SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Wherever Mark Smith travels to race this season – Florida, Pennsylvania, even Canada – the Sunbury driver seems to have no problem finding Victory Lane. For the fourth time this season at Selinsgrove Speedway, Smith scored a thrilling victory over TJ Stutts of Liverpool by just .64 of a second in Saturday’s 25-lap United Racing Club 360 sprint car feature.
Driving the Mach 1 Chassis house car, Smith collected $2,000 for his seventh overall victory this year and 14th career in 358-360 sprint car racing at the speedway.
Chad Hollenbeck of Kingsley pulled off a last-lap, last-turn pass by Gene Knaub of York for his first career super late model win at Selinsgrove Speedway in the division’s 25-lap main event, while Nathan Long of Selinsgrove held off Andrew Shoop of Mifflintown for his second win of the year in the 15-lap pro stock race.
Selinsgrove Speedway will hold the Joe Whitcomb Memorial for 360 sprint cars at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 13. The 30-lap tribute race will pay $2,571 to win and will be sanctioned by the Patriot Sprint Tour. Joining the sprint cars on the racing card will be the super late models, pro stocks, and roadrunners. Track gates will open at 5 p.m.
Second-place starter Jason Shultz drove into a convincing early lead at the start of the sprint car feature. Shultz was chased by polesitter Robbie Stillwaggon while fifth-place starter Mark Smith dueled with third-place starter Ryan Kissinger.
On lap seven, Smith got by Stillwaggon for second and started to navigate his way through traffic to catch Shultz. The race was stopped on lap 13 when Mallie Shuster’s car flipped out over the second turn guardrail. Shuster escaped injury.
When the race resumed, Shultz led Smith and ninth-place starter TJ Stutts back to the green flag. Exiting turn two, Smith made the winning pass using the inside lane. Two laps later, Stutts advanced to second and closed in on Smith in the final laps.
On the final lap, Stutts almost got alongside of Smith to challenge for the lead and win. At the checkered flag, Smith was victorious by .64 of a second over Stutts, Shultz, Stillwaggon, and Kissinger.
Outside front row starter Gene Knaub powered into the lead at the start of the late model feature and was chased by polesitter Hayes Mattern and third-place starter Tony Adams. Knaub stretched his lead to nearly a straightaway during the first half of the race as fifth-place starter Chad Hollenbeck started making his way through the pack.
A hard battle unfolded for the second spot between Mattern and Hayes. However, by lap seven, Hollenbeck advanced to second and set his sites on Knaub while eighth-place starter Jim Yoder raced into the third position.
In the final laps, Hollenbeck reeled in Knaub and was in striking distance on the final circuit. Racing off turn four for the checkered flag, Hollenbeck made a thrilling inside pass for the lead and scored his first win by only .14 of a second over Knaub, Yoder, Dave Zona, and Coleby Frye.
In the pro stock feature, third-place starter Nate Stroup led the first three laps until 11th-place starter Nathan Long stormed into the lead with an inside pass in turn three. At the halfway point, 12th-place starter Andrew Shoop advanced to second and began to pressure Long for the lead.
At one point, Shoop pulled alongside of Long in a bid for the lead to no avail. At the checkered flag, Long was victorious by just .47 of a second over Shoop, Adam Campbell, Dave Brouse Jr., and Jim Payne.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY
360 Sprint Cars – 28 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 1 Mark Smith 2) 23 TJ Stutts 3) 29 Jason Shultz 4) 89 Robbie Stillwaggon 5) 66 Ryan Kissinger 6) 99K Cody Keller 7) Josh Weller 8) 28F Davie Franek 9) 77 Derek Locke 10) 25E Tyler Ross 11) 39 Eric Parker 12) 22 Troy Betts 13) 08 Jason Clauss 14) 19 Colby Womer 15) 79 Jordan Thomas 16) M16 Justin Hoffman 17) 12B Brad Franks 18) C4 Jim Shuster 19) 29S Derek Steward 20) 49 Mike Walter 21) 2L Art Liedl 22) 5G Curt Michael 23) 49S Mallie Shuster 24) 1W Eric Tomecek
Heat Winners: Robbie Stillwaggon, Jason Shultz, Ryan Kissinger
B-Main Winner: Curt Michael
Late Models – 21 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 4D Chad Hollenbeck 2) 1 Gene Knaub 3) 27 Jim Yoder 4) 99Z Dave Zona 5) 1F Coleby Frye 6) 61 Ken Trevitz 7) 7M Meade Hahn 8) 6 Donnie Schick 9) 76 Andy Haus 10) 33C Chris Casner 11) 9 Hayes Mattern 12) 4P Patrick Bryner 13) 88 Tony Adams 14) 11 Jason Schmidt 15) 88T Ernie Millon 16) 10 Dave Stamm 17) 2 Steve Campbell 18) 21 Dave Brouse Sr. 19) 4S Danny Snyder 20) 0 Larry Baer 21) 24J Jon Rohacevich
Heat Winners: Gene Knaub, Hayes Mattern, Jim Yoder
Pro Stocks – 22 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1) 63 Nathan Long 2) 8S Andrew Shoop 3) 2C Adam Campbell 4) 14 Dave Brouse Jr. 5) 4 Jim Payne 6) 26 AJ Stroup 7) 40 Tommy Slanker 8) 55 John Troxell 9)99 Kyle Bachman 10) 33 Curtis Lawton 11) 88 Matt Hornberger 12) 26S Nate Stoup 13) 28 Dan Condo 14) 6 Nate Herman 15) 99H Peanut Heintzelman 16) 8M Brandon Moser 17) 6C Jake Buck 18) 14C Bill Conrad 19) G3 Jim Gearhart 20) 11 Derrick Garman 21) 83 Matt Wilson 22) 71 Kurt Wray
Heat Winners: Kyle Bachman, Brandon Moser, Derrick Garman