GEORGE WINS FOURTH IN SPRINTS AND DELLINGER FIRST IN DIRT MODS;

RHEBERGEN STILL HOT IN E MODS; REAGLE WINS FIRST EVER IN STOCK CARS

by Brian Spaid

FRANKLIN, PA ... Like the weather conditions, the action was very hot on Sunday night at Tri-City Speedway as Rod George (NorthPointe Automotive Super Sprints), Alan Dellinger (Schwab's Ford DIRT Modifieds), Brent Rhebergen (RE/MAX E Mods) and Jason Reagle (E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Stock Cars) won feature events on NorthPointe Automotive Night at the half-mile Venango County oval.

In the 20-lap Super Sprint feature, Rod George of Kittanning, Pa., increased his point lead with a stellar victory in his Delp Family Powder Coating/George's Trailer Sales Gambler No. 4. It was his fourth win of the season at Tri-City. The victory was also his second of the weekend after winning Friday night at Lernerville Speedway.

"The track was great tonight," said George after his 13th career win at Tri-City. "I'll tell you, the competition is getting tougher each week here. It feels good to win another one against these guys."

Andy McKisson led the first three laps of the feature. George dashed into second from his eighth starting spot on the second lap when Goob Schuller spun in front of the field in turn four, but continued on without causing a caution. On a fourth lap restart, George raced inside McKisson off turn two and snagged the lead.

Behind George, Kevin Andrusky climbed to second on the fifth lap. Andrusky snuck past George on a sixth lap restart with an inside move off turn two, but George swept back by Andrusky before the completion of the lap. From there, George was never challenged again.

Ed Lynch Jr. moved into third on the 10th circuit, and he and Andrusky engaged in a wild battle for the rest of the race. They swapped the runnerup position five times over the final eight laps before Lynch secured second at the line amidst lapped traffic. Andrusky finished a fine third over Chad Hill and Gary Kriess Jr., who made his first appearance of the season. The race was slowed three times, which included a red flag on the 12th circuit when McKisson slid into the third turn water barrels at the pit entrance. The Super Sprint heats were won by Lynch and Daryl Stimeling for the 21-car field.

Alan Dellinger of Niles, Ohio, whose alias is Jim Dandy Jr., picked up his first career DIRT Modified feature win at Tri-City. It was Dellinger's second career feature win in the class. The versatile pilot won earlier this season at Mercer Raceway Park. He is also a past winner in the Late Model, E Mod and Stock Car divisions, including seven career E Mod wins at Tri-City. The most recent occurred on May 26th.

"Before the race, my son asked me to make the move from the top to the bottom off turn four, and that's exactly what I thought of when I passed Josh (Skarzenski) for the lead," said Dellinger next to John Rehban's War Fab Bicknell No. 99 after the race. "This is a good run, and it's neat to have won in all these divisions."

Most of the race featured non-stop action at the front of the pack. Jeremiah Shingledecker led the first three laps before Skip Moore took command. On a restart one lap later, Skarzenski grabbed the advantage after starting the race in the seventh spot. He towed Dellinger to the front, and for the rest of the race Dellinger was Skarzenski's main nemesis.

Skarzenski and Dellinger dueled for several circuits. On the ninth lap, Dellinger spun in turn two, but completed a full 360-degree turn and continued while losing several positions. Lady Luck was on his side, however, because a caution flew for a wreck behind him, and Dellinger reassumed second place pursuant to track rules. After the restart, Dellinger continued to hound Skarzenski for the lead. Finally, on the 14th lap, Dellinger made the winning move with the outside to inside pass off turn four requested by his son. Skarzenski tried to stay with Dellinger over the remaining laps, but he eventually fell to fifth at the finish when he nearly spun in turn two on the 17th circuit.

At the finish, Dellinger was the winner while Del Rougeux Jr. snuck through to finish second. Dave Murdick was third over Shingledecker and Skarzenski. The race was slowed six times with one red flag on the 18th lap after Harold Michaels flipped hard after striking the third turn wall. Michaels was unhurt in the nasty wreck. Dellinger and Skarzenski collected the heat race wins for the 25-car field.

Brent Rhebergen of Clymer, N.Y., romped to his fourth consecutive 15-lap E Mod feature win after starting on the pole in Bruce Steadman's Sharp Tool & Die Pierce No. 69. It was his fifth win of the season and his 17th career feature win at Tri-City.

"I'd like to wish my mom and dad a Happy 40th Anniversary," said Rhebergen in victory lane. "On that last restart, I knew Bruce (Powell) was there and I thought of going to the bottom. But, I decided that wasn't a good idea, so I stayed on top and raced to the win."

Rhebergen led every lap, but the action behind him was fast and furious. Chad McClellan ran second from the start while Powell climbed into the top five on the third lap. Powell charged to the front of the pack as the former Super Sprint driver dashed under Rich Stiffler for fourth on the fourth circuit. On a restart one lap later, Powell used an inside pass off turn two to race by Jim Frontz and McClellan into second. Frontz and Powell battled for a couple of laps as they swapped second, but Powell was firmly in the runnerup slot by the halfway point.

