SHEPPARD $20,000 RICHER WITH TWO MODIFIED WINS, MILLER & RAHMER $10,000 WINNERS
The largest crowd in Octoberfest history witnessed Matt Shepard's awesome performance as he swept both the big block modified and the small block modified 100-lap features to pocket $20,000. The Waterloo, NY driver is the first to win two Octoberfest features in the same day. Fresh off a big win in the Hub-City National 150 last month, Jeremy Miller continued his hot streak by winning the 100-lap late model feature and $10,000. Fred Rahmer has won just about every race in the area except the Octoberfest. The Salfordville, Pa driver ended that winless streak Sunday by winning the 50-lap main event for the sprints and $10,000 to end his season with 34 wins in 2004 at area tracks.
A near record 242 late models, modified and sprint cars signed in for the 17th Annual Octoberfest 350 at the Hagerstown Speedway Saturday. Thirty-three qualifying events were reeled off Saturday to set the field for 350 laps of feature racing on Sunday.
Matt Sheppard started his record breaking day off on the pole in the 100-lap small block feature and quickly jumped out in front with Billy Decker and Jimmy Horton in pursuit. The top three started pulling away from the rest of the field as Decker pulled even with Sheppard on the back stretch on lap six. Sheppard held of the challenge as he started putting the slower cars a lap down on lap 13. Decker pulled even again on lap 15 and four laps later on lap 19, Decker took over the lead. But Sheppard came right back two laps later to regain the lead on lap 21. Sheppard was unable to hold on to the lead as Decker moved back on top on lap 24. At the fuel stop on lap 50, the top five were Decker, Sheppard, Hearn, Pat Ward and Horton.
During the fuel stop, Decker was disqualified for working on the car and Sheppard inherited the lead for the restart. While Shepard paced the field, Frank Cozze began to make his move passing Horton for fourth. On the lap 66 restart, Cozze went to the outside in turn two to take third from Ward as the top three of Sheppard, Hearn and Cozze began to pull away from the field. Cozze passed Hearn for second on lap 76 and two laps later Hearn pulled into the pits with a flat. Cozze kept the pressure on Sheppard puling even with the leader on lap 79. On lap 93, Cozze's front left tire started going flat as Ward moved into second. Ward was unable to track down the leader the final six laps as Sheppard recorded his first career win at Hagerstown. Ward and Keith Brightbill were next with 24th starting Kenny Brightbill fourth. Twenty-eighth starting Todd Burley rounded out the top five. Kyle Strickler was sixth after start 26th with Bobby Varin and Kevin Hirtler next. Cozze faded back to finish ninth on a flat with Billy Pauch Jr finishing out the top ten. Heat winners for the 77 small blocks were Sheppard, Horton, Decker, Varin. Pauch, Keith Brightbill and Ward. The consolations were won by Ryan Wyatt, H.J. Bunting Jr., Kenny Brightbill and J.R. Heffner.
Mark Smith blasted his way to the front from the outside pole in the 50-lap super sprint feature with Donnie Kreitz right on his bumper. As Smith, Kreitz and Weibley pulled away from the rest of the field, Glendon Forsythe brought out the first red flag when he flipped his car on the 10th lap. On the restart, Stevie Smith, who started 14th, passed Weibley for third and four laps later on lap 14 passed Kreitz for second. Stevie Smith then set his sights on M. Smith and on lap 17 he caught the leader. On the next lap, Stevie Smith passed Mark Smith right before a car spun in turn two. Stevie Smith backed his car into the guard rail trying to avoid the stopped car ending his day and turning the lead back to Mark Smith. On the restart, Greg Hodnett, who started 15th, passed Kreitz for second and began to challenge Mark Smith for the lead. While Hodnett was closing in on Smith, Fred Rahmer had worked his way back through the field after going to the pits early in the race to take second from Hodnet on lap 23. Hodnett came right back on the next lap to regain the runner-upspot and on lap 26, made contact with Mark Smith going for the lead ending Smith's day.
On the restart, Rahmer got a great jump and passed Hodnett going into the first turn to take the lead. Rahmer started putting the slower cars a lap down on lap 33 and on lap 37, Hodnet lost the handle in turn three turning second over to Lance Dewease. Rahmer had no trouble the rest of the way as he scored his 34th win for the 2004 season with Dewease recovering from a slow roll-over on the fourth lap to finish second. Kreitz, Darren Eash and Cliff Brian rounded out the top five. Finishing out the top ten were Blaine Heimbach, 22nd starting Alan Cole, Justin Collett, Richie Tobias and Pat Cooper. Kreitz, Mark Smith, Johnny Smith and Weibley were the heat winners for the 35 sprints with Niki Young the consolation winner.
