Chad Ramsey Wins North West Penn 50 Lap Limited Late Championship and Doug Eck Wins Super Late Feature
 at Stateline Speedway
by Glenn Slocum 

 Threatening weather did not dampen the racing action at Stateline Speedway as the North West Penn Auto Group sponsored fifty-lap Limited Late Model event went off as scheduled. Dennis Lunger survived a late race challenge

         Chad Ramsey, Andy Sweetland and Steve Moynihan led the first lap of the Limited Late Model Championship. After some bumping and banging the field was strung out around the speedway by lap five. Dan Shellhouse was the first to have troubles with a spin in four on lap seven. Tom Hagberg was in fourth with John Cline in the fifth spot. Last years Champ Pat McGuire was mired in the fourteenth position. Ramsey resumed control on the restart but Moynihan was up beside Sweetland for second with Hagberg watching for an opening. Moynihan took the second spot from Sweetland on lap ten then Hagberg followed relegating Sweetland to the fourth spot. Hagberg and Moynihan began to fight for the second spot when John Pencille and Andy Knight spun in turn two on lap fifteen for only the second caution of the event. McGuire had improved his position from fourteenth to eighth on this restart. Sweetland and McGuire got together on the back stretch on the restart with Sweetland ending up stopped bringing out caution before the lap was counted. Joe Weber was in the fourth spot with Paul Briggs fifth and Les Lyon sixth. Ramsey had a ten car length lead by lap seventeen and McGuire had moved to fifth as Pencille continued having problems bringing out the caution on lap eighteen. Hagberg passed Moynihan on lap twenty-one and McGuire was now in the fourth spot. John Cline stopped in turn four on lap twenty-four bringing out the yellow again. Ramsey could not get away from Hagberg and McGuire on the restart and Hagberg almost got by two laps latter but went wide in turn four letting McGuire move by for second.  Shellhouse stopped in turn four on lap thirty-one with Ramsey still on top then McGuire, Moynihan, Bobby Rohrer, Joe Weber and Les Lyon. Ramsey led the next five closely followed by McGuire. A flat tire on John Cline’s car brought the yellow on lap thirty-nine, with the top tree remaining Ramsey, McGuire and Hagberg. Ramsey would not allow McGuire the inside on the restart so he moved up to the outside to try and pass for lead. McGuire and Ramsey ran side-by-side for three laps with McGuire finally being scored in the top spot on lap forty-four. Ramsey fought back and led lap forty-five and forty-six with McGuire on the outside but back by half a car length. Ramsey was out front by three car lengths at the white flag and managed to hold that lead through the final lap as McGuire was busy with a Hagberg challenge for second.

Young Bump Hedman led lap one of the Super Late Model feature with Dave Shagla second and Doug Eck third. Invader Chub Frank was twenty-first in the field. Wally Fox was second followed by Steve Halpainy and George LaBarbera. Eck moved up to challenge Hedman on lap seven and was recorded the leader on lap eight as the two pulled away from the remainder of the field. John Lacki and Dan Armbruster brought out the caution on lap ten and Armbruster pulled into the pits as Lacki joined the tail end of the field. Rich Gardner was seventh, Rod Maloy fourteenth and Frank seventeenth. LaBarbera and Matt Urban both improved their positions on the restart moving to third and fourth. Maloy and Dan Maxim tangled on lap twelve and both were able to continue. Ward Schell spun on the restart before the field crossed the line. At the half way mark Urban had moved to third as Eck tried to distance him self from the field. Urban moved up another spot two laps later and began to eat away at Eck’s lead and Gardner was now fifth. Lap traffic was a factor and the white flag flew. Eck used the traffic to his advantage winning his first of the season followed by Urban and Hedman.

             Nate Lester and Barrett Brown were on the front row of the first Spectator feature with Brown coming out the leader of lap one. Dave Auge and Vic Earle were second and third. Auge lost the handle on lap four causing the first caution of the event. One Lap later a spin by Brian Crandall and Mark Ramsey brought the yellow on lap five as Dennis Lunger took over the lead position from Brown. Lester also got by Brown on lap five then a multi-car incident stopped the race with six laps complete and Tommy Fox was shown in the second spot and Rush Firestone fourth. Brown brought out the yellow with a spin in turn two on lap eight as Lunger and fought for the top spot. Fox tried to move under Lunger on the start but Lunger drove away forcing Fox to make his pass on the outside. Fox again tried to get under Lunger on the last lap but Lunger slammed the door forcing Fox to lift and handed Fox his first defeat of the season. Rush Firestone finished third.

John Kelsey led the first two laps of the second Spectator when a spin by Ron Fish brought out the caution. Pat Passanise, Joe Houser and Paul Norman were behind Kelsey on the restart. Norman had problems on lap six stopping up against the retaining wall in turn three bringing out the second caution. Kelsey and Passanise were still the leaders with Chip Davis third and Chris Couchenour fourth. Dave Surrena spun with two remaining as Kelsey, Passanise and Couchenour battled for the top spot. Kelsey led Passanise by a fender with one to go and then stretched his lead to car length on the final lap and Couchenour finished third.

