Russell, Smith, Boyer and Smeal Add Names to Winners List at Central PA Speedway

5/28/04

Bill Walker

On a night when there was finally no threat of rain to be had, Nathan Russell, (Pepsi Chargers) Brian Smith, (Budweiser Late Models) Brent Boyer, (Stocker Chevrolet Subaru Small Block Modifieds) and Dan Smeal (Shortway Services Inc. Pro Street Stocks) picked up their first career victories at the areas fastest 3/8 mile clay oval on Rebel Chassis trophy night.

First to take to the racing surface were the Pepsi Chargers and at the onset Mark Vail jumped to the point followed closely by Denny Weisgarber. The pair battled nose to tail for the first four circuits until Nathan Russell made it three wide coming off of turn four to take over first. Weisgarber would remain second and continued to work Russell for the win, but at the waving of Alan Luzier’s checkers it was Russell pulling away for the victory. Following Russell the line were Weisgarber, Darren Lucas, Jason Peters and Vail

Next to roll out were the Budweiser Late Models for the held over Hub-City National 150 qualifier. Drawing the number one position would be Matt Gaston but at the dropping of the green flag outside pole sitter Shawn McGarvey would grab the lead. Gaston would hound McGarvey until lap nine when an on track incident would retire him for the night. Next to pick up the chase would be Chuck Kennedy who would follow in the leaders foot steps until lap twelve when McGarvey ran over some debris from a multi care incident and had the right rear tire go flat. With Kennedy in command Dwayne Taneyhill snuck by on the ensuing restart to claim the lead. Taneyhill would lead until lap fourteen when he and Kennedy were racing close and got together causing a caution that put the duo at the tail of the field and handed the top spot to Brian Smith who was making his first trip to Central PA Speedway in 2004. With the green again waving Yvette Hahn and the twenty fourth place starter Luke Hoffner picked up the chase and the three went nose to tail over the final six laps as Smith claimed his first ever Central PA Speedway victory and the berth to compete in the Hub-City National 150 in Hagerstown, MD. When asked in victory lane if he would be making the trip to represent Central PA Speedway Smith simply said “I sure will.” Rounding out the top fiver were Hahn, Hoffner, Bill Henney and McGarvey. Heats were won by McGarvey and Kennedy.

The Stocker Chevrolet Subaru Small Block Modifieds would take their turn on the speedway with Brent Boyer moving out to the early lead. On a lap one restart Kevin Dickson caught several fellow competitors sleeping and made a big move to the second position. Boyer would build more than a full straight away advantage that would be erased on a lap eight incident involving Mike Butterworth. With the green out again, Boyer picked up where he left off building a commanding lead. On lap thirteen the engine in Dickson’s number 34 began to sour and allowed Bill Krause and Butterworth to move by for position. In the end Boyer was just too strong for any competitor on this night and added his name to the Central PA Speedway winners list. Behind Boyer in the top five were Krause, Butterworth, Derek Rodkey and Scott “Snuffy” Smith. Butterworth and Boyer picked up heat race wins.

Next on the blocks would be the “King of the Mountain Challenge” For the Shortway Services Inc. Pro Street Stocks. On the pole would be Emory Reinhart Jr. flanked by Trent Ogden who was making his first start at Central PA Speedway. On the start, Dan Smeal from the third position on the grid slipped by the front pair to garner the top position. Smeal looking for victory number one of 2004 was shadowed by Reinhart Jr. and Ogden. While working lap number five ninth place starter Denny Fenton moved by Ogden and began to run down Reinhart in second. The duo chased the leader and while working lapped traffic on the eleventh circuit Reinhart made heavy impact with a lapped car and was retired for the evening while Fenton ran over some debris and had a tire go flat. This misfortune gave Ogden another shot at Smeal on the restart, but he was able to get away. With the white flag waving Scott Stein was able to move by Ogden to claim the runner up spot. With less than a lap to go Smeal would not be denied as he would gain just his first victory of the 2004 campaign. Behind Smeal at the line were a heavily smoking Stein, Ogden, Jim Saylor and Scott Alvetro. Fenton, Smeal and Jason Walker copped the heats and Bill Dickson won the B-Main.

