By Brett Rose

HAGERSTOWN, MD – Freddie Rahmer picked up the win in exciting fashion during the third edition of the Johnny Grum Memorial on Thursday night’s seventh round of Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek at Hagerstown Speedway.

Robbie Kendall and Lucas Wolfe paced the field from the front row, and Kendall beat Wolfe into turn one and off of turn two to take the lead.

Kendall quickly drove his No. 55k into lapped traffic on the sixth circuit before a Lap 7 caution waved for the stopped car of Brandon Rahmer in turn one.

On the restart, Kendall repeated his original start, beating Wolfe and the field again to remain the race leader. At the halfway point, Kendall led Wolfe by a 1.63 second margin and once again was working through lapped traffic while rim-riding the top groove of the Hub City oval.

Just a few laps later, Wolfe worked the bottom groove underneath Kendall to take the lead coming off of turn two on Lap 19. As Wolfe was leading, a four-car battle for second began between the cars of Kendall, Cory Eliason, Danny Dietrich, and Freddie Rahmer.

Rahmer made the best of the battle, settling into second and began his chase of Wolfe on Lap 23, and worked the low groove to pass Wolfe for the lead on Lap 24.

From then, Rahmer looked poised to pull away until a Lap 28 caution waved for the spun car of Brock Zearfoss on the backstretch.

This setup a two-lap dash to the finish, but Rahmer was too strong at the end, and took the checkered flag.

The win for the Salfordville, Pennsylvania driver in his Leffler Energy No.51 was the first of his career at Hagerstown.

“I don’t know how good I was at the end, but it was good enough to hold them off. It’s pretty cool to get my first win at Hagerstown.  I always love coming here. I wish we could race here more. The track flows perfect for Sprint Cars and Late Models. It’s all good racing.”, praised Rahmer in victory lane.

Wolfe held onto second, followed by Eliason, Dietrich, and fifth-place finisher Anthony Macri.

The win put Rahmer into the points lead at the time for the PA Sprint Speedweek championship with two races remaining.

Notes: 22 cars signed into the pit area on the July 4^th holiday race. Notably absent was Lance Dewease, whose team elected to take the night off. Dewease’s streak of three consecutive wins at Hagerstown came to an end.

Rico Abreu set quick time with a lap of 15.601 seconds, falling short of Mark Kinser’s pre-weight limit best of 14.945 set back in 1999.

Heats were won by Wolfe, Dietrich, and Kendall.

Feature Results

410 Sprints (30 Laps) – 1. Freddie Rahmer, 2. Lucas Wolfe, 3. Cory Eliason, 4. Danny Dietrich, 5. Anthony Macri, 6. James McFadden, 7. Rico Abreu, 8. Robbie Kendall, 9. Dylan Cisney, 10. Logan Wagner, 11. Tony Stewart, 12. T.J. Stutts, 13. Mike Wagner, 14. Chad Trout, 15. Jared Esh, 16. A.J. Flick, 17. Justin Whitall, 18, Brock Zearfoss, 19. Troy Fraker, 20. Chase Dietz, 21. Carl Bowser, 22. Brandon Rahmer

By Brett Rose

HAGERSTOWN, MD – Kyle Lee drove his way to the Super Late Model triumph in the 3^rd-annual Frank Sagi Tribute on Sunday evening at Hagerstown Speedway.

Pole sitter Jason Covert and Marvin Winters paced the field from the front row, and Winters powered into the lead in his throwback of Tom Peck’s “Fireball 40”.

A caution for a multi-car pileup quickly negated Winters’ lead, but he was able to maintain his position over Covert following the restart, until he slowed going into turn four on the seventh lap.

Covert inherited the lead following the stoppage for Winters, but another multi-car incident following the restart bunched the field back up.

This time, Covert had Lee to contend with, and on Lap 8, Lee drove underneath the potent No.72 machine for the lead off of turn two.

Lee began to stretch out his lead by a two second margin at the halfway point, and then began navigating traffic on Lap 19. The Mercersburg, Pennsylvania driver maneuvered his No.2t through the back markers to keep Covert at bay and take the checkered flag.

