Submitted by Robb Thomas, race reporter
Reynoldsville — A large crowd was on hand for some racing excitement as Mother Nature provided picture perfect weather for Kid’s Banner Night at The Hummingbird Speedway. Over the past several weeks, the younger fans had been invited to design posters and banners to help cheer on their favorite drivers. Tonight, the youngsters were center stage as they showed off their designs and received prizes for their hard work after the fans voted for their favorites. It was a tough choice, but the fans awarded the grand prize trophies to Shane Wagner, Colin Vicklund, Zackary Hetrick, and Faith Shepler for their designs. All the participants were awarded a ribbon and a certificate for a snack at the track concession stands.
The action on the track was just as competitive as the drivers ran all out in their chase for the checkered flags. Claiming victories tonight were Dwayne Brooks in the Limited Late Models, Dan Smeal in the Street Stocks, Kyle Shannon in the Pure Stocks, George Bailey in the 4 Cylinders, and Aaron Luzier in the Front Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders. The winning drivers were awarded trophies and a box of cookies by members of the PA Racing Outreach Ministry who also gave away several gift baskets to lucky fans. After a week of the hottest temperatures of the summer, the track crew provided a great racing surface that allowed the drivers to race three and sometimes four wide during the feature events!
Kicking off the nights feature events were the Rear Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders. Missing from the feature line up was heavy hitter Adam Nixon who went up in smoke shortly after taking the win in his heat race, and was to start on the front row for the feature. With Nixon missing from the line up, Don Henry moved to the front row alongside Paul Metz Jr. to lead the field to the green flag. Metz jumped out to the lead on the start with Henry, Alan Barnett and George Bailey giving chase. Metz was pulling away as the rest of the field was racing hard for position when his lead was erased by a caution for a spin by Randy Coombs. During the caution, the second place car of Henry came to stop and was pushed to the pit area. The restart found Metz holding off an outside charge by Bailey to retain the lead, as Mark Hummel began to hound Bailey for second. While the front runners were jockeying for position, Mike Anderson had been working his way up from his tenth place starting spot and began to challenge for the second position. The lead that Metz had opened up was erased by a caution with nine laps to go. Bailey charged hard on the outside of turn one again, but Metz turned back the challenge as Anderson slid under Bailey for second, and began to challenge Metz for the lead. Bailey wasn’t going away quietly as he again jumped to the high side of the speedway making it a three wide battle for the lead as the field got the two laps to go sign. Bailey would complete the three wide pass as the trio entered turn one to take the lead. Anderson snuck under Metz for second and made one last charge at Bailey as they came to the checkered flag, but Bailey powered out of turn four to take the checkered flag for his first win of the season. Following Bailey across the strip were Anderson, Metz Jr., Devin Lewis, and Tim Bailey. Heat race winners were Adam Nixon and Paul Metz Jr.
The Street Stocks came to the track led by Bob Rosman and Rick Tripodi. Rosman would jump out to the early lead with third place starter Jamie Price settling into second. With only two laps down, Rosman slowed and entered the pits with a mechanical problem, giving the lead to Price. Tripodi was locked in a battle for second with Gary Little and Chad Obrien, before Tripodi spun in turn two. On the restart, second place runner Little jumped to the outside to wrestle the lead away from Price as they entered turn one, while Obrien was in a three way battle with Brandon Connor and Dan Smeal for third. Smeal would work his way around Connor and Obrien and set his sights on Price in second as Little began to stretch his lead. Smeal had just made the pass for second when Price and Brian Rhed got together bringing out the caution. On the restart, Little again assumed the lead with Smeal diving under Price for second. Smeal got a great run down the backstretch and was underneath Little as the pair raced side by side through turns three and four and down the front chute. Smeal completed the pass in turn one to take the lead. While the action up front was hot and heavy, Joe Kot and Fuzzy Fields had been working their way through the field to find themselves locked in battles for a top five position. With the laps winding down, Smeal began to increase his lead as Connor was putting heavy pressure on Little for second. A caution with only a hand full of laps left erased the lead that Smeal had built. On the restart, Kot made his presence known as he quickly worked his way around Price and Connor and began to challenge Little for second. Smeal used this battle to his advantage as he stretched his lead to take the win by a comfortable margin. Kot dove under Little in turn three and the pair were side by side at the line with Kot edging out Little for second, with Connor and Fields rounding out the top five. The three heat race winners were Joe Kot, Jim Bloom and Dan Smeal.
