HESSTON, PA – The hearts of the fans were with the families of Chris Chaney and Shawn Waite Saturday night while the drivers raced their hearts out at Hesston Speedway. The evening was overshadowed by the announcement of the death of Chaney in a highway related crash and his best friend and fellow competitor, Waite was in serious condition at a Pittsburgh Hospital.
Chaney, 35, who died in an early Friday morning crash drove the #17C hobby stock while Waite drove the #4s hobby.
Rance Garlock of Three Springs won the limited late model feature that ended up paying $1,500 to the winner after donations a week earlier. Dave Brown picked up the street stock win giving both drivers their first wins of the season.
Repeat winners included Mark Watkins in the PA 305 Sprints and Gary Morder in the hobby stocks.
Brian Lesley and Allen Lemon led the limited late models to the start, but it was Rance Garlock who made a power move off the second turn, going three wide, to take the lead before getting into the third turn. Once he had the lead, Garlock established his own zip code, as he led the field to the finish with no trouble at all. Second was Tim Smith Jr. who initially gave Garlock some pressure, but Garlock just pulled away letting Smith have Brad Kling to deal with but when Dickie Talbert waved the checkered flag it was all Garlock taking the victory over Smith, Kling, Derek Byler from 10th and Lincoln Ritchey. Heat wins went to Brad Kling, Tim Smith Jr. and Jake Griffith.
Mark Watkins and Cliff Conner led the sprints to the start with Watkins taking the lead and Conner falling into second. As the race continued 12th place starter Mike Heckman was headed to the front. He was up to the 4th spot when a crash in turn two send several cars to the pits. On the restart it was still Watkins with Conner still second and Heckman fighting for third. He took that position when Roger Irvine drifted to a halt in turn three.
Watkins continued to set the pace, as Conner tried to hold off Heckman, but failed to do so as Heckman took second on lap 13 and tried to reel in the leader. He was closing in on Watkins when the checkered flag waved. The top five were: Watkins, Heckman, Andy Haus, Conner and Mike Freet. Heat wins went to Cliff Conner, Mark Watkins and Andy Haus.
Cris Edward Jr. and Dave Brown led the street stocks to the start with Edwards taking the lead for three laps, then Brown was able to take the position away from Edwards. Khi Swanger and Bill Henney came up to do battle with the Edwards and by the 10th lap Edwards had fallen to fourth, but he never gave up the challenge as Swanger and Henney tried to reel in Brown, but Henney got high on the last lap as Swanger took advantage of the miscue and took second, Edwards followed suit as did Tim Brindle and Mike Desch as Desch and Henney drag raced to the line. At the finish it was Brown taking his first win of the season over Swanger, Edwards, Brindle and Desch as he edged out Henney at the line. The two heats were won by Khi Swanger and Bill Henney.
Jake Gongloff sat along on the outside of the front row, as the pole position of the special 17 lap event was left open in memory of Chris Chaney to start the hobby feature. Gongloff led the opening lap with Gary Morder second. As the field exited the fourth turn to complete the second lap, Gongloff blew the engine, giving the lead to Morder. Morder then held off Curtis Guyer and Joe Dearmitt the rest of the way, as the top three were very close the rest of the race, but at the line it was Morder getting another win. Following the post race tech it was Dearmitt in second with Damion Miller, Joe Hammers and Lou Wannyn completing the top five as Guyer was disqualified. The heats went to Joe Dearmitt, Jake Gongloff and Gary Morder.
PIT NOTES: 75 cars filled the pits including 19 limited late models, 22 sprints, 15 street stocks and 19 hobby stocks…A moment of silence was also observed for Chris Chaney prior to the prayer and national anthem…Coming up this week is the PA 305 Sprint Special along with a regular show for the limited late models, street stocks and hobby stocks…coming up on Aug. 30 is the return of the MACS Late Models, paying $5,000 to win the 50 late test. The hobby stocks will also be on the schedule. For more details check out the website at www.hesstonspeedway.com.
Summary:
Limited Late ModelsL: 1. #19 Rance Garlock; 2. #39 Tim Smith Jr.; 3. #11 Brad Kling; 4. #5* Dereck Byler; 5. #11L Lincoln Ritchey; 6. #73 Mike Duck; 7. #5z Brian Lessley; 8. #99* Rick Singleton; 9. #8\” Mike Shoemaker; 10. #80E Donnie Hedge; 11. #6 Allen Lemin; 12. #50 Jake Griffith; 13. #66C Matt Casner; 14. #Steve Bailor; 15. #12 Maurice Thompson; 16. #2 Levi Eller; 17. #55 Tom Barron; 18. #71 Mike Altobelli Jr; 19. #77 George Dixon Jr
PA 305 Sprints: 1. #17W Mark Watkins; 2. #8H Michael Heckman; 3. #76 Andy Haus; 4. #84 Cliff Conner; 5. #11 Mike Freet; 6. #R6 Reed Thompson; 7. #5 Brent Comp; 8. #25 Tyler Bear; 9. #7 Jim Kennedy; 10. #33z Joe Zap; 11. #2 Erin Statler; 12. #47 Tom Worrick; 13. #22 Jim Marquette; 14. #10 Jake Waters; 15. #79 Mel Light; 16. #21C Todd Lynn; 17. #12 Roger Irvine; 18. #52 Ron Farrar; 19. #89 DJ Holland; 20. #D9 Don Sotosky; 21. #4 Rodney Peters; 22. #27K Alan Kumpf
Street Stocks: 1. #110 Dave Brown; 2. #88 Khi Swanger; 3. #66 Cris Edwards; 4. #45 Tim Brindle; 5. #59 Mike Desch; 6. #50 Bill Henney; 7. #34 Kris Leonard; 8. #3 Chad Parks; 9. #22 Jesse Snyder; 10. #87 Eric Irvin; 11. #32 Dale Claycomb; 12. #25 Glenn Winnick Jr; 13. #15W Rob Wilkins; 14. #0 Rick Potter; 15. #85 Paul Gambol
Hobby Stocks: 1. #1 Gary Morder; 2. #21 Joe Dearmitt; 3. #84 Damion Miller; 4. #29 Joe Hammers; 5. #77 Lou Wannyn; 6. #01 Dereck Grabill; 7. #88Jr Mike Grubb; 8. #35 Dallas Runk; 9. #30 Russell Lightner; 10. #D16 Darren Desch; 11. #18B Tom Dearmitt; 12. #73 Terry Norris; 13. #32 Jeff Brown; 14. #88 Kyle Grove; 15. #13 Chad Gambol; 16. #66 Carl Snare
DNS 8\” Jeff Shoemaker
DQ\’ed #8C Curtis Guyer