Eriez Speedway
Eriez Sundays April thru Sept. Gates Open at 4:30 pm. Racing at 6:00 pm.

Dave Hess Jr. Wins on The Boot Box Fan Appreciation Night at Eriez Speedway

By Glenn Slocum

         Kevin Decker piloted Randy Parmenter’s E-Mod to a win in the Parmenter Drilling King of Eriez Challenge. The first four cars of every class ran three-lap heat against each other then the winner of the other divisions in a timed handicapped event. Dave Hess Jr. battled veteran Rod Maloy for the first two laps of the Super Late Model feature making the pass from the outside on lap three and never looking back to win his sixth of the season. Gary Eicher won his sixth of the year in the Outlaw Cadets. Steve Hulings and Rich Becker were the Spectator winners. Larry Bouman won his fourth Four-Cylinder feature. Randy Parmenter won his third Budweiser Super Sportsman event. Bill Thomas led all the laps to win his first E-Mod feature. Dave Lyon switched from his Super Late Model to drive Al Cressley’s Limited Late to the winners circle.

 Rick Thompson stopped on lap one of the first Spectator feature. Thompson was on the pole and suffered mechanical difficulty and could not complete a lap. Dennis Lunger became the new leader with Steve Hulings in second and Jason Stetson third. Hulings got the jump on the start but a spin by John Kelsey and Matt Lazowski brought out the yellow. Mark Thompson and Brad Pease spun on the next attempt and the yellow flew once more. Hulings led one lap then Quincy Turner spun in turn one for the fourth caution. Stetson and Bill Baker Jr. hooked bumpers for caution five. The race finally got underway on lap three with Hulings in the lead followed by Lunger and Rush Firestone. Lunger spun on lap seven bringing out the caution and moving Firestone to second and John Swabik to third. Firestone led lap seven with Hulings alongside. Hulings nosed past Firestone on the final lap to win the event with Mike Boyd making a late race charge to third.  

 Mike Knight won the mad scramble to lead the second Spectator feature. Ray Churchill was second and Rich Becker third. Knight was into lap traffic at the halfway mark. Debris brought the yellow out on lap eight allowing the field to regroup behind Knight for the final three laps of the event. Merle Burlingham was third and Barrett Brown fourth. Knight spun in front of the field on the restart recovering for fifth spot and allowing Becker the lead. One lap later Wane Watson hit the front stretch retaining wall and Merle Burlingham spun for the third caution. Becker was still leading with Brown second, early leader Knight third and Matt Thomas in fourth. Ron Watson and Jim Conner tangled on the restart for caution four and there were still two laps to complete. Becker led the next lap with Knight on the outside trying to make the pass. Knight ran out of racetrack as Becker won and Chip Davis slipped by Knight for second.

 Jason Smith led the first two laps of the Four-Cylinder event slipping to fourth on lap three as Andy Warzynak took the led. Larry Bouman passed Warzynak on the next lap and began to pull away from the field. Warzynak spun on the final lap bringing out the only caution of the event. Bouman beat Steve Forstein to the checkers and Dale Wise finished third.  

 Gary Eicher quickly assumed the lead of the Outlaw Cadet feature with Dewey Kinnear in second and Jeff Campbell third. Vern Plymire, Rick Loomis and George Cole tangled on lap five for the first caution of the event allowing the field to catch up to the highflying Eicher. Kinnear and Campbell bumped on the restart and when the action stopped Brian Zimmerly was spun in turn one. Eicher was in lap traffic on lap ten with a straight away lead over Kinnear. Shane Jones brought out the caution on lap twelve by spinning to a stop in turn three. Dave Tolan moved into third on the restart. Zimmerly spun on the final lap for last caution of the race. Eicher won his sixth of the season with Kinnear second and Tolan third.  

