JAROD LARSON AND DEL ROUGEUX JR. TOP WINNER�S LIST AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY; SHAWN DOMHOFF UPSETS KING BRENT IN E MODS; BRUCE SMITH AND DON BLAKE JR. ALSO SCORE
by Brian Spaid
May 16, 2004
FRANKLIN, PA � Sunny and warm conditions prevailed at Tri-City Speedway on Sunday night, and Jarod Larson (Northpointe Automotive Super Sprints), Del Rougeux Jr. (Schwab�s Ford DIRT Modifieds), Shawn Domhoff (RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods), Bruce Smith (E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks) and Don Blake Jr. (Victory Lane Graphics Thundercars) scored feature wins at the Venango County half-mile oval.
Jarod Larson of Rock Creek, Ohio, scored his first Super Sprint win at Tri-City since August 20, 2000. One week after that win, Larson flipped and suffered a neck injury. Since then, he has struggled at the Venango County half-mile oval. Last week, he finished second before completing the job this time around in his Clemson Excavating/Mark Thomas Ford Eagle No. 47.
�Usually, you�re not supposed to run the top here,� said Larson, �but it worked for us tonight. I knew some fast cars were coming behind me, and the lapped traffic was tough. I haven�t run well here for some time, probably due to that injury, but it worked well tonight.�
Andy McKisson jumped into the early lead with Larson zipping to the front on the second circuit off turn two. Larson took off from the pack while the rest of the field battled behind him. Former track champion Bobby Clark ran second by the fifth lap and set his sights on Larson. A mid-race caution allowed Clark to close the gap, but Larson ran superb on the restart. Near the end of the race, however, Clark caught and nearly passed Larson in traffic. The five-time Sharon Speedway champion held onto the lead, then raced on to his fourth career win at Tri-City.
Defending track champion Rod George ran third over the last half of the race, but he was no match for the leaders. Jason Jacoby finished fourth over Ed Lynch Jr., who nearly collided with a spinning McKisson on the ninth circuit. Scott Bonnell and Lynch won the Super Sprint heats.
Del Rougeux Jr. of Frenchville, Pa., collected his first win of the season in the 20-lap DIRT Modified feature. Taking the lead on the second lap, Rougeux was unchallenged the rest of the way for his fifth career win at Tri-City in his Vinyl Graphics Unlimited Bicknell No. 20D. Rougeux also collected an extra $100 for winning the first Coors DIRT Modified Bonus Bucks race of the season.
�The crew put a lot of time into the car this week, and they made it a rocket ship,� said the defending track champion. �Last week, we had a tough run, but we wrote it off and came back tonight to win. We want to repeat as champion, and we know we just need to win races and the points will come.�
A wild first lap wreck punctuated the race. Steve Young slammed the outside retaining wall while racing three-wide for position. With over half of the pack behind Young, many drivers took evasive action, but the accident collected a total of seven cars and stopped the race. No one was injured.
Once the race restarted, it ran non-stop and Rougeux passed polesitter Rex King for the lead. While Rougeux opened a comfortable advantage, the battle for second was a barnburner. On the 12th lap, Chris Schiffer, back racing after a one-year hiatus, used the outside cushion to vault into the runner-up slot. It appeared that Schiffer was closing the gap to Rougeux, however, lapped traffic entered the mix. On the 16th circuit, last week�s winner Andy Priest dashed under Schiffer and King for second. Priest went on to finish there over King and Schiffer, who swapped positions on the last lap. Jim Weller finished fifth. Brian Swartzlander, Rougeux and Dave Schrader won the DIRT Modified heat races. After suffering a driveshaft vibration in his heat race, Dave Murdick topped Nick Ritchey in an excellent B Main race.
In what can easily be termed a shocker, Shawn Domhoff of Harmony, Pa., defeated two-time defending track champion Brent Rhebergen in the 15-lap E Mod feature to score his second win in a row. On opening night, Domhoff was victorious while Rhebergen was out-of-town at the Alltel 100 at Batesville Speedway in Arkansas. This week, Rhebergen started on the pole position, but Domhoff, who started sixth, proved up for the challenge. Domhoff even did the unthinkable by passing the 33-time feature winner for the third win of his career at Tri-City.
�We beat him tonight,� said Domhoff, who drives the Domhoff Racing Engines Cyclone No. 13. �The car worked well and the track was hooked up. Brent gave me room and I gave him room. I may have pinched him a little bit in turn four, but you gotta do what you gotta do.�
From outside the third row, Domhoff immediately vaulted into second behind Rhebergen on the first circuit. He looked for racing room under the division king, and used a restart on the sixth circuit to his advantage. Rhebergen elected to restart the race from the outside of the front row. Domhoff used the inside lane to blast out front, then outdistanced Rhebergen through one more caution period for the upset win. Rhebergen finished second over Jim Frontz, Kari Gasser and Mike Potosky. Domhoff and Shawn Shingledecker captured the E Mod heats. As a result, Domhoff has two heat race and feature wins in two weeks of competition.
What a difference a week made for Bruce Smith of Rocky Grove, Pa. On opening night, Smith was involved in a turn two wreck on the opening lap of the Pro Stock feature, which knocked him from contention. This week, he stated on the outside pole and led every circuit of the 15-lap Pro Stock main and collected his seventh career win at Tri-City.
The victory was not an easy one. Smith survived four cautions for minor incidents and a mid-race challenge from Bobby Whitling. Gary Norman ran second the first three laps before Whitling, who failed to qualify for the opening night race due to a blown engine, moved into the position. On the 11th circuit , Smith pushed high in turn one, and nearly lost the lead to Whitling. He managed to regain the advantage through turns three and four. From there, Smith raced on to his first win of the season in his D/B&S Cabinets/J&A Tool Pontiac No. 36.
