Andy Kania Wins Sunoco Race Fuels Super Late Model Feature
and 2005 Eriez Super Late Model Championship
Nate Lester, Bobby Rohrer, Nathan Short, Mike Hess, Andy Kania,
Amber Belson and Chris Withers Crowned Point Champions
at Eriez Speedway
By Glenn Slocum






Erie, Pa: The final point night at Eriez Speedway was sponsored by Sunoco
Race Fuels and featured an Outlaw Cadet "Run What’ca Brung" event.
Andy Kania led the Super Late Model points going into the nights events and did
what had to be done. Winning the feature event for his first win of the season
and clinching his first Super Late Model point Championship. Nate Lester was
crowned the Spectator point Champion and Wade Slaney won the caution strewn
event. Bobby Rohrer won his third Budweiser Super Sportsman feature and beat Don
McGuire by ten points to become the 2005 Point Champion. Nathan Short led green
to checkers in the Outlaw Cadet feature to win the race and become the 2005
Champion. Dave Hess Jr. won his fifth E-Mod feature but his Uncle Mike Hess won
the point Championship. Mary Lou Keith won the Lady Challenger feature and Amber
Belson won the Championship. Glenn Slaney won the Super Challenger race and
Chris Withers became the point Champion.
Merle Terry led the Super Late Model division out for their feature event.
Point leader Andy Kania would start sixth with second in the points Dave Hess
Jr. in third. Terry and Dunnewold made contact on the back stretch and Dunnewold
led the first lap as Hess grabbed second and Terry fell to third. The raced only
stayed green for two laps when Wendell Pinckney and John Volpe tangled in turn
two for the first caution. Dunnewold, Hess, Terry, Kania and Gurdak were the top
five for the restart. Hess took control with Dunnewold second and Kania third.
Terry got sideways coming out of four on lap three collecting Rich Gardner and
Dave Lyon for caution two. Kania grabbed second from Dunnewold on the restart
then the yellow flew for a number of cars at the end of the field but one more
lap was complete. Kania and Hess ran into turn one side by side and Kania led
out of two on the restart. Scott Gurdak was third with Paul Briggs fourth and
Doug Eck fifth. The entire field was single file at the ten lap mark with Kania
leading Hess by five car lengths and Hess leading Gurdak by ten car lengths.
Kania was into lap traffic on lap fourteen allowing Hess to close to two car
lengths. Once Kania cleared the lap cars he began to rebuild his lead over Hess.
Lap traffic became a factor once more on lap twenty as Kania nearly collided
with a lap car going into turn one and Hess had to go wide to avoid hitting
Kania. Kania held on then clipped another car on the white flag lap which
brought out the third caution. Kania easily controlled the restart to win the
race and the point Championship.
Nathan Short led the first lap of the Outlaw Cadet feature. Phil Knight was
second with Louis DeDionisio third and Brian Crandall fourth. Short was five car
lengths ahead of Knight and a full straightaway in front of DeDionisio by lap
ten as the race stayed green. Knight closed with Short with two remaining as
they approached lap traffic. Knight made his move on the white flag lap but
could not make it stick as Short held on for the win and the 2005 point
Championship.
Veterans Tom Hagberg and Ron Seeley were on the front row of the E-Mod
feature. Hagberg led the first circuit with Seeley second and Dave Hess Jr.
third. Dave Hess moved by Seeley for second on lap two then passed Hagberg for
first at the start of lap three. Justin Carlson grabbed fourth on lap five with
Mike Hess the point leader in tow. Alex Feisler stopped in turn three for the
first caution of the event with eight laps complete. The top five for the
restart were Dave Hess, Hagberg, Seeley, Carlson and Mike Hess. Dave Hess
resumed building his lead after the restart and Carlson challenged Seeley for
the number three spot. The second yellow appeared with twelve laps complete for
J.R. Cross in turn two. Carlson used the outside to pass Seeley then the yellow
flew for Jason Illig, Mike Moon and Tom Bean. Brian Fardink had troubles on the
restart for caution four with two laps remaining. Troy Carr ended up sideways in
turn one on the restart collecting Feisler, Fardink and Jeff Fellows. Carlson
was way off the pace on the restart pulling into the pit on the white flag lap.
Dave Hess won the event with his Uncle Mike Hess winning the point Championship.
The final point race for the Spectator division was brought to the speedway
by Brian Bush and Mike Harmon. John Naughton and Tim Thompson were in row two.
Wade Watson was facing the wrong direction in turn one after the start bringing
out the caution before the first lap could be completed. Harmon came out on top
after the restart with Bush second and David Brown third. The yellow reappeared
on lap two for a car stopped in turn four. Harmon led lap three by a bumper as
Bush moved alongside with Josh Lucas taking over the third spot. Phil Kimmy
stopped coming out of turn two for caution number three. Bush won the race to
turn one on the restart and was the lap five leader. Tom Norland moved into
second on the restart then the yellow reappeared for two cars spun in turn four.
