GEORGE AND PRIEST CAPTURE WINS AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY; FERRINGER AND RHEBERGEN IN WINNER'S CIRCLE TOO
by Brian Spaid
FRANKLIN, PA ... The wet springtime weather finally abated, and Tri-City Speedway completed its first four-star show of the 2002 season under cloudy and cool conditions as Rod George (NorthPointe Automotive Super Sprints), Andy Priest (Schwab's Ford DIRT Modifieds), Brent Rhebergen (RE/MAX E Mods) and Dave Ferringer (E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating) captured feature event wins at the Venango County half-mile oval.
Rod George of Kittanning, Pa., took advantage of bad luck for Ed Lynch Jr. to secure his initial win of the season in the 20-lap Super Sprint feature. Lynch and George dueled for the lead after the halfway point of the race before Lynch blew a right rear tire forcing him to the pits for the evening.
"It was a lot of fun," smiled George after his 10th career win at Tri-City. "It's too bad that Lynch dropped out, but you win races that way sometimes, and I'll take this one."
In an exciting race, Daryl Stimeling led at the start, but the event was red flagged after the first lap when Andy Priest and Erin Crocker did a violent tandem flip in turn one. No one was injured, but Priest was frustrated after destroying his second Super Sprint in three races following a flip two weeks ago at Sharon Speedway.
When action resumed, Stimeling led over Rob Eyler, George and Empire Super Sprint (ESS) hotshoe Ryan Coniam. Lynch hovered in the top six, then quickly moved forward after the fifth lap. On the seventh circuit, George and Lynch both slipped by Eyler for second and third. Three laps later, they caught Stimeling and engaged in a two-lap side-by-side duel for first. George led the race from laps 10-13. On the 14th circuit, Lynch bolted outside of George in turn three and took the lead. Heading down the backstretch on the next circuit, Lynch's right rear tire blew and he headed to the pit area while the caution was displayed for debris.
Over the final four circuits after the restart, George opened up large advantage and cruised to the win in his Dairy Queen/Delp Family Powder Coating/Dr. John Crawford Gambler No. 4. Behind him, Eyler, who worked around Stimeling when Lynch took the lead, could not make up ground and settled for a fine second. Jarod Larson passed Stimeling for third after the restart and remained there at the finish. Stimeling and Brian Ellenberger rounded out the top five. Defending track champion Scott Bonnell, Lynch and George captured the first heat races of the season. With a field of 29 cars, Crocker, who is a popular female ESS racer, won the B Main.
In the maiden voyage for his new racer, Andy Priest of New Castle, Pa., took the lead on the first circuit of the 20-lap DIRT Modified feature and blew away the field winning by a straightaway for his first career win at Tri-City. During the offseason, car owner Ted Hull acquired a 2002 Olsen Eagle chassis and moved back into the DIRT Modified division after spending last season dominating the Sportsman Modified division with Priest.
"I'd like to thank Ted and Cal Hull," said Priest in victory lane beside the MPR Lumber/Priest Speed Equipment Olsen No. 41. "This car is their life and it's good to win the first night out, especially after crashing the Super Sprint."
Josh Skarzenski led the field at the start of the race, but Priest slipped under him off turn four before the first lap was complete. Once out front, Priest stretched out to a large lead that he maintained despite one early caution flag. Behind him, the fans watched Jim Rasey and defending track champion Brian Swartzlander battle with Kevin Hoffman for second and third during the middle stages of the race. Although Rasey and Swartzlander moved into those positions by the 11th circuit, they were no match for Priest.
Priest scored the win over Rasey, Swartzlander, Dave Murdick and Hoffman. Skarzenski and Hoffman won the heat races for the 21-car field.
In 2001, Brent Rhebergen of Clymer, N.Y., strung together 10 consecutive wins and a total of 11 victories in the E Mod division at Tri-City. On Sunday night, he collected his 13th career win in the 15-lap E Mod feature aboard Bruce Steadman's Sharp Tool & Die Pierce No. 69. Taking the lead from Mike Hess on the fourth lap, Rhebergen raced on for a huge margin of victory.
"We made some changes to the car over the winter, so we were a little nervous tonight," noted Rhebergen. "Everything seemed to work alright, so we're happy with the performance."
Rich Stiffler led the first circuit of the race before he stopped off turn two and handed the lead to Hess. Two cautions slowed the early laps, and allowed Rhebergen to remain close to Hess. After the second restart, Rhebergen powered to the outside of Hess entering turn three and snared the lead. Hess held onto second while several drivers battled for the remaining slots on the top five. At one point, Dave Hess Jr. and Rick Robinson were in the running before they both spun out of contention. In the final laps, Mike Potosky managed to finish third over Dale Applebee and defending track champion Todd Roncaglione. Rhebergen and Robinson were the heat race winners for the 21-car field.. Of note, in victory lane, Rhebergen confirmed that he will not start a new win streak next week because he intends to compete in a Late Model event in New York.
In the 15-lap Stock Car main, Dave Ferringer of Cochranton, Pa., took the lead at the start of the race and held off the stiff challenges of perennial winner Bobby Whitling to score a popular victory. For Ferringer, it was his 11th career win at Tri-City and demonstrated that his team worked hard over the winter to construct a car that would challenge Whitling and defending track champion Ron Iorio throughout the season.
