Anderson Wins Inaugural Luzier Memorial at HVS; Holden Undefeated in Small Block Mods
June 10, 2023
Clearfield, PA - The inaugural Marlin and Jean Luzier Memorial for the Little’s Drive In Four Cylinders was held Saturday night at Hidden Valley Speedway and Chris Anderson of Cassvill picked up the $1,200 win event.. Gary Little of Clearfield picked up the Scaife Racing Supplies Semi Late Feature while Jimmy Holden of Tiona remained undefeated in the Small Block Modifieds and John Eckenrod of Ebensburg won the Pure Stock Main.
Brad Benton and Luke Hoffner led the Semi Late Feature to the green flag with Benton shooting into the lead and was setting the pace, but Gary Little was right on his bumper and throwing what he had the Benton, but Benton went high in the corner and Little dove under the leader and took the lead. Benton then lost second by going high again, this time in turn four and he eventually dropped out. The race for second then heated up between Hoffner and George Bailey as Little went on to get his third win of the season. Hoffner held on to second, Bailey was third with Justin Owens and Marvin “Waco” Williams completing the top five. Heat wins went to Williams and Little.
The Small Block Modifieds saw Trent Ogden and Hayden Holden on the front row, with Holden taking the lead and Ogden in second. While H. Holden was setting the pace, the crowd was watching his dad, Jimmy Holden coming from the rear. The elder Holden was up to third by the fourth lap and had his sights on second place Shannon Casher. He moved past Casher on lap five for second and began to reel in his son, by lap eight, Jimmy caught his son, as Hayden had to work lapped traffic. He had to decided which line to use, and Hayden chose the outside and his dad went low, making it a three wide move, with the slower car in the middle going into the third turn. When they came out of turn four, Jimmy had the lead and Hayden was second. While they ran first and second, Ogden and Casher were side by side for third, with Ogden taking the position at the finish. THe official top five were: Jimmy Holden, Hayden Holden, Ogden, Cashier and Bob Garvey Jr. Heat wins were split between Jimmy Holden and Shannon Casher.
Eric Lucas and Brady Gallaher brought the Pure Stocks to Jon Shipley’s green flag, with a pair of cautions regrouping the field before a lap could be completed. Once the green finally waved for good, John Eckenrod took the lead and Gallaher fell into second but he became the third caution and ended his night. Eckenrod continued to set the pace, with Dakota Craig now in second and third was a battle between Todd Coble, Ryan Shaffner and Joe Kephart. As they continued to battle, they closed on Craig and made it a four car race before spins and mechanical issues shrunk the field. When Shipley waved the final checkered flag, it was Eckenrod becoming the first Pure Stock driver to repeat. He was followed over the line by Shaffner in second, Kephart third, Craig was fourth and Lucas was fifth. Heat wins went to Craig and Eckenrod.
The Marlin and Jean Luzier Memorial for the Little’s Drive In Four Cylinders were the spotlight class, as Chris Anderson and Shawn Hadden filled the front row by virtue of their heat wins and the redraw. At the drop of the green, Anderson took the lead and Hadden was second. They had a small lead built up, while Justin Williamson was using all the tricks he knew to get past Luke Hoffner, but Hoffner wasn’t about to hand the spot over, as Anderson continued leading, Hadden also tried to get the leader, and could not muster up the power to reel him in. Back to the battle for third, Williamson was able to get past Hoffner for the spot, as the wiry veteran tried to take the spot back but ran out of time. As the checkered flag waved, it was Anderson taking his first ever HVS win, over Hadden, Williamson, Hoffner and Terry Hartlaub. Heat wins went to Hoffner, Hartlaub, Anderson and Hadden.
The Little’s Drive In Four Cylinders second chance race was probably one of the most exciting events of the night, as Travis Semple and Sam Pennington sat on the front row, with Pennington taking the lead and Semple falling to second. The top four were in parade lap formation, but at speed for the entire first lap and a half, when Pennington took the lead and Jason Elensky moved to second. While Pennington led, Semple was dropping back, and Ryan Lippert took over third on lap 9. On lap eight Elensky took the lead from Pennington and Lippert took over second on lap 10 and was all over Elensky for the win, but Elensky was able to hold on for his first ever win. Lippert was second, Semple was third with Jake Pennington fourth and Lem Crawford fifth.
PIT NOTES: 61 cars were in the pits, including: 11 Semi Lates, 8 Small Block Modifieds, 12 Pure Stocks, and 30 Four Cylinders…Coming up this week is 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. The Small Block Modifieds, Pure Stocks, Four Cylinders and 270 Micros are also on the card…There will be no racing on June 24, as we bring you Diesel Mania, a truck pulling event….July 1 will see the Modified Mafia Tour coming to the speedway for the Independence Day Special. This show will feature the Modified tour along with the Semi Lates, Pure Stocks, Four Cylinders, 270 Micros, the 600 Micros and our own Small Block Modifieds will also be on the card…Coming up On July 15 it is the only visit by the Laurel Highlands 305 Sprints cars…Any July 22 the Super Late Models return for a $3,000 to win show…Watch our Facebook page and our website (www.hiddenvalleyspeedway.net ) for more news and details.
Summary:
Little’s Drive-In Four Cylinders - Marlin and Jean Luzier Memorial Race - 1. Chris Anderson, Cassville; 2. Shawn Hadden, 3. Justin Williamson, 4. Luke Hoffner, 5. Terry Hartlaub, 6. Rusty Garlock, 7. Tim Raup, 8. AJ Hoffner, 9. John Brown, 10. Roswell Babcock, 11. Nick Bem, 12. Tiana Anderson, 13. Jason Godd, 14. Isaac Exley, 15. Latavin Spriggs, 16. Kirklyn Stauser, 17. Jimmy Ogden, 18. Jimmy Moyer, 19. Matt Weaver, 20. Virgil Meyer
Scaife Racing Supplies Semi-Lates - 1. Gary Little, Clearfield; 2. Luke Hoffner, 3. George Bailey, 4. Justin Owens, 5. Waco Williams, 6. Josh Henry, 7. Mike Blazer, 8. Jeremy Lippert, 9. Ron Laubscher, 10. Brad Benton, 11. Levi Ardery
Small Block Modifieds - 1. Jimmy Holden, Tiona; 2. Hayden Holden, 3. Trent Ogden, 4. Shannon Casher, 5. Bob Garvey, Jr., 6. Craig Casher, 7. Chris Luzier, 8. Jamie Luzier
Pure Stocks - 1. John Eckenrod, Ebensburg; 2. Ryan Shaffner, 3. Joe Kephart, 4. Dakota Craig, 5. Eric Lucas, 6. Todd Coble, 7. Brady Gallaher, 8. Casey Wolfe, 9. Eddie Gardner
Did Not Start - BJ Hudson, Cody Wolfe and Derek Lippert
Little’s Drive-In Four Cylinders - 2nd Chance Race - 1. Jason Elensky, West Decatur; 2. Ryan Lippert, 3. Travis Semple, 4. Jake Pennington, 5. Lem Crawford, 6. Sam Pennington, 7. Kyler Henry, 8. Jordan Exley
Did Not Start - William Kephart and Dustin Miller