David Van Horn Breaks Thru at New Egypt Speedway

David Van Horn Breaks Thru at New Egypt Speedway

(August 14, 2021) David Van Horn captured his first Modified feature win of 2021 on Jeep Night at New Egypt Speedway on Saturday. Van Horn marched from 12th starting position, taking the lead from Louden Reimert on lap 18, and never looked back. It was the 11th victory of his career at NES.      

Chris Grbac and DJ Hunt brought the field to the start of the 30-lap contest with Hunt opening up a nice half straightaway lead over the first 5 laps. Hunt withstood one restart but by lap 8 the Modified Rookie had heavy pressure coming from behind as newcomer Louden Reimert and 5-time winner Billy Pauch Jr. were making quick work of the competition behind him.  It took a couple laps for Reimert to find a way by Hunt, all the while holding off Pauch.  As Reimert grabbed the lead Pauch Jr. followed him by and continued to hound Reimert, now for the lead. Suddenly from seemingly out of nowhere, Van Horn burst onto the scene and raced side by side with Pauch for second. This battle was waged on Reimert’s back bumper for 4 laps, with Van Horn and Pauch trying to one up each other on every turn. Twice the duo attempted to make it three wide for the lead, but Reimert was up to each challenge.  Finally on lap 18, Van Horn got a tremendous bite on the low side of turn two and shot by both Pauch and leader Reimert.  Once in front DVH pulled away, as his car got faster with each passing lap.  With Van Horn out in front, Pauch picked up his battle with Reimert, trying every groove over the next 10 laps to no avail.  Finally as the field was shown the “two to go” signal Pauch found just enough room and squeezed by Reimert’s Fleuer #16. Van Horn cruised to the victory as Pauch Jr. earned a hard fought runner-up finish. Tenth starter Reimert settled for third, making a lot of fans at NES in the process, with his hard work and smooth driving throughout the 30 lap affair, as he got onto the podium for the first time in just his fifth start. Mike Gular, who looked to be the fastest car on the track in the opening laps, fought his way back to finish 4th, as he quickly closed on the leaders over the final five laps. Mike Butler crossed the line fifth for his second top five in the last 3 races.    

Justin Grosso correctly predicted the outcome of the 20 lap Racersguide Crate Modified feature. During an interview at intermission, Justin stated that he had a lot of problems with the car since winning five in a row in May-June, but he thought they were all sorted out and that the car seemed ready to get back to victory lane. That is exactly what happened, as he raced from 11th starting spot with 12th starter Ryan Simmons to the front and then grabbed the lead from Simmons and went on to his sixth Crate win of 2021. Grosso now has ten wins at NES in 2021 when combined with his 4 Open Sportsman victories.  Simmons settled for a solid second place run, chased across the line by Johnny Bangs, Paul Mancini and Tom Princiotta.    

The Larry’s Hot Rods and Harley’s NorthEast Wingless Sprints (NEWS) 20 lap feature was won by point leader Rich Mellor. Mellor drew the second starting spot for the feature and went wire to wire for his fourth win of the season.  Mark Bitner drove the Drake Racing back-up car to a strong second place finish, followed by Mick D’Agastino third. Larry Drake came home fourth to complete a great night for his team with Brian Spencer taking fifth. 

It was another exciting event for the John Blewett, Inc. 4-cylinder division. Rich Page won for the second time since coming back to racing this season.  Page bested 7-time winner Justin Dunn and Joe Garey Jr. after a three wide battle.  Chris Gall came home fourth followed by Bob Johnson driving his K-9 Police car.  

Rob Ormsbee won the 15 lap Street Stock feature for his ninth win in 10 tries this year. All-Time winner Bill Liedtka raced home second followed by Lee Allen. 

This coming weekend August 21-22, it is the Monster Truck Summer Smash on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday night gates will open at 5pm, with the show starting 7pm, and on Sunday afternoon the gates will swing open at 1pm with the show beginning at 3pm.  Tickets for both shows are available online.    

Racing action on the speedway will be back the following Saturday night August 28th with the 2nd annual Ron John Koczon Classic. The Modifieds will headline with the 77 lap Classic event, and will be joined by the Mid-Atlantic 305 Sprint Car Series (MASS) and the John Blewett Inc. 4-cylinders, GAtes open at 5pm, warm-ups will be at 6pm and the first race will begin at 7pm.    

New Egypt Speedway 8/14/21 – Jeep Night VI

Vahlco Wheels Modified Feature Results (30 Laps):

1.) DAVID VAN HORN 2.) Billy Pauch Jr 3.) Louden Reimert 4.) Mike Gular 5.) Mike Butler 6.) Rick Laubach 7.) Brandon Grosso 8.) Jim Housworth 9.) John McClelland 10.) PJ Oliver 11.) Kory Fleming 12.) Jack Swain 13.) DJ Hunt 14.) Chris Grbac 15.) Frank Venezia 16.) David Burns 17.) Blaine Bracelin 18.) Wade Hendrickson 19.) Dakota Kessler 20.) Nick Keefe 21.) Cale Ross 22.) Bruce Hooper

Heat Race Winners: David Van Horn, DJ Hunt & Mike Gular

Larry’s Hot Rods & Harley’s Northeast Wingless Sprint Cars Feature Results (20 Laps):

1.) RICH MELLOR 2.) Mark Bitner 3.) Mick D’Agostino 4.) Larry Drake 5.) Brian Spencer 6.) Heidi Hedin 7.) Al Cheney 8.) Shea Wills 9.) Ken Nealis 10.) Duane Nixon 11.) Rob Ward 12.) Eric Miller 13.) Walter Fletcher 14.) Stan Ploski DNS: Lee Nardelli

Heat Race Winners: Stan Ploski & Larry Drake

John Blewett Inc. 4-Cylinder Feature Results (15 Laps): 

1.) RICH PAGE 2.) Justin Dunn 3.) Joe Garey Jr 4.) Chris Gall 5.) Bob Johnson 6.) Deanna McLaren 7.) Brian Ford 8.) Scott Dunn 9.) Kyle Hurley 10.) Joe Garey Sr 11.) John Ciallella 12.) Jesse Platzer 13.) Dominick Antonelli 14.) Jim Tinnes 15.) Mike Fox 16.) Eric Degler (DQ-light) 

Heat Race Winners: Scott Dunn & Joe Garey Jr

Racersguide.com Crate Modified Feature Results (20 Laps):

1.) JUSTIN GROSSO 2.) Ryan Simmons 3.) Johnny Bangs 4.) Paul Mancini 5.) Tom Princiotta 6.) Nick Van Wickle 7.) Jon Meyer 8.) Brandon Shipley 9.) Nick Stephan 10.) Jim Avery 11.) Matt Knaub 12.) George Gareis 13.) Glenn McIntyre 14.) Dan Fleming 15.) Scott Maher 16.) Doug Dubiel 17.) Anthony Tramontana 18.) Pat Wall 19.) Tommy Klimkowski 20.) Jeremy Martino 21.) Kevin Borden 22.) Matt Dealaman 23.) Ryan Krushinski 24.) Tim Franks 

DNS: Bob Rambone

Heat Race Winners: Nick Van Wickle, Nick Stephan & Jeremy Martino 

Street Stock Feature Results (15 Laps):

1.) ROB ORMSBEE 2.) Bill Liedtka 3.) Lee Allen 4.) Joe Reid 5.) Brian Ludwig 6.) Joe Wolfe 7.) Dennis Seeley 8.) Spider Ensinger Jr 9.) Spider Ensinger Sr.