SWARTZLANDER GRABS MODIFIED TOUR WIN AT TRI-CITY; HAWLEY OVERCOMES PAIN FOR SPRINT WIN; WHITLING GRABS FIFTH
by Brian Spaid
FRANKLIN, PA .... Gorgeous skies and temperatures greeted a capacity crowd at Tri-City Speedway on Sunday night as Jimmy Hawley (CarMate Trailer Super Sprints), Brian Swartzlander (Titusville Motor & Auction Co. DIRT Modifieds) and Bobby Whitling (Knox Auto Supply Pure Stocks) won the Memorial Day Weekend events on Engles Trucking Services Inc. Night. A huge field of 94 cars filled the pit area, including 43 DIRT Modifieds.
All of the DIRT Modifieds were present for the first race of the Bicknell Racing Products Modified Tour '99 and Brian Swartzlander of Leechburg, PA defeated the area's top stars in the 25-lap feature event. Josh Skarzenski and Steve Young led the field to the green flag, but before a lap could be completed, Jim Rasey spun in turn two. Once the race restarted, Young took command of the event followed by Skarzenski, Rex King, Jeff Hoffman and Tom Glenn. Only three cautions dotted the race in the early laps, and once the action resumed on the fifth circuit, the race went nonstop.
Swartzlander started the race in the eighth position and worked himself to fourth by the seventh lap after King vaulted to second. Swartzlander then marched past Skarzenski for third on the next circuit and raced by King for the second spot on the ninth lap. With 11 laps in the books, Young still led over Swartzlander, King, Lou Blaney and Kevin Bolland.
Swartzlander made the winning pass in turns three and four on the 12th circuit diving underneath Young. Blaney and Bolland then charged forward. They moved by King for third and fourth by the 14th lap. They also raced around Young for second and third by the 17th lap. Swartzlander had stretched his lead to several car lengths with five laps to go, however, lapped traffic hampered his progress. With two laps remaining, Blaney actually drove under Swartzlander in the fourth corner, but the two-time defending track champion fended off the veteran to maintain command. The lapped traffic moved to the inside of the track and allowed Swartzlander a clear lane in the outside groove over the final laps.
From there, Swartzlander cruised to victory in his McCutcheon Enterprises/Precision Tool & Die Bicknell No. 83 for his first win of the season at Tri-City. It was his third career Modified Tour victory and his 10th career triumph at Tri-City. Blaney finished second over Bolland, Young and King. Swartzlander, Blaney, Andy Priest and Skarzenski won the heats. Carl Murdick and Rodney Beltz captured the consolation wins.
In a stirring display of courage, Jimmy Hawley of West Middlesex, PA won his first 20-lap Super Sprint feature of 1999 in the Pennzoil Pennsylvania Motorsports Hall of Fame Race. Hawley suffered a badly bruised right arm after being struck by debris on Saturday night at Mercer Raceway Park. Despite obvious pain, he still raced Dr. John Crawford's No. CIII to victory for his seventh career win at Tri-City.
The feature started with Mike Roxberry and Bruce Powell on the front row. Roxberry took the early lead, but succumbed to a daring double pass by Craig Rankin and Hawley on the third lap. Rankin dove under Roxberry in turn three and Hawley raced outside of him at the same time. Hawley just slipped in front of Roxberry off the fourth corner for second. The next lap found the red flag in the air as Rick Anderson spun off turn two, flopped onto his side and immediately righted himself on all four wheels. He was uninjured.
When racing resumed, Rankin appeared unbeatable with Hawley in tow. Bob Felmlee moved into third by the sixth circuit with Powell and Scott Bonnell battling for fourth the entire race. As Rankin and Hawley moved into lapped traffic, Hawley used it to his advantage with a quick inside pass off the second turn on the 14th lap. Rankin tried to recover in turn three, but Hawley pulled away. A caution on the 16th lap for Mark Whitebread's disabled car on the frontstretch gave Hawley a clear track for a restart.
