Allegany County Speedway
April 7, 2012
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Smith dominates Limited Late Models in season opener at The Rock

by Matt Felten
CUMBERLAND, Md. (April 7) - Tim Smith Jr. conquered the field for the Romney Cycles Limited Late Model victory in the season opener on Saturday night at The Rock, Allegany County Speedway.

Although Smith was the runaway winner in the 20-lap main event, three of the four other races came down to the wire. Kerry Molovich and Ryan Beckett held on for wins in the Ernie D's Street Stock and TC Race Cars Hobby Stock features. Nick Iski claimed the Sponaugle Towing 4-Cylinder race and Brandon Inglish took the checkered flag in the 6/8-Cylinder nightcap.

The cool, breezy weather for the opener created tricky conditions for the field at times. Smith was dialed in early in the 20-lap Limited Late Model event. He grabbed the lead on the second lap from Matt Howsare and marched ahead by nearly 10 seconds over Curtis Heath. Even when a caution on lap 13 cancelled that huge advantage, Smith still went on to win by a straightaway over Heath.

Rance Garlock and Randy Burkholder finished third and fourth. Scott Merryman ended up fifth. Howsare led the first lap but retired with a handling problem not long after Smith claimed the lead. Pole-sitter D.J. Troutman pulled off the track before the green waved, handing off the prime starting spot to Heath. Smith started from outside the second row.

Molovich held on for the win in the 16-lap Street Stock feature over John Whitfield. Whitfield's race came close to ending in the opening laps when he was nearly collected in a wreck with Travis Brown and Daryl Whetstone.

Molovich led the last eight laps after getting by Jimmy Iser on the inside of turn two at the halfway point. After Whitfield got by Marcius VanMeter and Iser, he closed in on Molovich in the final three laps but came up short in the final turn. VanMeter picked up third in the waning laps over Iser and Chamberlain.

Beckett led all 15 laps of the Hobby Stock feature but couldn't seal the win over David Riley until the final turn. While Beckett jumped out front over Jimmy Moreland, Riley ran in third through the first half of the race. He picked up second in turn one over Moreland on lap nine.

Beckett's lead dwindled to a bumper-to-bumper race in the last three laps. Beckett held on by a car length over Riley. Moreland, R.T. Troutman and Justin Michael completed the top five.

Iski won the 12-lap 4-Cylinder race by reclaiming the lead with two laps remaining. After Iski at the finish line, Ian Will, Davey Lambert, Ronnie Valentine and Dwain Rhodes rounded out the top five.

Iski started on the pole but dropped to fifth by lap four as Steve Riggleman and Neil Bauer Jr. took command of the race up front. Riggleman and Bauer both spun two laps later, leaving the race up for grabs among Iski and Will.

Iski led until lap nine when Will took the lead away in turn one. Iski came back on lap 10 to get the lead off of turn two. He led Will by nine car lengths at the finish.

Inglish took the 12-lap 6/8-Cylinder race over Ray Shepherd, Brian Ringer and Garrett Watkins. Inglish was back in third for the opening lap and got second when Ringer spun ahead of him on the second lap. He capitalized on the opportunity to get the lead from Shepherd on lap seven and went on to finish a half of a straightaway ahead of Shepherd at the finish.

The Rock held a race car show as part of its opening race festivities at CiCi's Pizza in LaVale, Md. earlier in the day. The speedway's buy-one, get-one-free general admission promotion was deemed a success with a strong crowd and track officials will consider future promotions for race fans. To follow the speedway's Facebook page and for a complete 2012 schedule, visit www.therockspeedway.com. Gates open at 5 p.m. with racing at 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, April 14 for the Street Stock Spring Championship and a full slate of its other weekly divisions.

The Rock - Allegany County Speedway
Saturday
April 7, 2012
Race Results

ROMNEY CYCLES LIMITED LATE MODEL (20 laps): 1. Tim Smith Jr., 2. Curtis Heath, 3. Rance Garlock, 4. Randy Burkholder, 5. Scott Merryman, 6. Travis Calhoun, 7. Matt Howsare, 8. Buddy Jones, DNS: D.J. Troutman.

ERNIE D'S STREET STOCK (16 laps): 1. Kerry Molovich, 2. John Whitfield, 3. Marcius VanMeter, 4. Jimmy Iser, 5. Chris Chamberlain, 6. Justin Bonnett, 7. Travis Brown, 8. Randy Wible, 9. Daryl Whetstone, DNS: Zane Weicht.

TC RACE CARS HOBBY STOCK (15 laps): 1. Ryan Beckett, 2. David Riley, 3. Jimmy Moreland, 4. R.T. Troutman, 5. Justin Michael, 6. Mike Lewis, 7. Bryan Morris, 8. Kevin Van Horn, 9. Jeff Brown, 10. Rob Varner.

SPONAUGLE TOWING 4-CYLINDER (12 laps): 1. Nick Iski, 2. Ian Will, 3. Davey Lambert, 4. Ronnie Valentine, 5. Dwain Rhodes, 6. Tyler Beckett, 7. Neil Bauer Jr., 8. John Crowfis Jr., 9. Shelton Lucas, 10. Kristina Jefferys, 11. Tyler Larkin, 12. Steve Riggleman, 13. Cale Martin, 14. Jason Riggleman, 15. Mike Lauffer, DNS: Jason Poland, Chris Shoemaker.

FACTORY STOCK 6/8-CYLINDER (12 laps): 1. Brandon Inglish, 2. Ray Shepherd, 3. Brian Ringer, 4. Garrett Watkins.