Sept 7th,2003 - Scott Gurdak Wins Busch Beers Super Late Model Championship
“Run What Ya Brung” at Eriez Speedway
By Glenn Slocum        

Hammett Pa.: Busch Beers sponsored the Super Late Model “Run What Ya Brung” Championship race at Eriez Speedway. The Super Late Model Championship race featured thirty-five laps of racing with high spoilers and sideboards. Scott Gurdak showed he was master of the sideboards lapping all but four cars to win the event, which was slowed by cautions only once. Brian Fardink drove the race of his life to win his first feature in the Limited Late Model class. Walt Johnson won his first Spectator feature and Tommy Fox moved from third to first in the final corner to win his fifth. Dan Osborne cruised to his seventh feature win in the Four Cylinder division. Pat McGuire won his fourth Budweiser Super Sportsman event. Brian Zimmerly held on through several cautions to win his first Outlaw Cadet feature of the season. Dave Hess Jr. continued to dominate the E-Mods. Hess came back from a lap five crash to take the lead with two laps remaining.  

            Scott Gurdak and Rich Gardner were first and second after the first lap of the Super Late Model Championship race. Dave Hess Jr. retired into the infield on lap two and Gurdak set a blistering pace catching the rear of the field by the fifth lap. Bump Hedman in Chad Valone’s car was third and Al Crocker fourth. Gardner nearly got by Gurdak attempting to pass Andy Kania on lap eleven but Gurdak hung on to the lead. Gurdak caught the berm on lap fourteen allowing Gardner to close then quickly gained a five-car length advantage over Gardner. Lap traffic slowed Gurdak once more on lap eighteen but he fought his was through and the race stayed green. John Lacki spun into the infield on lap twenty two but regained control and the caution did not appear but one lap later Merle Terry went around in turn one for the first caution with twelve laps remaining. The top five for the restart was Gurdak, Gardner, Hedman, Hackett and Crocker. Gurdak had a clear racetrack on the restart quickly building a half a straightaway lead over Gardner and Hedman. Gurdak started lapping cars once more on lap twenty-eight. Gardner caught Gurdak in traffic once more looking for away around. Gurdak never gave Gardner the opening he was waiting for and ran the last five through heavy lap traffic to win the Championship event. 

            Brian Fardink, Tom Hagberg and Chad Ramsey were the early Limited Late leaders.  Mike Moore was fourth with Pat McGuire fifth and John Pencile sixth. Ramsey took the second spot from Hagberg on lap six as Moore slipped to the fifth spot and McGuire moved to third. Moore slowed on lap nine bringing the yellow out for the first time in the event. Fardink remained the leader for the next two laps then Bobby Rohrer and Ed Simmer brought out the second caution with spins in turn two. Fardink mastered the second restart of the race but could not break away from Ramsey, Hagberg and McGuire. Hagberg and McGuire passed Ramsey on the white flag lap but could not catch Fardink who had lead every lap to win his first feature event. 

            Mike Moon brought the Outlay Cadets to the Speedway for their feature race with Alex Feisler on the outside pole. Feisler took the lead from Moon on the back straight to lead the first lap then the yellow flew for Terry Daniels who had stopped on the backstretch. Daniels was pushed in the pits as the field was realigned for the restart. The restart saw a multi-car incident involving nine cars in turn one. Louis DeDionisio spun collecting Jeff Campbell, Dewey Kinnear, Dustin Eckman, Rex Dillon, Ron Seeley, Dave Tolon, George Cole and Mike Knight. Debris brought and end to the second restart of lap two. Fiesler slid sideways on the restart and Pete Alspaugh passed several cars to take the lead. Campbell spun on the next lap with George Cole for the fourth yellow. Brian Zimmerly became the third leader on the restart than Feisler spun collecting Eugene Bevil and DeDionisio negating the start. Zimmerly repeated the move on the next restart with Alspaugh dropping to second followed by Moon and Nathan Short. Short and Moon tangled on lap five sending Moon to the infield. Short took over third on lap seven followed by John Boardman and Ron Seeley. Chuck Parker backed into the wall on the front stretch to bring out the yellow with nine laps complete. Seeley jumped the berm on the restart slipping back to the seventh spot then tangled with Dave Tolon to bring out the yellow on lap ten. Mike Knight, Scott Lewis and Bill Dunn collided on the restart and the yellow was shown again. Zimmerly resumed control on the restart with Short getting by Alspaugh for the second spot. No one could catch Zimmerly over the final laps. It was Zimmerly’s first win of the season. 

           Tom Anderson led lap one of the E-Mod feature but before the second lap could be completed Jason Illig tagged the fence in turn one bringing out the caution. Illig was able to continue as Anderson jumped into the lead on the next restart then Chris Peterson and Bill Taylor brought out the yellow. The next restart failed when Tim Churchill spun in turn three. Justin Carlson nosed into the fence on lap two for the fourth yellow. It was Anderson, James Irwin and Bill Thomas on the restart but the yellow flew again for Peterson who had spun into the high side of turn one. Anderson’s luck did not hold for the next restart as he and Thomas touched coming to green then both slid into the fence in front of starter Spanky Hall. Dave Hess Jr. was collected as was Justin Carlson and Gary Kielar. Irwin inherited the lead with Dave Will second, Mike Boyd third and Dale Applebee fourth. Dave Hess and Thomas rejoined the field before the restart. Dave Hess had gained the seventh spot by lap six then the leader spun on lap seven collecting Illig for the next caution. Dave Hess was now in the number four position with Boyd in first, Applebee second and Mike Hess third. Dave Will caught the front stretch wall on lap eight for the eight caution of the event. Dave Hess moved into third over Mike Hess on lap ten then passed Boyd and Applebee on lap twelve to become the new leader. Bill Thomas had also come back up through the field to finish in the fourth spot. Dave Hess won going away to record his tenth win of the season along with two special event wins. 

