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July
12th, 2003 - Tim Kelly Wins National
City Bank ESS A-Main
The warm summer weather was
not evident Saturday night as the cool temperature brought out the sweatshirts
and jackets. The Empire Super
Sprints sponsored by National City Bank warmed up the crowd with their high
speed racing action. Tim Kelly was the class of the sprint car field leading
every lap of the A-Main to win his first of the year. Lance Yonge looked to
contend for the win but had mechanical problems after gaining third with just a
few laps remaining. Chris Hackett passed early leader Wally Fox to win his
second Super Late Model event of the season. Nathan Short got his third win of
the year in the Outlaw Cadet feature. Mark Ramsey won his third Spectator
feature and Bob Vogt Jr. won his first Spectator feature. Pat McGuire passed
Pete Volpe on the final lap of the Budweiser Super Sportsman race for his fourth
win. Bob Vogt Sr. like his son won his first Limited Late Model feature. Mike
Hess won his first E-Mod event.
Threatening weather forced officials to place the ESS Main event first
after all the qualifiers. Tim Kelly and Nick Fratto were on the front row as
twenty-two sprint cars prepared for Spanky Halls green flag. Kelly was out in
front on lap one with Fratto second and Mike Stetler third. Rob Dietrick was in
the fourth spot with George Ely fifth. Kelly caught the back of the pack just as
Erin Crocker and John Karklin Jr. tangled in turn three bringing out the caution
for the first time. Crocker was able to continue while Karklin was towed to the
pits. The leaders remained the same after the single file restart. Fratto spun
two laps after the restart bringing out the second caution losing his second
spot to Stetler. Don Sharp Jr. was shown in the fifth spot followed by Alain
Bergeron sixth. Lance Yonge was in the seventh spot pressing Bergeron hard for
the spot. Yonge took the spot one lap later just before the Kelly got the
halfway flags from Spanky Hall. Yonge gained another spot on lap nineteen as
Kelly started to work lap traffic. Bobby Podolak brought the third caution with
a spin exiting turn four with five laps remaining. Yonge suffered a mechanical
problem on lap twenty-one ending his charge with four to go. Dan Kaszubinski
make his move with three to go passing Dietrick for third then ran out of laps
trying to catch Stetler for second. Kelly won the event leading every lap
notching his first A-Main win of the year. Wally Fox and Chris Hackett brought out the Super Late Models for their
feature event. Scott Gurdak and Doug Eck were in row two followed by Bump Hedman
and Al Crocker. Fox pulled away for Hackett on the back straight and led the
first lap. Gurdak moved into the runner up spot on lap two followed by Hackett
and Eck. Hackett moved to the bottom of the speedway and passed Gurdak on lap
four. Fox had a ten car length advantage with six down with Hackett second
followed by Eck and Hedman. Eck broke coming out of turn two collecting Hedman
for the first yellow of the event. Chad Ruhlman was in the fourth spot with Ron
Philips fifth and Scott Johnson sixth. Hackett moved back to the top trying Fox
on the outside at the restart. The yellow flew on lap twelve for Dusty Franklin
who had stopped in turn three. David Scott was thrilling the crowd as he ran the
high groove moving from near the end of the field to mid pack in three laps.
Hackett was the new leader on the restart but the yellow quickly flew for
Andy Boozel and Dan Armbruster in turn two. Fox faded a little on the restart
then Moose Dunnewold slowed bringing out the yellow with thirteen laps to go.
Debris on the speedway slowed the race on lap fourteen. Gurdak was still in the
third spot followed by Philips and Chad Ruhlman. Gurdak used the outside to pass
Fox for the second spot on the restart. Philips was pressuring Fox when Randy
Lobb lost the handle collecting Scott Johnson and Dave Hess Jr. with seventeen
down. Hess slowed on the next lap bringing out the yellow. Hackett remained the
leader followed by Gurdak, Fox and Philips. Philips moved by Fox on lap twenty
two for the third spot. Hackett led the remaining laps winning his second of the
season, Gurdak was second followed by Philips and Fox.
