Ron Bush and Dennis Lunger Win Yaples’ Vac & Sew and Hoover Company Spectator Championship Races at Eriez Speedway

By Glenn Slocum

         Dave Hess Jr. posted win number five after losing the lead to Rich Gardner then regaining the lead with a high side pass on lap thirteen of the twenty-five lap Super Late Model feature event. Dave Hess then went on to win the E-Mod feature with a similar pass of Al Cressley with two laps to go. The pit crew of the Mike Hess E-mod won the Miller Lite Pit crew competition and the Brian Fallon won the fan challenge. Ron Bush fought off a late race challenge by Rusty Wheeler to win the first Yaples’ Vac and Sew and Hoover Company Spectator Championship race and Dennis Lunger led every lap of the second Spectator Championship race. Steve Forstein took the lead from an ailing Larry Bouman racecar to win the Four-Cylinder feature. Gary Eicher led every lap of the Outlaw Cadet event to post his fifth feature win of the season. Dave Cummings was the Budweiser Super Sportsman winner. Pat McGuire won his fourth Limited Late Model event.  

    Pat Passanise and Mike Harmon were on the front row of the first Spectator Championship event of the evening. Ron Bush led lap one with Passanise second and Rush Firestone third. Firestone made an inside move around Passanise on lap three and set sail for the leader. Firestone caught and passed Bush on lap five as Paul Norman Mike Harmon and John Swabik moved by Passanise. Swabik took the third spot on lap eight. The first caution of the evening flew after Mike Boyd, Matt Lazowski and Art Churchill spun in turn three on lap nine. Swabik and Firestone came together on the front stretch at the drop of the green sending Firestone to the infield and Swabik to the pits. Bush was placed back in first with Harmon second and Passanise third for the second restart of lap nine. Merle Burlingham came to a stop on in turn three for the third caution. Rusty Wheeler moved to second on lap ten then tried passing the leader coming out of four on the final lap. Wheeler almost spun and Bush retained the lead for his first win this season.

 Joe Heslop and Dennis Lunger brought the second Spectator Championship event to the line. Lunger got the big jump at the start with Fred McClanahan a distant second. Rich Becker spun on lap three collecting Dan Shellhouse in a violent collision on the front stretch. Shellhouse was stunned in the incident but climbed from the car under his own power. Lunger retained the lead on the restart and one lap later Dave Johnson made hard contact with the front stretch wall for the second and yellow. Lunger led the next two laps when Ken Seymore stopped for bringing out the third caution. A lap seven spin by Ron Watson caused the fourth caution. Josh Lucas was lined up in the second spot on the restart but spun on the next lap moving Skip Joslin to second and Barrett Brown to third. Justin Kreider passed Brown for third on the while flag lap. Lunger won the event with a one half-lap lead over Kreider and Davis.

 Ken Wanzer led the first two laps of the Four-Cylinder event. Larry Bouman passed Wanzer and lead the next three then suffered engine problems relinquishing the lead to Steve Forstein on lap seven. J.R. Cross quickly moved up beside Forstein but lost control spinning out on the white flag lap and losing second to Dale Wise.

 Gary Eicher quickly moved into the lead in the Outlaw Cadet feature with Dustin Eckman second and Wade Slaney third. Point leader John Pencille was running fourth with Pete Alspaugh fifth. Jim Moon stopped in turn two causing Spanky Hall to throw the caution for the first time in the event. Slaney and Pencille took advantage of the restart to move by Eckman for second and third. Brian Campbell spun ending up facing the wrong way on the front straight for the second caution of the event on lap six. The restart saw Nathan Short, Alspaugh and Eckman tangle for the third yellow. Dave Tolon was now fourth with Herm Hilyer fifth and Terry Daniels sixth. Dave Tolon almost spun on lap eight and every one scrambled to avoid leaving Jeff Campbell and Jim Moon the only victims of the incident for yellow number four. Eicher retained the lead on the restart and led until a white flag lap spin by Dewey Kinnear. Eicher led through the green, white then checkers to win his fifth of the season.

