Hubbard invades Hagerstown for SLM Victory
By Brett Rose
HAGERSTOWN, MD – Mother Nature was denied the win on Saturday night as Austin Hubbard made the tow from Delaware to Hagerstown Speedway pay off by taking the win in the 25 Lap Super Late Model feature event.
Overnight and early morning rains threatened to put a damper on racing activity that saw most tracks in the region cancel. The decision to race was good as the track once again produced some excellent racing throughout the entire night.
Hubbard started sixth and quickly made his charge to the front. Following a quick caution for Scott Palmer, Hubbard powered by Andy Fries on the restart and proceeded to pull away from the field.
Hubbard used the heavy cushion for most of the race on a track that yielded some three-wide racing for much of the distance. While Hubbard was leading, Andy Anderson and Kyle Lee waged a battled for second place, and began to run Hubbard down as he encountered lapped traffic.
Anderson closed the gap with a couple of laps to go, but didn’t quite have the speed or laps he needed to take away the win. It was Hubbard’s first career SLM win at Hagerstown.
Anderson was closely followed by Lee at the finish, while Gary Stuhler and D.J. Myers completed the top five.
Sean Dawson picked up his first Pure Stock win of the 2017 season. Dawson led from start to finish while holding off the challenges of Keith Koontz, until Koontz blew a tire with just three laps to go. Dawson fended off Scotty Nelson the remainder of the way to score the victory.
Nelson was followed by fellow top five finishers Dwayne Snyder in a career best run, Jamie Zentmyer, and Brandon Churchey in his season debut.
Allen Brannon took the lead from the start of the Crate Late Model feature, withstood several caution flags and the challenges of Kyle Lee, whom was pulling double-duty behind the wheel of the Nichols No.75.
Brannon was too strong for Lee and the competition as he went to record his first CLM win of the season at Hagerstown.
Lee finished second, while Mike Franklin, eleventh-place starter Transton Stoner, and Tim Fedder rounded out the top five.
Kyle Lear continued to flex his muscle in the Late Model Sportsman division, picking up his 3rd win of the season. He started fourth on the grid and only needed one lap to pass Rance Garlock for the lead. From that point on, Lear never looked back.
Lear was followed by last week’s winner and seventeenth-place starter Shaun Jones, Garlock, Eric Irvin, and Paul Cursey at the finish.
Jamie Mills wired the Hobby Stock competition from green to checkered flag to take his first win of the season. Last week’s winner Dylan Rutherford was second, followed by a season best finish for Willie Ling in third, while Davey Gross, Jr., and John Catlett rounded out the top five.
We thank all of the racers and fans for their support on a day that didn’t look very promising for racing in the morning and early afternoon. Big thanks also goes out to the speedway track prep crew for a magnificent job on the task performed because of the weather.
Next week, racing takes off at the Hagerstown Speedway for the annual Bonanza Extravagana. Racing returns on May 20 with our regular classes on Student Night/Armed Forces Appreciation Night, and a 4 Cylinder Demolition Derby.
Feature Results
Super Late Models – 1. Austin Hubbard, 2. Andy Anderson, 3. Kyle Lee, 4. Gary Stuhler, 5. D.J. Myers, 6. Kyle Hardy, 7. Trever Feathers, 8. Marvin Winters, 9. Brian Booze, 10. Glenn Elliott, 11. Reese Masiello, 12. Rodney Walls, 13. Brad Omps, 14. Chad Myers, 15. Jason Miller, 16. Roy Deese, Jr., 17. Kirk Baker, 18. Andy Fries, 19. Scott Palmer, 20. Tommy Armel , DNS- Jonathan DeHaven
Late Model Sportsman – 1. Kyle Lear, 2. Shaun Jones, 3. Rance Garlock, 4. Eric Irvin, 5. Paul Cursey, Jr., 6. Robbie Black, 7. Alan Sagi, 8. Bobby Beard, 9. Ryan Walls, 10. Michael Walls, 11. Derick Quade, 12. Matt Murphy, 13. Dale Murphy, 14. Kenneth Yoder, 15. Justin Jesmer, 16. John Rowland, 17. Ronnie Bottenfield, 18. Dillan Stake, 19. Frankie Gordon, 20. Joe Westerman, Jr., DNS- Kurt Zimmerman
Crate Late Models- 1. Allen Brannon, 2. Kyle Lee, 3. Mike Franklin, 4. Transtan Stoner, 5. Tim Fedder, 6. Joe Moyer, 7. Richard Hawkins, 8. Levi Crowl, 9. Scott Sweeney, 10. Harry Shipe III, 11. Dave Friedrich, 12. Steve Lowery, 13. Jennae Piper, 14. Jake Piper, 15. Dillan Stake, 16. Lindsey Barton, 17. Bryan Benton, DNS- Timmy Booth
Pure Stocks – 1. Sean Dawson, 2. Scotty Nelson, 3. Dwayne Snyder, 4. Jamie Zentmyer, 5. Brandon Churchey, 6. Wayne Hawbaker, 7. Shane Wilt, 8. Nick DiBella, 9. Brian Swiger, 10. Frank DiBella, 11. William Crook, 12. Keith Koontz, DNS- Craig Parrill
Hobby Stocks – 1. Jamie Mills, 2. Dylan Rutherford, 3. Willie Ling, 4. Davey Gross, Jr., 5. John Catlett, 6. Bryan Neff, 7. Dustin Proctor, 8. Ralph Hansberger, 9. Matt Wampler, 10. James Speelman, 11. Rodney Miner