Mike Coyle and Dan Shellhouse were the leaders when Tom Hagberg brought
out the yellow on lap two of the Limited Late Model feature. Ed Simmer was
second with Bob Vogt fourth. Vogt tagged Simmer on the restart sending him
spinning in front of the field for the second yellow. Vogt moved from third to
first after the restart with John Pencille settling into the second spot
followed by Coyle and Bobby Rohrer. Debris brought out the caution on lap eight
allowing the field to catch up to Vogt. Pat McGuire was in the top five shortly
after the restart. McGuire was third at the halfway point with Tom Schnars
fourth and Scott Gurdak fifth. McGuire
caught second running Pencille on lap thirteen just as Les Lyon lost power on
the back straight for caution four. Early leader Coyle slowed on lap sixteen.
Gurdak tried to get under McGuire but McGuire slammed the door. Shellhouse spun
with seventeen complete for the finial caution of the event. Gurdak made the
pass work on the final restart relegating McGuire to fourth. Vogt won the race
for his first win followed by Pencille and Gurdak. Nathan Short jumped to the lead on the start of the Outlaw Cadet event
followed by Jim Bergman and Pete Alspaugh. Alspaugh moved into second on lap
four. The first yellow flew on lap ten for Rush Coyne as Short was just getting
into lap traffic. Alspaugh was still in the second spot followed by Bergman and
Jeff Van Arsdale. Alspaugh had a tire going down on the restart then spun
collecting Jamie Erhard, Mark Hall and Scott Lewis causing the second yellow.
Bergman was not able to stay up with Short after the restart. Short won the
event by fifteen car lengths with Bergman second followed by Jeff Van Arsdale
and Greg Johnson. Bob Van Arsdale gave way to Pete Volpe on lap three of the Budweiser Super
Sportsman event with Randy Parmenter third and Pat McGuire fourth. McGuire moved
into the third spot on lap six then Chad Carlson and Scott Kuschel tangled on
the front stretch bringing out the yellow with five laps to go. McGuire took the
runner up spot on lap eight. Van Arsdale suffered electrical problems giving
third to Parmenter. McGuire took the lead from Volpe on the last lap winning his
fourth of the year. Mike Hess led the first E-Mod lap with Bill Thomas second followed by Chad
Silleman and Stu Rickart. Silleman spun losing several spots on lap four but
kept going and the green stayed out. Rickart fell back on lap seven as Quincy
Turner took the third spot followed by Jason Covey and Dave Hess Jr. Justin
Carlson spun with nine complete and Boyd Whitehead stopped on the back straight
for the first caution. Dave Hess Jr. was fourth after the restart. Dave Hess
made repeated attempts to pass Turner and finally made the pass on the final lap
for third spot. Mike Hess led every lap for the win with Thomas second and Dave
Hess third. Dave Auge and Merle Burlingham were out front after the first lap of the
first Spectator feature. Paul Norman and Nate Lester stopped in turn two before
the second lap could be completed bringing out the caution flag. Brian Crandall
and Vic Earle Sr. collided on the restart for the second yellow. The second
restart of lap two was successful then Earle had more problems on lap three
causing the third caution. Auge, Burlingham and Passanise were the top three
followed by Dennis Lunger and Joe McMurdy. McMurdy faded on the restart as
Lunger advanced to fourth with Mark Ramsey and Chris Couchenour in tow.
Passanise passed Burlingham for second on lap five then Ramsey followed one lap
later as Auge pulled away from the field. Ramsey moved to second and with two to
go caught Auge for the lead. Ramsey moved
under Auge going into turn three of the last lap and came out of turn four with
the lead. Auge ran into Ramsey as Ramsey was coming down for the checkered flag.
Pat Passanise finished third. Wade Watson and Bob Vogt were the leaders after one completed lap of the
second Spectator feature when a severely smoking car brought out the yellow.
Mark Luce, Barrett Brown, David McClanahan and Bob Kinne tangled in turn one
before the second lap could be completed. Vogt
took advantage of the restart to take sole possession of the number one spot.