Lee said in his interview: “I was really sad for what happened to Marvin.  I’m not exactly sure what happened, but that put us in a good spot on the next restart with Covert, and we just got lucky. I’m glad he chose the top lane and we were really working on the bottom. He kind of missed going into turn one and two, and that was it, man. The car was really, really good tonight.”

Covert held on to second, fending off a fast-closing Trever Feathers coming from tenth to finish third. Rounding out the top five were Gene Knaub, and Tyler Bare.

Scott Palmer picked up the Late Model Sportsman win after battling Derick Quade for the lead in the closing laps.

Quade led up until Lap 14 when Palmer used the low side off of turn four to take the lead away. Palmer’s lead was quickly negated a lap later when a caution came out for the spun car of Zach Kauffman. On the restart, Quade reclaimed the top spot from Palmer and held it until his car pushed hard into the cushion entering turn two, and Palmer moved back out front with the winning pass with two laps to go on the low side to take the victory.

Following Palmer and Quade at the finish were Barry Miller, Bruce Kane, and Randy Burkholder.

A multi-car melee marred the opening lap shortly after the green flag fell on the frontstretch of the Pure Stock feature event. No drivers were injured.

After a complete restart with the remaining cars, Craig Parrill powered past Danny Atherton up high off of turn two to lead the field, and then quickly had Michael Warrenfeltz in pursuit.

Parrill and Warrnefeltz battled side-by-side for most the feature event, until Warrenfeltz ran into the lapped car of Jeremy Mills, bringing out the final caution with just a couple laps to go.

Parrill led the restart and at the white flag lap, but Warrenfeltz was able to pull alongside the leader halfway down the backstretch, and into the lead going in to turn three over the remaining quarter of a lap to grab the win.

Parrill held off Randy Zechman to keep second, Atherton was fourth, and Joshua Bloom was fifth.

Notes: 29 Super Late Models, 30 Late Model Sportsman, and 22 Pure Stocks came out to race on this Sunday special, along with the fans and many retired drivers from the past converged at Hagerstown Speedway.

Covert set fast time during a timed hot lap session with a best lap of 18.789 seconds.

Longtime fans will recognize the name Tom Peck.  The 66 year-old from McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania former racer was the special guest of honor for the 2019 Frank Sagi Tribute. He was best known for driving the “Flaming Fireball 40”, and was one of the best Super Late Model drivers on dirt before leaving the local scene to go racing in what was known as the NASCAR Busch Grand National series.

A feature winner of 171 races, Peck won 43 of them at Hagerstown along with two track championships in 1980 and 1986. Peck’s final feature win at Hagerstown came on September 5, 1988 before departing the dirt world for NASCAR where he finished fifth in BGN points during the 1990 season. His final race competed in was in 1995.

Logan Wagner made his Super Late Model debut behind the wheel of the Coleman Farms No.72, and had a tough time adapting, but put forth a valiant effort to make the show. He was awarded a provisional where he started 25^th, and finished in 19^th after falling out of the race.

Feature Results

Super Late Models (25 Laps) – 1. 2T-Kyle Lee, [5]; 2. 72C-Jason Covert, [1]; 3. 20-Trever Feathers, [10]; 4. 1-Gene Knaub, [7]; 5. B8-Tyler Bare, [4]; 6. 30-Allen Brannon, [12]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner, [3]; 8. 2J-Justin Weaver, [6]; 9. 2-Dan Stone, [8]; 10. 14-Tyler Horst, [13]; 11. 41-Andy Anderson, [16]; 12. 44-Gary Stuhler, [14]; 13. 5-Brad Omps, 21]; 14. 86-Scott Palmer, [9]; 15. 85-Rodney Walls, [20]; 16. 11-Kirk Baker, [24]; 17. 59-Chad Julius, [22]; 18. 68-Nathan LaSalle, [18]; 19. 72-Logan Wagner, [25]; 20. F1-Colbey Frye, [15]; 21. 94-Jason Miller, [19]; 22. 5E-Glenn Elliott, [23]; 23. 17-Nick Dickson, [17]; 24. 40-Marvin Winters, [2]; 25. 36V-Kyle Hardy, [11]

