Altobelli Tops in Mid Atlantic Modifieds, Open Comps to Kerns and Thomas

By Brett Rose

HAGERSTOWN, MD – Michael Altobelli, Jr. has been tough to beat in the HTMA Mid Atlantic Modifieds Series action thus far in 2018, and he was on top of the charts again at Hagerstown Speedway for his 2nd MAM win at the Hub City oval.

The win for the Saxon, Pennsylvania driver was his 7th overall this season, coming in the milestone 50th race in series history.

Altobelli held off 2017 MAM champion Brad Kling in strong performance of survival over the final half of the caution-marred feature for numerous incidents under a full moon.

Altobelli said: “The track felt pretty fast tonight. There was a cushion up in 3 and 4 and I could get around really good. I think you could add up all of the yellows we’ve had all year in this division and we matched it tonight.”

Brian Duffy, driving a team car to Altobelli finished third, while previous 2018 MAM series winners Rick Hulson and Ray Kable completed the top five.

It was an open competition format throwback to the “Runwhatchabrung” days in the Pure Stock and Hobby Stock divisions, and each winner used the style of racing to their advantages.

Pure Stock winner Bryan Kerns sported a standard 5×5 Sprint Car wing on top of his Chevy Camaro to lead every lap, outrunning the topless Camaro of Jamie Zentmyer by a whopping eleven second advantage at the checkered flag for his first win of 2018. Finishing in the top five in machines with more conventional bodywork were Danny Atherton, Mike Walls, and Mike Desch.

Kevin Thomas removed the roof and added plexi-glass side boards to his ride and took the checkers for the second time in a very competitive Hobby Stock feature. Thomas battled early leader Eric Johnson who chose to go sans roof, but as Johnson faded, Ryan Leister moved into contention with his conventional ride from a ninth-place start.

Leister finished second over Shawn Shoemaker, Johnson, and Brady Daniels.

The Classic Car Series provided the nightcap as Matt Wallace nipped Dylan Brown in a close finish.

Notes:  Racing takes a break at Hagerstown until the Small Car Nationals on September 14-15. The 4 Cylinder RWD Mini-Stocks have been dropped from the SCN lineup entirely due to the low amount of racer participation in previous races held in 2018. The MAM will be racing in place of that division on September 15 only.

Feature Results

Mid Atlantic Modifieds –  1. 95H-Michael Altobelli, [3]; 2. 11-Brad Kling, [5]; 3. 95D-Brian Duffy, [2]; 4. 40-Rick Hulson, [8]; 5. 90-Ray Kable, [4]; 6. 25-Mike Corbin, [11]; 7. 98K-Keith Lauphere, [1]; 8. 26D-Derek Deusenberry, [7]; 9. 95C-Justin Cullum, [14]; 10. 21-Cody Oliver, [13]; 11. 0-Haley Kaiser, [9]; 12. K2-Logan Terry, [12]; 13. H20-Ridge Bookwalter, [21]; 14. 7-George Gutridge, [19]; 15. 33-Brandon Churchey, [20]; 16. 17-Andy Bosley, [16]; 17. 7H-Josh Hughes, [6]; 18. 12S-Rusty Pennington, [15]; 19. 70L-Kyle Lloyd, [22]; 20. 55-Alyssa Rowe, [10]; 21. 47-Jason Sarver, [18]; 22. 44-Frank DiBella [17]

Pure Stock – 1. 83-Bryan Kerns, [1]; 2. 81J-Jamie Zentmyer, [2]; 3. 19-Danny Atherton, [3]; 4. 52-Mike Walls, [11]; 5. 59-Mike Desch, [4]; 6. 12R-Mike Raleigh,[6]; 7. 22-Jamey Swank, 5]; 8. 5-Chris Wolfe, [7]; 9. 44-Charles Rupert, [8]; DNS-Randy Zechman, Kevin Sigler

Hobby Stock – 1. 03-Kevin Thomas, [3]; 2. 14L-Ryan Leister, [9]; 3. 44-Shawn Shoemaker, [5]; 4. 1J-Eric Johnson, [2]; 5. 76-Brady Daniels, [8]; 6. X-Kirk Lawson, [12]; 7. 53-Gregory Morgan, [11]; 8. 14-Gary Breeden, [10]; 9. 0-Jamie Mills, [15]; 10. 10-Drew Fertig, [7]; 11. 19-Mike Fuller, [14]; 12. 12LC-Steven Chamberlain, [19]; 13. 2-Preston Imler, [18]; 14. 34-Chaseton Leach, [13]; 15. 3-Harold Robinson, [17]; 16. 00-Charles Noblitt, [4]; 17. 54-John Catlett, [16]; 18. 25-Rodney Miner, [20]; 19. 36-Sam Archer, [1]; DNS-Curtis Guyer, Joe Rodgers

Weaver Bags MDSS Win and Hagerstown LMS Championship

By Brett Rose

HAGERSTOWN, MD – Justin Weaver bagged the $1,000 win with his No.2j in the Mason Dixon Shootout Series event at Hagerstown Speedway on Saturday night. The 26th career win for the Williamsport, Maryland racer also netted him his third Late Model Sportsman track championship at the Hub City oval.

