ANOTHER CHECKER FOR MILLS AT SUSQUEHANNA ON CHECKERED FLAG FAN CLUB NIGHT
Newberrytown, PA: Jamie Mills of Milford, Delaware captured his third Susquehanna Speedway victory of the year Friday night in impressive fashion on Checkered Flag Fan Club night. Mills moved through the field quickly driving high and low and picking off the competition one by one. Mostly making his passes on the high side, Jamie got by Kyle Strickler, Tracy Readinger, and Ray Swinehart in four consecutive laps to take the lead on lap nine. From that point he was never headed.
The Will Brown Truck Repair owned racer was sporting a new body in a plain wrapper with a number only on the side of the car. “We may not have looked pretty, but we were fast,” said Brown after the race. “We love this track, it’s our home track this year, and we are really hooked up right now.” That might be an understatement, but a lot has to do with the driver too. Mills is visibly flying into the turns like no other. The win also earned him a spot in the Victoria 200.
Ray Swinehart grabbed the early lead and put his J & L Speed Equipment racer in the groove and was running smooth and strong. Clear of traffic, it appeared Swinehart’s luck was going to change this night. Only a flying Mills and a last lap pass by Rick Laubach put Ray third, but a very solid finish for the savvy veteran.
Laubach chased Swinehart and Tracy Readinger for most of the race finally getting Readinger on lap 27 and then Swinehart on lap 29. Points leader, Jeff Strunk followed Laubach and was able to move between Swinehart and Readinger for a fourth place finish. That makes six consecutive top five placings for Strunk without a win. Brian Johnson drove an excellent race to come home sixth behind Readinger.
Strickler and Kevin Hirthler both appeared to be major contenders as each week they continue to impress. Both were as high as third at one point in the race. Hirthler went to the rear and came back for a ninth while Strickler developed mechanical difficulties and received his first DNF of the season. After all the shuffling behind Johnson, Randy Fortna emerged seventh followed by Bob Ebersole and Gary Hager came from last to tenth.
Chad Layton made no mistake who is the 358 sprint car king this year by beating a small field of 360 sprints in the other headline event. “I knew we had a great setup for here,” said Layton in victory lane. “We used to finish second behind Mike Lehman here a few years back, but we’ve improved and I wanted to show we could win here. We decided to come and race for the money and it sure paid off.” Layton pocketed $1200 for the win.
Layton led every lap of his heat and the feature only to be challenged by Jason Clauss, who also won his qualifying heat. Clauss made it close on a couple of occasions particularly in lapped traffic, but was unable to completely reel-in the steady Layton. Tim Dietz and Tim Hogue hung close to the leaders, but were mostly occupied with their own dual. Jason Hagenbuch held off Randy West for fifth.
John Stoll was looking for his second consecutive win to duplicate Ron Buck in the 4-cylinder stock feature. However, newcomer Arlin Brougher had other ideas. Dale Kreiser took the early lead before Stoll caught him on lap 3. Brougher got Kreiser the next lap and immediately got into a side by side battle with Stoll. Brougher forged his nose ahead at the half way point as highly competitive race saw seven cars race in the lead pack. Ed Hollenbach came home third, Kreiser fourth and two-time winner Buck finished fifth.
Twenty old time racers graced the York County oval as the PennMar Vintage Club was on hand for their racing exhibition. Lloyd Hockenberry of James Creek, PA in a 1970 Gremlin was challenged by last time winner Harry McConnell of Egg Harbor, NJ in his 1938 Buick Coupe. Hockenberry won the modified class while teammate Fred Thompson came home fifth in his 1932 Chevy Coupe and placed first in the sportsman class.
Another exciting 30-lap enduro saw former winner Matt Frye move from his ninth place start to first in 4 laps. Frye looked like a shoe-in until he went high in turn four on lap 13. One lap later Ray Repp, who has been knocking on the door saw the door of opportunity open for him. Repp took the lead and sailed to victory lane as Frye broke with mechanical problems. Twice winner, Karl Windish spun early and fought back for a third.
Excited about his triumph, Repp quipped in the winners circle, “Maybe we should have a time limit on the other divisions so that we can get to the enduro a little sooner.” That brought a cheer from a nice crowd of enduro fans. Ronald Vance drove a solid race for the runner-up spot. Greg Miller battled Repp early and came home fourth while Darrin Williams rounded out the top five.
