Reynoldsville, PA (August 29, 2009) The Hummingbird Speedway stayed the course Saturday night after heavy rains moved through the area early in the day to present their final points race of the season. Saturday night was the Season Championship, with double points on the line in all divisions with trophies presented by RAM Septic Services. Several drivers entered the night locked in tight battles at the top of the point standings, and the racing action was the perfect ending to a long season of hard fought racing action while chasing points. The track crew re-worked the rough track after the heat races, giving the drivers a smooth, fast surface for their feature events.
The Rear Wheel Drive Four Cylinders kicked off the nights feature events, with point leader Mike Anderson and leading feature winner Adam Nixon on the front row. Anderson took the lead at the start and led several circuits before Nixon gained the lead exiting turn four. Nixon extended his lead over the course of the event as Anderson held off the hard charges of Alan Barnett and Craig Lobb for the second position. The only driver in the field with a shot at taking the point lead from Anderson at the start of the night was Don Henry, and the veteran driver was working hard during the feature to make up ground after starting tenth. As the laps wound down, Nixon continued to stretch his lead to bring home his fifth feature win of the season. Anderson finished second, unofficially securing the point championship for the season. Barnett, Lobb, and Henry rounded out the top five. Heat race winners for the RWD 4 Cylinders were won by Adam Nixon and Mike Anderson.
As Tropical Storm Danny was affecting parts of the east coast, a Hurricane was preparing to make landfall during the 20 lap Street Stock Feature. Bob Rosman jumped out to the lead from his front row starting spot, with Dom Surra and Bob Ralston Jr. challenging for the lead in the early laps. Behind the three leaders, the action was fierce as several heavy hitters were battling for position. Gary Little, Dan Smeal, Fuzzy Fields, and point leader Bob Connor were locked in a tight battle for top ten positions with Little gaining the advantage and setting his sights on the leaders. As Surra continued to challenge Rosman for the lead, “The Hurricane” Gary Little was gaining ground on the high side of the speedway. As the field entered turn three, Little went to the top side, and blew by both Surra and Rosman exiting turn four to take the lead. The battle behind Little for second through sixth was intense as Surra, Rosman, Smeal, Connor and Fields were fighting hard for position. A caution shortly after the halfway point gave the fans and drivers a chance to catch their breath, with Little still holding the advantage over Surra. Little took off on the restart with Surra on his heels before Surra lost the handle in turn two spinning to stop at the bottom of the speedway bringing out another quick caution. The caution gave Smeal a clear shot at the leader, but he was unable to mount a serious challenge as Little went on to win one of the most exciting feature events in the division this season. Smeal crossed the line in second, with Connor finishing third to earn the season point championship in the division. Rosman and the returning Fields rounded out the top five. Heat races were won by, Jamie Price, Bob Connor and Dan Smeal.
The Limited Late Models were up next, and they weren’t about to let the Street Stocks steal the show on this night. The Turbotville Tornado Luke Hoffner entered the night only 15 points ahead of Cody “The Kid” Schultz in the point standings, and both were looking to earn the title before the night was done. Front row starters Donnie Connor and Bill Davis led the field to the green flag with Connor taking the lead in to turn one and Davis settling into second. Fourth place starter Denny Fenton didn’t take long to run down the leaders, and quickly took over the second position from Davis and began to run down Connor. Luke Hoffner and Chris Farrell were locked in a battle for third with Davis as Fenton continued to hound Connor for the lead. Fenton made his move in turn three, gaining the advantage over Connor exiting turn four and began to stretch the lead over the rest of the field. Hoffner was a man on a mission as he made his way past Davis for third before the caution flew for a spin in turn two. Fenton jumped back out to the lead on the restart, with Hoffner gaining the second spot from Connor before another caution bunched up the field again. On the ensuing restart, Fenton continued to lead, with Hoffner and Farrell racing hard for second while gaining ground on the leader. The Tornado warnings were issued as Hoffner caught Fenton and made a move to the outside gaining the lead at the exit of turn four. Hoffner tried to extend his lead, but Fenton kept him within striking distance while holding off the challenges of Farrell for second before the caution waved slowing the field. On the restart, Hoffner jumped to the high side of the speedway, and Fenton got under the leader in turns one and two. The two raced side by side down the back stretch with Fenton regaining the lead on the low side exiting turn four. After taking back the lead, Fenton moved to the high side of the speedway while Hoffner tried the low side, but was unable to get a run on the leader. A final caution waved with five laps to go giving Hoffner another shot at taking the lead on the restart. Fenton jumped out in to the lead and held off several charges from Hoffner during the closing laps to pick up his first career victory in the Limited Late Models! Hoffner finished second on his way to securing the point championship, with Farrell, Dwayne Brooks and Cody Schultz rounding out the top five. A very excited Fenton racing crew celebrated the first win in victory lane. The win was special in more ways than one, as Denny’s brother Matt was in attendance, recently returning to the states after serving a six month tour of Afghanistan with the military. Heat wins went to Chris Farrell, Derrick Rodkey and Denny Fenton.