Brian Johnson was second followed by Jamie Schnars. Brian Graham spun in turn
three for the third caution. Vogt ran the remainder of the event unchallenged to
win his first feature at Stateline. Results: Spectators: Heat 1: Jamie Schnars, Bob Vogt Jr., J.R. Surrena Heat 2: Wade Watson, Pat Passanise, Joe McMurdy Heat 3: Mark Ramsey, Chris Couchenour, Brian Crandall Feature 1: Mark Ramsey, David Auge, Pat Passanise, Dennis Lunger, Chris Couchenour, Wade Mohawk, Dana Wellington, Joe McMurdy, Paul Norman, Rush Firestone Feature 2: Bob Vogt Jr., Brian Johnson, Jamie Schnars, Wade Watson, Walt Johnson, Rick Sperry, J.R. Brown, Raymond Finch, Dan Surrena, Dave McClanahan
Outlaw Cadets Heat 1: Greg Johnson, Chuck Parker, Louis DeDionisio Heat 2: Nathan Short, Jeff Van Arsdale, Ron Seeley Feature 1: Nathan Short, Jim Bergman, Jeff Van Arsdale, Greg Johnson, Phil Knight, Ron Seeley, Dustin Eckman, Louie DeDionisio, Terry Daniels, Jeff Campbell E-Mods: Heat 1: Bill Thomas, Dale Applebee, Justin Carlson Heat 2: Dave Hess Jr., Quincy Turner, Al Cressley Feature: Mike Hess, Bill Thomas, Dave Hess Jr., Quincy Turner, Stu Rickart, Al Cressley, Dale Applebee, Matt Swanson, Dan Nocero, Mike Stoneman Budweiser Super Sportsmen: Heat 1: Pete Volpe, Pat McGuire, Bob Van Arsdale Feature: Pat McGuire, Pete Volpe, Randy Parmenter, Don McGuire, Bobby Rohrer, Bob Van Arsdale, Hank Francis, Mike Murray, Robert Nocero, Brian Collins Limited Late Models: Heat 1: Mike Moore, Tom Schnars, Scott Gurdak Heat 2: Tom Hagberg, Les Lyon, Bob Vogt Feature: Bob Vogt, John Pencille, Scott Gurdak, Pat McGuire, Paul Briggs, Tom Schnars, Mike Moore, Bob Rohrer, Andy Knight, John Cline American Racer Dash: Doug Eck, Bump Hedman, Al Crocker Super Late Models: Heat 1: Wally Fox, Doug Eck, Rich Gardner, Dave Hess Jr., Andy Boozel Heat 2: Scott Gurdak, Al Crocker, Chad Ruhlman, Dan Armbruster, Rod Maloy, Heat 3: Chris Hackett, Bump Hedman, Rod Philips, Scott Johnson, Randy Lobb Feature: Chris Hackett, Scott Gurdak, Rod Philips, Wally Fox, Rod Maloy, Chad Ruhlman, Dan Armbruster, Rich Gardner, Ward Schell, Al Crocker, Dave Scott, Randy Lobb, George LaBarbera, John Lacki, Keith Zimmerman, Steve Halpainy, Chris Blose, Bump Hedman, Andy Boozel, Dave Hess Jr., Scott Johnson, Moose Dunnewold, Dusty Franklin, Doug Eck Empire
Super Sprints: Heat 1: Tim Kelly, George Ely, Mike Lutz, Bobby Podolak, Don Sharp Jr. Heat 2: Nick Fratto, Bubby Kerrick, Mike Stetler, Rob Dietrick, John Karklin Jr. Heat 3: Dan Kazubinski, Alain Bergeron, Lance Yonge, Justin Barger, Brad Knab
Feature: Tim Kelly, Mike Stetler, Dan Kaszubinski, Rob Dietrick, George
Ely, Mike Lutz, Don Sharp Jr., Alain Bergeron, Justin Barger, Mike Woodring,
Erin Crocker, Bubby Kerrick, Ray Preston, Randy Years, Kyle Moffitt, Nick
Fratto, Brad Knab, Lance Yonge, Bobby Podolak, Jeff VanDusen, John Karklin Jr.,
Dick Spadaro
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