Scott Bonnell Is Patriot Sprint Winner on Miller and Miller Lite Night
 and Dave Hess Jr. Wins SLM Feature at Eriez Speedway
By Glenn Slocum

            Miller and Miller Lite sponsored the events at Eriez Speedway headlined by the Patriot Sprint Groups inaugural event.  One hundred and forty eight cars were on hand to compete in the evening’s events. Scott Bonnell won the sprint car A-main after a scary tumble by veteran Tom Taber at the initial start. Bonnell led every lap for the victory. Dave Hess Jr. followed Bonnell’s example to lead every lap of the Super Late feature.  Dave Tolon passed Mark Hall then drove away for his second win in the Outlaw Cadet feature. Joe Weber won a hotly contested Limited Late event as Andy Knight failed to make the late race pass for the win. Justin Carlson won his first feature event after a strong run in the E-Mod division. Steve Keith passed Mark Thompson to win his second Spectator feature. Larry Boumans won his second Four-Cylinder feature event. Don McGuire got into the winners column in the Budweiser Super Sportsman event.  

            Scott Bonnell led the Patriot Sprint Group to the green and veteran Tom Taber touched wheels with another car flipping several times down the front stretch coming to rest in the infield at the entrance to turn one. Taber was sore after the incident and as a precautionary measure left the speedway aboard the ambulance. Bonnell got the jump on the initial start with Gary Troutman a distant second followed by Tim Zimbardi and Billy Krull. Krull made an inside pass on Zimbardi on lap three and started to run down Troutman for second. Bonnell was in lap traffic on lap seven when a spin by Dan Demming brought out the second caution of the race. Bonnell was the leader with Troutman second followed by Krull, Tim Zimbardi and Chris Muhleisen. Bonnell once again got the big jump on the restart and Krull passed Troutman for the second spot. Zimbardi had his hands full with Muhleisen and Dan Bennett. Zimbardi slipped up the speedway on lap fifteen allowing both Muhleisen and Bennett by. Bonnell completed the race leading every lap for an unchallenged win with Krull second and Troutman third.  

             John Lacki slowed on lap one of the Super Late Model event as Dave Hess Jr. and Al Crocker led. Dave Lyon and Doug Eck were in row two with Chris Hackett and Ward Schell in row three. Wendell Pinckney’s car was leaking fuel on the start quickly bringing out the second caution. The third start did the trick and young Dave Hess Jr. led the pack. Crocker was second with Lyon third and Eck fourth. Rod Maloy was a distant fifth followed by Chris Hackett. The leaders were into lap traffic on lap eleven as once started the race stayed under green. Hackett moved into the fifth spot with Gardner trailing by the half way point. Lyon tried Crocker several times in traffic then faded into the grasp of Eck. A spin by Morrell in front of the leaders collected Pinckney and Lyon the third place car. Hess had a clear speedway with four laps remaining followed by Crocker, Eck, Hackett, Gardner then the lap cars of Kelly Frederes and Dave Shagla, then Maloy in sixth. The restart ended before it started with contact between several cars at the drop of the green causing Crocker to go to the pits and damaging several cars including Gardner who was now in the fourth spot. Hess was still out front the Eck, Hackett and Gardner. Hess who the restart and the event with a ten car-length advantage over Eck followed closely by Hackett in third.

             Joe Weber brought out the Limited Lates and after the start as spin by Les Lyon brought out the yellow flag. Weber made the second attempt work bun a spin by Scott Gurdak in the Andy Sweetland 05 car brought out the caution on lap two. Andy Knight was second with Lyon third and Mike Moore fourth. Lap three was stopped by a four-car incident in turn two involving Gurdak, Gary Eicher, John Pencille, Mike Coyle and Tom Schnars. Lyon lost a spot to Moore on the restart and fell back once more on lap seven, as Pat McGuire took fourth. McGuire had caught Weber, Knight and Moore on lap ten to make it a four way race for the lead. A spin and go by Lyon brought out the yellow with six laps remaining. Weber led followed by Knight, Moore, McGuire and Bob Vogt who had moved into the top five for the first time. After several attempts in the final laps Knight finally got up beside Weber in the final corner but had troubles staying low and nearly spun as Weber won the hotly contested event. Knight lost two spots in the last lap attempt finishing fourth with Pat McGuire gaining the second spot on the last lap over Moore who finished in the third position.

