By: Frank Buhrman
Selinsgrove’s Ken Duke Jr. capped a perfect racing weekend with a late pass for the lead and his second straight hometown victory in Saturday’s 20-lap PA Sprint Series feature at Selinsgrove Speedway.
The Selinsgrove win followed Duke’s victory Friday night at Clinton County Motor Speedway and was his seventh of the year in PASS/IMCA competition; he also has won with the Laurel Highlands Sprint Series.
Duke leads both the Pennsylvania and national IMCA/RaceSaver Sprint Series point standings.
“The track didn’t slick off quite as much as I thought it would for the feature,” Duke said in victory lane, “so we were a little tight at the beginning, but the longer we ran, the better we got.
“Those guys started coming back to me a little bit, and my eyes got a little bit bigger, and we went after them, and we were lucky enough to pull it off.”
“Those guys” referred to in Duke’s comments were pole-sitter Tyler Reinhardt, outside front-row starter Kruz Kepner and veteran Keith Prutzman, who were all involved in the battle for the lead.
Reinhardt (Elmer, N.J.; Absolute Air Heating & Cooling/Safeguard Property Solutions/Hurst Motorsports #4), making only his second start of the year (and no relation to the night’s 360 sprint winner – and former PASS competitor – Kyle Reinhardt), led for most of the race, although he was challenged early by Kepner (Winfield; Good’s Construction/Stahl’s Garage/Hill Top Lawn Care #19) and then Prutzman (Hamburg; Buck Rubs Gentlemen’s Club/McKeansburg Bar & Restaurant #28).
Kepner ran second for the first six laps before Prutzman and then Duke got past him, and then the rookie hit the outside wall in the second turn, bringing out the caution and ending his night.
The remaining three contenders battled until lap 12, when Duke got around Prutzman for second. A late caution for Wally Eshenaur (Linglestown; RL Snyder Electric/KR McDonald High Tech Metals/Eshenaur’s #4W) brought out a final caution by stopping on the track after tagging the wall exiting turn four. While that was happening, Duke (Fairfield Chevrolet/Apache Tree Service/sprintcarunlimited #67) got by Reinhardt and never looked back, stretching his wining margin to 4.035 seconds by the checkered flag.
Reinhardt and Prutzman held onto second and third, with Devin Adams (Lebanon; Fredericksburg Eagle Hotel/Adams Auto Sales/Garden Spot Auto Auction #99A) finishing fourth and Doug Dodson (Middletown; PowerMist Racing Fuels/Crockett Log Homes; Fastener Specialties #20) fifth.
Completing the Top 10 were Dave Brown (Aston; #44), Cale Reigle (Newport; Don’s Performance Corner/Holley’s Outdoor Solutions #99), Dylan Proctor (Lock Haven; Randy Sterling Trucking/M. Teats Transport/Sprint Fleet Services #92), Larry McVay (Bordentown, N.J.; #83) and Landon Price (Fleetwood; Steak-Umm/Swavley’s Lawn & Turf/Givlar’s Trailer Sales #69).
Heats for the 32-car field were won by Dodson, Reinhardt, Prutzman and Adams, with the B-Main won by Domenic Melair (Warrington; Glen Del Labradors #55).
In the final heat race, Jaremi Hanson (Dillsburg; Harrisburg Heat/Blazer’s Body Shop #36) crashed hard into the frontstretch wall after contact with another car on the start. Hanson was checked out in the track ambulance and released.
The weekend’s Hard Charger Award went to Dave Brown, who advanced 12 spots (18th to 6th) during the Selinsgrove feature.
This Saturday, PASS will be joined at BAPS Motor Speedway by the Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series for a co-sanctioned IMCA/RaceSaver race. Super Sportsman cars, late models, street stocks and extreme stocks also will be on the program for Auto Racing Club of Hagerstown night. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
Results from Selinsgrove Speedway, July 27, 2019.
HEAT 1 – 1. 20-Doug Dodson; 2. 99-Cale Reigle; 3. 75-Dylan Shatzer; 4. 38-Larry McVay; 5. 17K-Kyle Keen; 6. 55-Domenic Melair; 7. 79-Ian Cumens; 8. 51-Dave Graber.
HEAT 2 – 1. 4-Tyler Reinhardt; 2. 67-Ken Duke Jr.; 3. 71-Josh Spicer; 4. 69-Landon Price; 5. 44X-Dave Brown; 6. 2-Erin Statler; 7. 107-Colton Hoover; 8. 21M-Cassandra Minium.
HEAT 3 – 1. 28-Keith Prutzman; 2. 19-Kruz Kepner; 3. 56-Jake Frye; 4. 80-Dave Wickham; 5. 19B-Will Brunson; 6. 24-Dan Leaper; 7. 10-Jake Waters; 8. 55B-Rick Romig.
HEAT 4 – 1. 99A-Devin Adams; 2. 92-Dylan Proctor; 3. 53-Jimmy White; 4. 5W-Wally Eshenaur; 5. 46-Mike Alleman; 6. 00-Lawrence Jewell; 7. 36-Jaremi Hanson; 8. 88-Fred Arnold.
B-Mail – 1. 55-Domenic Melair; 2. 19B-Will Brunson; 3. 79-Ian Cumens; 4. 2-Erin Statler; 5. 51-Dave Graber; 6. 107-Colton Hoover; 7. 00-Lawrence Jewell; 8. 21M-Cassandra Minium. DNS — 55B-Rick Romig; 10-Jake Waters; 36-Jaremi Hanson; 88-Fred Arnold.
FEATURE – 1. 67-Ken Duke Jr.; 2. 4-Tyler Reinhardt; 3. 28-Keith Prutzman; 4. 99A-Devin Adams; 5. 20-Doug Dodson; 6. 44X-Dave Brown; 7. 99-Cale Reigle; 8. 92-Dylan Proctor; 9. 38-Larry McVay; 10. 69-Landon Price; 11. 56-Jake Frye; 12. 75-Dylan Shatzer; 13. 80-Dave Wickham; 14. 46-Mike Alleman; 15. 53W-Jimmy White; 16. 17K-Kyle Keen; 17. 79-Ian Cumens; 18. 51-Dave Graber; 19. 2-Erin Statler; 20. 55-Domenic Melair; 21. 107-Colton Hoover; 22. 19B-Will Brunson; 23. 24-Dan Leaper; 24. 5W-Wally Eshenaur; 25. 71-Josh Spicer; 26. 19-Kruz Kepner. DNQ – 10-Jake Waters; 88-Fred Arnold; 55B-Rick Romig; 21M-Cassandra Minium; 36-Jaremi Hanson; 00-Lawrence Jewell.