A late caution gave Powell a fighting chance, but he was no match for Rhebergen. Frontz wound up third over McClellan and Stiffler. Rhebergen and McClellan won the E Mod heats for the 20-car field.

For the sixth week in a row, there was a different winner in the Stock Car division as Jason Reagle of Oil City, Pa., marched to his first career win at Tri-City. Reagle started on the outside front row position and led every lap to grab a popular win in his Billy's Bar/Go-Pro Karaoke Chevrolet No. Triple 8.

"This feels good," said an emotional Reagle in victory lane. "We've tried a long time to get here. The car hasn't worked on this slick track, and I think we finally found the right setup."

Reagle was peerless on his way to victory. Bruce Smith tried valiantly to catch Reagle over the last half of the race, but he was unable to do so as Reagle's car worked to perfection in the outside groove. Smith wound up second while Dave Ferringer barely held off Bobby Whitling and Scotty Carbaugh for third. Those three drivers diced inside and outside and swapped positions for several laps before nearly finishing three-wide at the checkered in that order.

Whitling, Bossard and Carbaugh captured the Stock Car heats in the 32-car field. Gary Norman won the B Main. In the third heat race, Russ Coyne slammed the outside wall in turn two and flew over the guard rail and catch fence in a wild accident. Although the body of the car virtually exploded on impact and the chassis was destroyed in the wreck, Coyne was uninjured.

This coming Sunday June 30th, Tri-City Speedway celebrates the upcoming Fourth of July holiday with a four-star show of NorthPointe Automotive Super Sprints, Schwab's Ford DIRT Modifieds, RE/MAX E Mods and E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Stock Cars. During the night, the Giant Eagle/Edward Jones Investments Fireworks Extravaganza by Cartwright Fireworks will highlight the evening of events at the popular racetrack. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Adult grandstand admission will be a family friendly $10.

SUPER SPRINTS (20 Laps): 1. ROD GEORGE, 2. Ed Lynch Jr., 3. Kevin Andrusky, 4. Chad Hill, 5. Gary Kriess Jr., 6. Daryl Stimeling, 7. Scott Priester, 8. Jason Jacoby, 9. Goob Schuller, 10. Ricky Ferkel, 11. Jeremy Keegan, 12. Bob Altmeyer, 13. Brent Matus, 14. Butch Beasley, 15. Ed Etzel, 16. Dean Ruth, 17. Brian Hartzell, 18. Sheila Rankin, 19. Gregg McCandless, 20. Paul Kish, 21. Andy McKisson.

DIRT MODIFIEDS (20 Laps): 1. ALAN DELLINGER, 2. Del Rougeux Jr., 3. Dave Murdick, 4. Jeremiah Shingledecker, 5. Josh Skarzenski, 6. Skip Moore, 7. Kevin Hoffman, 8. Pete Simpson, 9. Rob Kristyak, 10. Kevin Bolland, 11. George Hobaugh, 12. Dave Schrader, 13. Nick Ritchey, 14. Joe Crawford, 15. Les Myers, 16. Dean Pearson, 17. Chanda Reitz, 18. Matt Baker, 19. Rich Landgraft, 20. Steve Barr, 21. Carl Murdick, 22. Chris Schiffer, 23. Harold Michaels, 24. Andy Priest, 25. Dan Weaver.

E MODS (15 Laps): 1. BRENT RHEBERGEN, 2. Bruce Powell, 3. Jim Frontz, 4. Chad McClellan, 5. Rich Stiffler, 6. Shawn Shingledecker, 7. Mike Samuelson, 8. Russ Dempsey, 9. Matt Swanson, 10. Mike Potosky, 11. Herm Myers, 12. Shawn Domhoff, 13. Brett Porter, 14. Ryan Bright, 15. Jack Andrew, 16. Jim Abbott, 17. Kari Petrosky, 18. Brian Taft. DNS: Frank Brocious, Chad Wise.

STOCK CARS (15 Laps): 1. JASON REAGLE, 2. Bruce Smith, 3. Dave Ferringer, 4. Bobby Whitling, 5. Scotty Carbaugh, 6. Doug Iorio Sr., 7. Darrell Bossard, 8. Gary Norman, 9. Tom Scott, 10. Rod Laskey, 11. David Atkinson, 12. Rod Urey, 13. Jason Johns, 14. Andy Thompson, 15. Bret McCarthy, 16. Lonny Blair, 17. Brian Hurt, 18. Dave Gadley, 19. Arthur Edwards, 20. Mike Miller, 21. Doug Calvert, 22. Rich Lanigan, 23. John Sutley, 24. Dick Pascorell. DNS: Ron Iorio. DNQ: Danny Exley, Rick Hughes, Ben Blake, Denny Crawford, Joe Lockhart, Russ Coyne, Bob Bean.