MATTERN BECOMES FIRST REPEAT LATE MODEL WINNER, MITCH SCORES SECOND CAREER PRO STOCK 20, BUSSEY WINS ROADRUNNER SEASON OPENER
Story By: STEVE INCH / SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY MEDIA
Photos By: JEFF STERE / RACERSGUIDE.COM
Selinsgrove Pa.- May 28, 2017- The sun shined for one of the first times on a Saturday night all year as Selinsgrove Speedway offered one of its most exciting weekends in racing. PEPSI Night at the track saw the second appearance of the season by the United Racing Club 360 sprint cars plus the Pro Stock 20, Late Models, and season opener for the Roadrunners.
Eddie Strada showed the way early before he had car problems taking him out of contention on lap number seven of the 25-lap URC 360 sprint car main event. Nate Snyder was in search of his first win at the track since 2011. Numerous restarts gave Derek Locke and Cody Keller opportunities to try to go by the race leader. Snyder held tough at the front.
On lap 17 Locke made his best attempt to take the race lead after reeling in Snyder in lap traffic. Locke pulled even with Snyder, but Snyder fended off the challenge and got away from Locke on his way to the checkered flag. Locke finished in second just ahead of Mallie Shuster.
Jason Shultz gave the fans a thrill coming from the 19th starting spot to finish in fourth in front of Keller. Larry Kelleher, Chad Layton, Chris Coyle, Curt Michael, and Troy Betts completed the top ten finishers.
Heat races for the 360 Sprint Cars were won by Jason Clauss, Eric Tomecek, and Brett Michalski.
Brad Mitch can recall a lap 12 caution flag as one of the crucial moments in his quest to be a two time winner of the A&A Auto Stores Pro Stock 20. Mitch slid up the race track and allowed Tommy Slanker to take the race lead, but a yellow flag negated the pass and Mitch was placed back in first spot.
Slanker spent the rest of the race tailing Mitch at the front with Shawn Lawton hanging in the shadows running third. On the final lap Slanker dove to the inside of Mitch setting up a drag race finish. The finish became very melodramatic when Slanker’s car began dumping fluid and his car slowed off turn 4 allowing Mitch to pull away to the win over Shawn Lawton.
AJ Stroup, Slanker, and John Fowler were the top five finishers. Johnny Bouse finished in sixth with Brandon Moser, Peanut Heintzelman, Noah Jensen, and John Schoch rounding out the top ten finishers.
Tommy Slanker, Shawn Lawton, and Brad Mitch won heat races with Lawton winning the cash dash. Each heat race winner received $40 from the family of Jim Payne as well a dash payout.
Hayes Mattern looked like a lock to be the Late Model feature winner on Saturday night as he drove away from the field in the 20-lap feature. A lap eight yellow flag would change the whole complexion of the race. Mattern did not get a good restart and Danny Snyder took advantage of it racing into the top spot. Snyder led the way until lap 12 when Mattern would get the top spot back and bring Steve Campbell with him.
Campbell followed Mattern closely for the next few laps before pulling to the inside on lap 19 to try to grab the win away. Campbell’s car spun at the exit of turn two during the battle on the final lap.
The spin set up a one lap shootout that saw Mattern hold off a pretty tough charge from Donnie Schick who finished second. Snyder was third across the line followed by Tony Adams and Gene Knaub.
Luke Hoffner finished sixth with Dave Stamm, Nate Long, Zach Kauffman, and Meade Hahn crossing the line as the top ten.
Late model heat wins went to Meade Hahn and Danny Snyder.
The night cap run by the Roadrunners kept the fans on the edge of their seat. Keith Bissinger, the defending champion, flipped in his heat and was starting deep in the field. A returning Bob Bussey grabbed the lead away from Ryan Leister early on. Brian Johnson got into the outside wall on a restart that saw he and Bissinger run a lane higher than what the track had to offer. It was at that point that Bussey realized he needed to move up to the high side of the track before he got passed.