Sometimes drivers get on a hot streak, and at Hummingbird, Dwayne Brooks has definitely been on a hot streak in the Limited Late Models. Brooks found himself lined up on the front row for tonight’s feature alongside Eric Moore. Brooks would lead the entire 25 lap distance, but he did so with heavy pressure from Moore all race long. Several times during the event, Moore would pull even with Brooks only to have Brooks power away to retain the lead. Several cautions slowed the event, but Brooks would pull out to the lead on each restart. With Brooks and Moore pulling away from the pack, the show was the race for third as Denny Fenton had his hands full with Luke Hoffner and Chris Farrell who had worked their way to the front while putting on a show on the high side of the speedway. With the laps winding down, Moore made a charge at Brooks and raced side by side with the leader as Hoffner and Fenton continued to battle for third. As the field took the two laps to go sign, Moore was underneath Brooks as the pair entered turn one. The fans were on their feet as the two raced down the backstretch with Brooks taking the advantage as they took the white flag. Brooks turned away the challenge, and picked up his third win of the season with Moore coming home second. Hoffner dove low on the last lap to take the third spot from Fenton with Farrell rounding out the top five. Heat race wins went to Dwayne Brooks and Eric Moore.
The Pure Stocks were up next with Zach Gustafson and Dustin Challingsworth on the front row. Gustafson would slow shortly after the start bringing out the caution before one lap had been completed. Jeremy Buck took the lead on the restart with Ryan Hess working his way around Challingsworth for second. Kyle Shannon was making quick work of the field as he drove high and low around the competition on his way to the front. Hess found the low side of the speedway to his liking and began to challenge Buck for the lead as Shannon made his way around Challingsworth for third. It only took one more lap for Shannon to get around Hess and Buck to take the lead. Once out front, Shannon never looked back as began to pull away from the field. A late race caution gave Hess one last shot at Shannon, but Shannon again pulled away as Steve Arthurs and Mike Van Zandt made their way to the front and began to challenge for spots in the top five. As the checkered flew, it was Shannon continuing his own hot streak as he picked up his third feature win in a row! Following Shannon across the line were Hess, Arthurs, Buck, and Van Zandt. Heat race winners were Matt Heindl, Dustin Challingsworth and Kyle Shannon.
The Front Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders were the final event of the night, and again provided some excitement as the field raced three and four wide throughout the event. Jim Campisano and Aaron Luzier led the field to the green with Luzier taking a lead that he would not give up. The racing behind Luzier was furious as Campisano, Doug Surra, Bryan Warren, Danny White, Jon Miller, Shawn Fedder and Walt Fedder were racing hard and jockeying for positions. Positions were swapped several times a lap as Luzier continued to lead. Miller finally laid claim to the second position and began to run down Luzier as the laps were winding down, but Luzier had to big of lead and took the checkered flag with Miller, Surra, Campisano, and Warren rounding out the top five. Heat race wins went to Aaron Luzier, Shawn Fedder and Joe Campisano.
Pit notes: 11 Four Cylinders, 19 Street Stocks, 17 Limited Late Models, 18 Pure Stocks and 18 Front Wheel Drives signed in for competition. Hooters Pro Cup driver Benny Gordon was on hand to drive his #100 Limited Late Model. Benny led several laps in his heat before making heavy contact with the outside wall in turn two. Racing action continues next week on the 1/3 mile bullring with a regular 5 division show. Come join the excitement at The Hummingbird Speedway!
