CONRAD’S WIRE TO WIRE WIN DQ’D: HUNT AWARDED FIRST CAREER WIN

Harry Meeks Sr. Photo

 CONRAD’S WIRE TO WIRE WIN DQ’D: HUNT AWARDED FIRST CAREER WIN 

Trying to overcome a year of disappointments and mechanical issues, Ryan Conrad appeared to have the team’s problems solved by winning the thirty lap Vahlco Wheels modified main event. A smoking machine in his heat race victory did not hamper the team as they corrected the problem and the IHOP #5 ran to perfection each and every lap in the feature. But a technical infraction detected in the post race inspection took away the thrill of victory and bestowed it upon young D J Hunt of Pennington. 

Lining up in the number one position gave Conrad the advantage he needed to take command of the event with Hunt darting into second and Frank Venezia third. Jack Butler was a solid fourth with rookie Anthony Tramontana fifth. The action was fast and furious and with no caution flag periods to slow the event it was nonstop action around the fast 7/16-mile speedway. 

Butler saw the opening he was looking for on lap ten and promptly moved the Hillcrest Engineering #5 into third. Starting in tenth, Lauden Reimert cracked the top five on lap fifteen and was quickly becoming yet another player in the exciting fast paced event. Current point leader Brandon Grosso was patiently working his way to the front of the field but was finding it difficult with no cautions to aid his efforts. 

With ten laps to go, the challengers were moving in on Conrad, but the young chauffeur was holding his tight line as Reimert moved into fourth with five laps to go. Hunt was now sitting on Conrad’s rear bumper looking for the slightest of errors, but the young driver remained perfect taking what many thought was his first career small block win, 

But with the car failing the post-race inspection, Hunt was awarded the victory in the Creston Hydraulics #24 with Butler second, Reimert third, Tramontana fourth, and Danny Bouc fifth. Grosso was awarded sixth with Paul Mancini seventh, Dakota Kessler eighth, Rick Laubach ninth, and Justin Grosso tenth. 

The first event in the High Gear Towing Crate Select Series is now history and taking the win was Joe Toth. Even though the race was littered with caution flags, it was an exciting one to the finish with Toth making his move with just two laps to go. 

Kevin Borden held the upper hand throughout the race with David Burns running a consistent second and Will Dupree third. Burns momentarily took the lead on lap eleven, but after a ten car accident in turn two on lap twelve, the restart found Borden once again the leader with Toth slowly working his way to the front of the field from his number nine starting spot. 

 A late caution on lap seventeen set the stage for Toth as even though it was a single file restart, he made a bold move to outrun Borden for the big win. Following Burns across the finish line for fourth was Tom Princiotta, who started the event in twenty fifth, with fifth place going to Dan Fleming. 

Will Protnick fought his way back from an early race mishap to take sixth with Eric Palmer seventh, Kris Lillick eight, Dupree ninth, and rookie David Miloszar tenth. 

In the Larry’s Hot Rods and Harleys NEWS twenty lap feature, it was Nick D’Agostino in for his fourth win of the season. The twenty lap event was red flagged on lap six when three time track champion, Rich Mellor, made contact with the #8 driven by Larry Drake and hit the third turn guardrail hard resulting in the #02 rolling over. Mellor was a bit shaken but checked out at the speedway and released. 

Shea Wills had his best effort of the 2022 season taking second with consistent Heidi Hedin third, Drake fourth, and Ken Nealis fifth. 

In the Freedom Firearms fifteen lap main event, it was three time track champion Bill Liedtka in for his second win of the season. Joe Wolfe was the early leader of the race but gave way to former track champion Gary Klimczak on lap five. His reign was short lived as Liedtka moved the #310 into the lead on lap six and never looked back taking career win number thirty seven. 

David Miloszar won the eight lap Rookie feature over Logan Starr. The win was the current point leaders fourth of the year. Dylan Morris and Dominick Antonelli rounded out the field. 

Next up on the schedule is another four division show featuring the Vahlco Wheels Modifieds, the Hamilton Auto Clinic/Racersguide Crates, Larry’s Hot Rods and Harleys NEWS Sprints, the Wash Wagon 4-Cylinders, and the Rookies. It will also be round two of the High Gear Towing Crate Select Series. Racing begins at 7PM.