Bussey did just that and won the Roadrunner season opening event. Bissinger finished second ahead of Will Brunson, Smith Cope, and Leister.
Roadrunner heat race wins were captured by Ryan Leister and Darren Rice.
For the second week in a row the speedway had many of the standing track records broken. Meade Hahn broke the track record In the Late Models after the first heat race of the night before Danny Snyder broke it again in the second one.
Next Saturday will mark the third race of the season at Selinsgrove Speedway for the united racing club in the annual Kramer Cup in memory of former champion Kramer Williamson. The Race will run 30 laps and pay $2,573 to win.
The Mid Atlantic Modifieds and Econo Late Models will also join the Sprint Car teams as well as the Pro Stocks.
Track gates will open at 5 p.m. Racing will start at 7 p.m.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 27 May 2017
360 Sprint Cars – 30 Entries
25-lap A-Main: 1) 56 Nate Snyder 2) 77 Derek Locke 3) 49 Mallie Shuster 4) 29 Jason Shultz 5) 99K Cody Keller 6) 76 Larry Kelleher 7) 35 Chad Layton 8) 56C Chris Coyle 9) 5G Curt Michael 10) 22 Troy Betts 11) 33 Michael Walter 12) 73 Brett Michalski 13) 22M Nyle Berkes 14) C-4 Jim Shuster 15) 13 Ryan Higgins 16) 29S Derek Steward 17) 66 Ryan Kissinger 18) 1W Eric Tomecek 19) 42E Eddie Strada 20) 3Z Colby Womer 21) 08 Jason Clauss 22) 67 Justin Whittal 23) 28F Davie Franek 24) 87 George Suprick 25) 47 Adam Carberry 26) 63 Josh Weller
Heat Winners: Jason Clauss, Eric Tomecek, Brett Michalski
Consolation Winner: Jason Shultz
Late Models – 14 Entries
20-Lap A-Main: 1) 9 Hayes Mattern 2) 6 Donnie Schick 3) 4S Danny Snyder 4) 88 Tony Adams 5) 1 Gene Knaub 6) 15 Luke Hoffner 7) 10 Dave Stamm 8) 63 Nathan Long 9) 08 Zach Kauffman 10) 7 Meade Hahn 11) 2 Steve Campbell 12) 27 Jim Yoder 13) 115 Shaun Miller 14) 77 Dick Houtz
Heat Winners: Meade Hahn, Danny Snyder
Pro Stocks – 20 Entries
20-Lap A-Main: 1) 10M Brad Mitch 2) 92 Shawn Lawton 3) 26 AJ Stroup 4) 40 Tommy Slanker 5) 02 John Fowler 6) 28J Johnny Bouse 7) 8M Brandon Moser 8) 99 Peanut Heintzelman 9) 6J Noah Jensen 10) 89 John Schoch 11) 14 Bill Conrad 12) 71 Kurt Wray 13) 33 Curtis Lawton 14) 6C AJ Hoffman 15) 11 Jake Buck 16) 88 Matt Hornberger 17) 15 Dustin Snook 18) 55t John Troxell 19) 55 Lori Croop 20) 55C Tommy Dawson
Heat Winners: Tommy Slanker, Shawn Lawton, Brad Mitch
Dash Winner: Shawn Lawton
Roadrunners – 17 Entries
12-Lap A-Main: 1) 76 Bob Bussey 2) 11 Keith Bissinger 3) 8B Will Brunson 4) 1 Smith Cope 5) 14 Ryan Leister 6) 8 Daren Rice 7) 12 Tom Underwood 8) 2B Brian Mabus 9) 44 Jim Collier 10) 22 Ricky Buss 11) 19 Kyle Smith 12) 0 Kevin Dobson 13) 7 Kyle Kissinger 14) 31 Brandon Shultz 15) 201 Brian Johnson 16) 3 Tom Brunson 17) 28 Jason Zook
Heat Winners: Ryan Leister, Daren Rice