The Modified point chase has primarily come down to next Friday, August 16th, where the Auger Twin 20’s will award points for both feature events. With only one more race to follow, the season outcome may pretty much be determined although that may not be the case for the title between the consistent Jeff Strunk and three-time winner Jamie Mills. Strunk leads Mills by just 23 points.
Handicapping points will line-up the first 20-lap feature, but a fan will draw a pill to invert the second feature. Many will take this opportunity to possibly garner their first win of the year.
The Hooters girls of York will also be on hand for the Super Sportsman Tour Series race rained out from opening day. At least 36 cars are expected to return from the opener including Frankie Herr who has won his last three visits to Susquehanna and is the current Tour Series point leader. Steve Wilbur and Tour stars Jim Shuttlesworth, J.R. Frye, and Carmen Perigo will be among the challengers. An Enduro is also scheduled to be on the card.
Gates will open at 5:00 pm on August 16th and the first heat is slated for 7:45 pm. For more information call the speedway or check out the website at www.susquehannaspeedway.com.
Summary:
PennMar Vintage Club: (12 Laps) 1- Lloyd Hockenberry; 2- Harry McConnell; 3- Phil Barkins; 4- Tom Martin; 5- Fred Thompson; 6- Stew Wenrich; 7- Pete Cobb; 8- Willie Brymesser; 9- Gary Vandergrift; 10- Chris Reed; 11- David Potteiger; 12- Tom Swanger; 13- Brian Brooks; 14- John McCardell; 15- Tom Errico; 16- Sean Coghill; 17- Mike Martin; 18- Larry Felty; DNS- Greg Emlet; DNS- Lamar Reinbold
4-Cylinder Stocks: (12 Laps) 1- Arlin Brougher; 2- John Stoll; 3- Ed Hollenbach; 4- Dale Kreiser; 5- Ron Buck; 6- Eric Hollenbach; 7- Wes Irwin; 8- Jerry Schott; 9- Sam Smith; 10- Barry Hawbacker; 11- Mike Buckley; 12- Michael Haag; 13- Zach Beck; 14- Ken Miller
Enduro: (30 Laps) 1- Ray Repp; 2- Ronald Vance; 3- Karl Windish; 4- Greg Miller; 5- Darrin Williams; 6- Tom Slanker; 7- Anthony Toumas; 8- Mike Mixell; 9- Rick Hippensteel, Jr.; 10- Rick Hippensteel, Sr.; 11- Charles Schomann; 12- Jerry Blauch; 13- Bill Devine; 14- Justin Ehrhart; 15- Sam Henry; 16- Randy Amend; 17- Adrian Barnhart; 18- Brian Lomman; 19- Michael Henry; 20- Matt Frye; 21- Nick Whitelaw; 22- Ray Burdge
Top 13 - 360 SPRINTS
Pos. Driver Car #
1 Chad Layton U1
2 Jason Clauss 08
3 Tim Dietz 0
4 Tim Hogue 39
5 Jason Hagenbuch 17H
6 Randy West 3
7 Duaine Smith 11
8 Roger Fickett 66
9 Heath Hehnly 13
10 Jeff Taylor 17T
11 Rick Horn 01
12 Ashley Bates 124
13 Judy Bates 121
Top 24 - 358 Modifieds
Pos. Driver Car #
1 Jamie Mills 1W
2 Rick Laubach 16
3 Ray Swinehart 33
4 Jeff Strunk W9
5 Tracy Readinger 2T
6 Brian Johnson 30
7 Randy Fortna 4$
8 Bob Ebersole 27
9 Kevin Hirthler 117
10 Gary Hager 44
11 Scott Albert 10
12 Danny Erb 44
13 Randy Mohn 505
14 Al Shawver 15
15 Jeff Ebersole 72
16 Darrell Rhine 2
17 John Tschudy 2
18 Scott Thunberg 10x
19 Todd Burley 5
20 Kyle Strickler 16
21 Larry Solomon 517
22 Brian Rehbein 55
23 Rich Brown 5
24 Todd Bashore 4