Owens Earns Career First win in Semi Lates; Holden is undefeated in Mods At Hidden Valley
June 3, 2023
Clearfield, PA - Justin Owens of Shilo picked up his first career feature win in the Scaife Racing Supplies Semi Late Division on Saturday night at Hidden Valley Speedway on Conklin Racing Community Outreach and 4T1 Ministries Inc. trophy night.
Other winners include Jimmy Holden of Tiona in the Small Block Modifieds, who is undefeated this season so far, Gene Wrightstone of Enola in the Vintage Modified portion of PA Thunder on the Dirt while Tim Harris of Mansfield, PA won in the Sportsmans portion of the series, Joe Kephart of Williamsburg won his first Pure Stock feature of the season, while Jimmy Ogden of Clearfield and Tim Raup of Danville split the Makeup and regular Little’s Drive In Four Cylinder features.
Justin Owens and Luke Hoffner garnered front row spots to lead the Semi Late field to the green flag following the invert draw. With that Owens grabbed the lead at the start and while he may have led from green to checkered, he did not walk away and make it boring. Hoffner, Ryan Jacoby and Gary Little were all throwing everything they had at Owens the entire 20 laps, but he was bound and determined to get his first ever feature win. He drove a flawless race and he was able to keep all challengers at bay. On each restart, Jacoby was able to pull alongside Owens, but Owens had the strength to pull into the lead. With the white flag waving, it appeared Owens would get the win, but the yellow flew for a spin, regrouping the field. On the restart, Jacoby once again dove under Owens going into the first turn, Owens held tough, and was able to lead again at the line, but this time, with one to go again, Jacoby was right there, but Owens was able to open up about a car length lead over Jacoby and took his first career win. Jacoby was a close second, Little was third, Hoffner held on to fourth and Brad Benton rounded out the top five. Heat wins went to Benton and Jacoby.
Shannon Casher and Chris Luzier brought the regular Small Block Modified field down to Jon Shipley’s green flag, with Casser taking the lead and Hayden Holden sitting in second. Hayden Holden was throwing everything he had at Casher, when his dad, Jimmy took second from him on lap six. As Casher led, J. Holden was all over him, and on lap nine, coming out of turn two, J. Holden dove under Casher and ran side by side down the backstretch, edging out into the lead in turn three. Once in the lead, J. Holden was gone as he picked up another win. Cashier was second, Hayden Holden was third with Bob Garvey Jr. fourth and Trent Ogden fifth. Heat wins went to the Holdens.
The PA Thunder on Dirt Vintage Modified Series brought an even dozen cars to the show, with Cody Schultz lining up inside of Gene Wrightstone. It was Wrightstone who took the lead and led the non-stop event the whole way, while Harris was the best of the class in the Sportmans portion of the event. The over all top five were: Wrightstone, Mark Hahn, Schultz, Wally Stock and Harris. Heats went to John Marks and Wrightstone.
The Pure Stocks saw Tyler Rougeux and “Little” Lester Hudson on the front row, as Rougeux took the lead. He had John Eckenrod in second for one lap, then BJ Hudson took over second on lap two, but Eckenrod regained the runner up spot two laps later and tried to bump draft Rougeux, but on lap 10, Eckenrod spun to avoid spinning Rougeux, and he went to the rear. Rougeux continued to lead, with Joe Kephart now sitting second and trying everything he could to get the lead, but Rougeux was holding him off. Finally on the final lap, Kephart gave all he had, as he dove under Rougeux going into the first and second turns, and when they exited turn two, Kephart was leading and held on for the win. BJ Hudson was second, Eckenrod was third Rougeux held on to fourth and Eric Luzier was fifth. Heat wins went to Eckenrod and BJ Hudson.
Len Crawford and Jimmy Ogden sat on the front row to start the regular Four Cylinder Feature, with Ogden taking the lead and never looking back. He was on the proverbial rail, and led the non-stop event the whole way. Virgile Meyer held on to second while Isaac Exley had a career best finish of third with Luke Hoffner and Jake Pennington rounding out the top five. Heat wins were split between Jason Elensky, John Brown and Meyer.
The Makeup Small Block Modified feature saw Shannon Casher and Hayden Holden on the front row, as Holden took the lead and was setting sail, with Casher in second until lap five, when Jimmy Holden came from sixth to take second. Once in second he began to reel in his son, and on lap 16 Dad caught son, and they were battling to the lead. Hayden was holding his father, when they entered lapped traffic and Jimmy dove under his son in turn three and wrestled the lead away from Hayden and went on to get the win. Hayden held on to second with Casher third, Bob Garvey Jr. was fourth and Craig Casher was fifth. Shannon Casher and Hayden Holden won the heats.
