Lucas Takes Pure Stock Special at Hidden Valley; Semple and Shoup new Four Cylinder Winners
June 21, 2024
Clearfield, PA - Eric Lucas of Clearfield picked up his first win of the season in the Pure Stock Special Friday night on the multi-groove, virtually dust free track at Hidden Valley Speedway, while Travis Semple Mapleton picked up the Little’s Drive In Four Cylinder Feature win and Jake Shoup of Mapleton Depot copped the Thunder Car Special.
Repeat winners included Gary Little of Clearfield in the Semi Lates, Jimmy Holden of Tiona in the Small Block Modifieds and Brandon Connor of Penfield picked up the double checkers in the Penn-Ohio Pro Stock main event.
The Semi Late Feature saw the feature halted four times on the start due to various issues, but when Sam McClellan was finally able to keep the green displayed, it was BJ Hudson taking the initial lead from fellow front row starter Luke Hoffner. Fifth place starter Gary Little was working his way towards the front when another yellow waved on lap four. At this time, Little sat second to Hudson. When the race restarted, Hudson was still in command, as Little was throwing everything he had at the leader, then on lap seven in turns one and two, Little was able to take the inside from Hudson, and off the second turn, Little pulled in front and at the starters stand on lap 8, it was Little now leading. The race continued with Little leading, Hudson was second and Paul Ivory was third, after starting last. He looped the 4A on lap 19 and pitted for the night when another incident occurred on lap 19 that halted the action again. The green-white-checkered saw Little hold off Hudson for his fourth win of the season. Hudson was second over Dan Gill, Chad Rougeux and Justin Owens. Heat wins went to Hudson and Little.
The Small Block Modifieds saw Jimmy Holden line up on the pole alongside Shannon Casher, and when the green waved, it was Holden taking the lead and Casher in second, with Aaron Casher in third when a quick yellow slowed the action. The restart saw Holden continue to lead with S. Casher still second and A. Casher battling Hayden Holden for third. Hayden took third away fro Aaron Casher on lap five and set his sights on Shannon Casher, who was still trying to run down Jimmy Holden, but Holden was too tough to tame in the Mike Stine owned #7s. At the finish it was Jimmy Holden getting win two on the season over Shannon Casher, Hayden Holden, Craig Casher and Aaron Casher. Jimmy Holden also won the heat.
The Penn-Ohio Pro Stocks saw Jim Bloom and Brandon Connor on the front row, with Connor taking the lead and Bloom sitting second. Alan Lamb was third for the first two laps, before the yellow waved. On the restart it was still Connor leading the way and Bloom was second trying to hold off Fuzzy Fields, but on lap five, Fields was able to muscle under Bloom for second. Fields then tried to reel in Connor but he was running out of time. As they were waging that battle, Bloom was trying to stay ahead of Cregen Brady, then on lap 11, Bloom spun in the corner and handed third over to Brady. The final four laps Connor held off Fields and Brady for his fourth win of the season. Fields, Brady, Rich Howell and Bloom rounded out the top five. Bloom and Fields split heat wins.
Eric Lucas and Bruno Mowery led the Pure Stock field to the start for their 20 lap special, with Lucas taking the lead and setting the pace. While Lucas may have led flag to flag, the battle behind him was exciting to watch, as Tim Steis was behind Mowery for a while and then seventh place starting Josh Fields worked his way into the third spot on lap five, but a bobble by Mowery on lap six scattered the field, as Fields fell back to fourth and Mitch Stiles assumed second and Mowery fell to third. The race remained under green until a caution waved on lap nine, giving everyone a chance to catch their breath after the bobble.
The restart saw Lucas still leading, as Mowery, Stiles and Fields were fighting for second spot, but Fields was the man on the move, as he moved into third on lap 12, then he moved to second on lap 14 and was setting his sights on Lucas, and he was reeling in the leader, but it appeared his tires went away, as he began to fade some in the later laps, and came up short at the line as Lucas grabbed his first win of the year. Fields held on to second, Mowery was third, Stiles held on to fourth and Noah Bloom grabbed a fifth place finish. Heat wins went to Lucas and Mowery.
