brandon Blackshear[7]
4. 69X-AJ MacQuarrie[1]
5. 20-Jeff Metsger[3]
6. 16C-Amelia Clay[4]
7. 13K-Kevin Kaserman[6]
8. 15-Lacey Shuttleworth[8]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 69-Brian Hartzell[1]
2. 23-Charlie Utsinger[2]
3. 41-Brian Cressley[3]
4. 1T-Ricky Tucker Jr[6]
5. 68K-Kevin Ruhlman[4]
6. 56-Tyler Clark[8]
7. 54-Devon Deeter[7]
DNS: 5E-Hunter Exley
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 43JR-Blaze Myers[2]
2. 9-Arnie Kent[5]
3. 1-Zack Wilson[6]
4. 5B-Joe Buccola[1]
5. 19-Brad Blackshear[7]
6. 29-Brandon Shughart[3]
7. 11-Don Blaney[4]
-Main (20 Laps)
1. 68C-Chad Ruhlman[1]
2. 43JR-Blaze Myers[3]
3. 4J-John Mollick[4]
4. 10-Brandon Blackshear[7]
5. 69-Brian Hartzell[2]
6. 1-Zack Wilson[9]
7. 9-Arnie Kent[6]
8. 41-Brian Cressley[8]
9. 1T-Ricky Tucker Jr[11]
10. 5B-Joe Buccola[12]
11. 20-Jeff Metsger[13]
12. 69X-AJ MacQuarrie[10]
13. 68K-Kevin Ruhlman[14]
14. 29-Brandon Shughart[18]
15. 23-Charlie Utsinger[5]
16. 13K-Kevin Kaserman[19]
17. 16C-Amelia Clay[16]
18. 15-Lacey Shuttleworth[22]
19. 11-Don Blaney[21]
20. 54-Devon Deeter[20]
21. 56-Tyler Clark[17]
DNS: 19-Brad Blackshear
DNS: 5E-Hunter Exley