RICK LAUBACH & GARY HAGER WIN SUSQUEHANNA TWIN 20’S
Newberrytown, PA: Rick Laubach of Quakertown won his second race of the season at Susquehanna Speedway in a thrilling race while Gary Hager and Kevin Nouse in the Super Sportsman captured their first wins of the year. The Auger Manufacturing Specialists Twin 20’s for Modifieds almost saw two new Susky winners as Brian Johnson also from Quakertown led till four laps to go and nearly pulled off the upset.
Rich Brown drove away with the early lead and held on for the first seven laps. That’s when Brian Johnson took over and appeared to be in control. Lap 2 saw Randy Mohn spin causing an eight car tangle and shuffling the running order drastically. The accident only sidelined Randy Fortna, but under the Susky rule of falling into position under the yellow, both Jamie Mills and Todd Burley did a masterful job of avoiding the skirmish, but lost a number of positions.
The race was to watch these two battle through traffic enroute to the front. Mills darted between cars and in one move three abreast on the outside passed six cars in turn one and two. Mills looked unstoppable until he met Johnson at the halfway point. The two raced side by side, but Johnson was too strong. Finally, Laubach joined the lead party and got under Mills on lap 14.
Laubach then used Mills’ idea and moved to the outside on Johnson. The two cars looked glued together, but Laubach nosed ahead and went on to the victory. “This was an exciting win, but it wasn’t easy,” said a happy Laubach in the winner’s circle. “The competition here is tough. It’s really fun racing here when the track is fast like tonight and we are hooked up on the outside.”
Johnson’s near miss earned him a second followed by Mills and a charging Ray Swinehart. Rich Brown held on for fifth and former Sportsman champ, Tom Umbenhauer got sixth. Todd Burley worked his way back to seventh as Scott Albert, Gary Hager and Tracy Readinger rounded out the top ten. A young fan drew pill number ten for the invert for the second feature event.
Pole sitter Tracy Readinger and twice runner-up Todd Burley starting fourth appeared to be awfully tough to beat. It proved to be true as Readinger led the first seven circuits. Burley moved passed Umbenhauer for third and sandwiched in the middle was Gary Hager. Unphased, Hager moved past Readinger for the lead and never looked back. Burley got Readinger on Lap 10, but had nothing for Hager.
“This is exactly what we needed,” said Hager in victory lane. “It’s my 23rd career win, but it’s my first of the year and my first in a modified here.” The New Jersey tow caused Gary to miss warm-ups and start in the rear of the last heat. “We started off here with some bad luck, but this is the reason we kept coming back here,” explained a jubilant victor.
Hager of Stewartsville, New Jersey was the first of four different states in the top four. Burley of Spencerport, New York was second. Pennsylvania’s Tracy Readinger was third and Mills of Milford, Delaware was fourth. Rich Brown would have had a pair of fifths, but was disqualified for an illegal carburetor. Ray Swinehart got fifth. Sixth through tenth were Danny Erb, Scott Albert, Brian Johnson, Tom Umbenhauer and Todd Marburger.
The Hooter’s girls of York hosted the Super Sportsman Tour Series race as both point leaders have a special liking to the York County oval. Ironically, it was not a good night for either Frankie Herr or Steve Wilbur as both left the event in the early going. Skip Findley brought the winged warriors around for lap 1, but Denny Willey quickly took over the top spot.
Willey led for most of the race with Findley on his heels. Kevin Nouse was visibly working his way through the pack from his 11th starting position. Once he managed to set his sights on the leaders, Nouse moved into third, second and the lead in consecutive laps taking the top spot away from Willey with five to go.
A real happy camper and genuinely appreciative of the people that gave him a chance, the rookie driver thanked those that gave him the opportunity. Willey and Findley followed Nouse across the line with Ryan Rupp and Rich Eichleberger filling out the top five. A closely competitive field had Ken Carberry, Russ Mitten, Howie Locke, Joe Reneker and Bob Howard rounding out the top ten.
