CLEARFIELD – Shawn “Sheets” McGarvey of Coalport picked up the victory at Central PA Speedway Saturday in the Steel Block Nationals while Fuzzy Fields of Brockport picked up the Rex Energy Street Stock feature. Dan Smeal of Ramey took top honors in the Rex Energy Street Stock Shoot Out.
The late models hit the speedway for a 40 lap grind with Tim Smith Jr. and Bobby Beard on the front row with Smith taking the lead and opening up a slight advantage but before the first lap was recorded a multi-car spin sent several drivers to the rear of the field.
On the complete restart it was again Smith taking the lead with Matt Gaston in second and Tim Fedder in third, but Fedder dropped out and that resulted in a second caution. On that restart it was still Smith leading but now it was Shane Beegle in second and Shawn McGarvey in third. Smith continued to lead when 17th place starter Dan Stone emerged from deep in the pack to take an inside look under Smith in turns three and four to take the lead off the fourth turn.
Once Stone had the lead the race was for second with McGarvey in that position and Smith now third and Rick Singleton fourth, but Singleton pitted on the 15th lap, giving Beegle fourth and Beard moved into fifth.
A fast Stone wasn’t letting anyone get close to him as he was pulling away on each and every restart, but on the 32nd lap, Stone pitted under caution and relinquished the lead to McGarvey. While McGarvey was now the leader, he had Beegle, Beard, Mike Blose, Chris Farrell and Billy Dickson chasing him for the win.
On the 34th lap Blose moved from fourth to second and began to reel in McGarvey, but Farrell came along for the ride and was in third jockeying for the lead with McGarvey and Blose. Close racing between the top three saw Blose and Farrell bobble and allowed Dickson to move into the second spot on the 38th lap, but both Blose and Farrell powered to the outside and took second from Dickson dropping him back to fourth.
McGarvey had enough of a lead to get the win, as Blose and Farrell battled for second with Farrell taking the position at the line. The top five crossing under Mike Frisco’s double checkered flags were: McGarvey, Farrell, Blose, Dickson and Brian Smith. Heat winners were: Pete Alsbaugh, Mike Blose, Matt Gaston and Jerry Redden. The Twin “B” Mains went to Dan Stone and Rick Singleton.
Fuzzy Fields and Jason Schmidt led the full field of street stocks to the start with Fields leading wire-to-wire for his first win of the season. While he led from green to checkered, his win was anything but easy, as he was pursued first by Schmidt and then Tim Bish, Ryan Christoff and Bill Phillips Jr. riding in the top five.
As the race continued the crowd was watching Dan Smeal work his way from 17th to the front, as he was challenging Gary Little and Tim Krape for a championship. In the mean time Fields was still leading, but with only seven laps to go Schmidt dropped out of contention and gave the second spot to Krape, with Bill Henney, Phillips and Little all trying their best to get the lead, as they all closed in on each other late in the event.
As the race was entering the final lap Joe Kot blew the engine and went up across the speedway and into Smeal, nearly sending both cars into the wall. A two lap shoot-out, hence the name of the series, the Rex Energy Street Stock Shoot Out, saw Fields do what he could to hold off Krape, as Henny tried to find a lane around Krape to get to Fields, but at the end it was Fields taking the win. Krape, Henney, Phillips and Little completed the top five. Heat wins went to Joe Kot, Rusty Martz, Fuzzy Fields and Alan Dellinger Jr. Dan Smeal and Dale Yaney won the twin “B” Mains.
PAW TRACKS: 95 teams crowded into the pits on the blustery fall afternoon including 43 steel block/Crate Late Models and 52 street stocks…this weekend will close out the 2008 racing season at Central PA Speedway when at least 10 different divisions of Go-Karts take to the Big Track for the Koala Bear Nationals. Watch the speedway website at www.thebigtrack.com for details…Smeal won the 2008 championship in the street stock division and a cool $1,000…The details of the 2009 season are currently being worked out and will be posted on the website when they become available.
Summary
Steel Block/Crate Late Models: 1. Shawn “Sheets” McGarvey, Coalport; 2. Chris Farrell, 3. Mike Blose, 4. Billy Dickson, 5. Chuck Kennedy, 6. Brian Smith, 7. Bobby Beard, 8. Shane Beegle, 9. Dan Stone, 10. Terry Rayko, 11. Dave Blazavich, 12. Randy Croop, 13. Pete Alsbaugh, 14. Sonny Connely, 15. Richard Maxim, 16. Mark Booth, 17. Duane Brooks, 18. Matt Gaston, 19. Tim Smith, Jr., 20. Ed Connor, 21. Jerry Redden, 22. Rick Singleton, 23. Jimmey Seger, 24. Tim Fedder.
DID NOT QUALIFY: Chris Rhodes, George Fultz, Jeff Weakland, Eddie Carpenter, Bill Davis, Denny Fenton Jr., Jason Witherite, Jim Parsons, Jr., Bernie Whiteford, John Chesnalavich, Mike Altobelli Sr., Lincoln Richey, Ernie Million, Rich Womeldorf, Korry Wilson, Eric Metzger, Jim Ohara, Chris Carpenter, 75J
Rex Energy Street Stocks: 1. Fuzzy Fields, Brockport; 2. Tim Krape, 3. Bill Henney, 4. Bill Phillips Jr., 5. Gary Little, 6. Rick Hemphill, 7. Bob Roseman, 8. Dan Gill, 9. Jeff Mease, 10. Dan Smeal, 11. Jim Handyside, 12. Joe Kot, 13. Kenny Taylor, 14. Rusty Martz, 15. Randy Zechman, 16. Jason Schmidt, 17. Chad Bender, 18. Eric Baun, 19. Tim Bish, 20. Joe Kelly, 21. Ryan Christoff, 22. Dale Yaney, 23. Dan Kramer, 24. Alan Dillinger Jr.
DID NOT QUALIFY: Rich Firestone, Troy Miller, Ray Billiott, Ray Reynolds, Mike Duritsky, Craig Bainey, Bonny Farris, Kevin Clark, Harry Smith, Matt Thomas, Austin Roy, Nick Shaffer, Skip Lindemuth, Ben Asel, John Powell Jr., Jay “William” Bloom, Lee Hummel, Neil Wilson, Emory Rinehart Jr., Jamie Barber, Joe Pluta Jr., David Whetstone, Todd Mathews, Don Zechman, #69,