Phil Knight, Nathan Short and Dustin Eckman led lap one of the Outlaw Cadet event. Cliff Lamphere lost the handle on lap two for the first caution. Short made the high side work getting by Knight in turn two after the restart. Short began to lengthen his lead and Jeff Campbell and Eckman fought for the third spot. A Ron Seeley spin on lap seven allowed the field to reel in Short. The top four remained the same with Terry Daniels in the fifth spot. Knight went high losing several spot on lap seven giving second to Eckman followed closely by Campbell. Scott Lewis spun in turn one as the two-to-go was given to the field. One lap later Bill Dunn spun collecting Pete Alspaugh and Matt Lamphere. Short was not to be denied as he handily won the event, Eckman was second and Daniels third.

Quincy Turner gave way to Dan Nocero on lap two of the E-Mod main event then a spin by Justin Carlson collecting Boyd Whitehead brought out the yellow. Carlson had trouble again in lap five for the second caution and a slowing Boyd Whitehead on lap seven caused the third caution. Dave Surrena spun on the restart then Kevin Decker had troubles on the next restart. Dave Hess Jr. moved the front on lap ten as Nocero fell to second followed by Turner and Mike Hess. Dave Hess went on to win the event with rookie Nocero second and Mike Hess third.

Mike Corrigan was on the pole of the Super Sportsman feature but quickly gave way to Mike Murray and Chris Kuschel. Randy Parmenter spun on lap three. Don McGuire took the third spot on lap four then a spin by pole sitter Corrigan stopped the race once more. Van Arsdale spun collecting Parmenter and Dave Cummings Jr. on lap seven. Murray still held the top spot followed by Don and Pat McGuire. Don McGuire moved along side Murray on the restart then under him to take the first spot on lap eight. Pat McGuire make the same move under Murray one lap later as starter Spanky Hall indicated two to go. The McGuire’s led the final two with Don taking the win while Pat was second.

Results:

   Spectators:

      Heat 1: Paul Norman, Chris Couchenour, Merle Burlingham

      Heat 2: Vic Earle Sr., Dennis Lunger, Tommy Fox

      Feature 1: Dennis Lunger, Tommy Fox, Rush Firestone, Kevin Brumett, David Auge, 8, Brian Crandall, Nate Lester, Barrett Brown, Mark Ramsey

      Feature 2: John Kelsey, Pat Passanise, Chris Couchenour, Chip Davis, Ken Jackson, Wade Watson, Joe Houser, Brian Johnson, Rodney Thoms, Mark Luce

  Outlaw Cadets

      Heat 1: Bill Dunn, John Boardman, Rich Becker

      Heat 2: Nathan Short, Greg Johnson, Jeff Campbell

      Feature: Nathan Short, Dustin Eckman, Terry Daniels, Jeff Campbell, Jeff Van Arsdale, Philip Knight, Louis DeDionisio, Ron Seeley, Mat Lamphere, Bill Dunn

  E-Mods:

      Heat 1: Kevin Decker, Quincy Turner, Bill Thomas

      Heat 2: Al Cressley, Dave Hess Jr., Shane Applebee

      Feature: Dave Hess Jr., Dan Nocero, Mike Hess, Dale Applebee, Quincy Turner, Stu Rickard, Randy Parmenter, Al Cressley, Kevin Decker, Tim Rater

   Budweiser Super Sportsmen:

      Heat 1: Pete Volpe, Randy Parmenter, Dave Cummings Jr.

      Heat 2: Aaron Robinson, Mike Murray, Hank Francis

      Feature: Don McGuire, Pat McGuire, Mike Murray, Aaron Robinson, Bobby Rohrer, Chad Carlson, Bob Van Arsdale, Brian Collins, Jim Leonard, Doug Breath

   Limited Late Models:

      Heat 1: Tom Schnars, Andy Sweetland, Pat McGuire

      Heat 2: Chad Ramsey, Bobby Rohrer, Joe Weber

      Heat 3: Tom Hagberg, Mike Moore, Mike Coyle

      Feature: Chad Ramsey, Pat McGuire, Tom Hagberg, Steve Moynihan, Bobby Rohrer, Joe Weber, Paul Briggs, Les Lyon, Mike Coyle. Tom Schnars, Andy Knight, Brian Fardink, John Pencille, Dan Shellhouse, Mike Moore, Todd Church, Troy Dorman, John Cline, Ed Simmer, Andy Sweetland

   American Racer Dash: Wally Fox, George LaBarbera, Steve Halpainy

   Super Late Models:

      Heat 1: Dave Shagla, Wally Fox, Rich Gardner, Dave Hess Jr., Rod Maloy

      Heat 2: Doug Eck, Steve Halpainy, Matt Urban, John Lacki, Al Crocker

      Heat 3: Bump Hedman, George LaBarbera, Bryan Emory, Dan Armbruster, Randy Lobb

      Feature: Doug Eck, Matt Urban, Bump Hedman, George LaBarbera, Rich Gardner, Wally Fox, Chub Frank, Dave Shagla, Chris Hackett, Steve Halpainy, Dave Hess Jr., Al Crocker, Scott Gurdak, Randy Lobb, Brian Emory, Chad Valone, Scott Johnson, Dan Armbruster, Dan Maxim, Ward Schell, Brad Fiesler, Rod Maloy, Chris Blose, John Lacki, Andy Boozel