Full Results:
4 Cylinder:
1. George Bailey (Clearfield)
2. Mike Anderson (DuBois)
3. Paul Metz Jr. (Julian)
4. Devin Lewis (Weedville)
5. Tim Bailey (Morrisdale)
6. Alan Barnett (Philipsburg)
7. Randy Albert (Morrisdale)
8. Randy Coombs (Big Run)
9. Don Henry (Brockway)
DNS: Adam Nixon (Grampian)
Street Stock:
1. Dan Smeal (Houtzdale)
2. Joe Kot (DuBois)
3. Gary Little (Clearfield)
4. Brandon Connor (DuBois)
5. Fuzzy Fields (Brockway)
6. Jamie Price (Clearfield)
7. Bruce Hartzfeld (Stump Creek)
8. Chad Obrien (Strattonville)
9. Dom Surra (Kersey)
10. Jim Bloom (Curwensville)
11. Bob Ralston (Philipsburg)
12. Brian Rhed (Brockport)
13. Pernell Beimel (St. Marys)
14. Tim Fannin (Ridgway)
15. Scott Bolometer (Reynoldsville)
16. Chad Rougeux (Grampian)
17. Rick Tripodi (Ridgway)
18. Orin Taylor (DuBois)
19. Bob Rosman (Sykesville)
Limited Late Model:
1. Dwayne Brooks (Falls Creek)
2. Eric Moore (Frenchville)
3. Luke Hoffner (Turbotville)
4. Denny Fenton (Clearfield)
5. Chris Farrell (Clearfield)
6. Bruce Raybuck (Falls Creek)
7. Rich Womeldorf (Apollo)
8. John Chesnalavich (Reynoldsville)
9. Rick Maxim (Reynoldsville)
10. Bob McMillen (St. Marys)
11. Paul Kot (Brockway)
12. Brian Molnar (Falls Creek)
13. Ray Farrell (Clearfield)
14. Rob Molnar (Reynoldsville)
15. Kyle Beimel (St. Marys)
16. John Reed (Reynoldsville)
DNS: Benny Gordon (DuBois)
Pure Stock:
1. Kyle Shannon (Brockway)
2. Ryan Hess (Frenchville)
3. Steve Arthurs (Falls Creek)
4. Jeremy Buck (Woodland)
5. Mike Van Zandt (St. Petersburg)
6. Mike Calhoun (Brockway)
7. Matt Heindl (St. Marys)
8. Dustin Challingsworth (St. Marys)
9. Justin Kanouff (Clearfield)
10. Roswell Babcock (Curwensville)
11. Jeff Krach (Falls Creek)
12. Kevin Clark (Olanta)
13. Jim Challingsworth (St. Marys)
14. Frank Mayhew (Clearfield)
15. Shawn Munoz (Punxsutawney)
16. Fran Gustafson (Weedville)
17. BJ Hudson (Clearfield)
18. Zach Gustafson (Punxsutawney)
FWD 4 Cylinders:
1. Aaron Luzier (Clearfield)
2. Jon Miller (Punxsutawney)
3. Doug Surra (Kersey)
4. Joe Campisano (Punxsutawney)
5. Bryan Warren (Curwensville)
6. Shawn Fedder (Clearfield)
7. Eric Luzier (Clearfield)
8. Danny White (DuBois)
9. Walt Fedder (Clearfield)
10. Chad Desmett (Curwensville)
11. Kie Brown (Punxsutawney)
12. Stephanie Lucas (Centre Hall)
13. Bill Webber (Clearfield)
14. Barry Martell (Frenchville)
15. Brandon Woodward (St. Marys)
16. Ben Smith (Penfield)
17. Dustin Kemp (Clearfield)
18. Jacob Kline (Sykesville)
