CLEARFIELD, PA – Robbie Blair of Centerville picked up the Steel Block/Crate Late Model portion of the inaugural Central PA Speedway Nationals Saturday night while Eric Baun of Rossiter copped the street stock portion of the two division show.
The fans paid for the entire seat but were only had to use the edge as several times throughout the night the racing action heated up.
Chris Farrell took the lead at the start of the late model feature from fellow front row starter Rick Singleton. Robbie Blair was quick to follow Farrell dropping Singleton to third. Blair was all over the bumper of Farrell’s #53 but a caution on lap four slowed the field.
On the restart Blair was able to move to the out side of Farrell exiting turn two and take the lead. Once out front, Blair was pulling away, but Farrell had a new battle on his hands with Chuck Kennedy and Bob Dunn closing in on him.
Blair continued to lead but another caution slowed the race on lap 10 for Ron Kline who had a flat tire. The race restarted with 30 laps left as Blair continued to set a torrid pace. He was again pulling away from the field with Farrell still in second and third changing as Kennedy moved to third. Fourth place was constantly changing and second eventually did as well, as Kennedy took second in lapped traffic.
The crowed was also keeping its eye on Tom Smith Jr. He started the main event in the 22nd position, but steadily worked his way through the field and was challenging both Farrell and Kennedy for the second spot. Kennedy took second while Smith moved into third, dropping Farrell to fourth.
With Blair still setting a torrid pace, second position was exciting to watch, as Kennedy, Farrell and Smith continuously swapped the position while maneuvering through lapped traffic.
Blair also maneuvered through the slower cars as he took the win by half a track over Farrell who managed to work his way back into second in the closing laps, Kennedy fell to third with Smith fourth and Tracy Gregory in fifth.
Heat race wins went to Chris Farrell, Rick Singleton, Chuck Kennedy, Robbie Blair, Todd Baumgardner and Bob Dunn. Lincoln Richey won the “C” Main to get into the “B” Main. Derek Byler and Matt Gaston won the “B” Mains.
The street stock feature saw Baun start on the outside of the front row with Chad O’Brien along side. Baun took the lead and O’Brien second and Craig Bainey third. The lead belonged to Baun to the checkered flag, but he had both O’Brien and Robbie Blair behind him to put pressure on him. The first of a six cautions waved with the field regrouping and O’Brien having another shot at Baun, but Baun didn’t give in. O’Brien had to contend with Blair, who was all over the #73, and they swapped the position several times, but O’Brien began to lose momentum and fade by lap 20, giving second to Blair. Late race cautions allowed Blair to try every trick he had to get past Baun, but Baun pulled away every time and ended up taking home his biggest payday ever in a race car. Blair held on to second with Bill Henney, Todd Snook and Scott Stein completing the top five. Heat wins went to: Chad O’Brien, Eric Baun, Robbie Blair, Craig Bainey, Bill Huntington and Rusty Wheeler. The “C” Main to get into the “B” main was won by Dennis Curry while the twin “B” Mains were won by Dominic Surra and Jeff Taylor.
PAW TRACKS – 140 cars packed the pits, including 71 Steel Block/Crate Late Models and 69 Street Stocks…The 50/50 was worth $1,052…Drivers from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Ohio and New York towed to the speedway for the event…Fans only had about 19 minutes total between all races to get something to eat, as the rest of the time there was something taking place on the speedway…The 2008 schedule hasn’t been finalized yet, but speedway management maintains the first event will be Memorial Day weekend with the details being released soon…Watch the speedway website at www.centralpaspeedway.com for details.
SUMMARY
Steel Block/ Crate Late Models: 1. Robbie Blair, Centreville; 2. Chris Farrell; 3. Chuck Kennedy; 4. Tim Smith Jr.; 5. Tracy Gregory; 6. Bob Dunn; 7. Jeremy Ohl; 8. Todd Baumgardner; 9. Tim Fedder; 10. Rick Singleton; 11. Shane Beegle; 12. Luke Hoffner; 13. Andy Fries; 14. Eric Moore; 15. Derek Byler; 16. Ted Gallaher; 17. Andrew Satterlee; 18. Matt Gaston; 19. Ron Kline; 20. Chris Rhodes; 21. Jason Walker; 22. Dave Riddell; 23. Dwayne Tanneyhill; 24. Danny McLocklin.
Race leaders: #53, Chris Farrell, 1-4; #W11 Robbie Blair, 5-40.
Cautions: Two – L-4; L-10.
Time of race: 15 minutes
22 of the 24 original starters were still running at the end.
DID NOT QUALIFY: Larry Wingard, Randy Stoudt, Jason Morell, Sam Gindlesperger, Tick Todorow, Kyle Merkel, George Fultz, Kirby Tucker, Bobby Watt, Kevin Weyandt, John Oaks, Jr. Grebe, George Dixon Jr., Lincoln Richey, Tim Snare Jr., Keith Witherite, Dean Colbert III, Terry Rayko, Eddie Connors, Matt Losner, Matt Sala, Bob Shepler, Scott palmer, Shawn Claar, Nick Loffredo, Ross Robinson, Joel Porter, Travis Calhoun, Butch Braim, Bernie Whiteford, Hal Browning, Josh Young, John Brady, Kevin Scott Jr., John Chesnealabich, Rance Garlock, Corry Wilson, Jerry Redden, Brian Smith, Loren Sallack, Todd Sallack, Richard Maxim, Chris Clark and Audie Geer.
Street Stocks: 1. Eric Baun, Rossiter; 2. Robbie Blair; 3. Bill Henney; 4. Todd Snook; 5. Scott Stein; 6. Andy Ruckley; 7. Pat Carfley; 8. Emory Rinehart Jr.; 9.Pat Crawford; 10. Jeff Taylor; 11. Dan Smeal; 12. Dom Surra; 13. Ray Billett; 14. Tom Snyder; 15. Neal Wilson; 16. Mike Stiffler; 17. Bill Huntington, 18.Chad O’Brien; 19. Rick Hemphill; 20. Gary Little; 21. Ray Reynolds; 22. Craig Bainey; 23. Rusty Wheeler; 24. Jamie Barber; 25. Randy Zechman.
Leader: #99x Eric Baun, 1-30
Cautions: six – L-3; L-6; L-19; L-25; L-26; L-30
Time of race: 50 minutes.
15 of the 25 starters were still running at the finish.
DID NOT QUALIFY: Jeff Sweeney; Tm Brindle; Charles McClain; Tom Slack; Dale Yaney; Nathan Russell; Jason Davis; Kurk Foust; Eric Irvin; Tom Krape; Doug Tibbens; Richard Homan; Frank McVay; Bob Rosman; Jim Handyside; Dave Swanger; Tom Williams; Dennis Curry; Cris Edwards Jr.; Randy Wible; Bub Moore; Tom Homan; Chris Austin; Mike Dempsey; Steve Cook; Johnny Lindenitz; Joe Kot; Jim Hewitt; Bill Phillips Jr.; Don Zechman; Jim Bloom; Bill Pluta Jr.; Brian Duffy; Khi Swanger; Brandon Connors, Mike Desch; Rush Firestone; Bruce Redmond; Fuzzy Fields; David Whetstone, Ray Sheetz and Mike Laughard.