Davey Johnson is the Conway and O’Malley’s Goodyear  Renegade DirtCar Winner  
by Glenn Slocum

             Forty-one Super Late Models were on hand for The Conway and O’Malley Goodyear Renegade Dirt Car fifty-lap feature. Davey Johnson from Greensburg, Pa. lead every lap of the event to claim the $5,000 dollar winners share. Paul Briggs won the Limited Late event and Kevin Decker the E-Mod race. Barrett Brown and Mike Boyd won the Spectator features. Robert Nocero won the Budweiser Super Sportsman event and Herm Hilyer was the Outlaw Cadet winner. Tom Liberatore won the Four Cylinder race.  

            Bill Cunningham and Mike Wonderling were in row one and Vic Coffey and Chris Hackett in row two of the first Renegade B-Main. Only three cars would advance from the thirteen-car field. Cunningham lead through turn three of lap one but went high in four allowing Wonderling the pass and the lead. Wonderling led through lap six when Moose Dunnewold hit a marker tire on the entrance to turn one causing the first yellow. Dunnewold spins again on lap eight and the field closed behind Wonderling. Vic Coffey was in the last qualifying spot until the restart when John Mason passed on the inside. Mason hung on to qualify while Wonderling won the race and Jim Cunningham was second.

             Bruce Hordusky, John Lobb, Scott Gurdak and Doug Eck were the top four starters in the second Renegade B-Main. Steve Halpainy and Dave Shagla tangle on start and the yellow flew before one lap could be completed. Hordusky, Gurdak and Lobb led while Gardner moved to fourth by Scott Johnson on lap seven. Gardner could not catch Lobb so missed qualifying by one spot. Lobb finished in the last qualifying spot with Gurdak second and Hordusky the winner.

             The Isky Racing Cams Dash brought the six fastest qualified cars to the speedway. Rod Conley led the way for three laps until the Davey Johnson make a high side pass to win the event. Jim Dandy Jr. was third with Randall Chupp fourth, Dave Scott fifth and Andy Kania sixth.

Rich Becker spun on lap two of the first Spectator feature while Brian Larson led. Larson blew a tire on lap four and the second place car of Barrett Brown assumed the lead. Brown was not challenged for the remainder of the event. Ray Houser finished second and Duane Pease was third.

Matt Lozowski took the early lead in the second Spectator feature. Mike Boyd became the second leader after passing Lozowski on lap four. Boyd quickly gained a twenty-car length advantage over the field. Boyd went on to win with Matt Thomas second and Merle Burlingham third.

Dan Maxim jumped to the early lead on the Four Cylinder feature. A spin by Ken Wanzer brought out a caution and J. R. Cross passed Maxim for the lead on the restart. Cross retired on lap seven and Dan Maxim once again led but started smoking and quickly fell to the rear. Tim Liberatore took advantage of Maxims hard luck to win the event with Jim Tolon second and Dale Wise third.

Davey Johnson by virtue of his Isky Cams Dash win was on the pole of the Conway and O’Malley’s Goodyear Fifty Lap Renegade DirtCar feature event. Twenty-six cars started the event including provisional starters Vic Coffey, Doug Eck, and Randy Lobb. Davey Johnson and Rod Conley lead lap one. Conley had trouble in turn two of lap two causing the first caution very early in the race. Randall Chupp was second, Jim Dandy third and Dick Barton fourth for the lap two restart. Conley reported to the rear of the field after going to the pits for a flat tire. Chupp tried a high move around Johnson on the start and they ran side by side for one full lap until Bill Cunningham slowed for the second caution on lap three. Cunningham went the pits with a flat and reported back to speedway before the restart. Chupp went high on the restart allowing Dandy and Barton by. Mike Balzano spun on turn two in lap five for caution number three. Chupp stayed in line on this restart as Dandy began trying to push Johnson up out of the low grove. Cunningham spun on lap eleven for the third caution. Five laps later John Lobb came to a stop in turn one for the fourth caution. Lobb was towed to the pits. Scott attempted a low pass on Chupp on the restart then had to check up as Chupp slammed the door. Scott Gurdak brought out caution number four with a spin in turn one. Chupp make another high side move and this time it worked after two laps of side by side racing with Barton for third but Barton got back the position on the next straight. A spin by Bruce Hordusky caused caution five on lap nineteen. Cunningham made contact with a tractor tire marking the inside of turn two coming to rest against the wall in turn two. Doug Eck was also involved in the incident and drove to the pits while Cunningham required a wrecker. At the halfway mark Johnson was still leading with Dandy second and Barton third. Brad Fiesler retired on lap thirty-five and only a few drivers wanted to get out of line to attempt a pass. With two to go Dandy tried Johnson on the high side but could not make the pass as Johnson led from start to finish for the $5,000 top prize. Dandy was second with Barton third, Chupp fourth and Scott fifth. 

Herm Hilyer was the early leader of the Outlaw Cadet feature. A Jim Moon spin on the front stretch on lap eight brought out the yellow flag allowing the field to catch up with Hilyer. Shawn McArdle and George Cole tangled on lap ten for the second caution. Terry Daniels marred the restart with a spin in turn four. John Couglin spun on lap thirteen causing the fourth caution with only three to go. Hilyer kept control for the win with Pencille finishing second and Aaron Robinson third.

Hank Francis lead the first five laps of the Budweiser Super Sportsman event. Robert Nocero negotiated a turn one pass of Francis on lap six and never looked back to win his first feature of the 2002 season. Francis finished second and Pat McGuire was third.

