Briggs Danner scored the win as the USAC wingless sprints made their only Bedford appearance of the season Friday night. It was Danner’s first ever Bedford feature win. In the companion Late Model headliner, Jeff Rine made it look easy scoring yet another win.
In other action, Mike Altobelli Jr took the EMod win, Dalton Weyant survived a challenge for the Pure Stock win and Alex Anderson won his first ever 4 Cylinder event.
Heat race winner Briggs Danner drew a front row starting position in the sprint car event and took off at the start. A couple quick cautions early kept the field close with wild action everywhere except at the front. Action was halted as Billy Ney flipped in turn three on lap five.
Danner, riding the extreme outside groove, again ran off from the field as racing resumed. Steve Drevecki and Alex Bright raced through the field to take up pursuit of the leader and although they closed at times neither really threatened the lead.
Drevecki made life easier for Bright as he spun harmlessly in lapped traffic on lap 24 The two lap finish rule extended the event a lap and Bright took one last shot at Danner but fell short at the line. Behind the top two were Kenny Miller, Mark Smith and Nash Ely. Bright, Danner and Smith won the heats. There was no B as promoter Padula elected to start all in attendance.
It pays to be both lucky and good and Jeff Rine was both at the beginning of the Late Model event. Slated to start fourth in the field, he moved up a spot as Drake Troutman failed to fire on the pace lap. He moved to second as Matt Sponaugle did not survive the second attempt at a feature start.
Pole sitter Wayne Johnson took the initial lead but Rine shot by before the completion of lap one and never looked back. Andy Haus, Chuck Clise and eventually Travis Stickley waged a race long battle for second before finishing in that order but Rine was long gone in the all green flag event, winning by over a half lap. Clise and Troutman won the heats.
After Late Model disappointment, Drake Trotman led the early EMod laps. Mike Altobelli Jr emerged from the pack and chased him down, sliding by for the lead on lap six. After that Altobelli ran off from the field as Troutman fell back into the clutches of George Dixon. Dixon failed to make the pass and took third at the line ahead of Beay Aikey and Spike Moore.
The Pure Stock event started out raggedly with five cautions in the first five laps. Barry Clark was the early leader until he dropped out during a lap 2 caution event, Dalton Ritchey inherited the lead until he stopped on the track on lap 5.
That gave the lead to Dalton Weyant but he had to fight off Kyle Deneen after he arrived on his bumper after starting 10th. Deneen was all over Weyant as four cars battled for third. As things settled down for the last 8 green flag laps, Deneen was unable to grab the lead away, following Weyandt to the checkered flag. Andrew Stough rallied late to take third over Anthony Fama and Kevin Weyandt but the field was moved up a spot when Fama had a post race issue. Weyandt and Weyant won the heats.
Ernie Hewitt was the early 4 Cylinder leader .but Alex Anderson took over after a lap 4 caution. Hewitt took up the chase ahead of a mob of others, but that was a short lived situation. On the next lap Hewitt’s engine expired dramatically on the front stretch, spewing a large trail of oil and in spectacular fire ball in front of the fans.
It was oil induced mass melee as the following cars spun and crashed wildly with Dalton Long heavily impacting the wall in turn one. When things settled down, Anderson was able to hold off a fast closing Todd Price and Jay Talley to secure the win. Talley and Price won the heats.
USAC SPRINT 26 LAPS 12 Briggs Danner, Alex Bright, Kenny Miller, Mark Smith, Nash Ely, Chris Allen, Damon Payl, Tommy Kubzman, Joey Amantee, Steve Drevecki Lee Kauffman, Blane Kauffman, Troy Fraker, Jason Cherry, Lou Cicconi. Brett Perigo Craig Pelligrini, Brady Adamsky, Billy Nay, Bruce Buckwalter Heidi Heiden
LATE MODEL 25 LAP Jeff Rine, Andy Haus, Chuck Clise, Travis Stickley, Nathan Lasalle, Wayne Johnson JT McClingan, Pancho Lawler, Matt Sponaugle, Drake Troutman
EMOD 20 LAPS 1 Mike Altobelli J Drake Troutman, George Dixon, Beau Aikey, Spike Moore, Bryce Miller, Mike Meck, Kyle Beckett, Dave Green,
PURE STOCK 15 LAP Dalton Weyant Kyle Deneen, Andrew Stough, Kevin Weyandt, Charlie Clise, Reed Stickel, Jeremy Fama, Geoffrey Sosnowski, Derek Hinish, Barry Clark, Leander Group, James Norris, Dalton Ritchey, John Howsar, Denver Dishong, Casey Flegle, DNS Bill Shehan DQ Anthony Fama
4 CYLINDER 12 LAPS Alex Anderson, Todd Price, Jay Talley, Dustin Kinser, Harlan Group, Isaac Komarinski, Tommy Hughes, Shane Smith, Jeff Marlett, Danner Chesney, Deshawn Dempsey, John Diehl, Ernie Hewitt, Dalton Long, Colin Welsh, Joe May, Geirge Shore S, DNS Tanney Group, George Shore J