The Pure Stocks were up next with only seven points separating point leader Bruce Hartzfeld and Bob Alcorn. John Barley and Jeremy Buck led the field of 26 Pure Stocks to the green flag, with Buck gaining the advantage entering turn one. Buck would stretch his lead while the drivers behind him fought hard for positions. Mike VanZandt worked his way passed Barley for second while Josh Fields, Hartzfeld, and Matt Heindl battled for position. Brian Rhed, making his first start at the speedway this season was making his way to the front from his eleventh place starting position with Alcorn coming along with him. A great race was shaping up in the top ten as VanZandt, Fields, Hartzfeld, Heindl, Kyle Shannon and Rhed were racing two and three wide while jockeying for position. Rhed made his way into the top five as Buck continued to stretch his lead, and then got by VanZandt and Fields to take over the second position. Rhed would run down the leader and begin to challenge Buck for the top spot. Rhed was able to get beside Buck in turns three and four and held the lead by a slim margin as they crossed the stripe right before the caution flew for a three car spin involving both point leaders, Hartzfeld and Alcorn, setting up a green, white, checkered finish. On the restart, Buck threw everything he had at Rhed, but was unable to regain the lead as Rhed went on to win his first feature of the year at the speedway. At the line, the top five were Rhed, Buck, Heindl, Shannon and Steve Arthurs completing a great run from sixteenth. The point chase came right down to the end with Alcorn unofficially taking the title by three points over Hartzfeld. This is unofficial at this time, and the points will be reviewed early this week. Heat wins for the Pure Stocks went to Bob Alcorn, Brian Rhed, Kyle Shannon and Matt Heindl.
The final event of the evening was the Front Wheel Drive Four Cylinders. Jacob Kline took the early lead in the feature with Mitch Kohler, Chuck White, Bryan Warren and Walt Fedder racing hard for the top five positions. Chuck White made his way into second and began to pressure Kline for the lead as the field passed the halfway point. White took the lead with Warren following him into second, and the two raced hard for the lead over the closing laps. Warren tried everything on the low side of the speedway to gain the advantage pulling even with the leader on several occasions, but, White was too strong on the top side and took the win by nose as they crossed the finish line. Kenny White, Shawn Fedder and Aaron Luzier rounded out the top five with Luzier picking up the point championship for the division. Heat wins went to Bryan Warren and Walt Fedder.
Pit Notes: 98 cars filled the pits for the Season Championship Night including 15 RWD 4 Cylinders, 21 Street Stocks, 19 Limited Late Models, 26 Pure Stocks, and 17 FWD 4 Cylinders. The longest distance traveled to get to Hummingbird was accomplished by Luke Freed from the state of Minnesota who recently purchased Aaron Henry’s RWD 4 Cylinder car and competed at the track for tonight’s event. While the points races are completed, there is still more racing at the Hummingbird Speedway. Next week, all five divisions will be in action for the Labor Day Celebration. It will be Emergency Services Personnel Night at the bullring with trophies presented by the Falls Creek Volunteer Fire Department. The top ten point finishers in each class will be recognized. Don’t forget to make your plans to attend the upcoming Mick Orsich Memorial Late Model Open on September 12th, and the Chili 100 on September 19th. More information on both shows is available at the speedways website www.hummingbirdspeedway.com . Join us for more late season racing action on the 1/3 mile Bullring at the Hummingbird Speedway!