Weaver came into the evening trailing point leader James Lichliter by 15 points, and proved to be a man on a mission after a dominant heat race win. With the inversion draw, Weaver started sixth on the grid of the 25 lap feature event.

Lichliter struggled throughout the evening and had a tough road ahead of him starting midpack. Lichliter encountered troubles early during the feature ending his night after contact with another racer, and a collision with Curtis Dunn at the pit entrance along the backstretch.

Michael Walls set the tone leading in the early stages of the race before Donnie Farlling took control of the top spot. Farlling had the command up high past the halfway point and battled side by side with Weaver until Weaver drove past on the bottom. Once out front, Weaver began to pull away over the final five laps towards the checkered flag.

“This thing was just flawless tonight”, said Weaver. “I mean, I kind of searched around there in the middle of the race. I knew we had a good car, but I wasn’t going to be able to pass those guys unless I moved somewhere else…..I searched around the bottom and found a good lane and stuck with it and it worked out.”

Farlling held on to second, Barry Miller was third, followed by Shaun Jones and Daulton Bigler to complete the top five.

Heat wins for the 31 entries went to Farlling, Weaver, Jones, and Eric Irvin while Joe Westerman, Jr. won the B-Main.

Jamie Zentmyer won the 15 lap Pure Stock feature, but it wasn’t enough to win the track championship. Those honors went to Doug Hoffman.

Zentmyer survived a wild battle for the lead among Jamey Swank and Mike Desch that saw Swank get crossed up and make contact with Desch. As that action was happening, Zentmyer had some breathing room toward the finish to take his second win of 2018 and the tenth of his career.

Following Zentmyer was Chris Ebersole, who drove to second from 13th, Desch, Danny Atherton, and Swank.

Hoffman’s sixth place finish was good enough to win the 2018 track championship.

Biily Ecton, Jr. entered the night as the Hobby Stock point leader and left the track with the 2018 championship on the heels of picking up his first career feature win. Ecton used a daring move on the topside of turn two from fourth on the grid to take the lead in a four-wide battle for the lead on the first lap. He led all 15 laps to win the race and the championship.

Ecton was trailed by points and feature runner-up Tom Caravello, Brady Daniels, Jamie Mills, and Nick DiBella.

Wrapping up the night was Jason Stoner with the 4 Cylinder win over Mike Kershner, Ronnie Garlock III, and Larry Lamb.

Notes: With 26 career wins, Weaver moves into 7th on the all-time LMS win list.

Zentmyer announced in victory lane that he was retiring as a full-time racer. He didn’t completely rule out competing again in another car if asked to race.

Hoffman’s title makes the second straight for car owners Randy & Renae Clegg. The Super7 won the 2017 Pure Stock championship with then driver Sean Dawson. Hoffman has previous championships at Williams Grove and Path Valley Speedway.

Feature Results

Mason Dixon Shootout Series – 1. 2J-Justin Weaver, [6]; 2. 48-Donnie Farlling, [3]; 3. 88-Barry Miller, [15]; 4. 32J-Shaun Jones, [7]; 5. 24X-Daulton Bigler, [12]; 6. 87-Eric Irvin, [8]; 7. 43-Cody Kershner, [13]; 8. 99-Michael Walls, [1]; 9. 62-Devin Frey, [18]; 10. 33K-Devin Hart, [23]; 11. 08-Keith Koontz, [20]; 12. 92-Frankie Gordon, [2]; 13. 8F-Taylor Farlling, [21]; 14. 11-Joe Westerman Jr., [17]; 15. 000-Paul Cursey Jr., [22]; 16. B12-Cameron Benyou, [9]; 17. 121-Larry Neiderer, [19]; 18. 13-Brad McGinnis, [10]; 19. 77-Randy Burkholder, [11]; 20. D34-Curtis Dunn, [4]; 21. 11B-Ronnie Bottenfield, [16]; 22. 8L-James Lichliter, [14]; 23. 72D-Dale Murphy, [24]; 24. 08K-Zach Kauffman [5]