�I pushed up in turn one, and I realized I needed to calm down,� said Smith. �Then, I saw someone under me in turn three and I just hunkered down and drove it home.�
Behind Smith, Whitling held off the late-race charge of Danny Exley to finish second. Norman and defending track champion Darrell Bossard rounded out the top five finishers. Norman, Scott Myers, Smith and Bob Sloss scored wins in the Pro Stock heat races. Doug Calvert and last week�s feature winner Dave Ferringer won the B Mains.
In the 12-lap Thundercar main, Don Blake Jr. of Titusville, Pa., took advantage of Robby Switzer�s misfortune to score his first feature win of the season and the second of his career at Tri-City. Switzer took command on the opening lap, but lost a tire on the fourth circuit. Blake inherited the lead and was unchallenged the rest of the race.
�The track was slick with oil in turn two on the last lap,� said Blake beside his Monaco Cycle/Townville Auto & Equipment Chevrolet No. 43. �It was a little hairy, but we got the win.�
Kevin Cooper matched a career best finish in second. Cooper took the position on the fourth circuit when Switzer dropped out. Robby Torrens passed Cooper for the slot on the seventh lap. Then, Torrens unexpectedly spun in the second turn on the eighth lap. Cooper regained the spot as a result and held off Curt Bish Sr. in the end. Joe Blake and last week�s winner, Curt Bish Jr., rounded out the top five. The turn two oil slick referenced by Blake was from the engine of defending track champion Jeff Manners, which blew with less than two laps to go.
Tri-City Speedway will be back in action next Sunday May 23rd with a five-star racing program of the Northpointe Automotive Super Sprints, Schwab�s Ford DIRT Modifieds, RPM Auto Sales/Shawgo Real Estate E Mods, E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Pro Stocks and Victory Lane Graphics Thundercars on Coors Brewing Night. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Adult grandstand admission will be $10.
SUPER SPRINTS (20 Laps): 1. JAROD LARSON, 2. Bobby Clark, 3. Rod George, 4. Jason Jacoby, 5. Ed Lynch Jr., 6. Scott Bonnell, 7. Chad Hill, 8. Andy McKisson, 9. Rob Eyler, 10. Jimmy Weller, 11. Arnie Kent, 12. Todd Bauer, 13. Brent Covell, 14. Phil Mott, 15. Butch Beasley, 16. Brad Knab, 17. Mike Dehner, 18. Jerry Yoder, 19. Sheila Rankin, 20. Mel Straley, 21. Gale Ruth Jr., 22. Curtis Stroup, 23. Chris Matthews. DNS: Jeff Kasbee.
DIRT MODIFIEDS (20 Laps): 1. DEL ROUGEUX JR., 2. Andy Priest, 3. Rex King, 4. Chris Schiffer, 5. Jim Weller, 6. Brian Swartzlander, 7. Kevin Bolland, 8. Dave Schrader, 9. Joe Crawford, 10. Lenny Leibold Jr., 11. Chanda Reitz, 12. Josh Skarzenski, 13. Chad Reitz, 14. Gary Rankin, 15. John Buchanan, 16. Pete Simpson, 17. Steve Barr, 18. Jeremy Paup, 19. Dave Murdick, 20. Nick Ritchey, 21. Skip Moore, 22. Steve Young, 23. J.R. McGinley, 24. Garrett Krummert. DNS: Jason Longwell. DNQ: Russell King, Conny Allen, Dave Reges, John Boyer, Ed Alcorn, Tommy Kristyak, Jerry Schaffer.
E MODS (15 Laps): 1. SHAWN DOMHOFF, 2. Brent Rhebergen, 3. Jim Frontz, 4. Kari Gasser, 5. Mike Potosky, 6. Russ Dempsey, 7. Shawn Shingledecker, 8. Mike Samuelson, 9. Carl McKinney, 10. Rick Robinson, 11. Tim Rhoades, 12. Jeff Walters, 13. Ron Roncaglione, 14. Jeff Johnson, 15. Kenny Smith, 16. Bootie Petsko, 17. Chip Mahood, 18. Fred Bratchie, 19. Jamie Shetler, 20. Bruce Powell.
PRO STOCKS (15 Laps): 1. BRUCE SMITH, 2. Bobby Whitling, 3. Danny Exley, 4. Gary Norman, 5. Darrell Bossard, 6. Doug Iorio, 7. Shaun Hooks, 8. Dave Ferringer, 9. Jason Johns, 10. Rich Allen, 11. Joe Drusko, 12. Doug Calvert, 13. Rusty Kellogg, 14. Gary Sullivan, 15. Arthur Edwards, 16. Jack Keesey, 17. Doug Iorio II, 18. Scott Myers, 19. Rod Laskey, 20. Jamie Duncan, 21. Bob Sloss, 22. Gary Robinson, 23. Joe Lockhart, 24. Andy Buckley. DNS: Tim Balach, Ronnie Davis. DNQ: Dave Myers, Russ Coyne, George Kafantaris, Terry Wheeler, Denny Crawford, Matt Keith, Bob Gabrielson, Dave Gadley, Matt Thomas, Chris Brown, Ron Iorio, Chester Raup.
THUNDERCARS (12 Laps): 1. DON BLAKE JR., 2. Kevin Cooper, 3. Curt Bish Sr., 4. Joe Blake, 5. Curt Bish Jr., 6. Chad Myers, 7. Robby Torrens, 8. Wearne Cook, 9. John Miller II, 10. Jesse Deloe, 11. John K. Miller, 12. Regina Deloe, 13. Jeff Manners, 14. Matt Zinz, 15. Robby Switzer, 16. Carl Feely.