LES MYERS SCORES POPULAR DIRT MOD WIN AT TRI-CITY; FELMLEE AND FERRINGER ALSO VISIT VICTORY LANE

by Brian Spaid

May 16, 1999

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FRANKLIN, PA …. Bright and sunny skies graced Tri-City Speedway on Sunday night as Bob Felmlee (CarMate Trailer Super Sprints), Les Myers (Titusville Motor & Auction Co. DIRT Modifieds) and Dave Ferringer (Knox Auto Supply Pure Stocks) scored feature event wins.

The best event of the night found the crowd cheering wildly above the noise of the cars as Les Myers of Reno, PA won his first DIRT Modified main at Tri-City since July 14, 1996. Myers does not have a regular ride this year, and many people in local racing circles had written off the popular racer. Yet, Chip Ritchey decided to let Myers pilot his Ford-powered R.K. Virgile Scrap Metal/Buzz’s Auto Sales Bicknell DIRT Modified No. 1R, and Myers wound up defeating two-time defending track champion Brian Swartzlander.

"This one’s for all you fans," said an emotional Myers in victory lane. "I’m not sure what’s going to happen for me in racing the rest of this year. For all I know, this could be my last race. I’m just so happy to be here."

Andy Priest led the first six laps of the race, which were punctuated by a wild backstretch wreck on the fifth circuit. Tom Glenn slowed and a pack of cars behind him collided. Scott Gurdak’s car flew through the air and wound up on top of the cars of Chris Schiffer and J.R. McGinley. Tom Smith and Tommy Mason were also involved in the five-car wreck. None of the drivers were injured, and all were eliminated, except Schiffer. His crew made a valiant effort to put him back in the race without a body on the car so he could salvage some points.

After a 30-minute delay to clean up the carnage, Priest led when the race restarted. On the seventh lap, Myers swung around Priest off turn three to lead the race. Priest eventually suffered a flat tire that ended a strong run. Behind Myers, Swartzlander and point leader Jeff Hoffman moved into second and third by the 15th lap. Myers was cruising out front until Swartzlander made a final charge. Swartzlander stuck the nose of his car under Myers with two laps remaining, but could not make the pass. On the final lap, Swartzlander raced alongside Myers down the backstretch into the final corners, but Myers drifted wide to block the move off turn four. Myers raced on to the popular win over Swartzlander, Hoffman, Tim Engles and Jim Weller. It was Myers’ third career DIRT Modified win at Tri-City. Glenn, Schiffer and Swartzlander won the heats.

In the 20-lap Super Sprint main, Bob Felmlee of Franklin, PA scored his second consecutive feature win in his World of Wheels/Lutz Auto Body Maxim No. 6. Bruce Powell led at the start from his outside pole position. On the second lap, Phil Mott spun in turn two to bring out the only caution of the race. On the restart, Powell lost the lead to Felmlee in turn two and drifted wide to allow Ed Lynch Jr., Craig Rankin and Jimmy Hawley past him. Felmlee then charged away from Lynch for the remainder of the race. He managed to dodge lapped traffic over the final laps to score his 16th career win at Tri-City. Lynch finished second followed by Hawley, who engaged Rankin in a stirring duel for third during the last two circuits. Rankin and Powell rounded out the top five. Lynch and Felmlee won the heats.

In the 15-lap Pure Stock main, Dave Ferringer of Cochranton, PA recovered from motor problems the previous week to capture his first win of 1999 and the sixth win of his career at Tri-City. Bruce Smith took command of the race at the drop of the green flag and led Ferringer for the first five circuits. On a sixth lap restart, Ferringer dashed past Smith to take command of the race. Bobby Whitling, who came into the night on a three-race win streak, was then involved in a minor controversy. After Ferringer took the lead, Whitling and Smith made contact in turn two, and Smith spun. Race officials placed Whitling at the rear of the pack for rough driving. Despite this problem, both drivers made their way back through traffic for top five finishes. At the checkered flag Ferringer defeated two-time defending track champion Gary Norman, who returned to Tri-City for the first time this season. Whitling finished third over Danny Exley and Smith. Whitling, Norman and Matt Lux won the heat races. Jim Slater captured the consolation.

Next Sunday night May 23rd, Tri-City Speedway will again host a "Thrilling Three" production of the CarMate Trailer Super Sprints, Titusville Motor & Auction Co. DIRT Modifieds and Knox Auto Supply Pure Stocks. It will also be Scout Night as all scouts in uniform will be admitted free of charge. Gates open at 4:00 p.m. and racing starts at 6:00 p.m.

SUPER SPRINTS (20 Laps): 1. BOB FELMLEE, 2. Ed Lynch Jr., 3. Jimmy Hawley, 4. Craig Rankin, 5. Bruce Powell, 6. Skip Daugherty, 7. Gale Ruth Jr., 8. Phil Mott, 9. David Scott, 10. Michael Roxberry, 11. Mike Marano II, 12. Rick Anderson. DNS: Kevin Andrusky.

DIRT MODIFIEDS (20 Laps): 1. LES MYERS, 2. Brian Swartzlander, 3. Jeff Hoffman, 4. Tim Engles, 5. Jim Weller, 6. Josh Skarzenski, 7. Dean Pearson, 8. Rodney Beltz, 9. Tommy Kristyak, 10. Brian Fink, 11. Chris Schiffer, 12. Jason Engles, 13. Shane McElhaney, 14. Tommy Mason, 15. Andy Priest, 16. Joe Crawford, 17. Tom Glenn, 18. Del Rougeaux Jr., 19. Scott Gurdak, 20. J.R. McGinley, 21. Tom Smith, 22. Mark Sevin. DNS: Dan Campbell, Randy Myers, Chanda Reitz.

PURE STOCKS (15 Laps): 1. DAVE FERRINGER, 2. Gary Norman, 3. Bobby Whitling, 4. Danny Exley, 5. Bruce Smith, 6. Brian Counselman, 7. Jamie Shetler, 8. Jay Feely, 9. Terry Feely, 10. Billy Beiter, 11. Bud Shontz, 12. David Atkinson, 13. Matt Cummings, 14. Tom Scott, 15. Denny Diegelman, 16. Matt Lux, 17. Tom Vincent, 18. Brian Tarr, 19. Jim Slater, 20. Jerry Huff, 21. Wayne Pyle, 22. Greg Sanford, 23. Gary McClintock, 24. Barry Wilson. DNQ: Mike Dolecki, Craig Curfman, Ken Fultz, Ben Blake, John Miller.

CORRECTION:

In last week’s press release, Bruce Smith was erroneously listed as the runner-up in the Knox Auto Supply Pure Stock 15-lap feature. In fact, Smith was disqualified due to a weight infraction. Thus, the correct top five finishers were Bobby Whitling, Barry Wilson, Dan Speer, Jamie Shetler and Jay Feely.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

May 23 - Sprints, DIRT Modifieds, Pure Stocks and Scout Night

May 30 - Sprints Hall of Fame Race, DIRT Modifieds Bicknell Racing Products Modified Tour ’99 Event and Pure Stocks

June 6 - Sprints, DIRT Modifieds, Pure Stocks and End of School Bus Races (Twin State Auto Racing Club Night)