Pure Stocks – 1. 81J-Jamie Zentmyer, [5]; 2. 2+2-Chris Ebersole, [13]; 3. 59-Mike Desch, [2]; 4. 19-Danny Atherton, [6]; 5. 22-Jamey Swank, [4]; 6. S7-Doug Hoffman, [12]; 7. 3-Craig Parrill, [7]; 8. 65-Dillon Wilson, [3]; 9. 12-Mike Raleigh, [10]; 10. 6-Wayne Hawbaker, [15]; 11. 3T-Dylan Rutherford, [8]; 12. 75-Marshall McMullen, [11]; 13. 36A-Sam Archer, [9]; 14. 6R-Joe Rodgers, [18]; 15. 44-Charles Rupert, [16]; 16. 54-John Catlett, [17]; 17. 69-Dwayne Snyder, [1]; DNS -Bryan Neff

Hobby Stocks – 1. 57-William Ecton Jr., [4]; 2. 03-Tom Caravello, [8]; 3. 76-Brady Daniels, [5]; 4. 0-Jamie Mills, [3]; 5. 41-Nick DiBella, [1]; 6. 12LC-Laura Chamberlain, [7]; 7. 19-Mike Fuller, [6]; 8. 41X-Sam Caravello, [10]; 9. 3-Harold Robinson, [12]; 10. 7K-Michael Knight, [14]; 11. 11A-James Speelman, [15]; 12. 34-Chaseton Leach, [9]; 13. 14-Gary Breeden, [2]; 14. 25-Rodney Miner, [11]; 15. 43-Jason Sarver, [13]; DNS-Andrew Stough

4 Cylinders – 1. 21-Jason Stoner,[4]; 2. 43X-Mike Kershner, [2]; 3. 18-Ronnie Garlock III, [1]; 4. 2L-Larry Lamb,[3]

Track Champions to be Decided This Weekend

The final point race of the 2018 season is scheduled to take place this Saturday, August 18 at Hagerstown Speedway. Track champions will be crowned in our regularly featured divisions of Late Model Sportsman, Pure Stocks, and Hobby Stocks.

Due to several event cancellations because of inclement weather, and after filling all available make-up dates, this has been an abbreviated season. But because of this, the races for the championships are up for grabs.

In the Late Model Sportsman division, only three point races have been contested. James Lichliter sits on top of the standings by a 15 point margin over Justin Weaver, and a 40 point advantage over Cody Kershner. Each driver scored a feature win and each has a shot at earning the 2018 LMS track championship.

It won’t be an easy task racing for the title as the final LMS point race will be held in conjunction with the Mason Dixon Shootout Series, competing without the roofs and going topless.

The Pure Stock division managed to get in the most races with ten shows. Point leader Doug Hoffman owns three wins out those ten races and has a 40 point lead over Jamie Zentmyer along with a 90 point lead over Sam Archer. Zentmyer and Archer each have single wins to their credit.

Hobby Stocks have competed in six point races in 2018, and consistency has put William Ecton, Jr. on top without a feature win. He holds a slim 13 point gap over Tom Caravello, whom has also been consistent without a win. 3-time winner Jonathan Raley trails by 36 markers.

As mentioned, the Mason Dixon Shootout Series headlines the night with the Pure Stocks, Hobby Stocks and the 4 Cylinder Mini-Stocks complete the card. General admission is $12, $10 for Students/Seniors/Military, Kids 12 and under are free, and pit admission is $30.

Gates open at 5pm, and race time begins at 7pm.

Hardy Wins Nininger Memorial SLM Clash for Cash

by Brett Rose

HAGERSTOWN, MD – Kyle Hardy has been traveling with the Ultimate Super Late Model Series this season, but he used a weekend off tour not far from his Stephens City, Virginia home to race and win the 35 lap Clash for Cash/Red Nininger Memorial at Hagerstown Speedway.

It was Hardy’s 7th career Hagerstown win and first since 2015.

Roy Deese, Jr. paced the field from the pole, but was quickly overtaken coming off of turn two on both sides by Allen Brannon and D.J. Troutman. It wasn’t much longer before fourth starting Hardy and fifth starting Tyler Bare entered the fold to battle out for the lead on the fast track with two distinct grooves of racing.

Brannon kept his car on the bottom while Hardy was chasing him up on the cushion. Bare stuck to the bottom, and stuck with it as Brannon changed lines once he began to work through lapped traffic.

Bare was able to move by Hardy into second on Lap 13, then around Brannon for the lead on Lap 14. A caution was able to bunch the group back together with clear race track in front of them. At this point in the race, Bare was committed to the low groove in the Klinedinst No.43a, while Hardy looked to be content with the topside in the Shawn Martin No.99v.

Bare held off Hardy’s charges for the lead until Lap 20. Once in the lead, Hardy was just too strong to contend with over the final 15 laps. Hardy’s margin of victory was 1.222 seconds.