The top five for the lap seven restart were Bush, Norland, Lucas, Wade Slaney
and Brown. Brown turned around on the restart and the yellow reappeared. Lucas
grabbed the lead on the restart with Slaney in tow. Two laps later Lester Shoff
and Nate Lester moved into third and fourth putting Harmon back to fifth. Debris
brought out the yellow with ten laps complete. Slaney led the next restart and
Shoff moved by Lucas for second. Watson and Norland tangled on lap eleven and
the caution flew for the seventh time. Harmon left the speedway with a right
rear flat during the yellow putting Brown in fifth. Shoff pushed Lucas up the
speedway on the white flag lap and as a result Lucas lost two spots finishing
fourth as Slaney won.
Jake Eller and Aaron Robinson were on the front row of the Budweiser Super
Sportsman feature. Robinson led into one and Eller lost several spots. Bob Van
Arsdale was second followed by Eric Ester. John Boardman stopped on the back
stretch bringing out the caution on lap two then pulled into the pits as the
race was realigned. Dan Francis spun off turn one on the restart for caution
two. Van Arsdale led after the restart with Bobby Rohrer second and Pat McGuire
third. Van Arsdale broke an axel at the end of lap six for the third caution and
placing Rohrer in the lead followed by Pat McGuire, John Volpe and Don McGuire.
Rohrer led at the half way point then Robinson spun in turn two for caution
four. Rohrer kept control after the lap ten restart. Chris McGuire spun for the
fifth yellow with thirteen laps complete. Rohrer won the race and the 2005
Championship as he ran the final two laps unchallenged.
Mary Lou Keith grabbed the lead at the start of the Lady Challenger feature
with Amber Belson second. Keith led from green to checkers for the win and
Belson claimed the point championship with a fourth place finish.
Kyle Jackson led the first lap of the Super Challenger feature with Justin
Kaliszewski second and Brandon Pierce third. An accident in turn three slowed
the race with two laps completed. Kaliszewski grabbed the lead on the restart
with Glenn Slaney moving to second and point leader Chris Withers to fourth.
Withers move up behind Slaney one lap later and Bob Belson took fourth. Belson
passed Withers and Kaliszewski for second on lap seven. Belson could catch
Slaney but not pass as the race ended with Slaney first, Belson second and
Withers third.
Spectators:
Heat 1:
Mike Harmon, Rob Bates, Tim Thompson
Heat 2:
Joe Heslop, Brian Bush, Wade Watson
Heat 3:
Rodney Thoms, Nate Lester, Lester Shoff
Feature: Wade Slaney, Lester Shoff, Nate Lester, Josh Lucas, Dave Brown, Jeff
Harvey, Terry Lavery, Jason Heslop, Wade Watson, Tim Thompson
Budweiser Super Sportsman:
Heat 1:
Eric Ester, Mike Murray, Aaron Robinson
Heat 2:
John Volpe, Bob Hazzard, Pat McGuire
Feature: Bobby Rohrer, Pat McGuire, John Volpe, Don McGuire, Chad Carlson,
Bob Hazzard, Scott Kuschel, Chris Kuschel, Jake Eller, Brent Crandall
Outlaw Cadets:
Heat 1:
Phil Knight, Chris Bowman, Brian Zimmerly
Heat 2:
Louis DeDionisio, Nathan Short, Paul Norman
Feature: Nathan Short, Phil Knight, Louis DeDionisio, Brian Crandall, Ron
Seeley, Brian Zimmerly, Andy Knight, Paul Norman Jr., Bob Vogt Jr., Chris Bowman
E-Mod:
Heat 1:
Tom Hagberg, Dave Hess Jr., Herm Hilyer
Heat 2:
Ron Seeley, Mike Hess, Matt Swanson
Heat 3:
Justin Carlson, Dennis Lunger, Brian Fardink
Feature: Dave Hess Jr., Tom Hagberg, Ron Seeley, Mike Hess, Dennis Lunger,
Matt Swanson, Dustin Eckman, Dave Will, Troy Carr, Bill Taylor
Super Late Model:
Heat 1:
Merle Terry, Scott Gurdak, Dave Lyon, Chris Hackett, Wendell Pinckney
Heat 2:
Moose Dunnewold, Andy Kania, Paul Briggs, Steve Halpainy, John Watson
Heat 3:
Dave Hess Jr., Doug Eck, Rich Gardner, Andy Boozel, Mike Knight
Feature: Andy Kania, Dave Hess Jr., Scott Gurdak, Paul Briggs, Doug Eck,
Merle Terry, Andy Boozel, Moose Dunnewold, Dave Lyon, Mike Coyle, Rich Gardner,
John Watson, Steve Halpainy, Chris Hackett, Mike Knight, Mark Gilbert, John
Volpe, Dave Harding, Wendell Pinckney, Bump Hedman
Lady Challenger:
Heat 1:
Katelyn Pinckney, Amanda Swanson, Kari Moore
Feature: Mary Lou Keith, Kari Moore, Becky Campbell, Amber Belson, Katelyn
Pinckney, Amanda Swanson, Stephanie Hilyer, Michelle Swabik, Mary Hammond, Kayla
Riefstahl
Super Challenger:
Heat 1:
Chris Withers, Austin Fitzgerald, Bob Belson
Heat 2:
Bill Baker Jr., Jeff Lamb, Justin Kaliszewski
Feature: Glenn Slaney, Bob Belson, Chris Withers, Justin Kaliszewski, Aron
Dascomb, Brandon Pierce, Alex Froman, Steve Soto, Travis Darling, Greg Rockwell