CLEARFIELD, PA – With temperatures flirting with a balmy 12 degrees, race fans filled the hillside at Central PA Speedway on Saturday for the inaugural running of the Polar Bear 100 Enduro Race.
Aaron Hill of Brookville had his entry in first for the 100 lap contest and that gave him the pole position. He took the lead at the start and never relinquished it, as he weaved his way through stalled cars, skated across an icy track surface, and held off the competition for his career first CPS win.
With Hill leading the way the second spot was held by Gary Little initially but he broke a wheel off the car, and ended his day.
This gave second over to Brent Johnson, who stayed on the lead lap, but could not find a way to get up to or past the leader.
The fight for third and fourth was between Tim Gillette and Curtis J. Bish, as they swapped the third spot numerous times throughout he afternoon. As they did that, most eyes were on Denny Weisgarber, who started 17th in the field and was challenging anyone he could catch. Weisgarber was probably the fastest car on the track, but he dropped out after completing only 43 laps.
The finish saw Hill winning by half a lap over Johnson, while Gillette won the fight for third with Bish fourth and Leigh Wheeler in fifth.
Todd English went off the track in the first turn and in a cloud of snow the car appeared to roll over and land on its wheels. While English was not hurt, he was stuck and could not continue.
The Speedway has an exciting schedule on tap, check out the website at www.thebigtrack.com for complete details.
Below is the finish, with name, hometown and number of laps competed.
Finish: 1. Aaron Hill, Brookville (100); 2. Brent Johnson, Brookville, (100); 3. Tim Gillette, Linesville, (99); 4. Curtis J. Bish, Oil City, (99); 5. Leigh Wheeler, Polk, (97); 6. Curtis Bish Sr., Oil City, (83); 7.Walter Naletko, Sigel, (78); 8. Lloyd Riehl, Morrisdale (54); 9. Mike Hummel, Clearfield, (53); 10. Denny Weisgarber, Curwensville, (43); 11. Gary Little, Clearfield, (26); 12. Shawn Lindemuth, Brookville, (22); 13. Curtis E. Bish, Oil City, (19); 14. Cody Hummel, Morrisdale, (12); 15. Brent Sholtis, (9); 16. Todd English, Olanta, (3); 17. Shawn Bowser, Huntingdon, (3); 18. Bill Hassenplug, Gallitzin, (2).