BEDFORD, PA – It was ARCH Fan club night at the Bedford Speedway Friday, and Jeff Rine got his Bob Elbin owned #92 working good just in time for next week’s late model speedweeks. Rine battled hard in what was arguably one of the best races of the year in the division to take his first of the season. Similarly, the Limited Late model feature event was action packed with Grant Adams earning his first ever Bedford Speedway win. Brian Duffy won his third of the year in a Street Stock feature that rivaled a demolition derby on the first lap, and Charlie Walter wins back to back in the Hobby Stocks. Juan Ryan earned the win in the 4 Cylinder division, his first of the year.
Shawn Claar and Greg Fetters, a pair of drivers thirsting for a return to Bedford’s victory lane, started on the front row of the Super Late Model main event. Both drivers took a turn at the lead, with Claar leading the first two circuits before Fetters snagged the top spot on lap 3. Fetters looked rock solid out front but it was Jeff Rine who captured the most attention. Rine, who started 8th, was in third by lap three, and took second from Claar on lap four. Rine showed patience as he dogged and matched Fetters around the big oval in the bottom groove. It appeared that Fetters might have the advantage as Rine made no serious attempts at the lead, but that would all change when Jack Pencil, who slid into third on lap 6, powered by Rine on the high side on lap 16. It was if Rine was awoken from a trance. The following lap he blasted to the top and took the position back from Pencil, and again using the high side he flew by Fetters for first. The top three made a show of it, and Pencil got by Fetters for second with five to go. Rine held on for his tenth career win, Pencil finished a close second, and Dylan Yoder stole third from Fetters with 2 to go. Following Fetters was Matt Parks in fifth, Scott Haus sixth, and Andy Haus, Chuck Clise, Shawn Claar, and Wayne Johnson completed the top ten. Rine and Fetters won the heats.
In similar fashion, the starting front row of the Limited Late Model main event featured Travis Calhoun and George Dixon, Jr., two drivers searching for the their first ever Bedford win in the division. Calhoun managed to lead the first two laps convincingly, but the second row starting duo of Grant Adams and Matt Sponaugle wanted the top spot sooner than later. Adams took the lead on lap three, and Sponaugle took second on lap four. From that point, the race was on. Adams and Sponaugle ran side by side for laps, with Adams leading slightly for three laps, then Sponaugle claiming a slight edge for six. Adams, who had never won a feature event at Bedford, has shown steady improvement all season. Sponaugle, one of Bedford’s most proven drivers, rarely relinquishes a lead. But on this night, the stars were shining on Adams as he had enough of the side by side racing and took the lead for good with 8 laps to go. Sponaugle settled for second, Robbie Black came from his tenth starting spot to claim third, Travis Stickley was fourth, and Donnie Farlling fifth. Sixth through tenth went to Tim Smith, Jr., Travis Calhoun, Monday night’s winner Brian Lowery, Craig Perigo, and George Dixon, Jr. Tim Smith, Jr. and Sponaugle won the heat events.
The Street Stock feature started just like it did Monday night – a devastating crash with a race car flipping wildly at the flag stand. This week it was division powerhouse Chris Chamberlain. Chamberlain flipped multiple times amongst the entire field of cars, and came to a rest in turn one. Chamberlain exited the car under his power, but it took two wreckers to haul his badly damaged racer off the speedway. Several other cars were damaged in the accident, but all were able to continue racing. When things settled down, Bill Henney had claimed the first position on lap 2 and appeared to have things in hand. In typical Bill Henney fashion, he threw his # 50 into the corners high on the cushion and started to distance himself from the pack. But on lap 9, a mechanical problem sent Henney from first to last in just one circuit. Tenth starting Brian Duffy was more than eager to accept the top spot, and Jerry Robinson assumed the second position. Henney’s trouble was apparently temporary because his car seemed to wake up again on lap 11 and Henney immediately went back to the cushion. As Duffy led with several car lengths over Robinson, Henney was on a mission. Picking cars off lap after lap, Henney worked his way into third with four to go. The lead pair had distanced themselves from the field but a caution with three to go gave hint that things might just get a little interesting. However, it was Duffy who proved to be most impressive as he powered to a good lead and left Robinson and Henney to battle on their own for second. Robinson prevailed, and followed Duffy to the checkered. Henney, Paul Gambol, and Jesse Snyder completed the top five. The win was Duffy’s 23rd of his career, and he is once again tied with Bob Jay for most all-time wins in the division. Henney and Chamberlain won the heats.
