CHANEY AND BLANEY CONTINUE WINNING WAYS IN SPRINTS AND DIRT MODS AT SHARON

by Mike Leone

Hartford(OH)...Highlighting wins on the 12th night of racing in the 70th anniversary season Sunday at Sharon Speedway were Rob Chaney (Sunburst Environmental Services Sprint Cars) and Lou Blaney (Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley DIRT Modifieds). Other winners were Rick Prosser, Jr. (Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley E-Mods) and Gary Robinson (Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley Stock Cars).

Rob Chaney of Millersburg, Ohio beat fellow Millersburg, Ohio friend Marty Ling to score his fourth 20-lap Sunburst Environmental Sprint Car Feature. "The track was a little bit rough tonight. The top wasn’t too good early on, but I knew once I got up there it we’d be able to get a good run," Chaney said "He (Ling) was real fast. He got a good start. He got out into the lead and moved back into the rough stuff and that’s when I got him," said a happy Chaney.

Ling jumped into the lead from the pole position as Tom Quarterson and Troy Preston raced into second and third by Doug Kekich on lap one. Preston was really moving in his brand new #1P passing Quarterson for second on lap two after starting sixth. Preston’s fine run came to an end with eight laps completed when he blew a left rear tire. This moved Quarterson back to second with Kekich third and 10th starting, Rob Chaney, in fourth. When racing resumed, Chaney got Kekich for third on lap nine, then one lap later disposed of Quarterson for second using the outside to make his moves.

On lap 12, Chaney drove hard into turn three and four pulling alongside Ling. The two nearly made contact, but Chaney came out on top in the lead as he raced off turn four. Chaney drove off to the his fifth career Sharon win in his Superior Tank & Trailer sponsored #42. "We’ve been real good this year. I’ve got to thank Tom Burkey and Charlie Fisher, who’s building the motors. He does a heck of a job," said Chaney from victory lane.

Ling came home second six seconds behind Chaney for a career-best finish. Quarterson slowed in third on lap 13. Arnie Kent and Jarod Larson also got by Kekich, who got sideways on lap 15 for third and fourth. Larson ended up finishing third passing Kent on lap 17 dropping Kent to fourth at the finish. Kekich was fifth. Sixth through tenth were Mike Kekich, Gary McCann, sixteen year-old Kokomo, Indiana’s Boston Reid, last week’s winner Bob Lime, and Terry Young. Winning the heats were the first and second place cars of Ling and Chaney.

Lou Blaney of Hartford, Ohio won his sixth 20-lap Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley DIRT Modified Feature. "It’s been a pretty good year so far. This weekend wasn’t too good, last night (Mercer Raceway Park) and Friday (Lernerville Speedway), but this made up for it," relayed Blaney. "We’re still having a lot of fun. We like to race hard, good clean racing, and we’re happy," said Blaney for victory lane.

For the early part of the feature it looked like a repeat of Saturday at Mercer as Tim Doran passed Carl Murdick for the lead on lap two blasting by on the outside of turn three. Jim Rasey passed Mike Sutton for third on lap four. Blaney began his trek to the front from the ninth hole and passed both Rex King and Rasey for third on lap 10. Blaney moved up another spot passing Murdick on the outside for second on lap 11. At this point, Blaney was a straightaway behind Doran. Jim Rasey lost power trying to pass Murdick for third and brought out the caution with 14 laps completed allowing Blaney to restart on Doran’s rear bumper. Doran led another lap until a caution for Bob Dorman’s spin with 15 laps completed bunched up the field again.

The cautions were all Blaney needed as the veteran passed Doran coming off turn four on the inside of lap 17. Blaney survived another caution to record his 16th win on the circuit in his son Dave’s Colonial Metals/Carpenter’s Towing/Troy-Alan Chevrolet sponsored #10. Doran followed his win at Mercer on Saturday with a second. Rex King was third. Carl Murdick edged Rodney Beltz, who started 18th, for fourth. Sixth through tenth were Lonny Riggs, Mike Sutton, Skip Moore, Rob McClimans, and Dorman. Heat winners were Doran and Blaney.

Rick Prosser, Jr. of Geneva, Ohio made it three-in-a-row scoring the 15-lap Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley E-Mod Feature. Prosser started fifth and passed Scott Jones, Steve Haefke, and Jim White, Jr. on lap one for second. Alan Dellinger entered the mix passing Haefke for third on lap two. Bob McCann led the first three laps before Prosser blasted by for for the lead on the backstretch. McCann’s night ended with a flat tire moving Dellinger up to second and Haefke to third with 10 laps completed. Prosser pulled away on the restart and went on for the win in his Geneva Storage/Big "M" Motors sponsored #A1. Dellinger was second and was unable to challenge for the win. Haefke was third over Bob Williams and Jeff Sharp. Heat victors were Dellinger and Haefke.

