For the second week in a row, Mother Nature provided excellent weather for a night of action on the 1/3 mile bullring at the Hummingbird Speedway. A large crowd was on hand to witness the Eric McGarvey Memorial night, with trophies being presented by the McGarvey family. Kicking off the nights festivities was a live rendition of the National Anthem sung by Doug Surkala and Mike Skarbeck while Limited Late Model driver Luke Hoffner paced the speedway with the checkered flag held high in Eric’s honor. It was a night of memory and reflection for many in attendance as later in the program Limited Late Model driver Dwayne Brooks would carry the checkered flag around the track in memory of his sister in law Peg Brooks who lost her battle with cancer at the age of 45 last weekend. A short intermission followed the heat races to allow the track crew to work on the surface, and then it was time to go racing!
The Rear Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders started off the evenings feature events as Aaron Henry jumped out to the lead from his front row starting spot and never looked back. As the field shuffled positions behind him, Henry continued to increase his lead during the non-stop feature event. It was almost disaster for Henry as he tangled with a lapped car while exiting turn four to take the white flag. Both drivers were able to correct their cars and continue on without drawing a caution flag, however, the miscue allowed second place running Mike Anderson to make up some ground on the leader, but it wasn’t enough as Henry went on to cross the stripe claiming his third feature win of the season. Rounding out the top five at the line were current point leader Mike Anderson, Don Henry, Craig Lobb, and Tim Bailey. Heats for the Rear Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders were won by Adam Nixon, and George Bailey.
Current point leader Bob Connor was looking to increase his point lead in the Street Stock standings as he and Joe Kot lead the field to the green flag. Connor took off at the start and claimed the lead exiting turn two. Although he led the entire distance, Connor had to fend off several charges from Kot during the course of the event. The battle for second was intense as Kot was feeling the heat from Gary Little and Bob Rosman at every turn of the speedway. During the middle stages of the event, it was still Connor out front with Kot, Little and Rosman continuing to put on a show for the second position as Orin Taylor also threw his hat in the mix for a top five position. After an earlier incident, Bob Ralston Jr. was working his way back to the front in his first start in a street stock at the track, and fifteenth place starter Brandon Connor was also making up plenty ground. A three car incident in turn four slowed the race for a final time with seven laps to go, giving the rest of the field one last shot at taking the lead from Connor. Connor was able to pull away on the restart as Little tried high and low to take the second spot from Kot. At the finish it was Connor picking up his sixth feature win of the season while padding his points lead with Kot, Little, Taylor and Brandon Connor rounding out the top five. Heat winners for the Street Stocks were Gary Little and Scott Hollopeter.
The ground pounding Limited Late Models were next up on the card with Dwayne Brooks taking the early lead after starting on the pole, with fellow front row starter Rich Womeldorf giving chase in second. Brooks was running away from the field and had gained a near strait stretch lead on Womeldorf, as Big Rich had his hands full with Luke Hoffner challenging him for the second spot. It was beginning to look as though Brooks was going to leave the rest of the field in his dust when the caution flag flew erasing the large advantage that he had gained. On the restart, Brooks again jumped out to the lead with Hoffner working to find a line around Womeldorf. The battle for fourth was heating up as Bobby McMillen, Eddie Connor, Derrick Rodkey, and Cody Schultz were locked in a tight battle for the position. As the battles at the front of the field were shaping up, fans were beginning to notice thirteenth place starter Chris Farrell charging to the front on the top side of the speedway. Farrell had rim rode his way to the battle for fourth and the crowd held their breath as Connor coasted to a stop on the front stretch with Farrell narrowly missing him as he squeezed by. The restart saw Hoffner gain the second position as Brooks took off into the lead again. It wouldn’t be long before Brooks would start to feel the storm behind him as the Turbotville Tornado Hoffner was bearing down on the leader. Behind the leaders McMillen had made his way in to second, with the hard charging Farrell right on his heels. Farrell’s charge to the front would end when he lost the handle in turns one and two and found himself spun out in the infield. The caution took the heat off of Brooks, but only momentarily as Hoffner jumped back to the high side of the speedway and took the lead exiting turn four after the restart. Brooks refused to go away quietly as he challenged Hoffner on the low side at both ends of the speedway. A late caution set up a green, white, checkered dash to the finish and gave Brooks one more shot at Hoffner. Hoffner was able to hold off the charges of Brooks and would go on to win his third feature event of the season while continuing to hold a minimal lead in the point standings. As they crossed the line it was Hoffner, Brooks, McMillen, Shultz and Derrick Rodkey earning the top five positions. Heat races for the Limited Late Models were won by Eddie Connor and Luke Hoffner.
