FELMLEE DOUBLES IN TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY SPRINTS; SWARTZLANDER AND WHITLING VICTORIOUS TOO

August 16, 1998

DEMPSEYTOWN, PA .... On a hazy and humid Sunday night at Tri-City Speedway, Bob Felmlee (CarMate Trailers Super Sprints), Brian Swartzlander (Titusville Motor & Auction Co. DIRT Modifieds) and Bobby Whitling (Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley Pure Stocks) scored feature wins on Titusville Motor & Auction Co. Night. A total of 79 cars were in the pit area.

After competing at the Knoxville Nationals in Iowa, Bob Felmlee of Franklin, PA traveled 13 hours back to Tri-City Speedway, and snared two Super Sprint feature wins. The victories were Felmlee's fourth and fifth of the season and gave him a near insurmountable advantage in the point standings.

In the 20-lap Sprint feature that was rain delayed from one week earlier, Felmlee breezed to victory. James Wray led the initial six laps of the race before Felmlee slipped past him with an inside move off turn four. The entire race ran caution-free and Felmlee cruised to victory by over a straightaway Craig Rankin, Brad Ellenberger, Wray and Jason Jacoby.

The final 20-lap Sprint main was a one-hour marathon that featured three red flags, six other caution periods and a fuel stop. Rod Stroup took a violent flip in turn one when he hopped the wheel of another racer, then barrel rolled nearly 10 times and stripped down some of the outside catch fence off the corner. While cars slowed in the turn, Brian Staph also tumbled. Later in the event, Dan Leech flipped after colliding with a disabled Daryl Stimeling. All of the drivers were uninjured.

In between the delays, Wray appeared to be headed to his second win of the season. He took command of the race from the pole, but lost the lead to Brian Ellenberger on the eighth circuit. Two laps later, Ellenberger suffered a flat tire, which relegated him to the pits and vaulted Wray back up front. Wray held off several challenges by Felmlee until the 17th lap. Heading into turn one, the right front heim end broke, which sent Wray spinning into the turn two guard rail.Felmlee then moved into first place and raced on to his second win of the night. Rankin placed second once again followed by Phil Mott, Jacoby and Gale Ruth Jr. Brad Ellenberger and Felmlee won heat races.

Fresh off clinching the Modified Tour '98 title Saturday night at Mercer Raceway Park, Brian Swartzlander of Leechburg, PA earned his fifth 20-lap DIRT Modified feature win at Tri-City in 1998. It was Swartzlander's 21st regional win of the season. The defending champion and current point leader led the race from the green flag after dueling with Billy Van Pelt. Tommy Kristyak passed Van Pelt for second on the seventh lap and moved in to challenge Swartzlander. Two laps later, Kristyak drove too hard into turn one and spun collecting Scott Gurdak in a wreck. With Kristyak at the rear of the field, Swartzlander easily raced into victory lane over Van Pelt, who finished second for the fourth time in five weeks. Chris Schiffer, Tom Glenn and Jeff Hoffman rounded out the top five. Dean Pearson and Kristyak won the heats

In the 15-lap Pure Stock main, Bobby Whitling of Seneca, PA passed early leader Bobby Powell off turn four and beat Powell to the finish line by inches for his third win of the year. Powell took command of the race on the second lap from David Atkinson. Whitling followed Powell into second. Whitling haunted Powell the entire race. Amidst lapped traffic in turn four on the last lap, Powell drifted wide leaving enough room for Whitling, who scored the popular win. Dave Ferringer, Matt Cummings and Ron Becker rounded out the top five. Ferringer, Becker, Powell and Atkinson won the heats. Brian Counselman captured the 15-lap Pure Stock B feature.

Following the DIRT Modified feature, Lloyd Hartsuyker Jr. of Oil City was awarded the 1978 Silver Anniversary Chevrolet Corvette pace car courtesy of Titusville Motor & Auction Co. His name was drawn by Swartzlander from a large number of tickets.

