Schrum wins first in Sprints; King makes it two-in-a-row in Sharon Modifieds

by Mike Leone

HARTFORD, OH (Aug. 4, 2000) — Sharon Speedway completed the 13th racing program of 2000 on Friday night. Picking up wins were Jeff Schrum-Sunburst Environmental 410 Sprint Cars, Rex King-Gibson-Governor Insurance Agency Big-Block Modifieds, Richard Stiffler-Coy Bros. E-Mods, Carl Davis-Burghill Auto Salvage Stock Cars, and Brian King-Micro Sprints.

Jeff Schrum returned to victory lane in the 20-lap Sunburst Environmental 410 Sprint Car Feature for the first time in many years. "It's been a long time," said the Canfield, Ohio driver. "We've had a lot of tough luck, and I appreciate Shawn (Minor) hanging in their with me."

Schrum passed C.W. Harshman on the start to set the early pace, while Tommy Burns Jr. raced from fourth into second. Doug Kekich was on the move from fifth, passing Andy McKisson for third on lap three and Burns for second on lap five in traffic. Two cautions for Scott Bonnell slowed action with eight and nine laps completed.

When racing resumed, Kekich blasted by Schrum in turn three for the lead. Kekich caught heavy traffic with five laps to go. On lap 16, Kekich was trying to put a move on Bill Jones and got into him sending Kekich flipping. The accident also involved Jim Brauer and McKisson. Kekich and Brauer were okay, but done for the night.

This gave the lead Schrum, who never looked back for the win in the Shawn Minor-owned, Minor Performance/Greenwood Chevrolet-sponsored #2m. "We weren't the fastest car tonight," said Schrum. "It's unfortunate that happened to Doug (Kekich), but it played into our hands tonight."

Burns held on for second. Marty Ling, who flipped in hot laps, came from 21st to finish third over point leader Gary Edwards and Brad Ellenberger. Completing the top ten were Paul White Jr., McKisson, Jarod Larson, Jones, and Mike Kekich. Burns and Ellenberger scored heat wins over the 24-car field.

Rex King won a wild 20-lap Gibson-Governor Insurance Agency Big-Block Modified Feature for his second straight win. "We've had some problems early this year," said the Bristolville, Ohio winner. "We're finally getting everything dialed in."

John Braymer took the lead from the outside pole and led the first four laps until a caution. On the restart, Andy Priest went from third to take the lead. Priest held the top spot until the lap seven restart, when King went from third to the lead. Once in front, King survived two more restarts for the win in his King Bros. #65. Lou Blaney came from 10th to finish second after getting by John Braymer on lap nine. Jason Engles recorded his best career Sharon finish in third. Priest fell to fourth over Joe Crawford. Sixth through tenth were Braymer, Jim Rasey, Jim Weller, Pete Simpson, and Dave Schrader. Heat victors were King and Priest over the 16-car field.

Richard "Fuzzy" Stiffler of Niles, Ohio scored his first career Sharon Speedway win with a last lap pass. Jeff Rudrick led the first eight laps before Russ Dunn took over with a turn four pass on lap nine. A caution for debris was the only caution of the race with 11 laps completed. Dunn appeared headed to his third win until he had a tire go down on the final lap. Coming out of turn four, it was three wide with the slowing Dunn along with Stiffler and Rudrick, who were battling for second. Stiffler and Rudrick got by Dunn and made contact, but it was Stiffler in his Integra #11 scoring the win by one-half car-length over Rudrick. Dunn held on to third over Bob McCann, Jeff Haefke, and Jim White Jr. Winning the heats were Stiffler and Rudrick over the 19-car field. McCann won the dash over Jeff Johnson, Stiffler, and Rudrick.

Carl Davis of Burghill, Ohio became the third driver of the night to win their first race of 2000. Davis came from seventh and passed Gary Robinson on the lap 13 restart. Once in front, Davis held on for the win in his un-sponsored #32. Robinson held off a furious battle to finish second over point leader Bobby Whitling, 23rd starter Jeff Buccella, and Dave Willoughby, who led the first six laps. Heat winners were Robinson, Clay, and Davis over the 25-car field.

Brian King defeated Richie Hartman in a battle of central Ohio and central Pa. in the 12-lap Micro Sprint Feature King of Columbus, Ohio took the lead from Brian Riddle on lap four and held off sixth starter, Hartman, for the win by one car-length. King made his first-ever Sharon start in his Big Lots/Odd Lots-sponsored #11k. Jason Dolick was third over Billy Taylor and Riddle. Heat winners over the season-high 29-car field were won by Jeff Bacha and King.