The Pure Stocks took to the track with John Barley and Shawn Munoz leading the way. Barley took off into the early lead with third place starter BJ Hudson settling in to second. An early caution would slow the field and allow Hudson to gain the lead from Barley on the restart while Zach Gustafson, Josh Fields, Matt Heindl and Jeremy Buck battled for third. While Hudson began to stretch out his lead, Buck was the man on the move as he began picking off cars on the high side of the speedway. Buck worked his way into second and quickly ran down Hudson and began to challenge for the lead. Buck would take the lead out of turn two only to see the caution wave before the lap was completed which relegated the scoring back to the previous lap. The next several green flag laps would find Buck challenging on the low side of the turns with Hudson slamming the door as the entered the straits. While the top two battled fiercely for the lead, the rest of the field was able to gain some valuable ground on the leaders. As Hudson once again slammed the door on Buck, Barley was able to make his way into second with tenth place starter Heindl right behind him into third. Hudson used every inch of the speedway to protect his lead as he would go on to earn his first ever feature win! Heindl made a final charge at second and took the position over Barley by a nose at the line. The top five at the line were Hudson, Heindl, Barley, current point leader Bruce Hartzfeld and Fields. Heat race winners were Kyle Shannon, Matt Heindl, and Jeremy Buck.
The Front Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders were up next to close out the show as Chuck White and Ben Smith led the field to the green flag. At the start, White would take the early lead but it wasn’t long before Smith wrestled the lead away in turn one. Smith was setting a blistering pace as he pulled away from the rest of the field. As always, the racing in the pack was close and action packed as several drivers were staking their claim to the top positions. The red flag flew as Mark McMillen made contact with the wall in turn two, launching his car into the air, nearly clearing the guardrails. McMillen came to rest still inside the park and exited the car unscathed. During the red flag, Smith pulled his car to the pits with mechanical problems, handing the lead over to White. With only one lap in on the restart, the red flag flew again, this time for a fuel leak on the top five running car of Stephanie Lucas. As the race resumed, White would continue to extend his lead as sixteenth place starter Shawn Fedder made his way to the front and began to challenge Mitch Kohler and Jacob Kline for a top three position. Also making his presence felt was twenty first place starter and current point leader Aaron Luzier as he worked his way into the top five. At the finish White held a comfortable lead to earn his fourth win of the season with Fedder, Kohler, Kline and Luzier rounding out the top five. Heat wins for the Front Wheel Drives were taken by Kenny White, Bryan Warren, and Ben Smith.