 Rod Maloy and Dave Hess Jr. were on the front row of the Super Late Model feature and the two raced side by side for the first two laps until Hess got the advantage for the lead. Rich Gardner was third with Chris Hackett fourth and Randy Lobb fifth. Mark Ashccraft had problems on lap six and the first yellow flew. Hess had just reached the tail of the field when the yellow came out. After the restart Hess clicked off the laps gaining more and more each lap as Maloy and Gardner battled for second. Andy Kania passed Al Crocker for sixth on lap nine and Randy Lobb drove under Hackett on lap twelve resulting in a spin by Hackett for the second caution of the event. Kania was aligned in fourth on the restart with Hess on the point followed by Maloy and Gardner, Hackett went to the rear of the field. Bump Hedman took a wild ride through the infield but did not draw a caution as he rejoined at the tail end of the field. Ashcraft, Dave Shagla and Kelly Frederes tangled on lap thirteen for caution number three. Jeff Bucella spun to avoid hitting another car on the restart for caution four. Randy Lobb had problems on lap seventeen and was pushed from the speedway for caution five. Hackett, Ashcraft, Mark Gilbert and Jason Morrell brought out caution six just as Hess was getting the five to go signal from Spanky Hall. Kania was now fourth with Doug Eck fifth and Steve Halpainy sixth. Kania moved by Gardner on the final lap and challenged Maloy for second but ran out of race and Hess won his sixth feature.  

 Jim Lafferty and Randy Parmenter tangled at the start of the Budweiser Super Sportsman event. Gary Foster led the first three laps until a spinning John Robinson caused the second caution. Foster took the point on the restart with Parmenter second and Don McGuire third. Kelly Frederes spun on lap seven for the third yellow. Robinson spun again on lap nine as Foster continued to hold off Parmenter and McGuire. Parmenter squeezed by Foster on lap ten for the lead and finally the win. Foster finished second and Don McGuire third.

 Bill Thomas, Dan MacDonald and Stu Rickart were the top three in the early laps of the E-Mod event. Parmenter lost the handle on lap nine forcing the caution and giving Dave Hess Jr. the fourth spot. Mike Hess moved by Dave Hess on the restart then got under Ruhlman to challenge for third as Thomas extended his lead. Jeff Wick, Chuck Steinle and Chris Peterson spun on lap fourteen for only the second caution of the event. Thomas completed the final two laps to lead them all and win his first feature of the season. MacDonald finished second and Stu Rickart third.

 Dave Lyon moved from his second row starting spot to second on the start of the Limited Late Model event as Tom Hagberg took the lead. Lyon did not stay in second for long as he moved by Hagberg on lap four and began to build a lead. Lyon led by ten car lengths at the halfway point. A lap twelve spin by Tom Schnars and Ed Simmer brought out the yellow for the first time.  Lyon remained the leader on the restart with Hagberg second and Paul Briggs third. Pat McGuire moved by Briggs for third on la thirteen as Hagberg chased Lyon. Lyon retained control through the remaining laps to put the Cressley racecar in the winners circle.

Results:

   Spectators:

      Heat 1: Fred McClanahan, Eric Kimmy, Josh Lucas

      Heat 2: Brad Pease, Dennis Lunger, Chip Davis

      Heat 3: Troy Carr, Bill Baker Jr., Steve Hulings

      Feature 1: Steve Hulings, Rush Firestone, Mike Boyd, Rick Sperry, John Swabik, Bill Baker Jr., Quincy Turner, Brian Crandall, Matt Lazowski, Mark Thompson

      Feature 2: Rich Becker, Chip Davis, Mike Knight, Barrett Brown, Matt Thomas, Brian Guzowski, Gary Davis, Eric Kimmy, Fred McClanahan, Merle Burlingham

   4-Cylinder Sportsmen

      Heat 1: Dan Maxim, Larry Taylor, Bruce Deimer

      Feature: Larry Bouman, Steve Forstein, Dale Wise, Jim Tolan, Larry Taylor, Ken Wanzer, Bethany Pease, Bruce Deimer, Tom Liberatore, Rachel Price