The Makeup Four Cylinder feature saw Jimmy Ogden and Tim Raup on the front row, as Raup took the lead at the start and lost the top spot to Ogden on the fourth lap. Ogden was setting the pace, as Raup tried to find a way into the lead, but Ogden was holding tough. On the final lap, Raup was able to find the right groove as he took the lead and the win. Ogden was a close second over Luke Hoffner, Roswell Babcock and Isaac Exley. The heat went to Ogden and Raup.
PIT NOTES: 60 cars were in the pits, including: 11 Semi Lates, 9 Small Block Modifieds, 8 Pure Stocks, 12 Vintage Modifieds and 20 Four Cylinders…it was Racing for Awareness Night (Special Needs Children Night) which we partnered with 4T1 Ministries. The evening’s events featured special needs children who handed out trophies to all the feature winners. The children were so excited to participate…Coming up this week is the inaugural Marlin and Jean Luzier Memorial race for the Four Cylinders, paying $1,000 to win and on June 17 it’s the Father’s Day Special featuring double points in all classes, plus a $1,000 to win special for the Semi Lates, a return by the 600 Micros and the first visit by the UTV/ATV’s… On July 15 it is the only visit by the Laurel Highlands 305 Sprints cars…Watch our Facebook page and our website (www.hiddenvalleyspeedway.net ) for more news and details.
Summary:
Scaife Racing Supplies Semi-Lates - 1. Justin Owens, Shiloh; 2. Ryan Jacoby, 3. Gary Little, 4. Luke Hoffner, 5. Brad Benton, 6. Waco Williams, 7. Chad Desmett, 8. Ron Laubscher, 9. Jeremy Lippert, 10. Connor Mann
Did Not Start - Josh Henry
Small Block Modifieds - 1. Jimmy Holden, Tiona; 2. Shannon Casher, 3. Hayden Holden, 4. Bud Garvey, Jr., 5. Trent Odgen, 6. Craig Casher, 7. Chris Luzier, 8. Jamie Luzier, 9. Aaron Casher
PA Thunder on the Dirt - 1. Gene Wrightstone (M), Enola; 2. Mark Hann (M), 3. Cody Shultz (M), 4. Wally Stock (M), 5. Tim Harris (S), 6. John Marks (S), 7. Bryan Rhinesmith (S), 8. Steve Longo (S), 9. William Stile (M), 10. Paul Bacchus (M), 11. Ryan Maglione (S),
12. Tim Beatty (M)
Pure Stocks - 1. Joe Kephart, Williamsburg; 2. BJ Hudson, 3. John Eckenrod, 4. Tyler Rougeux, 5. Eric Luzier, 6. Little Lester Hudson, 7. Eddie Gardner
Did Not Start - Dakota Craig
Little’s Drive-In Four Cylinders - 1. Jimmy Ogden, Clearfield; 2. Virgil Meyer, 3. Isaac Exley, 4. Luke Hoffner, 5. Jake Pennington, 6. Nick Bem, 7. Tim Raup, 8. Ryan Lippert, 9. Kyler Henry, 10. Jason Dotts, 11. Jordan Exley, 12. Sam Pennington, 13. Len Crawford, 14. John Brown, 15. Allen Robison, 16. Jason Elensky, 17. Larry Conklin, Jr.
Did Not Start - Roswell Babcock, William Kephart and Ken Smith
Small Block Modifieds - Makeup Race from 05/27/23 - 1. Jimmy Holden, Tiona; 2. Hayden Holden, 3. Shannon Casher, 4. Bob Garvey, Jr., 5. Craig Casher, 6. Jamie Luzier, 7. Aaron Casher, 8. Chris Luzier, 9. Trent Ogden
Little’s Drive In Four Cylinders - Makeup Race from 05/27/23 - Tim Raup, Danville; 2. Jimmy Ogden, 3. Luke Hoffner, 4. Roswell Babcock, 5. Isaac Exley, 6. Virgil Meyer, 7. Jason Dotts, 8. Ryan Lippert, 9. Jake Pennington, 10. Jason Elensky, 11. John Brown, 12. Sam Pennington, 13. Kyler Henry, 14. Larry Conklin, Jr., 15. Nick Bem, 16. Jordan Exley
Did Not Start - Steve Delozier