SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., overcame season-long struggles to become the first driver to win three consecutive Late Model National Opens at Selinsgrove Speedway in Sunday night’s 40-lap World of Outlaws-sanctioned event.
The $8,000 victory in the 17th Annual Open sponsored by Jeff’s Auto Body & Recycling Center was Lanigan’s second of the season at the wheel of the gottarace.com No. 29 on the national tour. He was also the night’s fast qualifier with a lap time of 19.196 over the stellar 39-car field.
Gene Knaub of Dover scored the victory in the 20-lap limited late model main event.
Selinsgrove Speedway will present the final points race of the 2015 season at 7 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 12, for the 360 sprint cars, super late models, pro stocks, and roadrunners sponsored by Foss Jewelers. Track gates will open at 5 p.m.
Second-place starter Morgan Bagley powered into the lead at the start of the 40-lap National Open. Bagley was chased by polesitter Josh Richards. On the fourth circuit, fifth-place starter Darrell Lanigan advanced to second and set his sights on Bagley. Two laps later, Lanigan and Bagley raced in each other’s shadow for several laps.
On the 12th circuit, Lanigan pulled even with Bagley and made a pass for the lead at the start-finish line using the inside lane. At the halfway point of the race, Bagley closed in on Lanigan in slower traffic. By lap 22, eighth-place starter Shane Clanton began to show a lot of speed and reeled in the leaders in the third position.
The first caution flag unfurled on lap 23 when Brandon Overton’s car developed a flat tire. On the restart, Lanigan set the pace as Clanton drove by Bagley for the second position. With 10 laps remaining, Lanigan held a comfortable lead over Clanton, Bagley, Chase Junghans, and Richards.
On lap 38, Lanigan took evasive action in turn four when Jim Yoder’s car developed a flat tire. For the green-white-checker restart, Lanigan held the field at bay and posted a mere .77 of a second margin of victory over Clanton, Junghans, Bagley, and Richards.
Outside front row starter Grant Adams pulled into the lead at the start of the limited late model main event. On the second circuit, third-place starter Andrew Yoder passed polesitter Danny Snyder for the runner-up position.
On the fourth lap, Yoder’s car got sideways in turn four and collected Snyder’s. When the race resumed, a close battle unfolded between Grant Adams and sixth-place starter Gene Knaub. Adams and Knaub raced side by side for several laps until Knaub made the winning pass using the inside lane in turn four on lap seven.
Knaub opened up a strong lead until late in the race when 10th-place starter Kyle Lee started picking up the pace and closed the gap in traffic. At the finish, Knaub was victorious by just .07 of a second over Lee, Shaun Jones, Randy Christine, and Adams.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 6 September 2015
Late Models – 39 Entries
40-Lap A-Main: 1) 29 Darrell Lanigan 2) 25 Shane Clanton 3) 18C Chase Junghans 4) 14M Morgan Bagley 5) 1 Josh Richards 6) 1* Chub Frank 7) 7 Rick Eckert 8) 99Jr Frank Heckenast Jr. 9) 2J Jeff Rine 10) 2 Steve Campbell 11) 38S Kenny Pettyjohn 12) 18 Eric Wells 13) 22 Gregg Satterlee 14) 39 Tim McCreadie 15) 1S Gary Stuhler 16) 99Z Dave Zona 17) 77 Jordan Yaggy 18) 16 Matt Cochran 19) 24 Dylan Yoder 20) 119B Bryan Bernheisel 21) 76 Brandon Overton 22) 4Ds Chad Hollenbeck 23) 99B Boom Briggs 24) 27 Jim Yoder
Heat Winners: Darrell Lanigan, Shane Clanton, Josh Richards, Chase Junghans
Consolation Winners: Jeff Rine, Gary Stuhler
Time Trials: 1) 29 Darrell Lanigan 19.196 2) 25 Shane Clanton 19.340 3) 18 Eric Wells 19.412 4) 22 Gregg Satterlee 19.425 5) 14M Morgan Bagley 19.449 6) 39 Tim McCreadie 19.460 7) 1 John Richards 19.562 8) 1* Chub Frank 19.594 9) 76 Brandon Overton 19.596 10) 119B Bryan Bernheisel 19.625 11) 2J Jeff Rine 19.658 12) 7 Rick Eckert 19.678 13) 18C Chase Junghans 19.716 14) 38S Kenny Pettyjohn 19.770 15) 0 Coleby Frye 19.812 16) 61T Ken Trevitz 19.857 17) Jim Yoderr 19.891 18) 77 Jordan Yaggy 19.893 19) 3 Tim Wilson 19.894 20) 11 Jason Schmidt 19.936 21) 24 Dylan Yoder 19.9366 22) 99B Boom Briggs 19.965 23) 4Ds Chad Hollenbeck 20.000 24) 16 Matt Cochran 20.006 25) 2 Steve Campbell 20.009 26) 33 Trent Brenneman 20.078 27) 9 Hayes Mattern 20.131 28) Z14 Dave Brouse 20.179 29) 99Z Dave Zona 20.247 30) 28 Jason Smith 20.283 31) 99JR Frank Heckenast Jr. 20.302 32) 4S Danny Snyder 20.318 33) 1S Gary Stuhler 20.407 34) 93 Pancho Lawler 20.572 35) 11J Keith Jackson20.579 36) 0B Larry Baer 20.596 37) 7M Meade Hahn 20.609 38) 41 Derrick Casner 21.012 39) 88T Ernie Millon 22.982
Limited Late Models – 24 Entries
20-Lap A-Main: 1) 1 Gene Knaub 2) Kyle Lee 3) 2M Shaun Jones 4) 74 Randy Christine 5) 64 Grant Adams 6) 2 Andrew Yoder 7) 23 Todd Snook 8) 3B Cameron Benyou 9) 22 Chase Billet 10) 51 Jake Jones 11) 25 Jed Latsha 12) 08 Zach Kauffman 13) 63 Nathan Long 14) 15 Shaun Miller 15) 15S Shawn Stahl 16) 20 John Myers 17) 29 Brad Myers 18) 6 Noah Jensen 19) 676 Tommy Slanker 20) 4S Danny Snyder 21) 88 Randy Croop 22) 83 Matt Wilson 23) 6J Jared Fulkroad 24) 15 Luke Hoffner
Heat Winners: Andrew Yoder, Shaun Jones, Gene Knaub