 Dave Hess Jr. and Rod Maloy led twenty-two Super Late Models to Spanky Halls green flag. Hess quickly moved to the point but a spinning Jason Morrell brought out the yellow necessitating a complete restart. Hess won the battle to the front with Rich Gardner moving by Maloy for second. Gardner got under Hess on lap tow and they races side by side for two laps before Hess got the advantage again. Kelly Frederes and Mark Gilbert spun on lap six for the second yellow. Hess was on the point with Gardner second, Maloy third and John Lacki fourth. Hess moved away form Gardner on the restart and led convincing for several laps then stumbled coming out of four on lap nine allowing Gardner to pass for the lead. Lloyd Swan and Ron Philips tangled on lap ten for the third caution and ending their race night. Gardner was now the leader with Hess second, Maloy third then Lacki, Chris Hackett and Andy Kania. Gardner and Maloy moved to the bottom on the restart with Hess trying the high groove. Hess was able to move up beside Gardner and make the pass on lap thirteen as the two leaders started to distance themselves form the field. Bump Hedman and Scott Gurdak tangled on lap fifteen for caution number four. With ten laps remaining Hess was once again the leader with Gardner second Maloy still third, Kania fourth then Lacki and Hackett. Doug Eck lost a rear wheel on the restart tearing the side from Andy Boozel. Eck was towed from the speedway and Boozel drove to the pits. Sixteen cars remained the second restart of lap sixteen as Boozel returned to the speedway. Hess won the charge into one on the restart and the field quickly was strung out single file all around the speedway. Hess ha a fifteen-car length advantage with five to go and was quickly approaching lap traffic. Hess never slowed leading the final laps to win his fifth of the year.

Mike Murray led lap one of the Budweiser Super Sportsman event. Hank Francis and Scott Bayle tangled on lap one putting Bayle on the hook for the evening. Murray took the green but Pat McGuire moved up the outside to pass at the line for lead on lap tow. Murray lost the handle spinning but continuing after losing several positions. Pat McGuire was leading with Dave Cummings second and Don McGuire third. Randy Parmenter passed Don McGuire for third on lap five. The race was uneventful until Dave Cummings tapped Pat McGuire in the left rear then passed for the lead with one to go. Cummings was given the win, Pat McGuire second and Randy Parmenter third.

 Bill Thomas was knocked out of the race on lap one of the E-Mod feature but Brian Snow brought out the yellow by stopping on the front stretch. Jim Irwin led the first lap with Justin Carlson second and Jason Covey third. Super Late Model feature winner Dave Hess Jr. was running fourth and Mike Hess fifth. Carlson and Dave Hess moved to the front on the restart with Mike Hess third and Al Cressley fourth. Carlson ran the middle groove with Mike and Dave Hess trying to pass from both sides. Russ Dempsey, Kevin Decker and Mike Potosky spun on lap five for the second yellow. Cressley moved to second on the restart as Carlson lead. Cressley passed Carlson one lap later as did Dave Hess them Mike Hess as Carlson slipped to fourth. Wayne Mohawk and Potosky spun on lap eight and one lap later Kevin Decker and Tom Anderson tangled for second yellow flag on lap eight. Cressley stayed low on the restart and Dave Hess worked the high side for two laps when Jason Covey brought out the next caution. One move lap was completed then Brian Snow came to a stop in front of the flag stand slowing the race once more. Cressley again went low and Dave Hess went to the high side on this restart and Dave Hess was able to make the pass one lap later. Cressley and Mike Hess made contact on lap fourteen causing Cressley to spin bringing out the caution and sending Cressley to the rear of the field. Dave Hess led the final two for his second feature win of the evening. Mike Hess finished second and early leader Justin Carlson third.