Travis Semple and John Brown led the Little’s Drive In Four Cylinders to the green as Semple led the first lap, with Brown in second, but when the second lap was scored, it was Brown now setting the pace. He was in control until lap five when he faded to third, but ended up in the pits with a flat tire. He was able to return on the same lap, but now at the rear of the field, as Semple was leading and Jason Elensky was second with Luke Hoffner third. The final finish was Semple getting his first HVS win of the season over Elensky, Hoffner, Justin Williamson from last after being a different driver after qualifying and Wild Bill Hassenplug was fifth. Heat wins went to Semple, Brown and Elensky.
The Thunder Cars made a return to the Valley with heat winners Jake Shoup and Charlie Stallman on the front row. The race saw Shoup lead from start to finish, with Kevin Bard in second the whole time trying to run down the leader. As the race wore on, it was Shoup getting his first win of the season over Bard, Travis Burkholder, Nicholas Barkhallow and Brock Foster.
The Little’s Drive In Junior Four Cylinders saw Blake Little win a hard fought battle over Jackson Shugarts.
PIT NOTES: 67 cars filled the pits, including: 13 Semi Lates, 7 Small Block Modifieds, 8 Penn-Ohio Pro Stocks, 11 Pure Stocks, 17 Four Cylinders, 9 Thunder Cars and 2 Junior Four Cylinders…the BJW Fire Company 50/50 was worth $567.50 to the winner…The Pure Stocks Mechanics Race was won by Jason Martin…Coming up this week is the Mid-Season Championship with regular racing in the regular classes, including the Semi Lates, Small Block Modifieds, Penn-Ohio Pro Stocks, Pure Stocks and Four Cylinders, plus added this week is another race for the Junior Four Cylinder and the 600 Micros…Coming up on July 5th in the Independence Day Special with the Super Late Models returning to action. Keep watching out Facebook Page and our website at www.hiddenvalleyspeedway.net for more details.
Summary:
Semi-Lates - 1. Gary Little, Clearfield; 2. BJ Hudson, 3. Dan Gill, 4. Chad Rougeux, 5. Justin Owens, 6. Paul Ivory, 7. Jeremy Lippert, 8. Craig Bainey, 9. Jarid Ivory, 10. Connor Mann, 11. Josh Henry, 12. Ron Laubscher
Disqualified - Luke Hoffner
Small Block Modifieds - 1. Jimmy Holden, Tiona; 2. Shannon Casher, 3. Hayden Holden, 4. Craig Casher, 5. Aaron Casher, 6. Trent Ogden, 7. Chris Luzier
Penn-Ohio Pro Stocks - 1. Brandon Connor, Penfield; 2. Fuzzy Fields, 3. Cregen Brady, 4. Rich Howell, 5. Jim Bloom, 6. Adam Lamb, 7. Sheddy Graham, III
Did Not Start - Pernell Beimel
Pure Stocks - 1. Eric Lucas, Clearfield; 2. Josh Fields, 3. Bruno Mowery, 4. Mitch Stiles, 5. Noah Bloom, 6. Eddie Gardner, 7. Ryan Shaffner, 8. Tim Steis, 9. Andrew Wallace, 10. Eric Luzier
Did Not Start - Bud Hudson
Little’s Drive-In Four Cylinders - 1. Travis Semple, Mapleton; 2. Jason Elensky, 3. Luke Hoffner, 4. Justin Williamson, 5. Bill Hassenplug, 6. Allen Robison, 7. Anthony Sones, 8. Chad Lidwell, 9. Shawn Linn, 10. Kyler Henry, 11. John Brown, 12. Ryan Lippert, 13. Maddox Williamson, 14. Dustin Miller, 15. Jake Pennington
Disqualified - Tyler Stine and Isaac Exley
Four Cylinder Juniors - 1. Blake Little, Clearfield; 2. Jackson Shugarts
Thunder Cars Rear Wheel Drive Four Cylinders - 1. Jake Shoup, Mapleton Depot; 2. Kevin Bard, 3. Travis Burkholder, 4. Nicholas Barkhallow, 5. Brock Foster, 6. Charlie Stallman, 7. William Stoner, 8. Tara Kerlin, 9. Matt Dixson
Pure Stock Mechanics Race - 1. Jason Martin; 2. Cole Smay
Did Not Start - Joe London, John Luzier, Dalton Gus and Joseph McCaully