            Ken Seymore took control of the first Spectator feature from his outside pole starting spot to lead the first five laps. Walt Johnson passed Seymore in turn on lap six. Monty Seekings took second from Seymore on lap six. Johnson led the final five laps to gain his first Spectator feature victory. 

Merle Burlingham led the second Spectator feature to the line and jumped to the early lead but the yellow appeared after contact between J. R. Brown and Tommy Fox. Burlingham repeated the breakaway on the next start with Wade Watson in second and Mike Zemcik in third. Watson and Rich Thompson tangled for the second yellow with five laps complete. The leader retired from the event during the yellow putting Zemcik in the top spot with Steve Keith second and Tommy Fox third. Fox tried using the outside to get around the two leaders on the white flag lap then moved to the inside on the final corner passing both Keith and Zemcik for the win. Zemcik slipped up the speedway as Fox got by letting Keith beat him to the line. 

Bob Harrison and Scott Friend were the leaders after the first lap of the Four Cylinder feature. Friend took control on lap three with Dan Osborne moving into the second spot. Scott Douglas spun coming out of four for the only caution of the event on lap five. Osborne used the restart to take the lead and Friend got lose in turn two spinning after contact with Dale Wise. Wise nearly spun on lap seven giving J.R. Cross an opening allowing Cross to move into the second spot. Osborne completed the race in cruise control with Cross a distant second and Wise third. 

Robert Nocero turned around in the middle of the pack on the initial start of Budweiser Super Sportsman class collecting Pete Volpe and Chad Carlson. Once the race was restarted Mike Murray led the first lap around with Randy Parmenter in tow. Pat and Don McGuire were third and fourth and Brent Crandall fifth. Crandall got sideways coming out of turn two on lap six collecting Hank Francis for the second caution. Pat McGuire caught Murray and Parmenter sleeping on the restart to lead lap seven. Murray and Parmenter made contact on lap eight and Murray stopped bringing out the third yellow. Parmenter threw everything at Pat McGuire but could not shake the veteran who made it win number four for the season. Don McGuire finished in the third spot. 

Results:

   Spectators:

      Heat 1: Brian Johnson, Bob Kinne, Ken Lamp

      Heat 2: Steve Keith, Dana Wellington, Tommy Fox

      Feature 1: Walt Johnson, Monty Seekings Jr., Ken Seymore, Ken Lamp, Terry Lavery, Ron Watson, Bob Kinne, Mike Rhines, 06s, Russell Sheehan

      Feature 2: Tommy Fox, Steve Keith, Mike Zemcik, Paul Norman, Mark Thompson, Rick Thompson, Brian Johnson, J. R. Brown, Jeremy English, Dennis Lunger

   4-Cylinder Sportsmen

      Heat 1: J.R. Cross, Dale Wise, Tom Bean

      Feature: Dan Osborne, J.R. Cross, Dale Wise, Tom Bean, Scott Friend, Scott Douglas, Bob Harrison, Tom Liberatore, Stan Davis, Brian Duryee

  Outlaw Cadets

      Heat 1: Mike Knight, Jeff Campbell, John Boardman,

      Heat 2: Rich Becker, Dave Tolon, Alex Feisler

      Feature: Brian Zimmerly, Nathan Short, Pete Alspaugh, Dustin Eckman, Mike Knight, John Boardman, Scott Lewis, Bill Dunn, Rex Dillon, Robert Cettell

  E-Mods:

     Heat 1: Dave Will, Mike Boyd, Brad Pease

      Heat 2: Justin Carlson, Dave Hess Jr., Bill Thomas

      Feature: Dave Hess Jr., Mike Boyd, Dale Applebee, Bill Thomas, Mike Hess, Randy Parmenter, Brett Porter, Brad Pease, Gerry Kielar, Tim Churchill

   Budweiser Super Sportsmen:

      Heat 1: Don McGuire, Pat McGuire, Randy Parmenter

      Feature: Pat McGuire, Randy Parmenter, Don McGuire, Hank Francis, Bobby Rohrer, Mike Murray, Brent Crandall, Pete Volpe, J.R. Nocero, Aaron Robinson

   Limited Late Models:

      Heat 1: Joe Weber, Gary Eicher, Tom Hagberg

      Heat 2: Pat McGuire, Mike Moore, Chad Ramsey

      Feature: Brian Fardink, Tom Hagberg, Pat McGuire, John Pencile, Chad Ramsey, Joe Weber, Tom Schnars, Mike Hess, Mike Coyle, Bobby Rohrer

   American Racer Dash: Scott Gurdak, Rich Gardner, Bump Hedman

   Super Late Models:

      Heat 1: Scott Gurdak, Dave Hess Jr., Doug Eck, Merle Terry, Paul Briggs

      Heat 2: Rich Gardner, Al Crocker, Chris Hackett, Ward Schell, Rod Maloy

      Heat 3: Bump Hedman, John Lacki, Wendell Pinckney, Andy Boozel, Wally Fox

      Feature: Scott Gurdak, Rich Gardner, Bump Hedman, Chris Hackett, Al Crocker, Doug Eck, Merle Terry, Rod Maloy, John Lacki, Paul Briggs, Andy Kania, Wally Fox, Wendell Pinckney, Ward Schell, Kelly Frederes, Jason Morell, George LaBarbera, Andy Boozel, Jeff Buccola, Dave Hess Jr.