"358" sprint feature curtailed by rain on lap 2; will be made up May 31st;
Thundercar feature make-up date to be determined
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA, 5/3/08 - A bizarre twist of fate during a mid-race red flag gave Jeff Shepard the break he needed in the 5th Annual Weldon Sterner Memorial for "410" sprint cars at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night.
And the Upperco, MD, sprint star took advantage, to claim his first win in three years in the Pigeon Hills.
Shepard started fifth and was running second when a flipping Jeff Busby stopped green flag action for the first time in the event.
During the red, Cody Darrah, who took the lead from race-long leader T.J. Stutts on the seventh lap, was forced into the pits to change a flat right rear. The leader change also put two lapped cars back onto the lead lap, and put the Zemco Headers/Zemco Tool & Die #1 on the point for the restart.
Shepard, who ran his first sprint car race at Lincoln 21 years ago, drove away from the rest of the field to score a 3.59-second win and claim the $5,000 top prize in the 30 lap contest.
Defending champ Fred Rahmer came from 20th starting spot to pass Stutts for second on the 21st lap, but could not close on Shepard. In fact, Shepard double his lead over the final nine laps.
"I love this track!" exclaimed Shepard in victory lane, "This track is in great shape, the crowd is great, and I just enjoy racing here."
Stutts settled for third, with Lance Dewease and Alan Krimes completing the top five. Sixth through tenth were Michael Carber, 16th-starting Cris Eash, 14th-starting Brian Leppo, 17th-starting Brian Montieth, and 22nd-starting Chad Layton, who was sporting the Sterner Cement top wing in honor of the memorial event.
Heats for the 410 sprints were won by Leppo, Jim Siegel and Cris Eash, with Niki Young winning the consolation. Fast time in time trials over the 27-car field was set by Cody Darrah with a 1-lap time of 13.875-seconds (97.297 MPH).
Aaron Ott set a new 10-lap track record in his heat and was leading on lap two of the "358" sprint feature when the rains came during a caution. The remainder of the feature will be made up as an addition to a regular three-division show on May 31st.
Ott’s 10-lap record of 2 minutes, 24.16 seconds bested the old record by more than two seconds.
Other heats for the 43 "358" sprint were won by Dale Hammaker, Glenndon Forsythe, and Kevin Nouse. Twin consolations were won by Brian Eichelberger and Gerard McIntyre Jr..
The thundercar feature will be made up at a date still to be determined.
Heats for the 21 thundercars were won by Rick Weaver and Kyle Martin.
Next Saturday night, May 10th at 7 PM, it will be York County Racing Club Night featuring all three regular point divisions for the second week in-a-row - the Cindy Rowe Auto Glass 410 Sprints, the Keizer Aluminum Wheels 358 Sprints and thundercars. Gates will open at 5 PM.
To get all the latest news, results, schedule changes and rule changes, visit Lincoln Speedway’s website at http://www.lincolnspeedway.com to stay up-to-date on all the action or pending weather conditions at Central Pennsylvania’s "Premier" Saturday night race track - The Fabulous Lincoln Speedway.
RACE RESULTS
Saturday - May 3, 2008
LINCOLN SPEEDWAY
Abbottstown, PA
5TH ANNUAL WELDON STERNER MEMORIAL
410 SPRINTS:
Feature (30 Laps) - 1. 1-Jeff Shepard ($5,000); 2. 51-Fred Rahmer; 3. 39-TJ Stutts; 4. 30C-Lance Dewease; 5. 87-Alan Krimes; 6. 22Z-Michael Carber; 7. 17E-Cris Eash; 8. 71-Brian Leppo; 9. 21-Brian Montieth; 10. 25-Chad Layton; 11. 10N-Niki Young; 12. 30-Doug Esh; 13. 89-Cody Darrah; 14. 9-Craig Keel; 15. 6W-Josh Wells; 16. 99-Davey Sammons; 17. 26-Pat Cooper; 18. 11C-Cory Haas; 19. 4-John Rudisill (DNF); 20. 59-Jim Siegel (DNF); 21. 47J-Jeff Busby (DNF); 22. 38N-Nick Schlauch Jr. (DNF); 23. 20-Ryan Taylor (DNF); 24. 25o-Aaron Ott (DNF). No Time
Lap Leaders - TJ Stutts (1-7), Cody Darrah (8-15), Jeff Shepard (16-30)
1st Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 71-Brian Leppo; 2. 89-Cody Darrah; 3. 22Z-Michael Carber; 4. 87-Alan Krimes; 5. 51-Fred Rahmer; 6. 21-Brian Montieth; 7. 6W-Josh Wells; 8. 10N-Niki Young; 9. 4-John Rudisill. Time - 2:14.755
2nd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 59-Jim Siegel; 2. 38N-Nick Schlauch Jr.; 3. 39-TJ Stutts; 4. 11C-Cory Haas; 5. 25-Aaron Ott; 6. 30C-Lance Dewease; 7. 20-Ryan Taylor; 8. 99-Davey Sammons; DNS - 12-Mike Bittinger. Time - 2:17.068
3rd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 17E-Cris Eash; 2. 1-Jeff Shepard; 3. 26-Pat Cooper; 4. 9-Craig Keel; 5. 25-Chad Layton; 6. 47J-Jeff Busby; 7. 30-Doug Esh; 8. 5-Adam Lawrence; 9. 3W-John Westbrook (DNF). No Time
Consolation (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 10N-Niki Young; 2. 6W-Josh Wells; 3. 20-Ryan Taylor; 4. 99-Davey Sammons; 5. 30-Doug Esh; 6. 4-John Rudisill; 7. 5-Adam Lawrence. Time - 2:18.979
Time Trials - 1. 89-Cody Darrah, 13.875 seconds (97.297 MPH); 2. 39-TJ Stutts, 13.883; 3. 47J-Jeff Busby, 13.917; 4. 10N-Niki Young, 13.944; 5. 30C-Lance Dewease, 13.948; 6. 1-Jeff Shepard, 13.985; 7. 22Z-Michael Carber, 14.028; 8. 59-Jim Siegel, 14.048; 9. 3W-John Westbrook, 14.072; 10. 87-Alan Krimes, 14.105; 11. 11C-Cory Haas, 14.112; 12. 9-Craig Keel, 14.172; 13. 6W-Josh Wells, 14.205; 14. 12-Mike Bittinger, 14.209; 15. 26-Pat Cooper, 14.250; 16. 71-Brian Leppo, 14.288; 17. 38N-Nick Schlauch Jr., 14.358; 18. 17E-Cris Eash, 14.370; 19. 21-Brian Montieth, 14.400; 20. 20-Ryan Taylor, 14.422; 21. 30-Doug Esh, 14.586; 22. 51-Fred Rahmer, 14.684; 23. 25o-Aaron Ott, 14.693; 24. 25-Chad Layton, 14.756; 25. 4-John Rudisill, 14.925; 26. 99-Davey Sammons, 14.973; 27. 5-Adam Lawrence, 15.031.
KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS
358 SPRINTS:
Feature (20-Laps) - Postponed until May 31st
1st Heat (10 Laps/4 to qualify) - 1. 66-Dale Hammaker; 2. 27-Jay Galloway; 3. 15-Adam Wilt; 4. 7V-Jeff Rohrbaugh; 5. 1-Tim Wagaman; 6. 55-Jimmy Layton; 7. 21-Adrian Shaffer; 8. 6S-Bill Sherman; 9. 45-Colt White (DNF); 10. 22T-Matt Boland (DNF); 11. 6-Brad McClelland (DNF). No Time
2nd Heat (10 Laps/4 to qualify) - 1. 5T-Glenndon Forsythe; 2. 35-Steve Owings; 3. 5X-Ricky Stonebraker; 4. 11T-Eric Tomecek; 5. 55E-Brian Eichelberger; 6. 34-Austin Reed; 7. 66N-Nate Hammaker; 8. 50-Tim Berkheimer; 9. 28-Keith Prutzman; 10. 17-Matt Beasley; 11. 18-Scott Lehman. Time - 2:30.81
3rd Heat (10 Laps/4 to qualify) - 1. 4R-Kevin Nouse; 2. 15B-John Barnett; 3. 8D-Billy Dietrich; 4. 23-Todd Rittenhouse Jr.; 5. 16-Gerard McIntyre Jr.; 6. 11D-Mike Duncan; 7. 77-Derek Locke; 8. 32-Chad Myers; 9. 75-Nicole Bower; 10. 01A-Denny Gross (DNF); DNS - 36T-Peter Bartley. No Time
4th Heat (10 Laps/4 to qualify) - 1. 25-Aaron Ott; 2. 81B-Bob Anderson; 3. 88-Danny Dietrich; 4. 65-Cale Griffin; 5. 99-Joe Trone Jr.; 6. 16M-Craig Myers; 7. 91-Scott Geesey; 8.84C-Chad Criswell; 9. 67-Jason Cherry; 10. 28H-Billy Heltzel Jr. Time - 2:24.16 (New 10-Lap Track Record - old record was 2:26.29 set by Eric Tomecek on 5/13/2006)
1st Consolation (10 Laps/4 to qualify)- 1. 55E-Brian Eichelberger; 2. 1-Tim Wagaman; 3. 34-Austin Reed; 4. 55-Jimmy Layton; 5. 66N-Nate Hammaker; 6. 21-Adrian Shaffer; 7. 50-Tim Berkheimer; 8. 28-Keith Prutzman; 9. 17-Matt Beasley; 10. 6S-Bill Sherman; 11. 18-Scott Lehman; 12. 45-Colt White (DNF); 13. 22T-Matt Boland (DNF); DNS - 6-Brad McClelland. Time - 2:31.85
2nd Consolation (10 Laps/4 to qualify) - 1. 16-Gerard McIntyre Jr.; 2. 99-Joe Trone Jr.; 3. 16M-Craig Myers; 4. 91-Scott Geesey; 5. 77-Derek Locke; 6. 32-Chad Myers; 7. 11D-Mike Duncan; 8. 75-Nicole Bower; 9. 01A-Denny Gross; 10. 28H-Bill Heltzel Jr. (DNF); 11. 84C-Chad Criswell (DNF); DNS - 67-Jason Cherry, 36T-Peter Bartley. No Time
Thundercars:
Feature (20 Laps) - Postponed to a date yet to be determined
1st Heat (8 Laps) - 1. 70-Rick Weaver; 2. 1-Neil Smith; 3. 3W-Duane Watson; 4. 76-Bob Bare; 5. 25-Sam Gallagher; 6. 60-Danny Beard; 7. 33-Gino Comi; 8. 54J-Jimmy Combs; 9. 77-Justin Mong; 10. 00-Barry Rinehart; 11. 93-Mikey Guise. Time - 2:38.32
2nd Heat (8 Laps) - 1. 54-Kyle Martin; 2. 21N-Larry Niederer; 3. 15-Dave Reever Jr.; 4. 9-Al Crammer; 5. 20-Scott Fisher; 6. 1E-Greg Emlet Jr.; 7. 61-Mike Slaybaugh; 8. 21-Ronnie Thomas (DNF); 9. 57-Brad Shank (DNF); 10. 61M-Hurricane Menges (DNF). No Time
