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Matt Felton
CUMBERLAND, Md. (August 22) - Robbie Blair picked off D.J. Troutman in the waning laps to claim the $5,000 prize in the Independent Racing Series (IRS) event on Friday night at The Rock, Allegany County Speedway.
The current series point leader, Blair, of Titusville, Pa., worked himself into position in the final eight laps of the 40-lap main event. The stop on the IRS tour was the first-ever appearance at The Rock and Blair added his name to the long winner's list from sanctioned Super Late Model races.
He won by running down both Troutman, one of the hottest drivers at the speedway in the past month, and Pencil, the three-time track champion. Pencil trailed Blair to the finish in the runner-up spot. D.J. Myers was third and Troutman faded to fourth.
Troutman had led every lap and looked strong through the halfway point. The rest of the top five shuffled behind him and Blair fell as far back as sixth on lap 13.
Fast qualifier and pole-sitter Jason Covert's night ended prematurely on lap 14 when he tangled with Pencil on a restart while trying to hold on to second. Covert spun in turn two and was collected by Devin Friese.
Blair moved back up over Pencil and Myers to get second by lap 16. Under green through lap 25, Troutman had built as much as a 2.5 second lead.
Troutman's lead started to dwindle and a caution on lap 32 made up the rest of the distance for Blair. Two laps later, Blair fought to the inside of Troutman, first in turn two and again in turn four. After another lap of side by side jostling, Blair pulled ahead from the bottom groove in turn four on lap 35.
Pencil got second on the next lap but trailed Blair to the finish line by almost a second. Behind Myers and Troutman, Chuck Harper was fifth, Keith Jackson, sixth, Dave Hess Jr., seventh, Mike Knight, eighth, Greg Fetters, ninth, and Nick Dickson, 10th.
In the 15-lap TC Race Cars Hobby Stock feature, Marcius VanMeter claimed his fifth victory of the season and solidified his position atop the driver's championship standings.
VanMeter, who started fourth, quickly headed for the front, getting by Steve Fadley on the backstretch for the lead. VanMeter's lead was tenuous until the halfway point.
He began to pull away and Fadley eventually fell off the pace. Mike VanMeter closed in to get second at the finish. Fadley, Mike Siegele and Scott Jones completed the top five.
David Puckett, who entered the night just 11 points behind VanMeter for the championship, was unable to start the race after suffering an engine problem earlier in the night.
Nick Iski claimed his first-ever feature win in the 10-lap Factory Stock 4-Cylinder race. Brandon Inglish, also seeking his first win, trailed by just three car lengths at the finish. Steve Riggleman, Rick Jenkins and Dwain Rhodes completed the top five.
Attrition was a factor after five cars lost traction in a slick spot over the cushion in turn two when the race went green. Iski was able to avoid the mess and continued with the lead.
Iski led by as many as 12 car lengths but a caution on lap six allowed Inglish to catch up. Inglish gave chase but couldn't pull even with Iski before the finish.
The Rock will host the George Hilliard Memorial for Limited Late Models on Friday, Sept. 5. For more information, visit The Rock's web site at www.therockspeedway.com.
The Rock - Allegany Co. Speedway
Order of Finish
Friday, Aug. 22, 2008
INDEPENDENT RACING SERIES
A-main
30 laps
Results showing finishing position, (starting position), car no., and
driver name:
1. (4) WON11, Robbie Blair
2. (6) 14, Jack Pencil
3. (11) 70, D.J. Myers
4. (2) 7, D.J. Troutman
5. (7) 00H, Chuck Harper
6. (8) 88, Keith Jackson
7. (16) 44, Dave Hess Jr.
8. (17) 9K, Mike Knight
9. (3) 39, Greg Fetters
10. (10) 17, Nick Dickson
11. (5) 46, Doug Horton
12. (13) H1, Jared Miley
13. (9) 5, Chuck Clise
14. (15) 0, Ron Delano Jr.
15. (12) 12, Rick Aukland
16. (21) 12, Bob Friese
17. (20) 25, Bob Hershman
18. (19) 119, Chad McClellan
19. (18) 3, Dave Bloss
20. (1) 43A, Jason Covert
21. (14) 12, Devin Friese
22. (22) 44M, Mike Hess
DNS: 24, Jeremy Miller
TC RACE CARS HOBBY STOCKS (15 laps): 1. Marcius VanMeter, 2. Mike
VanMeter, 3. Steve Fadley, 4. Mike Siegele, 5. Scott Jones, DNS: David
Puckett.
FACTORY STOCK 4-CYLINDERS (12 laps): 1. Nick Iski, 2. Brandon Inglish, 3. Steve Riggleman, 4. Rick Jenkins, 5. Dwain Rhodes, 6. Brandon
Powell, 7. Tyler Alkire, 8. Chris Shoemaker, 9. Ryan Peer.
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