Charlie Walter took advantage of his second starting spot to earn his 18th career victory in the Hobby Stock division. No driver has ever won more in this division, and Walter took the win with ease. Division veteran Terry Norris had his hands full for most of the race with Lou Wannyn and came home with a second place finish. Wannyn, teammate Rick Potter, and Chad Gambol finished second through fifth. The heats went to Potter and Justin Michael.
The 4 Cylinders were a little on the wild side Friday night as it took several attempts to get the race under way. Casey Fleegle was looking for his first career win at Bedford and appeared to do so. He led the first two laps, lost the lead to Juan Ryan for the next 8, then regained the lead with two to go to take the checkers. However, a post race tech inspection soured the evening for Fleegle, and second place finishing Juan Ryan was declared the winner. The win was Ryan’s second of his career, and was followed at the finish line by Andrew Pluta, Robert Pluta, Phil Best, and Nathan Kaminsky. Ryan and Fleegle won the heats.
The Appalachian Mountain Late Model Speedweek will have their grand finale Friday, June 10th at Bedford Speedway. The $5,000 to win event shows promise of attracting several top name drivers and a large field of competitors to the historic speedway. Also appearing will be the Limited Late Models, racing for $1,000 to win. For more information, call the speedway office at 814-623-0500, or visit www.bedfordspeedway.com
SUPER LATE MODELS
FEATURE: 1) 92 Jeff Rine (Tri-State Racing Photos Hard Charger) 2) 14 Jack Pencil 3) 32 Dylan Yoder 4) 39 Greg Fetters 5) 15p Matt Parks 6) 21 Scott Haus 7) 76 Andy Haus 8 ) 5 Chuck Clise 9) 20 Shawn Claar 10) 17j Wayne Johnson 11) 49 Eric Zembower 12) 8 Tim Fedder (DNF) 13) 119b Bryan Bernheisel (DNF) 14) 57 Jeff Miller (DNF) 15) 5* Derek Byler (DNF)
HEAT 1: Rine, Pencil, Bernheisel
HEAT 2: Fetters, S. Haus, Yoder
LIMITED LATE MODELS
FEATURE: 1) 64 Grant Adams 2) 8 Matt Sponaugle 3) 01 Robbie Black (Tri-State Racing Photos Hard Charger) 4) 32 Travis Stickley 5) 48 Donnie Farlling 6) 39 Tim Smith, Jr. 7) 36 Travis Calhoun 8 ) 13 Brian Lowery 9) 1a Craig Perigo 10) 77 George Dixon, Jr. 11) 73 Mike Duck 12) 81 Eddie Cornett 13) 10 Corey Weaver (DNF) 14) 66 Justin Kann (DNF)
HEAT 1: Smith, Adams, Dixon
HEAT 2: Sponaugle, Calhoun, Duck
STREET STOCKS
FEATURE: 1) 38 Brian Duffy (Tri-State Racing Photos Hard Charger) 2) 711 Jerry Robinson 3) 50 Bill Henney 4) 85 Paul Gambol 5) 22 Jesse Snyder 6) 73c Bill Pluta 7) 44 Rick Wright 8 ) 1 Tom Warren (DNF) 9) 63 Kerry Molovich (DNF) 10) 4J Bob Jay (DNF) 11) 31c Chris Chamberlain (DNF)
DNS: 55x Scott Grubb
HEAT 1: Henney, Jay, Robinson
HEAT 2: Chamberlain, Duffy, Molovich
HOBBY STOCKS
FEATURE: 1) 42 Charlie Walter 2) 73 Terry Norris 3) 77 Lou Wannyn 4) 77xxl Rick Potter 5) 13 Chad Gambol (Tri-State Racing Photos Hard Charger) 6) 7T Travis Group 7) 7c Curtis Guyer 8 ) 60 Bill Replogle 9) 28 Justin Michael 10) 22 Tim Brown
HEAT 1: Potter, Walter, Gambol
HEAT 2: Michael, Group, Replogle
4 CYLINDERS
FEATURE: 1) 3j Juan Ryan 2) 88 Andrew Pluta (Tri-State Racing Photos Hard Charger) 3) 67 Robert Pluta 4) 11 Phil Best 5) 7 Nathan Kaminsky 6) 68 Ray Wright 7) 17k Kevin See 8 ) 93 Jeremy Miller (DNF) 9) 8R Ronnie Valentine (DNF) 10) 86 Ralph Miller (DNF) 11) 34 Brad Hoffman (DNF) 12) 5w Garrett Watkins (DNF) 13) 12 Steve Frederick (DNF) 14) 38 Mike Lauffer (DNF)
DQ: 113 Casey Fleegle
HEAT 1: Ryan, Kaminsky, Frederick
HEAT 2: Fleegle, J. Miller, R. Pluta