"The team worked hard to put this car together," said Ferringer. "I've got to thank them. No one seemed to want to go outside and pass tonight, but the track was good."
On a wild first set of laps, Ferringer battled Jason Reagle for the first lap while Danny Exley spun down the backstretch and continued. A brief caution slowed the race, then Reagle spun in turn two on the third lap handing second place to Whitling. Although Gary Norman challenged Whitling for several circuits, Norman eventually spent the rest of the race trying to fend off Iorio. Whitling dared venture into the outside groove because of the stiff challenges from Iorio and Norman. Thus, Ferringer continued his leading pace and raced to the win in his Lowry Auto Wrecking/Griffin Motors Buick No. 02.
At the finish, Ferringer defeated Whitling, Iorio, Norman and Doug Iorio Sr. Of note, the top five included all of the Stock Car track champions at Tri-City since the track reopened in 1996. Ferringer won the title in 2000 while Whitling (1999), R. Iorio (2001), Norman (1997-98) and D. Iorio (1996) also garnered championship honors. Whitling, R. Iorio, Exley and Bruce Smith won the heat races. Bobby Heim and Steve D'Apolito won the B Mains for the 40-car field.
This coming Sunday May 26th, Tri-City Speedway celebrates Memorial Day Weekend with the first BRP Modified Tour 2002 event of the season. A large field of the Schwab's Ford DIRT Modifieds is anticipated for the 30-lap event, which pays $1,200-to-win. In addition, the NorthPointe Automotive Super Sprints, RE/MAX E Mods and E.F. Rogers Plumbing & Heating Stock Cars will be in action. Gates open at 4 p.m. and racing starts at 6 p.m. Adult grandstand admission for this special event will be a family friendly $10.
SUPER SPRINTS (20 Laps): 1. ROD GEORGE, 2. Rob Eyler, 3. Jarod Larson, 4. Daryl Stimeling, 5. Brian Ellenberger, 6. Ryan Coniam, 7. Chad Hill, 8. Mike Woodring, 9. Jason Jacoby, 10. Scott Priester, 11. Jason Dolick, 12. Gary McCollum, 13. Kevin Andrusky, 14. Gregg McCandless, 15. Ray Bullis, 16. Gary Rankin, 17. Pete Grove, 18. Mary Anne Williams, 19. Ed Lynch Jr., 20. Brent Matus, 21. Goob Schuller, 22. Scott Bonnell, 23. Andy Priest, 24. Erin Crocker. DNS: Brian Hartzell. DNQ: Gale Ruth Jr., Sheila Rankin, Ed Etzel, Paul Kish.
DIRT MODIFIEDS (20 Laps): 1. ANDY PRIEST, 2. Jim Rasey, 3. Brian Swartzlander, 4. Dave Murdick, 5. Kevin Hoffman, 6. Josh Skarzenski, 7. Chris Schiffer, 8. Gerry Bruce, 9. J.R. McGinley, 10. Dave Schrader, 11. Skip Moore, 12. Del Rougeux Jr., 13. Jeremiah Shingledecker, 14. Chanda Reitz, 15. George Hobaugh, 16. Pete Simpson, 17. Ralph Spithaler Jr., 18. Allen Ferry, 19. Carl Murdick, 20. Lee Miller. DNS: Leonard Leibold.
E MODS (15 Laps): 1. BRENT RHEBERGEN, 2. Mike Hess, 3. Mike Potosky, 4. Dale Applebee, 5. Todd Roncaglione, 6. Bruce Powell, 7. Shawn Shingledecker, 8. Dave Hess Jr., 9. Mike Samuelson, 10. Bill Thomas, 11. Russ Dempsey, 12. Rick Robinson, 13. Kari Petrosky, 14. Tim Rhoades, 15. Matt Swanson, 16. Bill Taylor, 17. Al Cressley, 18. Jim Abbott, 19. Rich Stiffler, 20. Ron Jaeger. DNS: Rick Meglaye.
STOCK CARS (15 Laps): 1. DAVE FERRINGER, 2. Bobby Whitling, 3. Ron Iorio, 4. Gary Norman, 5. Doug Iorio Sr., 6. Scotty Carbaugh, 7. Tom Scott, 8. Andy Buckley, 9. Bobby Heim, 10. Steve D'Apolito, 11. Dave Atkinson, 12. Rick Lanigan, 13. Darrell Bossard, 14. Danny Exley, 15. Dick Pascorell, 16. Jason Johns, 17. Bruce Smith, 18. Rod Urey, 19. Doug Calvert, 20. Frank Johnson, 21. Jason Reagle, 22. Bob Sloss, 23. Arthur Edwards. DNS: Phil Kaufman. DNQ: Martin Iorio, Joe Lockhart, Denny Crawford, Gary Sullivan, Larry Marks, John Shetler, Lonny Blair, Rod Laskey, Rocky Kugel, Jay Feely, Duane Grinnell, John Sutley, Bret McCarthy, Jamie Shetler, Russ Coyne, Joe Anthony.