When the 30-lap enduro takes to the track, hold on to your hat and buckle your seat belt because it’s petal to the metal time. Justin Ehrhart captured the early lead and held on till two-time winner, Karl Windish caught him and wrestled the top spot away on lap 10. Ehrhart re-captured it on lap 15, but this was only the beginning of the excitement.
Windish tried to regain the spot, but smoke started pouring from his machine. Meanwhile the pack of Matt Smith, Greg Miller and Darrin Williams caught Ehrhart. The four cars drove door to door for the lead. All three cars got Ehrhart on lap 26 with four to go. Miller making a pass on Smith for the checker lost control on the last turn and spun out. Williams got by for second, Ehrhart third, while Ray Repp and Charles Schomann came home fourth and fifth.
Jamie Mills will be crowned track champion next week on August 23rd in the final point race. With an idle Jeff Strunk, Mills moved ahead and clinched the title with his third and fourth in the Twin 20’s. Mills leads in feature wins, heat wins, and eventually money earned.
Summary:
Super Sportsman Feature: (20 Laps) 1- Kevin Nouse; 2- Denny Willey; 3- Skip Findley; 4- Ryan Rupp; 5- Rich Eichleberger; 6- Ken Carberry; 7- Russ Mitten; 8- Howie Locke; 9- Joe Reneker; 10- Bob Howard; 11- Dave Calaman; 12- Tom Haxall; 13- Bobby Hockenberry; 14- Smokey Snellbaker; 15- Paul Troutman; 16- Dave Berkheimer; 17- Dave Neuman; 18- Danny Hager; 19- John Stehman; 20- Billy Schoffstall; 21- Frankie Herr; 22- Steve Wilbur; 23- Duaine Smith; 24- Steve Cannon
Heats: Reneker, Eichleberger, Nouse
Enduro: (30 Laps) 1- Matt Smith; 2- Darrin Williams; 3- Justin Ehrhart; 4- Ray Repp; 5- Charles Schomann; 6- Jerry Blauch; 7- Greg Miller; 8- Rick Hippensteel; 9- Dave Yingst; 10- Mike Mixell; 11- Chris Wertz; 12- Sam Henry; 13- Mike Goodwin; 14- Adrian Barnhart; 15- Anthony Toumas; 16- Bill Devine; 17- Karl Windish; 18- Tom Slanker; 19- Ronald Vance; 20- Rickey Hippensteel; 21- Brian Lomman
Top 24 - 358 Modifieds
(1st Feature)
Pos. Driver Car #
1 Rick Laubach 16
2 Brian Johnson 30
3 Jamie Mills 1W
4 Ray Swinehart 33
5 Rich Brown 5
6 Tom Umbenhauer 88
7 Todd Burley 5
8 Scott Albert 10
9 Gary Hager 44
10 Tracy Readinger 2T
11 Kevin Hirthler 117
12 Randy Stoudt R10
13 Danny Erb 44
14 Scott Davis 27
15 Todd Bashore 4
16 Jeff Ebersole 72
17 Randy Mohn 505
18 Kyle Strickler 16
19 Jeff Graby 77
20 John Tschudy 2
21 Al Shawver 15
22 Todd Marburger 18
23 Brian Rehbein 55
24 Randy Fortna 4$
Top 24 - 358 Modifieds
(2nd Feature)
Pos. Driver Car #
1 Gary Hager 44
2 Todd Burley 5
3 Tracy Readinger 2T
4 Jamie Mills 1W
5 Ray Swinehart 33
6 Danny Erb 44
7 Scott Albert 10
8 Brian Johnson 30
9 Tom Umbenhauer 88
10 Todd Marburger 18
11 Kevin Hirthler 117
12 Jeff Graby 77
13 Todd Bashore 4
14 Al Shawver 15
15 John Tschudy 2
16 Randy Mohn 505
17 Scott Davis 27
18 Randy Fortna 4$
19 Kyle Strickler 16
20 Rick Laubach 16
21 Brian Rehbein 55
22 Randy Stoudt R10
23 Jeff Ebersole 72
24 Rich Brown 5