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Hagerstown Speedway
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (June 19) - After two consecutive weeks of rain cancellations, Hagerstown Speedway was just a little more than a half hour from torrential downpours following Saturday night's program, but not before Gary Stuhler, Pete Weaver, Mike Warrenfeltz and Kenny Thomas celebrated their checkered flags.
Stuhler of Greencastle, Pa, celebrated his first win at the speedway since August 30, 2008, however he did just win the Williams Grove late model Speedweek show the previous week. The triumph gives him 127 career victories at Hagerstown while upping his overall career total to 335. He led the final quarter lap after getting past race long leader Alan Sagi in the final turns.
For Weaver of nearby Williamsport, his second of the season was the double point Hoosier Daddy for the late model sportsman division and his 17th career. He came from the ninth starting spot to win by .75 second over Steve Axtell Jr..
Hagerstown's Warrenfeltz won the 15th Annual Cornett Tribute by 1.09 second over Danny Beavers after earlier leader Kenny Dillon dropped out. Having won the special event for the Ernie D's pure stocks in 2002, the win was his season fifth and career 78th.
With a string of bad luck, Sagi began from the pole with Jerry Bard alongside and Stuhler in the third spot. Sagi bolted out front as Stuhler quickly grabbed the runner up spot from Bard on lap two. Before the tenth lap, Stuhler was sticking his nose under Sagi but couldn't make the pass while Mike Lupfer exchanged spots with Bard a few times before Tyler Hershey swept in and took the position on lap 13.
Up front, Sagi and Stuhler continued to show the way following a lap 15 caution as they rain within a few lengths of each other while Hershey had Marvin Winters close in the final ten laps while Lupfer had Frankie Plessinger challenging.
With Stuhler looking to the inside with two to go, he saw rear cars ahead on the final circuit and squeezed between Sagi and a rear car going into turn three and dashed down the front stretch to capture the long awaited checkered.
"There's no better guy to race with than Alan," Stuhler said. "I was trying to give him as much room as I could. I didn't know what was going to happen down there in three and four. He went in on the bottom. I wasn't very good down there so when he went in, I just tucked right on the outside and hoped there was room enough between that lapped car and Alan. It's been a long time. They're getting harder to get. I appreciate Paul (Crowl) giving me the opportunity to driver his car. All these guys keep working every week. Even when we're bad, they keep hanging in there. We figured it'd come around one day."
Sagi ended a disappointing second while Hershey maintained third over Winters with Lupfer ending fifth. Plessinger was sixth followed by Brian Booze, Roy Deese Jr., Bard and Bryan Bernheisel. Booze, Bard and Plessinger won the heat races.
Rodney Walls took command of the Hoosier Daddy event and sped around the first three laps before having mechanical issues as Ashley Barrett took over. Barrett was out front 2.5 seconds before a lap eight caution which occurred right in front of him in turn three as he scrubbed the fence trying to avoid the spun car and damaged the rear of his racer.
Weaver worked his way to the front and took the lead on lap ten while Axtell grabbed the runner up spot the next round as 11th starter, Paul Cursey moved into third on lap 12.
Following a lap 18 yellow, Weaver continued rounding the top and held to the point by .75 seconds at the finish.
"I'm not a very patient driver," Weaver said. "There at the beginning I dropped back a little bit and let things weed out and everything worked out real well. We started working the top and that seemed where we were the fastest, so that's where we stayed."
Scott Palmer ended fourth after starting 12th while 22nd starting Michael Collins got past Wayne Walls Jr. for fifth on the final lap. Mike Walls, Ryan Walls and Rodney Walls won the heats while Terry Flaherty was the consy winner. Collins was the St. Thomas Towing/Checkered Flag Lube Center Hard Charger.
Two time Cornett Tribute winner Kenny Dillon took the lead on lap four while Warrenfeltz worked traffic and got past Danny Beavers for second on lap eight. Dillon continued to lead following a lap 11 restart but no sooner has Warrenfeltz made his pass on lap 15, Dillon was off the pace and coasted to a stop. Warrenfeltz continued at the front and with a one lap dash to the checkered, he charged to the finish by 1.09 second over Beavers who was trying to hold Dave Stouffer Jr. off.
"Jim (Cornett) was a race fellow," Warrenfeltz said. "He raced all his life and was around all the race tracks. Eddie learned everything he knew from his dad, just like me. Jim was a good guy too. He used to come to my garage and sit down. You couldn't ask for a nicer guy. He'd give you the shirt off his back. I wanted to win this thing tonight and I was going to run Kenny as hard as I had to try and get him. I didn't think I was going to get him."
