Hummingbird Speedway Race Report
Fenton, Rhed, Heindl, and Pletcher all find victory!
May 7, 2011 Falls Creek, Pa
By: Randy Albert
With showers threatening, Hummingbird Speedway opened the gates for it’s second night of racing action for 2011. The decision proved to be a good one with another great night of very competitive racing while other tracks cancelled with the threat of weather. “Start in the front, stay in the front” was the key to success tonight with fierce competition happening throughout the field for all classes. Success came for Denny Fenton of Clearfield in the Limited Late Model division, Brian Rhed from Brockport in the Street Stock Class, Matt Heindl out of St. Marys in the Pure Stocks and in the Front Wheel Drive Four Cylinders the winner was Adam Pletcher from Johnstown.
First on the track were the field of 21 Limited Late Models. Placing them first in the line up helped improve track conditions over last week with a relatively smooth surface that appeared to hold the moisture the entire night. The field was led to the green flag by a front row made up of the #812 of John Chesnalavich and the #55 of Denny Fenton. As Denny took the lead a fierce battle for the 2nd through 5th spot ensued that didn’t let up throughout the entire race. Early lapped traffic didn’t slow the leaders but a caution on lap 5 kept the pack together. Fenton was followed closely by Chesnalavich, Luke Hoffner, Rod Phillips and Eric Moore. Hoffner was trying the high side doing battle with Phillips and Moore while Fenton held the lead followed by Chesnalavich in second. Cautions on laps 6, 8, and 10 kept the field close but Fenton continued to lead the way. The 102 of Richard Maxim, last week’s winner, was stuck in 12th position and slowly worked his way forward. Positions 2 through 5 continued to change with the 1B of Dwayne Brooks making his way into the top five. A hard charging Hoffner spun on lap 18 and was tagged hard by the SR1 of Tom Shaffer. The 15 car continued while the SR1 headed for the pits. Late race action saw Fenton continue to hold a convincing lead with Phillips, Chesnalavich, Moore and Brooks all in hot pursuit. Fenton led flag to flag taking his first win of the season with his only serious competitor being the 1P of Phillips late in the race.
15 Pure Stocks were next in the line up headed up by the 46 of Dustin Challingsworth with Ryan Hess from Frenchville on the outside. A lap one caution and the double file restart didn’t allow anyone time to gain an advantage. Racing continued with the 46 in the lead followed closely by Hess and Heindl. Hess took the lead on lap 3 with heavy pressure from the 471 of Heindl the remainder of the race. Tight racing caused the 471 to detour through the turn two infield but he continued not losing any positions. Laps 6 through12 saw Hess, Heindl, Challingsworth, Jeremy Buck, and Steve Arthurs holding the top five positions. Serious rubbing was taking place on lap 10 that resulted in a spin and a caution. Last week’s winner, Mike Calhoun, who had been in 6th spun to avoid other cars but got his position back on the restart. Already close racing got even closer in the closing laps with the 97 of Hess and 471 on Heindl going inside and outside of lapped traffic. Hess held him off until a tangle on the final lap flattened Hess’s tire relegating him to the 6th position. Heindl’s relentless pressure paid off and he took the lead on the last lap for the checker flag.
Although 19 Street Stocks participated in the heat races only 16 made it to the line for the feature. The 17C of Brandon Connor sat on the pole and jumped to an early lead. He was followed closely by Brian Rhed, Fuzzy Fields, Ed Connor, and Johnny Lindenpitz. An early caution involved Dan Smeal, Rusty Martz, Jamie Price, and Lindenpitz with the 137 of Price having to pit for a throttle linkage problem. On the restart Rhed jumped to the inside to the lead with the Fields on the outside of Connor. Laps clicked off with a caution on lap 7 for debris on the track from the earlier incident. Another caution on lap 8 was caused by a spin by Fields who left the track and did not return. The 222 car was showing promise until a flat tire was discovered prior to the restart; he went to the pits but did not return until later in the race. Rhed continued to lead with heavy pressure from both of the Connor cars and the 99X of Eric Baun coming into the picture from his 9th starting spot. The 7* of Craig Bainey was showing promise moving up into the fifth position then the 3rd spot toward the last laps. The 69 of Rhed was strong leading by as much as 8 car lengths with the 99X trying to make up ground while the laps were running out. The strong run of the 7* ended on the last lap when his engine let go on the backstretch. The 69 never wavered taking his first win in the street stock division.