             Mark Hall, Terry Daniels and Pete Alspaugh were out front on lap one of the Outlaw Cadet event. Dustin Eckman spun on lap two causing the first caution. Hall had a five car length advantage with five completed laps. Dave Tolon had gained the second spot with Daniels third and Alspaugh fourth. Hall got loose coming out of four on lap seven letting Tolon by for the lead. Ron Seeley spun with seven complete for the second caution of the event. Louie DeDionisio was fifth on the restart with George Cole sixth. Tolon ran away from the field in the remaining laps but a last lap caution by Dewey Kinnear ruined Tolon’s lead and setting up a last lap dash for the win. Tolon was up to the challenge and won the dash for his second win of the season, early leader Hall was second with Daniels third.

            Randy Parmenter led lap one of the E-Mod feature but an incident with J.B. Dandy and Bill Thomas in turn one brought the race under Spanky Hall’s yellow flag. Shawn McArdle spun on the restart. Parmenter and Ron Roncaglione got hooked on the restart moving up the speedway collecting Mike Boyd and causing severe damage to Dave Hess Jr. as he tried to miss the incident by going between the wall and Parmenter. Hess returned to the speedway before the incident could be cleared from the front stretch. Chris Peterson was the new leader with Justin Carlson second and Bill Taylor in the third spot. Scott Pangrazio slowed the race on lap three with spin. Anderson lost the lead Carlson on lap four who quickly built a ten-car length advantage. Joe Harvey spun on lap six allowing the field to close with Carlson. Peterson was second followed by Mike Hess, Bill Thomas and Brad Pease. Dave Hess Jr. had moved from last to eight on this restart. Peterson spun into the infield on lap five but the yellow did not come out as Carlson rebuilt his lead. Mike Hess was second with Kevin Decker third. Joe Harvey came to rest against the wall just in front of the starter on the white flag lap and the leaders narrowly avoided him. Carlson was out in front for the final lap with Mike Hess second then Kevin Decker, Brad Pease, Scott Pangrazio and Dave Hess Jr. Dave Hess gained a spot on the last lap as Carlson notched his first win in the E-Mod division. Mike Hess was second followed by Decker and Dave Hess Jr..

            Fred McClanahan spun in turn one on the initial start of the Spectator feature causing a complete restart of the event. McClanahan was not damaged in the early spin and went on to lead lap one then was caught by Mark Thompson on the second lap losing the top spot. Steve Keith passed McClanahan on lap three but the caution flew on lap four for a spinning Barrett Brown who collected Dennis Lunger. Thompson was the leader with Keith second Dan McGarvie third, McClanahan fourth and Dana Wellington fifth. Keith took control on the restart and points leader Tommy Fox moved into the third spot. Brown had trouble on the final lap and Thompson nearly spun coming to the checkers but managed to beat Fox to the line for the second spot as Keith won the event.  

 


            Rich Hamblin, Stan Davis and Tom Liberatore tangled in turn three on the start of the Four-Cylinder event. Liberatore and Stan Davis were unable to continue the event. Bob Harrison had trouble on lap three as he hit the wall on the front stretch and left the speedway behind the Dunlap wrecker. Boumans followed by Tom Bean and JR Cross were the leaders on the restart. The race finished as restarted with Boumans getting his second win of the year. 

            Pete Volpe was the leader at the half way mark of the Budweiser Super Sportsman feature. Don McGuire passed Volpe at the  end of lap seven as Chris Kuschel broke in turn one bringing out the yellow. Volpe fought back but lost a wheel on lap eleven giving control to Don McGuire followed by Pat McGuire, Randy Parmenter and Bobby Rohrer. The race finished with Don McGuire getting his first win of the season. 