Eddie McClellan and Kevin Boyer completed the top five. Kevin Koontz, Kenny Day and McClellan won the heats. Warrenfeltz was the Turner Bowling Centers Hard Charger.
Luck of the draw put Kenny Thomas, also of Greencastle, on the front row for the Enduro Dash. Thomas began to stretch his lead while three time season winner Krazy Kenny Thomas was coming from 17th. K. Thomas was nine seconds ahead when. K.K.Thomas moved into second on lap 16. He whittled the lead down t more than four seconds but spun in the closing laps and ended ten seconds back.
Race night changes to Friday (June 25) this week for the 3rd Annual Red Nininger Memorial, Three State Flyers 35-Lap Open event. There is a $500 bonus from Sunoco Race Fuel to the driver that wins both the Hagerstown and Winchester events. An Ernie D's Pure Stock Special also
Check the speedway website for any changes in the weather at: www.hagerstownspeedway.com or contact the speedway office at 301-582-0640.
Hagerstown Speedway Results
Late Models, 25 laps, 24 entries, (Lap Leaders - Alan Sagi 1-24, Gary Stuhler 25): 1.Gary Stuhler; 2.Alan Sagi; 3.Tyler Hershey; 4.Marvin Winters; 5.Mike Lupfer; 6.Frankie Plessinger; 7.Brian Booze; 8.Roy Deese Jr.; 9.Jerry Bard; 10.Bryan Bernheisel; 11.Andy Fries; 12.Al Shawver Jr.; 13.Jim Bernheisel; 14.Rusty Sites; 15.Kirk Baker; 16.Steve Gibney; 17.Al Cheney; 18.Stephan Evans; 19.Mike Steck; 20.Charlie Hagage; 21.James Myers; 22.Larry Baker; DNS-Paul Crowl, Tim Murphy
Hoosier Daddy, Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic Late Model Sportsman, 25 laps, 26 entries (Lap Leaders - Rodney Walls 1-3, Ashley Barrett 4-9, Pete Weaver 15-25 ): 1.Pete Weaver; 2.Steve Axtell Jr.; 3.Paul Cursey; 4.Scott Palmer; 5.Michael Collins (St. Thomas Towing/Checkered Flag Lube Hard Charger) 6.Wayne Walls Jr.; 7.Ryan Walls; 8.Terry Flaherty; 9.Ashley Barrett; 10.Donnie Farllng; 11.Fred Harden; 12.Robbie Beall; 13.Ronnie Dennis; 14.Courtney Shreiner; 15.Tom Erickson; 16.Chad Myers; 17.Kyle Wiser; 18.Steve Bailor; 19.Mike Walls; 20.Kyle Lear; 21.Richard Walls; 22.Nick Pappas; 23.Justin Hasting; 24.Rodney Walls; DNQ - Justin Weaver, DNQ-Anthony Lupini
15th Annual Cornett Tribute Ernie D's Pure Stocks, 20 laps, 20 entries (Lap Leaders - Kenny Day 1, Danny Beavers-2-3, Kenny Dillon 4-14, Mike Warrenfeltz 15-20) 1.Mike Warrenfeltz (Turner Bowling Centers Hard Charger); 2.Danny Beavers; 3.Dave Stouffer Jr.; 4.Eddie McClellan; 5.Kevin Boyer; 6.Kevin Koontz; 7.Frank Dibella; 8.Kenny Day; 9.Dave Mikolajski; 10.Kenny Dillon; 11.Charlie Pensinger; 12.Drew Fitzsimmons; 13.Keith Koontz; 14.Steve Lowery; 15.Darrin Younker; 16.Tony Catlett; 17.Rick Durbin; 18.Bill Ecton; 19.Mike Kratovil; DNS-Wayne Hawbaker
Enduro Dash, 30 laps, 18 entries (Lap Leaders Kenny Thomas 1-30): 1.Kenny Thomas; 2.Krazy Kenny Thomas; 3.Mark Vegh; 4.J.C.Butts; 5.Brandon Churchey; 6.Kyle Ripka; 7.Bruce Leibowitz; 8.Rodney Miner; 9.Bryan Green; 10.Danny Holmes; 11.John Poole; 12.Chris Ebersole; 13.Matt Smith; 14.Gary Cekovich; 15.Robin Koogler; 16.William Crook; 17.Dave Shatto; 18.George Rodgers
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