70th Anniversary Race Weekend Canceled, Awards Picnic Moved to Nostalgia Day

Official management at Hagerstown Speedway has made the difficult decision to cancel the 70th Anniversary Celebration race weekend originally scheduled for October 13-14, and end the 2017 campaign earlier than expected.

“Insufficient attendance at area tracks and competing against other venues are two risks that are not necessary to take this late in the season. It has been a constant struggle to coordinate events with area tracks. Seeing other promoters gamble on big purse events and come out in the red is not a comforting feeling. We took time to develop an attractive purse and program. Knowing there are other venues to compete against along with the possibility of poor weather and attendance, it only makes good business sense to close early.” said promoter Doug Timmons.

So with those tracks competing against each other this late in the year, along with cooler weather and football season in full swing, it gets tough to schedule races to have a good fan turnout.

“Racers get pumped up and want to put on a good show in front of a good crowd of fans, and when there are too many other options of entertainment for fans elsewhere this time of the year, it is best to not take a huge financial risk. We feel it is in our best interests to look forward to 2018.”said general manager Lisa Plessinger.

In the best interests of all of those involved, Hagerstown Speedway officials have decided to make their 70th Anniversary Nostalgia Day on Sunday, October 15 completely free of charge to all who attend. There will be an open track test & tune along with exhibition races, along with an antique car and tractor exhibit. Only a signature of release will be required to enter the pit area this day.

The Championship Awards Picnic has also been moved to October 15th at 1PM. Those interested in buying tickets for the ceremony may contact Lisa Plessinger at the speedway 301-582-0640 ext. 202. Fans wishing to watch the awards ceremony may do so, but a ticket must be purchased to participate and eat.

The entire staff of Hagerstown Speedway sincerely thanks all of the racers and fans that supported Hagerstown Speedway during our 70th year of operations in 2017. We wish everyone the very best during the off-season, and we are looking forward to having everyone return for a 71st year of racing in 2018.

Covert and Miller Score Wins at Hagerstown

By Brett Rose

HAGERSTOWN, MD – On a crisp, early autumn evening, Jason Covert and Barry Miller parked their rides into victory lane at Hagerstown Speedway on September 30.

 

Covert began the march to his Super Late Model victory at the Hub City oval for the first time in 2017 from the fifth spot on the starting grid. Pole sitter Roy Deese, Jr. led the first lap before he was overtaken by three-time winner Gary Stuhler.

 

Covert moved up to third by the third lap, and moved around Deese for second on the eighth lap. A caution flag unfurled the same lap for Jerry Bard, who had a flat right rear tire.

 

This setup the only restart of the feature, and Stuhler was able to hold off Covert for several laps. Stuhler was rolling through the middle to the top groove as Covert kept circling around the bottom.

 

On Lap 18, Covert went low under Stuhler coming off of turn 4 to take the lead. Covert hit traffic a lap later and put some distance between him and Stuhler until the traffic got thicker. With the white flag waving, Stuhler had caught Covert, but just didn’t have enough to reclaim the lead on the 25th lap at the checkered flag.

 

At the end of the race, Covert said: “At least tonight it was heads-up which it should be, and we made a (tire) choice right there and it took me a little bit to get going, and once I got going, I was pretty good.”

 

“I’ll tell you what, I just want to say what a race track it was compared to the last few years I was here….it had character tonight, and that’s what makes racing good. The couple times I’ve been here this year has been absolutely phenomenal.”, stated Covert.

 

Following Covert and Stuhler at the finish were Kyle Hardy, Brian Booze, and Kyle Lee.

 

Miller drove to his second Late Model Sportsman win of the season as part of the Mason-Dixon Shootout Series. The Three Springs, PA resident powered past Eric Irvin from outside the front row, and led all 20 laps in a flag-to-flag effort. An early restart and lapped traffic halfway through wasn’t enough to slow Miller down as he took the checkered flag.

 

In his winner’s interview, Miller said: “Yeah, I do lot of work myself, my daughter helps me a little bit; you know I live in the boonies and not anybody around to help, but it feels real good. It was a stout field of cars.”

 

Irvin finished second, while Justin Weaver, Derick Quade, and Ralph Morgan rounded out the top five.

 

Notes: The two-division show was completed in less than 2 ½ hours, and featured a full 24 car field in each division.

 

Trever Feathers qualified in his own No.20, but mechanical issues forced him to borrow a ride from Brad Omps. Feathers tagged the rear of the field in 24th place and drove the Omps No.5 to a very respectable 10th place finish.

 

Tyler Bare made his first career SLM start at Hagerstown, and recorded a solid sixth place finish in his debut. Bare is the son of Booper Bare, and grandson of Tommy Bare. The third generation Virginia racer has done quite well in Crate Late Models.

 

Feature Results

 

Super Late Models- 1. 72C-Jason Covert, 2. 55-Gary Stuhler, 3. 3V-Kyle Hardy, 4. B2-Brian Booze,  5. 2T-Kyle Lee,  6. 30B-Tyler Bare,  7. 24-Kenny Moreland, 8. 41-Andy Anderson, 9. 05-Roy Deese Jr., 10. 20-Trever Feathers, 11. 30-Allen Brannon, 12. 46-Marvin Winters, 13. 86-Scott Palmer, 14. 46E-Tyler Emory, 15. 81-Steve Axtell Jr, 16. 37-Brian Tavenner, 17. 45-Jamie Lathroum, 18. 94-Jason Miller, 19. 1MD-Jeremy Miller, 20. 21-Chad Myers, 21. 22R-Reese Masiello, 22. 11-Kirk Baker, 23. 26-Jerry Bard, 24. 14-Tyler Horst

 

Late Model Sportsman (Mason Dixon Shootout Series)- 1. 88-Barry Miller, 2. 87-Eric Irvin,  3. 2J-Justin Weaver, 4. 74-Derick Quade, 5. 44X-Ralph Morgan Jr., 6. 37-Paul Cursey Jr., 7. 92-Frankie Gordon, 8. 177-Brian Shuey, 9. 72D-Dale Murphy, 10. 62-Devin Frey, 11. D19-Dillan Stake, 12. 22-Eric Hohol, 13. 7-Kenneth Yoder, 14. 74F-Mike Franklin, 15. 115S-Shaun Miller, 16. 50-Jason Smith, 17. 16-Justin Dillman, 18. 72-Shaun Jones, 19. D34-Curtis Dunn, 20. 2-Andrew Yoder, 21. 3-Rick Lias, 22. 1S-Brandon Seibert, 23. 000-Matt Nailor (DNS) 13-Brad McGinnis