9.6.20 Pennsylvania Sprint Series Results
By: Frank Buhrman & Stephanie Dodson
“I told him prior to (the race) that last night I feel like I gave it away to him in traffic, and I told him tonight it’s just going to be the complete opposite.”
IMCA/RaceSaver national points leader Garrett Bard, still smarting from his fourth-place finish Saturday night at Path Valley Speedway Park, was talking with fellow PA Sprint Series young gun Domenic Melair (the “him” in Bard’s quote), who had taken the lead from Bard Saturday (only to lose it at the checkered flag to Devon Adams).
Sunday night at Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway, Melair had finished ahead of Bard in their heat race and was starting on the outside pole for the feature, with Bard directly behind him.
It turned out that the Wells Tannery racer knew what he and his CG Racing Engines/Barnett Self Storage #95 were capable of doing, because Bard got by Melair and went on to his seventh PASS win of the year (and 11th overall).
It was Melair who took the early lead, though, both on the initial start, which was negated when Roger Irvine flipped on the backstretch bringing out the red flag, and again on the second try. Melair built a straightaway lead and was working traffic when Jake Waters slowed on lap 8, bringing out the caution.
Bard said in victory lane that he had noticed the center of the track “rubbering up,” and on the restart he anticipated where Melair and second-place Josh Spicer would run and pointed his car toward a strip of clay he thought would offer extra traction. The move worked, and he #95 moved from third to first. A final caution on lap 24 for Greg Dobrosky erased Bard’s lead but not his path to the win.
In less than a season and a half of full-sized sprint car competition, Bard has now won 12 of the 32 PASS events he’s run and owns half a dozen more wins in the Laurel Highlands Sprint Series and Allegheny Sprint Tour. Sunday’s race was co-sanctioned by PASS and LHSS.
For Melair, it was two runner-up finishes in two nights in the Glen Del Labradors #55, marking the Warrington resident as “most likely” to be the next PASS first-time winner.
Spicer, the former karting champion who captured a Laurel Highlands win at Bedford earlier this year, finished third, with veteran Ryan Lynn interrupting the youth party to take fourth ahead of young Derek Hauck.
John Walp, Kyle Colwell, Larry McVay, Kyle Keen and Daryl Stimeling rounded out the top 10. Colwell’s car was carrying the top wing of Brandon Hawkins, the RaceSaver competitor who won his first feature at Bedford earlier this summer, then lost his life in a workplace accident three days later.
Heat races for the 29-car field went to Hauck, Jaremi Hanson and Melair, with Reed Thompson claiming the B-Main.
In a race with lots of passing in the pack, Ron Aurand took the hard charger award with a 10-position advance from 23rd at the start to 13th at the finish. Kyle Keen and Nick Sweigart each advanced nine spots during the race, and Colwell moved up eight. Among the top five finishers, Hauck advanced six spots from 11th to 5th.
Because the RaceSaver Nationals were being held at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska, the Bedford race did not award points.
Next week, PASS returns for its second straight Saturday night race at Path Valley Speedway Park. For more schedule information and the latest news, visit www.pasprintseries.com or the PA Sprint Series Facebook page.
Results from Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway, September 6
HEAT 1 – 1. 2H-Derek Hauck; 2. 1X-Tom Carberry; 3. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz; 4. 88-Greg Dobrosky ; 5. 12F-Daryl Stimeling; 6. 12-Roger Irvine; 7. R6-Reed Thompson; 8. 8-Nick Sweigart; 9-6X-Brad Mellott; 10. 92B-Don Wise (DNF).
HEAT 2 – 1. 36-Jaremi Hanson; 2. 5-John Walp; 3. 71-Josh Spicer; 4. 79-Ian Cumens; 5. 46-Mike Alleman; 6. 10-Jake Waters; 7. 25K-Matt Kline; 8. 92-Dylan Proctor; 9. 17K-Frank Rusnock; 10. 7K-Jim Kennedy (DNF).
HEAT 3 – 1. 55-Domenic Melair; 2. 95-Garrett Bard; 3. 83-Larry McVay; 4. 26-Ryan Lynn; 5. 27H-Kyle Colwell; 6. 17K-Kyle Keen; 7. 86-Ron Aurand; 8. 2-Erin Statler; 9. 53W-Jimmy White.
B-MAIN – 1. R6-Reed Thompson; 2. 25K-Matt Kline; 3. 8-Nick Sweigart; 4. 6X-Brad Mellott; 5. 86-Ron Aurand; 6. 2-Erin Statler; 7. 53W-Jimmy White; 8. 17R-Frank Rusnock; 9. 92B-Don Wise; 10. 92-Dylan Proctor (DNF). DNS – 7K-Jim Kennedy.
FEATURE – 1. 95-Garrett Bard; 2. 55-Domenic Melair; 3. 71-Josh Spicer; 4. 26-Ryan Lynn; 5. 2H-Derek Hauck; 6. 5-John Walp; 7. 27H-Kyle Colwell; 8. 83-Larry McVay; 9. 17K-Kyle Keen; 10. 12F-Daryl Stimeling; 11. 69K-Kassidy Kreitz; 12. 8-Nick Sweigart; 13. 86-Ron Aurand; 14. R6-Reed Thompson; 15. 6X-Brad Mellott; 16. 46-Mike Alleman; 17. 2-Erin Statler; 18. 88-Greg Dobrosky (DNF); 19. 1X-Tom Carberry (DNF) ; 20. 79-Ian Cumens (DNF); 21. 36-Jaremi Hanson (DNF); 22. 25K-Matt Kline (DNF); 23. 10-Jake Waters (DNF); 24. 12-Roger Irvine (DNF). DNQ – 53W-Jimmy White; 17R-Frank Rusnock; 92B-Don Wise; 92-Dylan Proctor; 7K-Jim Kennedy.