Making their way out next would be twenty four Lias Tire Pure Street Stocks and with Rick Hemphill (making his first ever trip to Central PA Speedway) and Josh Jacoby starting out front it promised to be an action filled event. Hard charger Craig Bainey used all of his talent and was able to get by and lead lap number one while Jacoby and Hemphill gave chase. While working lap number five Hemphill was able to slide by Jacoby for second and set his sights on the leader Bainey and on lap ten powered past for the lead. Hemphill’s lead would be short lived as he had problems and fell out of contention. Bainey would show the way over the final two laps to grab his second victory of the season. In line behind C. Bainey were Jason Bainey, Jacoby, Chad Bender and Frank Little. Grabbing heat wins were C. Bainey and Hemphill.

The final event of the evening would come down for the Sunoco Race Fuels Pro Four Cylinders. With green in the air, third place starter Vernon Nixon stole the lead followed by Bob Ralston Jr., Alan Barnett and Leo Bomboy. Eight place starter Levi Ardrey began moving his machine through the field and by lap seven wasted no time moving by Nixon. Nixon battled back but on this night Ardrey was too strong as he picked up victory number three on the season. In the top five behind Ardrey were Nixon, Barnett, Ralston Jr. and Bill Washek. The lone heat was won by Ardrey.

BIG BEAR TRACKS:

114 cars filled the pits including twenty four Budweiser Late Models, fourteen Stocker Chevrolet Subaru Small Block Modifieds, Thirty Four Shortway Services Inc Street Stocks, twenty five Lias Tire Pure Street Stocks, eight Pro Four Cylinders and nine chargers. Next on the schedule for Central PA Speedway on Friday, June 4th will be a regular show plus the first ever appearance of the PA 305 sprints and an exhibition with the Eastern Museum of Motorsports.

Hope to see you all next week at THE BIG BEAR!

Summary:

Pepsi Chargers:

1.Nathan Russell 2.Denny Weisgarber 3.Darren Lucas 4.Jason Peters 5.Mark Vail 6.Lynn Stiver

Budweiser Late Models:

1.Brian Smith 2.Yvette Hahn 3.Luke Hoffner 4.Bill Henney 5.Shawn McGarvey 6.Jason Witherite 7.Bob McMillen 8.Ed Connor 9.Dwayne Taneyhill 10.Loren Sallack 11.Dan Stormer 12.Kip Charles 13.Chuck Kennedy 14.Eric Moore 15.Rick Maxim Jr. 16.Jerry Lower 17.Chris Farrell 18.Chris Clark 19.T.J. Fleck 20.Matt Gaston 21.Doug Ishler 22.Jim Parson 23.Tim Sties DNS Bernie Whiteford

Stocker Chevrolet Subaru Modifieds:

1.Brent Boyer 2.Bill Krause 3.Mike Butterworth 4.Derek Rodkey 5.Scott “Snuffy” Smith 6.Marvin Williams 7. 8. Ron Butterworth 9. Connie Allen 10.Kevin Dickson 11.Fred Heis 12.Jimmy Holden 13.Mark Frankhouser 14.Brad Rapp

Shortway Services Inc. of Reynoldsville Pro Street Stocks:

1.Dan Smeal 2.Scott Stein 3.Trent Ogden 4. Jim Saylor 5. Scott Alvetro 6.Todd Mathews 7.Dayton Nixon 8.Bob Roseman 9.Jamie Price 10.Ashley Barrett 11.Denny Fenton 12.Bo Noll 13.Andy Buckley 14.Tom Williams 15.Bill Lanigan 16.Emory Reinhart Jr. 17.Jason Walker 18.Ray Billotte 19.Gary Conklin 20.Duane Kirk 21.Jake Griffith 22.Rich Howell 23.Andrew Tressler 24.Bill Dickson

Lias Tire Pure Street Stocks:

1.Craig Bainey 2.Jason Bainey 3.Josh Jacoby 4.Chad Bender 5.Frank Little 6.Allen Robison 7.Rob Bailey 8.Sam McClellan 9.Rick Hemphill 10.B.J. Hudson

Sunoco Race Fuels Pro Four Cylinders:

1.Levi Ardrey 2.Vern Nixon 3.Alan Barnett 4.Bob Ralston Jr. 5.Bill Washek 6.Leo Bomboy 7.Dan Witherow 8.Scott McCartney