Pit Notes: 88 cars entered into competition for the Eric McGarvey Memorial including 23 Front Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders, 19 Pure Stocks, 16 Limited Late Models, 16 Street Stocks, and 14 Rear Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders. Next week at the track will be the Season Championship Night. It will be the final point night of the season with Double Points. With some very close point battles being waged, the Double Points Season Championship has the potential to really shake things up in the point standings. Trophies for the Season Championship will be presented by RAM Septic Services. Don’t forget to make your plans to attend two of the biggest shows in Hummingbird Speedway history as we present the Mick Orsich Memorial Late Model Open on September 12 and the 10th Annual Running of the Chili 100 for Late Models on September 19. With the racing season winding down, the next few weeks promise to provide some great racing action to get you through the off season. Join us for the action and excitement of dirt track racing on the 1/3 mile bullring at the Hummingbird Speedway. More information on the upcoming specials can be found at www.hummingbirdspeedway.com
Complete Results:
Rear Wheel Drive 4 Cylinder:
- Aaron Henry (Brockport)
- Mike Anderson (DuBois)
- Don Henry (Brockway)
- Craig Lobb (Houtzdale)
- Tim Bailey (Morrisdale)
- Paul Metz Jr. (Julian)
- George Bailey (Clearfield)
- Eric Lucas (Clearfield)
- Randy Albert (Morrisdale)
- Devin Lewis (Weedville)
- Bobby Battaglia (Reynoldsville)
- Dustin Fields (Brockport)
- Adam Nixon (Grampian)
- Jonnie Gould (DuBois)
- Bob Connor (DuBois)
- Joe Kot (DuBois)
- Gary Little (Clearfield)
- Orin Taylor (DuBois)
- Brandon Connor (DuBois)
- Bob Ralston Jr. (Philipsburg)
- Bob Rosman (Sykesville)
- Scott Hollopeter (Reynoldsville)
- Paul Blake (Weedville)
- Jim Bloom (Curwensville)
- Steve Cook (Sykesville)
- Dan Gill (Clearfield)
- Neil Wilson Jr. (Clearfield)
- Pernell Beimel (St. Marys)
- Jamie Price (Hyde)
- Ray Reed
Limited Late Model:
- Luke Hoffner (Turbotville)
- Dwayne Brooks (Falls Creek)
- Bob McMillen (St. Marys)
- Cody Schultz (Hyde)
- Derrick Rodkey (Osceola Mills)
- Chris Farrell (Clearfield)
- Bill Davis (DuBois)
- Rich Womeldorf (Apollo)
- Donnie Connor (Reynoldsville)
- Eddie Connor (DuBois)
- Bob Smith (Reynoldsville)
- Brian Molnar (Falls Creek)
- Chris Knuth (Houtzdale)
- Bill Krause (Fernwood)
- Josh Young (Berwick)
- Kyle Beimel (St. Marys)
Pure Stock:
- BJ Hudson (Clearfield)
- Matt Heindl (St. Marys)
- John Barley (DuBois)
- Bruce Hartzfeld (Stump Creek)
- Josh Fields (Brockport)
- Bob Alcorn (St. Petersburg)
- Dustin Challinsworth (St. Marys)
- Todd English (Clearfield)
- Jeremy Buck (Woodland)
- Brian Boboige (Falls Creek)
- Ryan Jones (Reynoldsville)
- Jim Challinsworth (St. Marys)
- Shawn Munoz (Punxsutawney)
- Justin Kanouff (Clearfield)
- Travis Brady (Clearfield)
- Roswell Babcock (Curwensville)
- Kyle Shannon (Brockway)
- Jeff Krach (Falls Creek)
- Zach Gustafson (Weedville)
Front Wheel Drive 4 Cylinder:
- Chuck White (DuBois)
- Shawn Fedder (Clearfield)
- Mitch Kohler (Rockton)
- Jacob Kline (DuBois)
- Aaron Luzier (Clearfield)
- Bryan Warren (Curwensville)
- Kenny White (DuBois)
- Chuck Erskine (Clearfield)
- Chad Desmett (Curwensville)
- Matt Krause (Brisbin)
- Scott Engler (Bellefonte)
- Dave Bainey (Osceola Mills)
- Walt Fedder (Clearfield)
- Stephanie Lucas (Centre Hall)
- Ben Smith (Penfield)
- Mark McMillen (Brockway)
- Rich Lucas (Wallaceton)
- Travis Donahue (Elbon)
DNS: Larry Ellenberger (Julian)
DNS: Stephanie Brown (Punxsutawney)
DNS: Kie Brown (Punxsutawney)
Robb Thomas
Race Reporter
Hummingbird Speedway