The final event of a great night of racing brought a full field of 24 Front Wheel Drive Four Cylinders onto the track. These cars continue to get more sophisticated and powerful as could be heard from the sound of the engine and the performance on the track. The field was led to the green flag by the T3 car of Doug Surra from Kersey with the 13 of Adam Pletcher hailing from Johnstown outside. Expectations for the 13 car were high after a convincing win in the heat race. The first few laps saw 3 and 4 wide racing before the field began to stretch out. On lap 4 something broke on the #4 car and he found himself pointed in the opposite direction of the oncoming field. All of the cars avoided the #4 car but in avoiding the spin the cars of Bill Butler and Dan White tangled hard with the turn four wall. Luckily both drivers were able to get out of their cars. Neither car could continue. The cars of Pletcher, Surra and Bryan Warren of Curwensville kept it interesting at the front of the pack with Surra and Warren each pressuring Pletcher. Back in the pack the cars of Jim Frantz and Shawn Fedder chased the leaders. As the laps wound down the 13 of Pletcher proved to be too strong. While Warren and Surra continued to knock on his door Pletcher took the win with Warren and Surra close behind.
Notes: 84 Cars registered for the nights racing including 23 Limited Late Models, 19 Street Stocks, 15 Pure Stocks, and 27 Front Wheel Drive Four Cylinders. May 14, 2011 will be a regular four division show with the gates opening at 4:30PM and racing beginning at 7:00 PM. For more information visit us on the web at www.hummingbirdspeedway.com.
FULL RESULTS
LIMITED LATE MODEL:
1. Denny Fenton, Clearfield
2. Rod Phillips, Punxsutawney
3. John Chesnalavich Jr., Reynoldsville
4. Dwayne Brooks, Falls Creek
5. Eric Moore, Frenchville
6. Richard Maxim, Reynoldsville
7. Bruce Raybuck, Falls Creek
8. Terry Rayko, Atwood
9. Rich Womeldorf, Apollo
10. Derek Rodkey, Osceola Mills
11. Brian Molnar, Falls Creek
12. Luke Hoffner, Turbotville
13. Joe Malobicky Jr., St. Marys
14. Kyle Beimel, St. Marys
15. Roswell Babcock, Curwensville
16. Mervin Killion, Coalport
17. Bo Lockwood, Brookville
18. Tom Shaffer, Punxsutawney
19. Todd English, Clearfield
20. Bob Smith, Reynoldsville
21. Kie Brown, Punxsutawney
DNS:
Bernie Whiteford, Hastings
Paul Kot, Brockway
STREET STOCK:
1. Brian Rhed, Brockport
2. Eric Baun, Rossiter
3. Joe Kot, DuBois
4. Ed Connor, DuBois
5. Johnny Lindenpitz, Knoxdale
6. Brandon Connor, DuBois
7. Jamie Price, Clearfield
8. Colton Gearhart, DuBois
9. Tim Fannin, Ridgway
10. Rick Hemphill, Osceola Mills
11. Craig Bainey, Morrisdale
12. Rich Howell, Clearfield
13. Jeff Sweeney, Marion Center
14. Fuzzy Fields, Brockport
15. Dan Smeal, Houtzdale
16. Rusty Martz, Brookville
DNS:
Bruze Hartzfeld, Stump Creek
Paul Blake, Weedville
Ray Hickok Jr., Commodore
PURE STOCK:
1. Matt Heindl, St. Marys
2. Dustin Challingsworth, St. Marys
3. Steve Arthurs, Falls Creek
4. Zack Gustafson, Weedville
5. Mike Calhoun, Brockway
6. Ryan Hess, Frenchville
7. Shawn Munoz, Punxsutawney
8. Dave Kohler, Rockton
9. Jeremy Buck, Woodland
10. Jim Challingsworth, St. Marys
11. Adam Pletcher, Johnstown
12. Todd Bailey, Brockway
13. Gabe Shaffer, Punxsutawney
14. Brandon Hixson, Punxsutawney
15. Don Henry, Brockway
FWD 4-CYLINDER:
1. Adam Pletcher, Johnstown
2. Bryan Warren, Curwensville
3. Jim Frantz, Reynoldsville
4. Doug Surra, Kersey
5. Shawn Fedder, Clearfield
6. Brad Myers, Fairmont City
7. Jim Prenni, Nowrytown
8. Josh Lindemuth, Brockway
9. Frank Barrett III, DuBois
10. Mark Rematt, Hastings
11. Josh Frantz, Falls Creek
12. John Morrison, Johnsonburg
13. Drew Hipps, Clearfield
14. Rusty Murray, Mayport
15. Jacob Kline, DuBois
16. Bill Butler, Sykesville
17. Chad Desmett, Curwensville
18. Aaron Luzier, Clearfield
19. Danny White, DuBois
20. Hunter McCracken, Curwensville
21. Jay Blum, Shippenville
22. John Campisano, Punxsutawney
DNS:
Chris Hickok, Commodore
Cody Baughman, Shippenville
Mike Lucas, Philipsburg