Late Model Sportsman (20 Laps) – 1. 86-Scott Palmer,[3]; 2. 74-Derick Quade, [1]; 3. 88-Barry Miller, [2]; 4. 1K-Bruce Kane, [5]; 5. 77-Randy Burkholder, [4]; 6. 43-Cody Kershner, [14]; 7. 21-Chad Myers, [11]; 8. 8-James Lichliter, [9]; 9. 48W-Greg Moore, [8]; 10. 118-Sean Merkel, [17]; 11. 11-Joe Westerman Jr., [6]; 12. 44-Dylan Lewis, [7]; 13. 53-Tyler Kirby, [20]; 14. 000-Paul Cursey Jr., [15]; 15. 92-Frankie Gordon, [18]; 16. 5-Levi Crowl, [19]; 17. 8H-Travis Wilson, [16]; 18. 93-Cory Lawler, [24]; 19. 08K-Zach Kauffman, [13]; 20. 77S-Elwood Sord, [22]; 21. 15-Trae Armel, [23]; 22. 39-Ryan Walls, [10]; 23. 33K-Alan Sagi, [12]; 24. 72D-Dale Murphy,[21]

Pure Stock (15 Laps)– 1. 12-Michael Warrenfeltz, [3]; 2. 3-Craig Parrill, [2]; 3. 2-Randy Zechman, [7]; 4. 19-Danny Atherton, [1]; 5. 00-Joshua Bloom, [17]; 6. 65-Dillon Wilson, [10]; 7. 6-Wayne Hawbaker, [6]; 8. 59-Mike Desch, 16]; 9. 72M-Russel Shoop, [21]; 10. 15-Ricky Feltner, [13]; 11. 25-Jeremy Mills, [19]; 12. 47-Tike Loizos, [20]; 13. 29-Jason Gilliland, [18]; 14. 55-Jonathan Raley, [8]; 15. 12S-Tony Stoneberger, [4]; 16. 38M-Matt Mellott, [15]; 17. 54-Dylan Rutherford, [5]; 18. 25X-Rodney Miner, [22]; 19. 19M-Bobby Meixsell, [9]; 20. 2W-Brian Walls,[12]; 21. 69-Dwayne Snyder, [11]; 22. 57H-TJ Henry, [14]

By Brett Rose

HAGERSTOWN, MD – Mike Corbin has been finding his way to victory lane often in 2019, and he was able to do it for a sixth time in Mid Atlantic Modifieds competition, this time at Hagerstown Speedway where the Winchester, Virginia driver is no stranger to victory lane.

Corbin drove his Ernie D’s Enterprises No.25 from the seventh spot on the grid into second on the fifth lap, and around race leader Rick Hulson on Lap 6.

Corbin survived a few restarts with Hulson and later Ray Kable in pursuit of his lead, but he was able to withstand the challenges of his competition and claim the 20 lap victory.

“Yeah, this means a lot. Me and my guys worked their tails off this week hoping we’d end up here, and with Lady Luck, here we are.”, said Corbin in his winner’s interview.

Kable, Hulson, Cody Williams, and Brad Kling completed the top five.

Dillon Wilson held off Danny Atherton for all 15 laps of the Pure Stock feature, including a final charge at the checkered flag to take his first win of the season by a car length.

Wilson fought off all challenges for the lead in a race that was only stopped by one caution, for the spun car of Doug Hoffman. Atherton valiantly tried to pass Wilson on the restart, but didn’t have enough to get the lead.

Finishing third was Dwayne Snyder, followed by Mike Desch and Wayne Hawbaker in the top five.

Brady Daniels bounced back from last week’s disqualification for unapproved tires to pick up his second official Hobby Stock win in three weeks. The teenage racer moved into the lead on the third lap, and held off a strong challenge from Kevin Thomas over the remaining twelve laps to secure the victory in the nonstop feature event.

Rounding out the top five were Mike Fuller, Sam Caravello, and Billy Ecton, Jr.

