By Lou Long
(Franklin, PA May 12, 2024): A.J. Flick, the two-time and defending champion in the Krill Recycling LLC 410 Sprint Cars secured the home turf against the invasion of the Ti22 Performance Inc FAST on Dirt Sprint Car Series on Mother’s Day at Tri City Raceway Park. The event, which made up for a cancellation the week before, was the first race conducted under new track ownership, of Josh and Kyrsten Shiffer. It was a major success.
In the FAST Sprint Car feature, Logan McCandless and A.J. Flick brought the outstanding field to the green flag. Behind them were Matt Farnham and Dale Blaney. In the third row were series points leader Zane DeVault and Dylan Norris. The fourth row consisted of defending FAST champion Brandon Spithaler and Sean Rayhall. The fifth row paired Ricky Peterson and Gale Ruth, Jr. The sixth duo was Jack Sodeman, Jr. and Bob Felmlee.
Flick raced into turn one ahead of McCandless, Farnham, DeVault, and Spithaler. Before the racers could settle in, there was a caution for a three-car tangle in turn two, which included a flip by Sye Lynch. T.J. Michael and Ruth were also involved, but they were able to make repairs and resume racing.
Flick bolted ahead again on the restart. McCandless raced along in second, ahead of Farnham, DeVault, Spithaler, Blaney, Rayhall, Felmlee, and Sodeman.
Michael averted disaster on lap seven, when he went over the right rear wheel of Jarrett Cavalet midway down the back stretch. Both drivers were able to keep moving, and Michael safely brought his car into the pits. Cavalet stopped at the entrance to turn three to bring out the second caution.
On the ensuing restart, Flick continued to lead over McCandless, Farnham, and Norris. There was a good three-car battle for fifth among DeVault, Blaney, and Spithaler. That ended several laps later when Spithaler sustained a flat right rear and brought his car to a stop.
The first two remained unchanged when the race went green again, but Norris moved into third, ahead of DeVault and Farnham.
The final eleven laps went off without a hitch. Flick picked up the checkers, 0.613 seconds ahead of McCandless. DeVault, Norris, and Farnham completed the top five. Blaney, Spithaler, Rayhall, Sodeman, and Felmlee completed the top ten.
The heat winners were Farnham, Flick, and McCandless. The B Main winner was Brent Matus, who had mechanical woes and did not complete a lap in the A Main. The evening’s fastest qualifier overall was DeVault, with a time of 15.220 seconds on the big half mile.
BOX SCORE
Tri-City Raceway Park ; Franklin, PA
Sunday, May 12, 2024 ; 30 Entries
ARP Fasteners Qualifying
Group 1: 1. 17-Dylan Norris 15.497, 2. 7ny-Matt Farnham 15.429, 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler 15.470, 4. 42-Sye Lynch 15.522, 5. 6-Bob Felmlee 15.608, 6. 5-Jeremy Weaver 15.657, 7. 5e-Bobby Elliott 15.875, 8. 43-Blaze Myers 16.086, 9. 13-Brandon Matus 16.318, 10. 19m-Bodey McClintock 17.228
Group 2: 1. 4-Zane DeVault 15.220, 2. 2-A.J. Flick 15.284, 3. 14-Sean Rayhall 15.446, 4. 19-T.J. Michael 15.889, 5. 98-Jarret Cavalet 15.907, 6. 24-Gale Ruth Jr 15.959, 7. 46-Michael Bauer 16.034, 8. 3j-Jacob Begenwald 16.341, 9. 11M-Nathen McDowell16.435, 10. X7-Andy Cavanaugh 16.493
Group 3: 1. 32-Dale Blaney 15.278, 2. 29m-Logan McCandless 15.312, 3. 2-Ricky Peterson 15.493, 4. 66-Ryan Newton 15.784, 5. 23jr-Jack Sodeman Jr 15.982, 6. 99-Cameron Nastasi 16.474, 7. 27k-Jeremy Kornbau 16.483, 8. 33-Brent Matus 17.217, 9. 86-Michael Lutz 17.217, 10. 31c-Chase Metheney DNQ
NAPA Of Fremont – Heat 1: 1. 7ny-Farnham[1] ; 2. 22-Spithaler[2] ; 3. 17-Norris[4] ; 4. 42-Lynch[3] ; 5. 6-Felmlee[5] ; 6. 5-Weaver[6] ; 7. 13-Matus[9] ; 8. 43-Myers[8] ; 9. 19m-McClintock[10] ; 10. 5e-Elliott[7]
ALLmobility – Heat 2: 1. 2-Flick[1] ; 2. 14-Rayhall[2] ; 3. 24-Ruth[6] ; 4. 19-Michael[3] ; 5. 4-DeVault[4] ; 6. 46-Bauer[7] ; 7. 98-Cavalet[5] ; 8. 3J-Begenwald[8] ; 9. X7-Cavanaugh[10] ; 10. 11m-McDowell[9]
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads – Heat 3: 1. 29m-Logan McCandless[1] ; 2. 2-Ricky Peterson[2] ; 3. 32-Blaney[4] ; 4. 23jr-Sodeman[5] ; 5. 33-Matus[8] ; 6. 99-Nastasi[6] ; 7. 27k-Kornbau[7] ; 8. 86-Lutz[9] ; 9. 66-Newton[3] ; 10. 31c-Metheney[10]
Victory Fuel – B Main: 1. 13-Matus[1] ; 2. 98-Cavalet[2] ; 3. 3j-Begenwald[5] ; 4. 43-Myers[4] ; 5. 5e-Elliott[10] ; 6. x7-Cavanaugh[8] ; 7. 11m-McDowell[11] ; 8. 31c-Metheney[12] ; 9. 19m-McClintock[7] ; 10. 86-Lutz[6] ; 11. 27k-Kornbau[DNS] ; 12. 66-Newton[DNS]
Ti22 Performance Inc – A Main: 1. 2-Flick[2] ; 2. 29m-McCandless[1] ; 3. 4-DeVault[5] ; 4. 17-Norris[6] ; 5. 7ny-Farnham[3] ; 6. 32-Blaney[4] ; 7. 22-Spithaler[7] ; 8. 14-Rayhall[8] ; 9. 23jr-Sodeman[13] ; 10. 6-Felmlee[14] ; 11. 5-Weaver[16] ; 12. 46-Bauer[17] ; 13. 33-Matus[15] ; 14. 3j-Begenwald[21] ; 15. 43-Myers[22] ; 16. 24-Ruth[10] ; 17. 98-Cavalet[20] ; 18. 19-Michael[12] ; 19. 99-Nastasi[18] ; 20. 2-Peterson[9] ; 21. 42-Lynch[11] ; 22. 13-Matus[19]
Helms & Sons – Hard Charger: Jacob Begenwald +7
Helms & Sons – Hard Luck: Bobby Elliott
Knox Bakery – Fastest Qualifier Bonus: Zane DeVault