At the green, Hawley proved unstoppable and he raced on to a popular victory and padded his point lead in the division. Rankin finished second over Felmlee, Bonnell and Powell. Gary Edwards and Rankin won the heats. In the 15-lap Pure Stock main, Bobby Whitling of Seneca, PA won his fifth feature of the season and the 11th of his career at Tri-City. The victory was not easy as he had to contend with Dave Ferringer and Matt Lux. Ferringer blasted into the lead from the fifth starting spot by the completion of the first lap. Whitling, who started 10th, grabbed the second position by the third circuit. On the sixth lap, Whitling used the outside groove off turn two to take the lead. A total of five cautions slowed the race and three of those yellow flags occurred after Whitling took command. Despite those opportunities, Ferringer could not muster the power to pass Whitling. With two laps to go, Lux pulled around Ferringer and challenged Whitling over the final two circuits, but Whitling held on for the win. Lux finished second over Ferringer, Danny Exley and Barry Wilson. Terry Wheeler, Exley and Lux won the heats and Matt Cummings topped the consolation.
Next Sunday night June 6th, Tri-City Speedway will host another show of CarMate Trailer Super Sprints, Titusville Motor & Auction Co. DIRT Modifieds and Knox Auto Supply Pure Stocks. In addition, End-of-School Bus Races will be featured at the half-mile Venango County oval. Gates open at 4:00 p.m. and racing starts at 6:00 p.m.
SUPER SPRINTS (20 Laps): 1. JIMMY HAWLEY, 2. Craig Rankin, 3. Bob Felmlee, 4. Scott Bonnell, 5. Bruce Powell, 6. Daryl Stimeling, 7. Jamie Smith, 8. Wayne McPeak, 9. Joe McEwen, 10. Jason Jacoby, 11. Mike Marano II, 12. Skip Daugherty, 13. Mike Roxberry, 14. Dan Taylor, 15. Doug Kekich, 16. Mark Whitebread, 17. Rob Eyler, 18. Gary Edwards, 19. Rick Anderson.
DIRT MODIFIEDS (25 Laps): 1. BRIAN SWARTZLANDER, 2. Lou Blaney, 3. Kevin Bolland, 4. Steve Young, 5. Rex King, 6. Jeff Hoffman, 7. Josh Skarzenski, 8. Chris Schiffer, 9. Carl Murdick, 10. Pete Simpson, 11. Guy Griffin, 12. Tim Engles, 13. Les Myers, 14. Mark Flick, 15. Tom Smith, 16. Jeff Schaffer, 17. Brian Fink, 18. Jim Weller, 19. Merle Mealy Jr., 20. Jim Rasey, 21. Chip Ritchey, 22. Scott Gurdak, 23. Tom Glenn, 24. Andy Priest. DNQ: Ed Alcorn, Rick Hall, Gale M. Ruth, Chetter Johnson, Troy Schaffer, Rich Ferguson, Randy Snider, Mike Sutton, Joe Crawford, Tommy Mason, Mike Butterworth, George Hobaugh, Shane McElhaney, Danny Perrett, Scott Kay, Pete Simpson, Gerry Bruce, Jason Engles, Todd Schaffer.
PURE STOCKS (15 Laps): 1. BOBBY WHITLING, 2. Matt Lux, 3. Dave Ferringer, 4. Danny Exley, 5. Barry Wilson, 6. Matt Cummings, 7. Ben Blake, 8. Michael Aley, 9. Greg Sanford, 10. Mike Dolecki, 11. Tom Vincent, 12. Bud Shontz, 13. Jamie Shetler, 14. Andy Miller, 15. Earl Van Valkenberg, 16. Bruce Smith, 17. Jim Slater, 18. Brian Counselman, 19. David Atkinson, 20. Bob Bean, 21. Jay Feely, 22. Tom Tuite. DNS: Terry Wheeler, Billy Beiter. DNQ: Brian Booher, Doug Foster, Craig Curfman, Ken Foltz, Tom Scott, Denny Crawford, Brian Tarr, Dale McGinnis Sr.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
June 6 - Sprints, DIRT Modifieds, Pure Stocks and End of School Bus Races (Twin State Auto Racing Club Night)
June 13 - A. Crivelli Chevrolet Western Pennsylvania All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Speedweek, Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Senior Series and Vintage Racing Series
June 20 - Sprints, DIRT Modifieds Midseason Championship and Pure Stocks (Fan Appreciation and Kids Night)