Hardy said: “Well, you know coming home… is truly awesome.  Thanks to Hagerstown Speedway for putting on this race, and thank God that we could come here. We put a new motor in tonight and that thing runs good.”

Crossing the checkered flag behind Hardy and Bare were Marvin Winters, Deese, and Brannon.

Doug Hoffman extended his points lead in the Pure Stock division with his third trip to victory lane. The driver of the Clegg Racing No.Super7 shared the front row with four-time winner Craig Parrill, and immediately positioned his car into the lead.

Hoffman of Newville, PA drove through the middle of the groove and found that to be fast way around and steadily pulled away from Parrill in a 15 lap wire-to-wire win.

Hoffman said: “There’s always good cars here and the competition is good. The points are coming down to it, so we needed a good points night and we got it. This car was perfect.”

Following the lead duo was Sam Archer, Jamie Zentmyer, and Danny Atherton.

Notes: A passing shower a few hours before race time created a super-fast surface. Kenny Moreland blistered the Hub City half-mile with a lap of 17.886 seconds to set a new SLM track record. The previous record held by Dan Stone at a 17.907 was set just over five years ago.

Hardy recently announced that his team will be chasing the World Outlaws LM Series in 2019. He is currently the USLMS point leader without a feature win in the series.

Feature Results

Super Late Models – 1. 99-Kyle Hardy, [4]; 2. 43A-Tyler Bare, [5]; 3. 46-Marvin Winters, [11]; 4. 05-Roy Deese Jr., [1]; 5. 30-Allen Brannon, [2]; 6. 86-Scott Palmer, [23]; 7. 41-Andy Anderson, [8]; 8. 82-Andy Fries, [16]; 9. 5-Brad Omps, [7]; 10. 8-James Lichliter, [17]; 11. 14-Tyler Horst, [9]; 12. 21-Chad Myers, [15]; 13. 11-Kirk Baker, [13]; 14. 08-Keith Koontz, [19]; 15. 85-Rodney Walls, [10]; 16. 15P-Matt Parks, [12]; 17. 22R-Reese Masiello, [24]; 18. 77-Randy Burkholder, [18]; 19. 13D-Jonathan DeHaven, [14]; 20. 38-Carl Biddle, [22]; 21. 72J-Roger Jenkins, 22. 39-Bill Kessler DNS – Al Shawver Jr., Justin Weaver  DQ -Kenny Moreland, DJ Troutman

Pure Stocks – 1. S7-Doug Hoffman, [1]; 2. 3-Craig Parrill, [2]; 3. 36A-Sam Archer, [4]; 4. 81J-Jamie Zentmyer, [10]; 5. 19-Danny Atherton, [9]; 6. 19M-Bobby Meixsell, [3]; 7. 69-Dwayne Snyder, [7]; 8. 75-Marshall McMullen, [8]; 9. 99-Chad Smith, [14]; 10. 6-Wayne Hawbaker, [12]; 11. 54-John Catlett, [16]; 12. 2W-Brian Walls, [6]; 13. 65-Dillon Wilson, [5]; 14. 2-Randy Zechman, [13]; 15. 21W-Will Walls, [17]; 16. 03-Bryan Neff, [11]; 17. 81F-Gary Calimer Jr.,[15] DNS -Mike Walls

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

Sagi Tribute with Buddy Armel this Sunday

The much-anticipated Frank Sagi Tribute with Special Guest Buddy Armel is up next on Sunday, August 5th, at Hagerstown Speedway.

Over $12,000 of sponsored contingency cash and product bonuses have now been collected for this special event, surpassing last year’s total.  These numerous gifts will be distributed to drivers and fans alike throughout the evening.  All 24 starting drivers in each of the three divisions competing in the evening’s card will receive either extra cash, gift certificates or product bonuses according to their finishing positions.

Race fans will not be left out either, as everyone entering the gates will be offered a unique, hand-drawn print done by racing artist Jeff Lindsay.  These colorful prints will be free of charge and feature multiple cars of legendary drivers from the rich history of Hagerstown Speedway.  Fans will get their choice of one of three different drawings, all of which were specially created for this event and can only be obtained on this night.  Fans will also have the chance to take home free racing t-shirts that will be shot into the grandstands throughout the evening with cannon-like devices operated by race supporters Tim and Brent Hottle of Outback Motor Speedway.

Come out to honor the legendary driving career of Hall of Fame driver Buddy Armel, along with the numerous contributions to the sport by 39-year track announcer Frank Sagi.

Gates open at 4pm with a special Meet & Greet autograph session being held with Buddy Armel and a huge collection of retired drivers between 4:30-5:30.  On track action for Super Late Models, Mid Atlantic Modifieds, and Pure Stocks begins with hot laps at 6pm.