Next Sunday night August 23rd, the Super Sprints, DIRT Modifieds and Pure Stocks will be in action on Galaxy Federal Credit Union Night at Tri-City Speedway. There will be double features for the DIRT Modifieds as the drivers compete in the rained out August 9th event at the beginning of the night. Galaxy's Super Sprint driver Jason Jacoby will be featured in a special autograph session. In addition, one-on-one spectator races will take place for both passenger cars and trucks. Kids bike races are also on the card. Gates open at 4:00 p.m. and the races start at 6:00 p.m.

SPRINT FEATURE NO. 1 (Rain delayed from 8/9/98) (20 Laps): 1. BOB FELMLEE, 2. Craig Rankin, 3. Brad Ellenberger, 4. James Wray, 5. Jason Jacoby, 6. Rocky Allen, 7. Kevin Andrusky, 8. Brian Staph, 9. Gale Ruth Jr., 10. Todd Bauer, 11. Bruce Powell, 12. Les Myers.

SPRINT FEATURE No. 2 (20 Laps): 1. BOB FELMLEE, 2. Craig Rankin, 3. Phil Mott, 4. Jason Jacoby, 5. Gale Ruth Jr., 6. Todd Bauer, 7. Skip Dougherty, 8. Bruce Powell, 9. Dave Wagner, 10. Boone Covell, 11. Brad Ellenberger, 12. Rocky Allen, 13. James Wray, 14. Daryl Stimeling, 15. Dan Leech, 16. Kevin Andrusky, 17. Les Myers, 18. Brian Ellenberger, 19. Rod Stroup, 20. Brian Staph.

MODIFIED FEATURE (20 Laps): 1. BRIAN SWARTZLANDER, 2. Billy Van Pelt, 3. Chris Schiffer, 4. Tom Glenn, 5. Jeff Hoffman, 6. Joe Crawford, 7. Tommy Kristyak, 8. Dean Pearson, 9. George Hobaugh, 10. Jason Engles, 11. Del Rougeaux Jr., 12. Tim Shepard, 13. Merle Mealy Jr., 14. Tim Engles, 15. Gerry Bruce, 16. Scott Gurdak, 17. Tommy Mason, 18. George "Babe" Ruth. DNS: Randy Myers.

PURE STOCK FEATURE (15 Laps): 1. BOBBY WHITLING, 2. Bobby Powell, 3. Dave Ferringer, 4. Matt Cummings, 5. Ron Becker, 6. Denny Diegelman, 7. Dan Speer, 8. Jerry Huff, 9. Charlie DiLoreto, 10. Travis Biggs, 11. Jay Feely, 12. Wayne Pyle, 13. Barry Wilson, 14. Gary Norman, 15. Bill Oswald, 16. David Atkinson, 17. Gary McClintock, 18. Matt Lux, 19. Keith Mohnkern, 20. Jamie Shetler, 21. Greg Becker, 22. Lou Lamonde (DISQ).

PURE STOCK B FEATURE (15 Laps): 1. BRIAN COUNSELMAN, 2. Travis Biggs, 3. Curt Bish, 4. Tom Scott, 5. Ben Blake, 6. Trenton Walney, 7. Mike Dolecki, 8. Arthur Edwards, 9. Ken Foltz, 10. John Miller, 11. Doug Calvert, 12. Dale McGinnis Sr., 13. Greg Sanford, 14. Craig Curfman, 15. Tom Vincent, 16. Neil Tristani. DNS: Everett Wade, John K. Miller.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

August 23 - Sprints, DIRT Modifieds, Pure Stocks, One-on-one

Spectator Races

August 30 - Super Sprint Sunday, DIRT Modifieds, Pure Stocks,

NASCAR Richmond Weekend Giveaway (Points End)

September 6 - Mod Madness II (DIRT Modifieds 50 Laps, Sportsman

Modifieds, E Mods, 6 Cylinder Modifieds)

NASCAR Richmond Weekend Giveaway (Points End)