Starting on the outside pole in the 100-lap big block modified feature, Matt Sheppard beat pole-sitter Billy Decker to the first turn to take the lead. Sheppard and Decker raced nose-to-tail as Frank Cozze moved into third on the 14th lap after starting eighth. The top three starting pulling away from the field and on the 35th lap began putting the slower cars a lap down. On lap 46, Cozze passed Decker for second and two laps later went high to pass Sheppard for the lead. But Cozze got loose and Decker slipped through to take the lead as Sheppard got caught behind a lapped car to drop back to fourth as the red flag was waved for the fuel stop on lap 50.
On the restart, Sheppard got a good jump and passed Cozze for second. Following another restart on lap 51, Sheppard again got a good start and took the lead from Decker. Sheppard was able to hold off Decker the rest of the way coming across the finish line eight car lengths in front. Keith Hoffman was third with Jimmy Horton fourth and 20th starting Ricky Elliott rounding out the top five. Kenny Brightbill, Duane Howard, Kyle Strickler, J.R. Heffner and Bob Varin completed the top ten. Heat winners for the 69 big blocks were Decker, Sheppard, Richie Tobias, Jeff Struck, Strickler and Horton. Heffner, Guy Sheldon, Pat Ward won the consolations.
Jackie Boggs grabbed the lead from the outside pole as pole-sitter Jeremy Miller and Brian Ruhlman fell in behind. Kenny Pettyjohn took over third on the next lap as Miller wasted no time taking the lead from Boggs on lap five. On the 16th lap, the caution was waved when Devin Friese came to a stop after making contact with Kirk Ryan. On lap 27, Boggs got a good jump on the restart and was the leader as the cars came around for the 28th lap. While Boggs was cruising out in front with Miller, Ryan brought out the caution after contact with Ruhlman. Boggs has no trouble on the restart and at the half-way mark it was Boggs, Miller, Pettyjohn, D.J. Myers and Ruhlman the top five. Boggs continued to set the pace on the restart and was well on his way to his first win at Hagerstown when his rear blew on the 68th lap turning the lead over to Miller. Miller had no serious challenge the rest of the way as he picked up the win by 10 car lengths over Pettyjohn. Myers settled for third with Ruhlman and Allan Brannon the top five. Gary Stuhler,. 28th starting John Mason, 26th starting David Pettyjohn, Dave Hess Jr. and Marvin Winters finished out the top ten. Heat winners for the 61 late models were Miller, Boggs, Ruhlman, Friese and K. Pettyjohn. Nathan Durboraw, Booper Bare and Winters won the consolation.
The Hagerstown Speedway will close out the 2004 season with the annual awards banquet on Saturday night, December 18th.
LATE MODELS: 61 Cars (Lap Leaders: Boggs, 1-4, 28-67; Miller, 5-27, 68-100)
1. Jeremy Miller; 2. Kenny Pettyjohn; 3. D.J. Myers; 4. Brian Ruhlman; 5. Allan Brannon; 6. Gary Stuhler; 7. John Mason; 8. David Pettyjohn; 9. Dave Hess Jr.; 10. Marvin Winters; 11. Mike Lupfer; 12. Tome Myers; 13. Dutch Davies; 14. Eric Myers; 15. Larry Wright; 16. Paul Crowl; 17. Jackie Boggs; 18. Frankie Plessinger; 19. Tommy Armel; 20. Chuck Shutz; 21. Charlie Schaffer; 22. Booper Bare; 23. Kirk Ryan; 24. Gerald Davis; 25. Jim Bernheisel; 26. Jason Covert; 27. Devin Friese; 28. Randy Stoudt; 29. Nathan Durboraw; 30. Ricky Elliott. DNQ: Richard Walls; Billy Decker; Mike Hardy; Mary Byram; Ray Davis Jr.; Rick Hulson; Corey Conley; Tim Wilson; David Lingo Jr.; Les Hare; Waylon Wagner; Jerry Fifield; Paul Cursey; Jason Flory; Dan Stone; Tom Decker Jr,; Matt Hubbard; Brad Ritter; T.J. Wright; Mike Wharton; Mike Lupfer; Richard Jarvis; Kristin Flory; Cody Shultz; Kerry King; Dave Rice Jr.; Billy Wampler; Vic Coffey; Scott LeBaron; Rick Whaley; Scott Dorman; Gary Beck Jr.;
