By Dave Harclerode
BEDFORD, PA – Bedford Speedway hosted the 2nd night of the Pennsylvania Posse Speedweek for sprint cars on Sunday night. Western PA driver Ed Lynch, Jr. won his career first at Bedford in the 30 lap main event over a stellar field of sprint car drivers. The super late models were also on the card, and Jack Pencil made his first win of the season a memorable one when he took the lead 100 yards from the checkered.
Time trials kicked the evening’s events off for the sprint cars. Brian Leppo set fast time with a 16.796 second lap, just off Stevie Smith’s track record of 15.597 set last year. Greg Hodnett, Chad Layton, and Stevie Smith won the heat races, and the 23 car field was set for the 30 lap A-main. Ed Lynch, Jr. started on the pole and took the early lead, with Alan Krimes, Greg Hodnett, Fred Rahmer, and Mark Smith following. The front pack hit lapped traffic by lap six, and Krimes and Hodnett started to real in the leader. Their charge for the front was halted on a lap 11 caution for Lance Dewease, and Lynch was able to extend his lead once again after the restart. Rahmer and Mark Smith were the main attraction in the second half of the race, as the pair sliced and diced each other in a hard fought battle for fourth. Krimes and Hodnett again started to reel in the leader, but the last caution of the race for Doug Esh and Brent Marks put a halt on their charge. It was all Ed Lynch, Jr. on the restart, who went on to win by a comfortable margin over Krimes, Hodnett, Rahmer, and Mark Smith. Completing the top ten was Daryn Pittman, Aaron Ott, Chad Layton, Adam Wilt, and Stevie Smith.
Derek Byler started on the outside of the first row in the super late model feature, and battled pole sitter Scott Haus for much of the early part of the race. Byler was able to maintain the lead all throughout his battle with Haus, and eventually Haus started to lose touch with Byler’s number 5*. Jack Pencil worked his way by Haus for second, and it appeared that Byler had the field covered for his third win of the season. However, with six laps to go, Pencil had reeled in the leader and was making a bid for the win. Pencil ran the very top line of the speedway, and had several close encounters with taking the lead from Byler. Finally, on the last lap in the last turn, Pencil flew by Byler on the outside coming down the frontstretch and stole the checkers. It was Jack’s 26th career win at Bedford in the super late models. Byler settled for second, Haus third, Jeff Miller fourth, and Chuck Clise fifth. Tom Eriksen, a Bedford regular and fan favorite from a few decades ago was sixth, and Jerry Bard, Scott Rhodes, TJ Wright, and Randy Burkholder rounded out the top ten. Miller and Bard won the heat events.
SPRINT CARS
Fast Time: Brian Leppo – 16.796 seconds
FEATURE (30 Laps): 1. Ed Lynch, Jr. 2. Alan Krimes 3. Greg Hodnett 4. Fred Rahmer 5. Mark Smith 6. Daryn Pittman 7. Aaron Ott 8. Chad Layton 9. Adam Wilt 10. Stevie Smith 11. Danny Dietrich 12. Keith Kauffman 13. Tyler Walker 14. Brian Leppo 15. Mike Wagner 16. Johnny Mackison, Jr. 17. Matthew Reed 18. Justin Henderson 19. Ralph Spithaler 20. Doug Esh (DNF) 21. Brent Marks (DNF) 22. Lance Dewease (DNF) 23. Joey Hershey (DNF)
HEAT 1: Hodnett, M. Smith, Leppo
HEAT 2: Layton, Rahmer, Krimes
HEAT 3: S. Smith, Pittman, Ott
SUPER LATE MODELS
FEATURE: 1. Jack Pencil 2. Derek Byler 3. Scott Haus 4. Jeff Miller 5. Chuck Clise 6. Tom Eriksen 7. Jerry Bard 8. Scott Rhodes 9. TJ Wright 10. Randy Burkholder 11. Greg Fetters 12. Mike Altobelli, Jr. 13. Shawn Claar 14. Larry Wright 15. Jeff Rine (DNF) 16. Chris Harr (DNF) 17. Mike Shoemaker (DNF)
HEAT 1: Miller, Byler, Clise
HEAT 2: Bard, Fetters, Pencil