  Outlaw Cadets

      Heat 1: Gary Eicher, Dustin Eckman, Chris Blose

      Heat 2: Dewey Kinnear, Dave Tolan, Herm Hilyer

      Heat 3: Jeff Campbell, John Pencille, Tom Norland

      Feature: Gary Eicher, Dewey Kinnear, Dave Tolan, Joe Harvey, Jeff Campbell, Louis DeDionisio, Herm Hilyer, Nathan Short, Terry Daniels, Chris Blose

  E-Mods:

     Heat 1: Randy Parmenter, Tom Anderson, Bill Thomas

      Feature: Bill Thomas, Dan MacDonald, Stu Rickart, Mike Hess, Dave Hess Jr., Justin Carlson, Bill Taylor, Randy Parmenter, Brian Snow, Chris Peterson

   Budweiser Super Sportsmen:

      Heat 1: Don McGuire, Don Stanley, Bob VanArsdale

      Feature: Randy Parmenter, Gary Foster, Don McGuire, Scott Bayle, Pat McGuire, Dave Cummings, Don Stanley, Bob VanArsdale, Robert Nocero, Hank Francis

   Limited Late Models:

      Heat 1: Paul Briggs, Dave Lyon, Chris Sutton

      Heat 2: Tom Hagberg, Bobby Rohrer, Pat McGuire

      Feature: Dave Lyon, Tom Hagberg, Pat McGuire, Paul Briggs, Bob Rohrer, Bob Vogt, Chris Sutton, Steve Moynihan, Ton Schnars, Mike Moore

   American Racer Dash: Rich Gardner, Chris Hackett

   Super Late Models:

      Heat 1: Dave Hess Jr., Chris Hackett, Randy Lobb

      Heat 2: Rod Maloy, Rich Gardner, Al Crocker

      Feature: Dave Hess Jr., Rod Maloy, Andy Kania, Rich Gardner, Doug Eck, Steve Halpainy, Al Crocker, Bump Hedman, Jeff Bucella, John Lacki, Chris Hackett, Andy Boozel, Dave Shagla, Jason Morel, Jeff Tregler, Dusty Franklin, Mark Gilbert, Randy Lobb, Mark Ashcraft, Kelly Frederes

   King of Eriez Challenge:

   Round 1:

                Spectator: Mike Boyd, Rush Firestone

                                 Barrett Brown, Matt Thomas

               4-Cylinder: Tom Liberatore, J.R. Cross

                                Larry Bouman, Steve Forstein

           Outlaw Cadet: Louie DeDionisio, John Pencille

                                Gary Eicher, Herm Hilyer

Budweiser Sportsman: Scott Bayle, Pat McGuire

                                 Randy Parmenter, Dave Cummings

                      E-Mod: Dave Hess Jr., Justin Carlson

                                 Kevin Decker, Mike Hess

    Limited Late Model: Pat McGuire, Mike Moore

                                 Bobby Rohrer, Bob Vogt

      Super Late Model: Rich Gardner, Dave Hess Jr.

                                 Randy Lobb, Rod Maloy

    Round 2:

                  Spectator: Mike Boyd, Barrett Brown

                 4-Cylinder: Tom Liberatore, Larry Bouman

            Outlaw Cadet: Gary Eicher, Louie DeDionisio

Budweiser Sportsman: Randy Parmenter, Scott Bayle

                      E-Mod: Kevin Decker, Dave Hess Jr.

    Limited Late Model: Pat McGuire, Bobby Rohrer

      Super Late Model: Rich Gardner, Randy Lobb

    Round 3:

          Mike Boyd (Spectator), Gary Eicher (Outlaw Cadet)

          Randy Parmenter (Budweiser Sportsman), Tom Liberatore (4-Cylinder)

          Rich Gardner (Super Late Model), Pat McGuire( Limited Late Model)

    Round 4:

          Kevin Decker (E-Mod), Randy Parmenter (Budweiser Sportsman)

          Mike Boyd (Spectator), Rich Gardner (Super Late Model)

    Final: Kevin Decker (E-Mod), Mike Boyd (Spectator)