Gary Robinson of Greenville, Pa. survived the 15-lap Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley Stock Car Feature in a race that took just over one hour to complete. The race was delayed 30 minutes when Eric Gibson t-boned Nathan Miller on lap two. Both drivers were taken to the hospital for observations. Robinson started third and passed Carl Davis for runner-up on lap three. Leader Dwayne Clay received a flat tire with four laps completed giving the lead to Robinson. The next four laps saw Robinson, Davis, Joe Porter, and Rick Prosser, Jr. pull away. Prosser passed Porter for third on lap six and the top three raced three-wide on two different occasions on laps seven and eight. Robinson’s challengers went by the wayside as Prosser spun on two different occasions and Davis had front-end problems ending his night. Robinson went on for his second win in his Cresswell’s Auto Align/Speir Homes sponsored #44R in a race that had nine stoppages. Clay came all the way back to get second after passing Porter on the final lap. Porter was third ahead of Tom Miller and Mark Felicetty. Davis, Robinson, and Clay won the heats.

Sunburst Environmental Services Sprint Car Feature Finish: 1. ROB CHANEY 2. Marty Ling 3. Jarod Larson 4. Arnie Kent 5. Doug Kekich 6. Mike Kekich 7. Gary McCann 8. Boston Reid 9. Bob Lime 10. Terry Young 11. Gary McCollum 12. Troy Preston 13. Dan Taylor 14. Tom Quarterson 15. C.W. Harshman 16. Mike Marano II 17. Tommy Burns, Jr. 18. Jamie McKinney.

Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley DIRT Modified Feature Finish: 1. LOU BLANEY 2. Tim Doran 3. Rex King 4. Carl Murdick 5. Rodney Beltz 6. Lonny Riggs 7. Mike Sutton 8. Skip Moore 9. Rob McClimans 10. Bob Dorman 11. Pete Simpson 12. Rick Kress 13. Jim Rasey 14. Kevin Bolland 15. Bobby Hoffman 16. Dave Murdick 17. Dave Price 18. Randy Snider 19. Steve Young-DNS.

Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley E-Mod Feature Finish: 1. RICK PROSSER, JR. 2. Alan Dellinger 3. Steve Haefke 4. Bob Williams 5. Jeff Sharp 6. Jim White, Jr. 7. Jeff Rudrick 8. Dale Fuller 9. Arlan Coy 10. Jeff Johnson 11. Chuck List, Sr. 12. Jeff Haefke 13. Greg Cizmar 14. Scott Stiffler 15. Kris Allen 16. J.R. Mechling 17. Scott Jones 18. Craig Douglas 19. Chuck Schell 20. Bob McCann 21. Bill Taylor 22. Jim Marino 23. Bob Diver.

Hoosier Tire Ohio Valley Stock Car Feature Finish: 1. GARY ROBINSON 2. Dwayne Clay 3. Joe Porter 4. Tom Miller 5. Mark Felicetty 6. Patty McCann 7. Robert Kutsch 8. Rick Prosser, Jr. 9. Dave Wagner, Jr. 10. Sammy Wheat 11. Russ Kapalin 12. Carl Pasternack 13. Dave Wagner, Sr. 14. Glenn Pupino 15. Ralph Blackson 16. Chuck Sullivan, Jr. 17. Jim Davis 18. Eric Ulbricht 19. Jason Longwell 20. John Jackson 21. Carl Davis 22. Nathan Miller 23. Eric Gibson 24. Jeff Buccella-DNS 25. Steve Babos-DNS 26. Ken Moy, Jr. 27. John Beniston-DSQ.

Upcoming shows:

Aug 15 Regular show of Sprint Cars, DIRT Modifieds, E-Mods, and Stock Cars plus kids bike races.

Aug 22 Regular show

Aug 29 Regular show. Autograph night for the E-Mods.

Sept 4 19th Annual Sharon Nationals: All Star Sprints, Advance Auto PartsSuper DIRT Series non-point Eckerd 300 Syracuse Qualifier/Russ King Memorial for the DIRT Modifieds, plus E-Mods.

Sept 5 19th Annual Sharon Nationals: All Star Sprints plus Stock Cars

Gates open at 3:30 p.m. with racing at 6 p.m.

Media Contact: Mike Leone, 53 East Glenora Drive, Grove City, PA 16127. Phone/Fax: 724-748-3358. Office phone: 724-964-9300. E-mail: mleone@infonline.net

Sharon Speedway is north of Interstate 80 on Route 7 to Route 305, then east on Custer-Orangeville Road in Hartford, Ohio. For more information call (724) 287-4938 or the speedway at (330) 772-5481. The fax number is (330) 772-7704. The mailing address is P.O. Box 159, Hartford, OH 44424.