Port Royal – Nearly 100 cars filled the Port Royal Speedway pit area on Saturday night for the 2nd annual Blue Collar Classic.
A total of 53 RaceSaver 305 sprints were in competition for the classic that brought together cars and drivers from four RaceSaver regions in the East: PASS – PA Sprint Series, CRAS – Capital Region Sprint Agency, VSS – Virginia Sprint Series and TSRS – Tri State RaceSavers.
It was Jake Waters of nearby Mifflintown who turned in a solid performance to win the 25-lap Blue Collar Classic RaceSaver laurels, taking bragging rights in the event a year after earning a podium finish in the inaugural race.
The win was a first-ever for Waters anywhere in 305 sprint competition.
Shawn Kirkpatrick of Bucks County claimed the 15-lap Founder’s Cup Non-Qualifiers feature for the RaceSaver sprints in a photo finish with Dave Brown Jr. of Aston.
In the 20-lap super sportsman feature race, Scott Geesey wired the field for the payday while Mike Enders claimed the Newville Construction Construction Services 10-lap dash for cash worth $1,000 in the winner-take-all main.
In the 20-lap enduro dash Jason Zook won his third event of the season while Sam Stine of Mifflin proved victorious in the demolition derby.
Waters started third in the Blue Collar Classic for RaceSaver Sprints and endured two called back starts before the first lap could be recorded with Nathan Gramley of Lewistown leading the way.
Gramley couldn’t hold off Waters past the ninth circuit and the Mifflintown flyer went out front with a low move and scored the lap just before a caution flag slowed his pace.
Mike Wagner II., started 12th in the field and drove into second on the restart and then both he and 15th starter Jordan Thomas began their attempts for the lead, chasing Waters while running the high side of the oval.
With six laps to go Wagner finally made the top groove work as he took control from Waters but rather than get shaken after the pass, Waters regrouped for a run to reclaim the lead.
And that’s exactly what he did with two laps to go as he worked traffic ahead of Wagner and Thomas who kept circling the track higher and higher trying to strike for the lead.
After the white flag it looked as if Waters would be home free as he raced off of the second turn but the red flag came out after Wagner finally got too high in the first and second turns and rode the outside rail before flipping hard onto the backstretch.
Waters was separated from Thomas by a lapped car for the restart and kept his cool for the final lap and the $750 victory.
Thomas crossed the line in second but failed post race inspection and was relegated to 14th in the order.
That moved Gramley into second for the finish followed by Ryan Stillwaggon, Tim Tanner and Rick Stief.
Sixth through 10th went to Ed Newhauser, Mike Esposito, Jon Haegele, Zach Newlin and Parker Evans.
Heats went to Brian Carber, Haegele, Stillwaggon, George Riden, Jeff Vansteenburg and Gramley.
Triple B Mains went to Alex Schanz, Parker Evans and Eric Parker.
Fast time in qualifications went to Logan Wagner with a lap of 18.631 seconds.
Kirkpatrick started on the pole of the Founder’s Cup non-qualifiers feature and saw Dave Brown Jr. move into second on the second circuit.
Brown chased Kirkpatrick until the 10th lap when he went out front but as the race wore on his car began hanging as it exited the corners.
And then on the final lap coming to the checkered flag Kirkpatrick was able to surge underneath Brown as the pair raced down the homestretch to pick up the victory and a guaranteed starting spot in next year’s Classic A Main.
Scott Geesey started second and finished first in the super sportsman feature, wiring the field for a first-ever win at Port Royal.
Rick Barr started on the pole and chased Geesey the entire distance with veteran Rich Eichelberger challenging him for that spot.
The pair waged a spirited battle for the last half of the race but Eichelberger would advance no farther than third at the finish.
Russ Mitten was fourth with Chad Criswell finishing fifth.
Heats for the 26-super sportsman entries went to Dale Hammaker, Geesey and Barr.
Enders lead all 10 laps of the $1,000 to win sportsman dash for cash.
Deron Henry began the enduro dash on the pole and led only the first two laps before Jared Fulkroad took over.
Fulkroad gave away to Jason Zook with seven laps away and the Zook had to withstand multiple restarts over the final 13 laps of the 20-lapper to record his 19th career victory in the division at the oval.
Rich Adair rode home third followed by Johnny Palm.
Heats went to Zook and Pete Leister.
October 12, 2013 feature finishes:
305 sprints, 25 laps, A Main, 53 entries: 1. Jake Waters, 2. Nathan Gramely, 3. Ryan Stillwaggon, 4. Tim Tanner, 5. Rick Stief, 6. Ed Newhauser, 7. Mike Esposito, 8. Jon Haegele, 9. Zach Newlin, 10. Parker Evans, 11. Alex Schanz, 12. Mike Wagner II., 13, George Riden, 14. Jordan Thomas, 15. Scott Ellerman, 16. Jeff Vansteenburg, 17. Kody Lehman, 18. Eric Parker, 19. Logan Wagner, 20. John Matrafailo, 21. Tyler Bear, 22. Anthony Fiore, 23. Brian Carber, 24. Adam Carberry
DNQ/Founder’s Cup Non-Qualifiers main, 15 Laps: 1. Shawn Kirkpatrick, 2. Dave Brown Jr., 3. Lance Newlin, 4. Jason Bergstresser, 5. Ryan Lynn, 6. Tyler Reeser, 7. Scott Frack, 8. Steve Kennawell, 9. Dusty Shatzer, 10. Erin Statler, 11. Ron Aurand, 12. Reed Thompson, 13. Daren Bolac, 14. Tim Kline, 15. Dalton Hetrick, 16. Ken Duke, 17. Dan Hennessy, 18. Brandon Hetrick, 19. Brad Franks, 20. Roger Irvine, 21. harris Kohen
DNQ: Kyle Reinhardt, Justin Hoffman, Jeff Schall, John Bott, Jeff Miller Jr., John Braim, Todd Lynn, Jim Kennedy
Super Sportsman, 20 laps, 26 entries: 1. Scott Geesey, 2. Rick Barr, 3. Rich Eichelberger, 4. Russ Mitten, 5. Chad Criswell, 6. Dale Hammaker, 7. Dave Socks, 8. Carmen Perigo Jr., 9. Mallie Shuster, 10. Frankie Herr, 11. Mike Enders, 12. Scott Dellinger, 13. Jay Fannasy, 14. Chad Trout, 15. Chris Meleason, 16. Paul Miller, 17. Kenny Edkin, 18. Dave Berkheimer, 19. Todd Leonard, 20. Steve Wilbur, 21. Lanny Hake, 22. Dave Conrad Jr.,
DNS: Doug Dodson, Dan John, Duaine Smith, Adam Wray
Enduro Dash, 20 laps, 14 entries: 1. Jason Zook, 2. Rich Adair, 3. Johnny Palm, 4. Mike Goodwin, 5. Pete Leister, 6. Darian Trego, 7. Craig Dodson, 8. Bill Powell, 9. Jared Fulkroad, 10. Devin Hart, 11. Floyd Sheetz, 12. Deron Henry, 13. Jesse Brown
DNS: 58 Carl Miller