 Paul Briggs led by half a car length at the end of lap one of the Limited Late Model feature. Chris Sutton was second and Pat McGuire third. McGuire moved to second one lap later as Bobby Rohrer moved by Mike Moore for fourth. Andy Knight spun on lap nine into the entrance of turn one bringing out the yellow for the first time in the event. Briggs stayed low on the restart forcing McGuire to use the high lane to pass which he did three laps later. Briggs lost the handle right after being passed by McGuire bringing out the second caution. Sutton was penalized and sent to the rear of the field. Briggs lost his drive shaft during the yellow and had to be towed from the speedway. Pat McGuire was still out front with Bobby Rohrer second then Bob Vogt, Tom Hagberg and Mike Moore. Rohrer made several unsuccessful attempts to get under McGuire for the lead. It was the fourth feature win for McGuire.

Results:

   Spectators:

      Heat 1: Fred McClanahan, Ron Watson, Rich Becker

      Heat 2: Dennis Lunger, John Swabik, Dan Shellhouse

      Heat 3: Ron Bush, Steve Keith, Steve Hulings

      Feature 1: Ron Bush, Rusty Wheeler, Mike Harmon, Bill Baker Jr., Pat Passanise, Brian Crandall, Mike Boyd, Jason Stutzman, Steve Hulings, Jeremy Stafford

      Feature 2: Dennis Lunger, Skip Joslin, Justin Kreider, Barrett Brown, Joe Heslop, John McNaughton, Ron Watson, Danielle Weber, Ron Barr, Wayne Watson

   4-Cylinder Sportsmen

      Heat 1: Tom Liberatore, Steve Forstein, J.R. Cross

      Feature: Steve Forstein, Dale Wise, J.R. Cross, Steve Keith, Andy Warzynak, Tom Liberatore, Bethany Pease, Ken Wanzer, Larry Taylor, Jason Smith

  Outlaw Cadets

      Heat 1: Gary Eicher, Pete Alspaugh, John Pencille

      Heat 2: Dustin Eckman, Wade Slaney, Louie DeDionisio

      Feature 1: Gary Eicher, Wade Slaney, John Pencille, Dave Tolon, Herm Hilyer, Terry Daniels, Joe Harvey, Pete Alspaugh, George Cole, Louie DeDionisio

  E-Mods:

     Heat 1: Bill Thomas, Justine Carlson, Brian Snow

      Heat 2: Al Cressley, Mike Hess, Kevin Decker

      Feature: Dave Hess Jr., Mike Hess, Justin Carlson, Randy Parmenter, Al Cressley, James Irwin, Jeff Wick, Russ Dempsey, Wayne Mohawk, Tom Anderson

   Budweiser Super Sportsmen:

      Heat 1: Scott Bayle, Pat McGuire, Dave Cummings

      Feature: Dave Cummings, Pat McGuire, Randy Parmenter, Don McGuire, Brent Crandall, Don Stanley, Hank Francis, Mike Murray, John Daugherty, Tabitha Cummings

   Limited Late Models:

      Heat 1: Chris Sutton, Pat McGuire, Bobby Rohrer

      Heat 2: Paul Briggs, Mike Moore, Mike Coyle

      Feature: Pat McGuire, Bobby Rohrer, Bob Vogt, Tom Hagberg, Mike Moore, Chris Sutton, John Cline, Mike Coyle, Ed Simmer, Ron Seeley

   American Racer Dash: Dave Hess Jr., Rod Maloy, Andy Kania

   Super Late Models:

      Heat 1: Andy Kania, Scott Gurdak, Chris Hackett

      Heat 2: Rod Maloy, Rich Gardner, Al Crocker

      Heat 3: Dave Hess Jr., John Lacki, Rod Philips

      Feature: Dave Hess Jr., Rich Gardner, Rod Maloy, Andy Kania, Chris Hackett, John Lacki, Kevin Santee, Steve Halpainy, Dave Shagla, Scott Gurdak