Results:

   Spectators:

      Heat 1: Dan McGarvie, Ron Watson, Fred McClanahan

      Heat 2: Josh Lucas, Merle Burlingham, Barrett Brown

      Heat 3: Mark Thompson, Tommy Fox, Steve Keith

      Feature 1: Steve Keith, Mark Thompson, Tommy Fox, Dennis Lunger, Dan McGarvie, Justin Krieder, Ron Watson, Ray Houser, Jeremy English, Brad Pease

   4-Cylinder Sportsmen

      Heat 1: Rich Hamblin, Stan Davis, Boyd Hess

      Heat 2: Tom Liberatore, Larry Boumans, Dan Osborne

      Feature: Larry Boumans, Tom Bean, JR Cross, Boyd Hess, Dan Osborne

  Outlaw Cadets

      Heat 1: Matt Lamphere. Ron Seeley, Pete Alspaugh

      Heat 2: Dewey Kinnear, Mike Knight, George Cole

      Feature:  Dave Tolon, Mark Hall, Terry Daniels, Pete Alspaugh, Louie DeDionisio, George Cole, Greg Johnson, Mike Knight

  E-Mods:

     Heat 1: Ron Roncaglione, Boyd Whitehead, Tom Anderson

      Heat 2: Mike Hess, Dave Hess Jr., Scott Pangrazio

      Feature: Justin Carlson, Mike Hess, Kevin Decker, Brad Pease, Dave Hess Jr., Scott Pangrazio, Bill Taylor, J.B. Dandy, Bill Thomas , Tom Anderson

   Budweiser Super Sportsmen:

      Heat 1: Pete Volpe, Pat McGuire, Don McGuire

      Heat 2: Aaron Robinson, Hank Francis, Bob Van Arsdale

      Feature: Don McGuire, Pat McGuire, Randy Parmenter, Bobby Rohrer, Aaron Robinson, Bob Van Arsdale, Scott Kuschell, Pete Volpe,

   Limited Late Models:

      Heat 1: Joe Weber, Bob Vogt, Brian Fardink

      Heat 2: Bobby Rohrer, Mike Moore, Paul Briggs

      Feature: Joe Weber, Pat McGuire, Mike Moore, Andy Knight, Bob Vogt, Bobby Rohrer, Ed Simmer, Tom Schnars, John Pencille, Mike Coyle

   American Racer Dash: Dave Hess Jr., Al Crocker, Dave Lyon

   Super Late Models:

      Heat 1: Al Crocker, John Lacki, Chris Hackett, Rich Gardner, Wally Fox

      Heat 2: Dave Hess Jr., Scott Gurdak, Ward Schell, Chris Blose, Andy Boozel

      Heat 3: Dave Lyon, Doug Eck, Rod Maloy, Jason Morell, George LaBarbera

      Feature: Dave Hess Jr., Doug Eck, Chris Hackett, Rich Gardner, Rod Maloy, Ward Schell, Chris Blose, Dan Maxim, Andy Boozel, Scott Gurdak, Bump Hedman, Wally Fox, George LaBarbera, John Lacki, Jason Morell, Steve Halpainy, Kevin Santee, Al Crocker, Dave Shagla, Dave Lyon, Wendell Pinckney, Kelly Frederes, Todd Roncaglione

  Patriot Sprint Group:

      Heat 1:Jared Zimbardi, Scott Bonnell, Kyle Drum

      Heat 2: Tim Zimbardi, Chris Muhleisen, Billy Krull

       A-Main: Scott Bonnell, Billy Krull, Gary Troutman, Chris Muhleisen, Dan Bennett, Jared Zimbardi, Brad Knab, Kyle Drum, Tim Zimbardi, Don Adamczyk, Dan Demming, Jeremy Barnhard, Jason Troutman, Tom Taber