In support division action, Steve Axtell, Jr.  took the checkered flag over a fast closing Matt Wallace in the 15 lap LaSalle Crate Modified feature. Andy Swope, Cameron Campbell, and Scott Daniels were in the top five.

Adam Campbell took the win in the nonstop U-Car feature over Matt Worley, Robbie Carroll, Ryan Peer, and Tim Raup, and picking up the Penn-Mar Vintage racers nightcap was Brett Perigo.

Feature Results

Mid Atlantic Modifieds – 1. 25-Mike Corbin, [7]; 2. 90-Ray Kable, [5]; 3. 40-Rick Hulson, [3]; 4. 41-Cody Williams, [13]; 5. 11-Brad Kling, [6]; 6. 95J-Justin Cullum, [8]; 7. 55C-Cody Oliver, [11]; 8. 62-Mark Jones, [12]; 9. 51-Joey Polevoy, [2]; 10. 7H-Josh Hughes, [1]; 11. 33-Hunter McClendon, [9]; 12. 0-Haley Kaiser, [20]; 13. 36G-Brandon Galloway, [27]; 14. 44W-Tommy Whitt, [4]; 15. 1N-Hunter Nester, [18]; 16. 8M-Jeffrey McCauley, [17]; 17. 21H-Kyle Lloyd, [14]; 18. 13G-David Green, [26]; 19. H20-Ridge Bookwalter, [22]; 20. 2J-Michael Pappas, [24]; 21. 17-Andy Bosley, [28]; 22. 55-Will Rowe, [16]; 23. 21J-Curtis Mason, [25]; 24. 44-Frank DiBella, [19]; 25. 19-Jacob White, [21]; 26. 80-Keith Reed, [15]; 27. 7-George Gutridge [23] DQ -Jerry Foster

Pure Stock – 1. 65-Dillon Wilson, [2]; 2. 19-Danny Atherton, [4]; 3. 69-Dwayne Snyder, [7]; 4. 59-Mike Desch, [1]; 5. 6-Wayne Hawbaker, [9]; 6. 19M-Bobby Meixsell, [5]; 7. 75-Marshall McMullen, [6]; 8. 2-Randy Zechman, [12]; 9. 00-Joshua Bloom, [11]; 10. S7-Doug Hoffman, [3]; 11. 7-Brian Swiger, [10]; 12. 25-Jeremy Mills, [13]; 13. 12S-Tony Stoneberger [8]; DNS -Gregory Laird

Hobby Stock – 1. 76-Brady Daniels, [3]; 2. 03-Kevin Thomas, [5]; 3. 19-Mike Fuller, [2]; 4. 41-Sam Caravello, [7]; 5. 57-William Ecton Jr., [6]; 6. 67-William Ecton Sr., [4]; 7. 11A-James Speelman, [9]; 8. 43-Jason Sarver, [1]; 9. 15-Scot Sipes, [10]; 10. 11M-Gene Miller, [8]; 11. 45-John Catlett, [12]; 12. 64-William Crook, [11]; 13. 12LC-Laura Chamberlain, [13]; 14. 10-Drew Fertig, [15] DNS-Codey Breeden

LaSalle Crate Modifieds – 1. 07-Steve Axtell Jr, [7]; 2. 58-Matt Wallace, [8]; 3. 70-Andy Swope, [5]; 4. 8-Cameron Campbell, [4]; 5. 10-Scott Daniels, [6]; 6. 85C-Zane Cogan, [9]; 7. 17-Bill Van Meter, [10]; 8. 23-Jimmy Iser, [3]; 9. 72-Jason Lint, [1]; 10. 00-Keith Van Horn, [11]; 11. 44-Scott Corbin, [2]

U-Cars – 1. 2C-Adam Campbell, [1]; 2. 6-Matt Worley, [4]; 3. 69-Robbie Carroll, [3]; 4. 64-Ryan Peer, [2]; 5. 19-Tim Raup, [5]; 6. 2T-Tim Campbell, [7]; 7. 23B-Derek Iser, [6] DNS-Kevin Banzhoff