BIG BLOCK MODIFIEDS: 69 Cars (Lap Leaders: Sheppard, 1-47, 52-100. Decker, 48-51)
1. Matt Shepard; 2. Billy Decker; 3. Keith Hoffman; 4. Jimmy Horton; 5. Ricky Elliott; 6. Kenny Brightbill; 7. Duane Howard; 8. Kyle Strickler; 9. J.R. Heffner; 10. Bob Varin; 11. Mike Gular; 12. Kevin Bolland; 13. Brian Berger; 14. Pat Ward; 15. Frank Cozze; 16. Greg VonDohren; 17. Howard O'Neal; 18. Richie Tobias; 19. Brett Hearn; 20. A.J. Romano; 21. Glen Reed; 22. Vic Coffey; 23. Jeff Strunk; 24. H.J. Bunting; 25. Dave Schrader; 26. Rick Laubach; 27. Guy Shedon; 28. Merio Page; 29. Kevin Hirtler. 30. Bob Ebersole. DNQ: Darren McCaughey; Mike Colsten; Rex King; Shawn Reimert; Jamie Mills; Tom Hager; Ryan Godown; Donny Radd; Brian Weaver; Christopher Glander; Michael Iles; Dan Humes; Keith Brightbill; Del Rougeux; Scott Irwin; Bruce Klein; Wade Hendrickson; Mark Forte Sr.; Sam Wescott; Chuck Bower; Craig Mullins; George Holbaugh; Tom Umbenhauer; Robert Kristyak; Steven Downs II; Tommy Beamer; David Reges; Deron Rust; John Buchman; Jon Kellner; Scott Smith; Chuck Tucker; Ryan Watt; Jeff Brown; Tim Fuller; Tim Millman; Kenny Hatt; DSQ: Norman Short Jr,; DNS: Dan Vauter
SPRINTS: 39 Cars (Lap Leaders: M. Smith, 1-17. 18-26. S. Smith, 19. Rahmer, 27-50)
1. Fred Rahmer; 2. Lance Dewease; 3. Don Kreitz; 4. Darren Eash; 5. Cliff Brian; 6. Blaine Heimbach; 7. Alan Cole; 8. Justin Collett; 9. Richie Tobias; 10. Pat Cooper; 11. Daryl Stimeling; 12. Mike Wagner; 13. Randy Baughman; 14. Brook Weibley; 15. Greg Hodnett; 16. Chad Layton; 17. Lucas Wolfe; 18. Johnny Smith; 19. Dan Shetler; 20. Mark Smith; 21. Kramer Williamson; 22. Steve Smith; 23. Glenndon Forsythe; 24. Ed Lynch Jr.; DNS: Eric Stambaugh. DNQ: Danny Murray; Joey Hershey; Bob Howard; Johnny Mackison; Jarod Larson; French Grimes; DNS: Kevin Frey; Bob Beidleman.
SMALL BLOCK MODIFIEDS: 77 Cars (Lap Leaders: Sheppard, 1-18. 21-23, 52-100. Decker, 19-20, 24-51)
1. Matt Sheppard; 2. Pat Ward; 3. Keith Brightbill; 4. Kenny Brightbill; 5. Todd Burley; 6. Kyle Strickler; 7. Bobby Varin; 8. Kevin Hirthler; 9. Frank Cozze; 10. Billy Pauch Jr.; 11. Jimmy Horton; 12. Andy Bachetti; 13. Brett Hearn; 14. Richie Pratt Jr.; 15. H.J. Bunting Jr.; 16. Bob Ebersole; 17. Ryan Watt; 18. J.R. Heffner; 19. Ricky Elliott; 20. Billy VanPelt; 21. Darren McCauchey; 22. Jason Hamilton; 23. Billy Decker; 24. Stuart Friesen; 25. Matt Delorenzo; 26. Tim Fuller; 27. Duane Howard; 28. Barry Readinger; 29. Keith Hoffman. DNS Brian Weaver. DNQ: Lyle Sherwood; Craig VonDohren; Tommy Beamer; Rick Laubach; Mike Colstein; Mike Gular; Will Decker; Chuck Bower; Michael Iles; Jordan Umbenhauer; Kevin Colllins; Matt Delorenzo; Scott Smith; Bob Lineman Jr.; Richie Tobias; Ryan Godown; Mike Butterworth; Adam Huff; Ron Eperthener; Jon Kellner; Paul Collins Jr.; Steve Folk; David Calaman; Junior Green; Charles Humes; Drew Ricco; Danny Johnson; Dion Lasall; Ryan Taylor; Mike Anderson; Colby Steele; Sean Merkel; Colt Harris; Jimmy Horton; Mike Crbac; Randy Stoudt; David Dubois; Amanda Scotts; Tim Millman; Bryan Coffey; Mark Forte Jr,; A.J. Roman. DNS: Wade Hendrickson; Canny Allen; Jeff Strunk; Thomas Hager.