Anderson Triumphs in Sagi Tribute at Hagerstown
By Brett Rose
HAGERSTOWN, MD – On a night of nostalgic proportions, Andy Anderson triumphed in the 2nd annual Frank Sagi Tribute at Hagerstown Speedway. It was the 28th career Super Late Model win at the Hub City oval for the veteran resident of Bunker Hill, WV.
The 25 lap feature event honoring the late Sagi known best as “the Voice of Hagerstown Speedway” was held on a Sunday evening as were many of the races throughout the years of the historical Maryland facility.
Kyle Hardy powered past Gary Stuhler, who was driving the Bare Racing No.30, to take the lead coming off of turn two while Anderson quickly moved into second from his fourth starting spot.
Hardy raced away from Anderson until reaching traffic on the 11th lap as Anderson closed to within five car lengths of Hardy’s lead. While dicing through traffic, Hardy was able to keep Anderson at bay until a caution flag waved on Lap 19 for the stopped car of longtime racer Roger Jenkins.
Hardy chose the topside for the restart and that was his undoing as Anderson found a better bite down low in the Bland Racing No.41, and sped to the lead. Once out front, Anderson drove away over the final six laps to pick up the popular win in front of the appreciative crowd.
Anderson said: “Well, I don’t know if was going to get him if the yellow didn’t come out. I don’t think I was. He (Hardy) picked the top and usually the top is the best way to start here on a restart and I don’t think he realized it was starting to stripe-up there a little bit. I knew I had to stay in the stripe and when we fired off, he kinda tried to pinch me down there, and I wasn’t going to let it happen. I knew if I could beat him into one, it was over.”
Hardy finished second, followed by Late Model Sportsman competitor Justin Weaver, Marvin Winters, and Stuhler.
Craig Parrill took the lead away from Chris Ebersole on the fifth circuit and went unchallenged the last ten laps to claim the win in the 15 lap Pure Stock feature event. It was his third win of the 2018 season behind the wheel of the Dickie Tharp No.3 Chevy Monte Carlo.
Parrill was trailed by Dan Zechman, Ebersole in the Wilt Racing No. 2+2 was third, while Jamie Zentmyer and Bryan Neff rounded out the top five.
Rick Hulson survived several cautions and a one lap shootout holding off 2017 Mid Atlantic Modifieds champion Brad Kling to win the 20 lap Cool Weld Classic portion of the Sagi Tribute. Hulson was fast and led every lap to break a string of runner-up finishes. They were trailed at the finish by multi-time feature winner Michael Altobelli, Mike Corbin, and current MAM point leader Ray Kable.
Notes: Former 5-time Late Model track champion and winner of over 80 features Buddy Armel was the featured special guest honored in part of the Frank Sagi Tribute. Sagi interviewed Armel in each one of those feature wins throughout his illustrious career with none bigger than the 1983 Conococheague 100 over a field of NDRA touring pros. Armel is best known as the driver behind the wheel of the famed No. S-3 owned by the late Lee Stultz.
Around 100 legendary former drivers and car owners of Hagerstown Speedway were on hand for the celebration to honor the 39 year announcing career of Sagi and the racing career of Armel.
Special thanks go out to Alan Sagi for his work in producing the event and the many contingency sponsors that contributed to the race.
Feature Results
Super Late Models – 1. 41-Andy Anderson, [4]; 2. 99-Kyle Hardy, [2]; 3. 2J-Justin Weaver, [3]; 4. 46-Marvin Winters, [7]; 5. 30S-Gary Stuhler, [1]; 6. 85-Rodney Walls, [6]; 7. 0-Dale Hollidge, [5]; 8. 30-Allen Brannon, [14]; 9. 05-Roy Deese Jr., [8]; 10. 43A-Tyler Bare,[23]; 11. 19R-Greg Roberson, [10]; 12. 19-Jason Miller, [11]; 13. 20-Trever Feathers, [16]; 14. 5-Brad Omps, [20]; 15. 2T-Kyle Lee, [13]; 16. 30G-Cody Gray, [15]; 17. 119-Bryan Bernheisel, [9]; 18. 7-Darryl Hills, [19]; 19. 86-Scott Palmer, [21]; 20. 3-Tim Wilson, [22]; 21. 43-Cody Kershner, [12]; 22. 72J-Roger Jenkins, [18]; 23. 72G-Rance Garlock, [17]; 24. 171-Alan Sagi [24] DNQ- Kirk Baker, JT McLanigan, Kevin Palmer , DNS-Reese Masiello, Jeff Johnson
Mid Atlantic Modifieds – 1. 40-Rick Hulson, [1]; 2. 11-Brad Kling, [2]; 3. 95A-Michael Altobelli, [10]; 4. 25-Mike Corbin, [14]; 5. 90-Ray Kable, [15]; 6. 7H-Josh Hughes, [4]; 7. 55-Alyssa Rowe, [11]; 8. 1ST-Brett Hamilton, [23]; 9. 0-Haley Kaiser, [13]; 10. 95-Fred Cullum, [12]; 11. 99-Bryan Green, [21]; 12. 95C-Justin Cullum, [3]; 13. 10S-Tim Schulte, [5]; 14. 80-Keith Reed, [17]; 15. 8M-Jeffrey McCauley, [20]; 16. 1N-Hunter Nester, [19]; 17. 68-Adam Hoegrel, [22]; 18. 17-Andy Bosley, [27]; 19. 47-Jason Sarver, [26]; 20. 51-Joey Polevoy, [8]; 21. 26D-Derek Deusenberry, [9]; 22. V16-Vic Vandergrift, [7]; 23. 62-Mark Jones, [18]; 24. 33-Brandon Churchey, [24]; 25. 83-Ray Ciccarelli, [6]; 26. 44-Frank DiBella, [16]; 27. 13M-Gary Moreland Sr., [25]
Pure Stocks – 1. 3-Craig Parrill, [4]; 2. 2-Dan Zechman, [8]; 3. 2+2-Chris Ebersole, [1]; 4. 81J-Jamie Zentmyer, [2]; 5. 03-Bryan Neff, [3]; 6. S7-Doug Hoffman, [7]; 7. 36A-Sam Archer, [10]; 8. 34-Brian Luttrell, [5]; 9. 00-Joshua Bloom, [9]; 10. 69-Dwayne Snyder, [12]; 11. 6-Wayne Hawbaker, [13]; 12. 83-Bryan Kerns, [15]; 13. 51-Mark Patterson, [14]; 14. 35-Ryan Smith, [17]; 15. 54-John Catlett, [18]; 16. 25-Rodney Miner, [16]; 17. 11-Ed Pope, [6]; DNS -Will Walls, Michelle Walls