9.12.20 Pennsylvania Sprint Series Results
By: Frank Buhrman
Doug Dodson had been so close so often earlier this season that it looked like he had to win a race soon. Then a bad crash cast doubt on the rest of the year.
Saturday night at Path Valley Speedway Park, Dodson and his team pushed the crash aftermath aside and grabbed that first win of the year in the 25-lap feature for PA Sprint Series IMCA/RaceSaver cars.
Starting fourth, Dodson passed early leader Larry McVay following a seventh lap caution and led the rest of the way – with the help of some wild moves in lapped traffic on a tacky and fast track – to cross the finish line three seconds ahead of McVay.
From mid-June through mid-July, the PowerMist Racing Fuels/Crockett Log Homes/Fastener Specialties/Ayers Enterprises #20 had scored six finishes of second or third in eight races and looked primed for victory. Then came a wicked flip August 8 at Port Royal that demolished their racer forced the team to resurrect its back-up car and try to make it competitive quickly. Saturday those efforts paid off.
While Dodson was distancing himself from the field in the lead, another battle – for the 2020 Path Valley track championship – was raging behind him. Garrett Bard, who had claimed his 12th RaceSaver win of the season Friday night at Clinton County Speedway, had hit the second turn wall while battling Dodson for the lead in the second heat race, forcing him to start the feature from the rear.
John Walp, defending Path Valley PASS champion, had finished third in his heat, narrowing Bard’s lead in the 2020 points to four. As the race neared its conclusion, Walp was battling Domenic Melair for third place while Bard was charging forward – with the lead in points hanging in the balance.
In the end, Walp was able to win the battle for third while Bard’s charge ended with a sixth-place finish, giving Walp the track championship by a scant two points.
Jake Frye also was able to get past Melair and took fourth place, while Melair hung on for fifth – his fourth top-five in a row.
Bard, Cody Hackenberry, Dave Wickham, Tom Carberry and Donnie Hendershot completed the top 10.
Tom Wise and Dodson were the heat race winners for the 17-car field.
Bard’s run from 17th place to 6th earned him the hard charger award for the night, while Frye also mounted a notable charge, from 11th to 4th.
This Friday (September 18), PASS will make its only 2020 appearance at Williams Grove Speedway (an earlier scheduled race was cancelled because of COVID-19 restrictions), joining the All-Star Circuit of Champions, which will be running the Jack Gunn Memorial/Dirt Classic Qualifier.
On Saturday (September 19) PASS and the Laurel Highlands Sprint Series will co-sanction the 40-lap Nittany Championship at Clinton County Speedway. The race format will be based on that for the Keystone RaceSaver Challenge, with time trials, heat races and a non-qualifiers race. It will pay $800 to win, plus incentives.
For more schedule information and the latest news, visit www.pasprintseries.com or the PA Sprint Series Facebook page.
Results from Path Valley Speedway Park, September 12
HEAT 1 – 1. 23M-Tom Wise; 2. 31-Donnie Hendershot; 3. 5-John Walp; 4. 80-Dave Wickham; 5. 6X-Brad Mellott; 6. 56-Jake Frye; 7. 69-Landon Price; 8. 1-Rowdy Heffner; 9. 24/7-Mikell McGee.
HEAT 2 – 1. 20-Doug Dodson; 2. 55-Domenic Melair; 3. 4C-Cody Hackenberry; 4. 83-Larry McVay; 5. M1-Justin Mills; 6. 1X-Tom Carberry; 7. 92-Dylan Proctor; 8. 95-Garrett Bard (DNF).
FEATURE – 1. 20-Doug Dodson; 2. 83-Larry McVay; 3. 5-John Walp; 4. 56-Jake Frye; 5. 55-Domenic Melair; 6. 95-Garrett Bard; 7. 4C-Cody Hackenberry; 8. 80-Dave Wickham; 9. 1X-Tom Carberry; 10. 31-Donnie Hendershot; 11. 69-Landon Price; 12. 92-Dylan Proctor; 13. 23M-Thomas Wise; 14. 1-Rowdy Heffner; 15. 24/7-Mikell McGee; 16. 6X-Brad Mellott (DNF); 17. M1-Justin Mills (DNF).