SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Pat Cannon of Etters, Pa. turned in a dominating performance for his victory in Saturday night’s Mach 1 Chassis Mid-Atlantic 360 Sprint Car Series opener at Selinsgrove Speedway.
The $2,500 victory at the wheel of the Highlands’ Tire Service No. 3 was Cannon’s third of the early 2012 season, having also won 358 sprint car features at Port Royal and Williams Grove Speedways.
Saturday night’s race was the first of six in the inaugural $120,000 360 sprint car series this season sponsored by Mach 1 Chassis of Mechanicsburg. The series includes five events at Selinsgrove and one race at Lincoln Speedway.
Prior to the waving of the green flag to start the sprint car feature, pole sitter Colby Womer’s No. 19 developed a flat tire, forcing him to pit and restart on the rear of the field. Womer’s misfortune placed original third-place starter Pat Cannon on the pole for the start of the race.
On the initial start, several cars got sideways in turn four and 11th-place starter Robbie Stillwagon’s No. 89 took a series of twisting flips. The crash also collected 18th-place starter Blane Heimbach and ninth-place starter Ryan Bohlke. All drivers escaped injury.
When the race resumed, Cannon opened up a convincing lead at the onset and was chased by original fourth-place starter T.J. Winegardner. By the third circuit, Cannon had stretch his lead to a straightaway over Winegardner, fifth-place starter Daryn Pittman and sixth-place starter Davie Franek.
On the seventh lap, Cannon’s lead was erased when the caution flag unfurled for second-place starter Troy Betts, whose car rolled to a stop on the track. On the lap eight restart, Pittman drove by Winegardner for second and Franek followed Pittman into third. A torrid battle unfolded for second between Pittman and Franek while Cannon again pulled away.
Winegardner brought out the next caution flag on lap 12 when he parked his car in the first turn. On the lap 13 restart, seventh-place starter Chuck Hebing stormed by Franek for third and set his sites on Pittman.
The red flag stopped the race again on lap 16 when Bill Sherman flipped his sprint car in turn two. Sherman was not injured in the crash. On the final restart, Cannon led the field around the ultra-fast half-mile as Pittman and Hebing dueled for second. On the 18th circuit, Hebing made an exciting pass by Pittman for the runner up position using the inside line entering turn three.
Once Hebing secured the second position, he began to show even more speed and attempted to reel in Cannon to no avail. At the checkered flag, Cannon was victorious by 2.8 seconds over Hebing, Pittman, Franek, and 16th-place starter Mark Smith.
Rounding out the top ten were TJ S, 2010 ESS rookie of the year Kevin Ward Jr., Jessica Zemken, Jessica Anderson and Steve Collins
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 31 March 2012 360 Sprint Cars – 22 Entries 25-Lap A-Main:
1) 3 Pat Cannon $2,500 2) 45 Chuck Hebing 3) 27 Daryn Pittman 4) 28F Davie Franek 5) 1 Mark Smith 6) 23M TJ Stutts 7) 13 Kevin Ward 8) 1Z Jessica Zemken 9) 71 Jessica Anderson 10) 67 Steve Collins 11) 6S Bill Sherman 12) 11T TJ Winegardner 13) 22 Troy Betts 14) 36 Mark Watkins 15) 19 Colby Womer 16) 21 Duane Mausteller 17) 18 Ryan Bohlke 18) 89 Robbie Stillwaggon 19) 12 Blane Heimbach 20) 11T Eric Tomacek 21) 99K Cody Keller 22) 37 Scott Flammer
Heat Winners Round 1: Davie Franek, Daryn Pittman, T.J. Winegardner (NTR 8 Laps: 2:20.620)
Heat Winners Round 2: Pat Cannon, Colby Womer, Blane Heimbach