Den Drake lost a drive shaft on the start of the E-Mod feature. Darryl Greene was the leader on the restart but a pass in turn two moved Kevin Decker to the front. Greene lost the handle in turn one collecting Dave Hess Jr. for the second caution on lap five. Decker lead the remaining laps posting his first win of the season. Mike Hess was second and Justin Carlson third.

The last event of the evening was the Limited Late Model feature event. Paul Briggs, Mike Moore and Bob Vogt lead the first six until a caution was thrown by Spanky Hall. Briggs took the lead on the restart. Andy Sweetland spun on lap eleven and the field was quickly realigned for the restart. Vogt spun on the restart losing his third place spot giving Cressley third. Pat McGuire moved by Moore on lap fifteen and began to track down Briggs. McGuire ran out of laps as Briggs went on to win the event. Mike Moore finished third.

Results:

   Spectators:

      Heat 1: Brian Larson, Rich Becker, Matt Lozowski

      Heat 2: Brian Guzowski, Matt Thomas, Mike Boyd

      Feature 1: Barrett Brown, Ray Houser, Duane Pease, John McNaughton, Danielle Wilbur

      Feature 2: Mike Boyd, Matt Thomas, Merle Burlingham, Mike Harmon, Kevin Brumett

   4-Cylinder Sportsmen

      Heat 1: Larry Boumans, Dick Price, Dale Wise

      Feature: Tom Liberatore, Jim Tolon, Dale Wise, Dan Maxim, Bethany Pease

  Outlaw Cadets

      Heat 1: Bill Dunn, Aaron Robinson, Jim Moon

      Heat 2: John Pencille, Mark Hall, Chris Blose

      Heat 3: Herm Hilyer, Brian Zimmerly, Terry Daniels

      Feature 1: Herm Hilyer, John Pencille, Aaron Robinson, Dewey Kinnear, Brian Zimmerly, Bill Dunn, Tom Norland, Louie DeDionisio, Terry Daniels. Matt Lamphere

  E-Mods:

     Heat 1: Dave Hess Jr., Stu Rickard, Mike Hess

      Feature: Kevin Decker, Mike Hess, Justin Carlson, Jack Andrews, Dave Hess Jr., Bill Taylor, Darryl Greene, Stu Rickard

   Budweiser Super Sportsmen:

      Heat 1: Don McGuire, Scot Bayle, Dave Cummings

      Feature: Robert Nocero, Hank Francis, Pat McGuire, Dave Cummings, Brent Crandall, Randy Parmenter, Mike Murray, J. R. Nocero, Don Stanley, John Robinson

   Limited Late Models:

      Heat 1: Paul Briggs, Bob Vogt, Andy Sweetland, Al Cressley

      Heat 2: Mike Moore, Mike Coyle, John Cline, Andy Knight

      Feature: Paul Briggs, Pat McGuire, Mike Moore, Al Cressley, Bobby Rohrer, Kevin Decker, Jim Rohrer, Bob Vogt, Mike Coyle, Andy Sweetland

   Renegade DirtCar:

      Heat 1: Dick Barton, Todd Andrews, Jim Dandy, Randall Chupp, Bill Cunningham Vic Coffey, Andy Boozel, George LaBarbera

      Heat 2: Brad Fiesler, Rob Blair, Ron Conley, Davey Johnson, Mike Wonderling, Chris Hackett, Al Crocker, Ron Olson, Brian Emory, Bryan Downes

      Heat 3: Chub Frank, Brian Ruhlman, Mike Balzano, Dave Scott, Bruce Hordusky, Scott Gurdak, Scott Johnson, Rich Gardner, Steve Halpainy, Randy Lobb

      Heat 4: Steve Shaver, Dave Hess, Greg Lucas, Andy Kania, John Lobb, Doug Eck, Dave Lyon, Rick Briggs, Dave Shagla, Jim Bernheisel

      Consolation 1: Mike Wonderling, Bill Cunningham, John Mason

      Consolation 2: Bruce Hordusky, Scott Gurdak, John Lobb

      Dash: Davey Johnson, Rod Conley, Jim Dandy Jr. Randall Chupp, Dave Scott, Andy Kania

      Feature: Davey Johnson, Jim Dandy Jr., Randall Chupp, Dave Scott, Chubb Frank, Rob Blair, Dave Hess, Andy Kania, Brian Ruhlman

    Renegade Dirt Cars Time Trials:

   Renegade Dirt Cars Heat Lineups:

 Heat1 1: Todd Andrews, Dick Barton, Randall Chupp, Jim Dandy Jr., Bill Cunningham, Vic Coffey, John Mason, Andy Boozel, Jason Morell, Moose Dunnewold, George LaBarbera

  Heat 2: Rob Blair, Brad Fiesler, Rod Conley, Davey Johnson, Mike Wonderling, Chris Hackett, Bryan Emory, Al Crocker, Bryan Downes, Ron Olson

  Heat 3:  Brian Ruhlman, Chub Frank, Mike Balzano, Dave Scott, Bruce Hordusky, Steve Halpainy, Rich Gardner, Scott Gurdak, Scott Johnson, Randy Lobb

  Heat 4: Steve Shaver, Jim Bernheisel, Greg Lucas, Andy Kania, Dave Hess, Rick Briggs, John Lobb, Doug Eck, Dave Lyon, Dave Shagla