Full Results:
RWD 4 Cylinders:
- Adam Nixon (Grampian)
- Mike Anderson (DuBois)
- Alan Barnett (Philipsburg)
- Craig Lobb (Houtzdale)
- Don Henry (Brockway)
- Randy Albert (Morrisdale)
- George Bailey (Clearfield)
- Paul Metz Jr. (Julian)
- Tim Bailey (Morrisdale)
- John Gilbert (Falls Creek)
- Luke Freed (Minnesota)
- Tony Nixon (Grampian)
- Devin Lewis (Weedville)
- Bobby Battaglia (Reynoldsville)
- Dustin Fields (Brockport)
Street Stocks:
- Gary Little (Clearfield)
- Dan Smeal (Houtzdale)
- Bob Connor (DuBois)
- Bob Rosman (Sykesville)
- Fuzzy Fields (Brockport)
- Jamie Price (Hyde)
- Steve Cook (Sykesville)
- Dan Gill (Clearfield)
- Jonny Lindenpitz (
- Paul Blake (Weedville)
- Dom Surra (Kersey)
- Neil Wilson Jr. (Clearfield)
- Dave Kohler (Stump Creek)
- Bob Ralston Jr. (Philipsburg)
- Scott Hollopeter (Reynoldsville)
- Jeff Mease (Clearfield)
- Joe Kot (DuBois)
- Pernell Beimel (St. Marys)
- Jim Bloom (Curwensville)
- Mark Clark (Lance)
DNS: Ray Reed (Brockway)
Limited Late Models:
- Denny Fenton (Clearfield)
- Luke Hoffner (Turbotville)
- Chris Farrell (Clearfield)
- Dwayne Brooks (Falls Creek)
- Cody Schultz (Hyde)
- Donnie Connor (Reynoldsville)
- Rich Womeldorf (Apollo)
- Bill Davis (DuBois)
- Derrick Rodkey (Osceola Mills)
- Brian Molnar (Falls Creek)
- Bruce Raybuck (Falls Creek)
- Tommy Kroenwetter (St. Marys)
- Josh Young (Berwick)
- John Brady (Clearfield)
- Jake Shady (Beech Creek)
- Paul Kot (Brockway)
- Kyle Beimel (St. Marys)
- Scott Fenton (Clearfield)
DNS: Bob McMillen (St. Marys)
Pure Stocks:
- Brian Rhed (Brockport)
- Jeremy Buck (Woodland)
- Matt Heindl (St. Marys)
- Kyle Shannon (Brockway)
- Steve Arthurs (Falls Creek)
- Justin Kanouff (Clearfield)
- Josh Fields (Brockport)
- John Barley (DuBois)
- Jerry Walls
- Bob Alcorn (St. Petersburg)
- Jeff Krach (Falls Creek)
- Bruce Hartzfeld (Stump Creek)
- Jim Challinsworth (St. Marys)
- Brian Boboige (Falls Creek)
- Roswell Babcock (Curwensville)
- Mike VanZandt
- Zack Gustafson (Weedville)
- Travis Brady (Clearfield)
- Dustin Challinsworth (St. Marys)
- Todd English (Clearfield)
- Steven Cook (Sykesville)
- Nathan Yeaney (Brookville)
- Jim Delace Jr.
- Donny Hinds (Philipsburg)
- Shawn Munoz (Punxsutawney)
- Ryan Jones (Reynoldsville)
FWD 4 Cylinders:
- Chuck White (DuBois)
- Bryan Warren (Curwensville)
- Kenny White (DuBois)
- Shawn Fedder (Clearfield)
- Aaron Luzier (Clearfield)
- Stephanie Lucas (Centre Hall)
- Rich Lucas (Wallaceton)
- Mike Lucas (Centre Hall)
- Walt Fedder (Clearfield)
- Chad Desmett (Curwensville)
- Chuck Erskine (Clearfield)
- Dave Bainey (Osceola Mills)
- Scott Engler (Bellefonte)
- Travis Donahue (Elbon)
- Mitch Kohler (Rockton)
- Jacob Kline (DuBois)
Robb Thomas
Race Reporter
Hummingbird Speedway