RESULTS

SUNBURST ENVIRONMENTAL 410 SPRINT CAR

FEATURE - 1. Jeff Schrum 2. Tommy Burns Jr. 3. Marty Ling 4. Gary Edwards 5. Brad Ellenberger 6. Paul White Jr. 7. Andy McKisson 8. Jarod Larson 9. Bill Jones 10. Mike Kekich 11. Dave Penezich Jr. 12. Gary McCollum 13. Ed Etzel 14. Buddy Cochran 15. Maria Mayerchak 16. Donny Minor 17. Tony Stebek Jr. 18. Doug Kekich 19. Jim Brauer 20. Scott Bonnell 21. Tom Quarterson 22. C.W. Harshman 23. Terry Young-DNS 24. Shon Barris-DNS.

GIBSON-GOVERNOR INSURANCE AGENCY BIG-BLOCK MODIFIED

FEATURE - 1. Rex King 2. Lou Blaney 3. Jason Engles 4. Andy Priest 5. Joe Crawford 6. John Braymer 7. Jim Rasey 8. Jim Weller 9. Pete Simpson 10. Dave Schrader 11. Rob McClimans 12. Randy Chronister 13. Randy Snider 14. Tim Doran 15. Dave Price 16. Rob Kristyak-DNS.

COY BROS. E-MOD

FEATURE - 1. Richard Stiffler 2. Jeff Rudrick 3. Russ Dunn 4. Bob McCann 5. Jeff Haefke 6. Jim White Jr. 7. Jeff Sharp 8. Scott Jones 9. John Strickler 10. Jeff Johnson 11. Ron Jaeger 12. Richard Jaeger 13. Chuck Schell 14. Dave Clawson 15. Rick Prosser Jr. 16. Scott Stiffler 17. Paul Phillips 18. Bruce Crouch 19. Steve Haefke-DNS.

BURGHILL AUTO SALVAGE STOCK CAR

FEATURE - 1. Carl Davis 2. Gary Robinson 3. Bobby Whitling 4. Jeff Buccella 5. Dave Willoughby 6. Dan Lewis 7. Steve D'Apolito 8. Robert Kutsch 9. Steve Babos 10. Jerry Flavell 11. Chris Seamen 12. Richard Williams 13. Jeff Webber 14. Glenn Pupino 15. Greg Pesa 16. Eric Gibson 17. John Beniston 18. Ron Iorio 19. Dwayne Clay 20. Jim Riffenberrick 21. Dan Fedorchak 22. Rex King 23. Jim Moyers 24. Chuck Sullivan Jr.-DNS 25. Bill Haas-DNS.

MICRO SPRINT

FEATURE - 1. Brian King 2. Richie Hartman 3. Jason Dolick 4. Billy Taylor 5. Brian Riddle 6. Jai Hubler 7. J.J. Kapuchuck 8. Craig Daniels 9. Ray Slaughter 10. Nathan Graybill 11. Troy Winslow 12. Nate Stein 13. John Adams 14. Clint Lohler 15. Jon Adams 16. Jeff Bacha 17. Doug Reinhart 18. Chad Reitz 19. Ron Hodges 20. Chris Best 21. Rob Felix 22. Dan Hart 23. Mike McConnell-DSQ 24. Brandon Casper-DNS 25. Rod Thompson-DNS 26. Tim Graham-DNS 27. Nathan Rarenbauer-DNS 28. Rick Anderson-DNS 29. Nick Leech-DNS.

Upcoming shows:

Aug 11 - Sprints $2,000 to-win plus Big-Block Mods, & Stock Cars/Parking lot drags/Woodrif Carburetor Bike Night.

Aug 18 - Sprints, Big-Block Mods, E-Mods, & Stock Cars/Stock car autographs/Bonus Buck Weekend IV/CD 106 Wolf Night Out.

Aug 25 - Sprints, Big-Block Mods, E-Mods, & Stock Cars/Qualifying for the Little Guy Nationals at Mercer for the E-Mods and Stocks/E-Mod autographs/CD 106 Wolf Night Out.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Racing at 7:30 p.m.

Sharon Speedway is north of Interstate 80 on Route 7 to Route 305, then east on Custer-Orangeville Road in Hartford, Oh. The mailing address is P.O. Box 159., Hartford, OH 44424. For more information call the office (330) 772-5481. The fax number is (330) 772-7704. The website is www.sharonspeedway.com. E-mail to Racing@SharonSpeedway.com.