CLEARFIELD, PA – D.J. Myers of Greencastle bested a field of 43 other O\’Reilly All-Star Late Model drivers to earn his biggest feature win ever Friday night at Tim Bainey\’s Central PA Speedway, as he copped the 34th Annual Yankee Doodle 50 presented by Snappy\’s Convenience Stores.
Rusty Martz of Brookville picked up the street stock portion of the action as the speedway defeated Mother Nature.
Following four qualifying heats and two \”B\” mains, the 24 car Yankee Doodle 50 was set with Dan Stone and Robbie Blair being the luck of the draw drivers to pick the front row starting spots.
Blair darted into the lead at the initial waving of Mike Frisco\’s green flag to start the holiday classic with Stone in second and defending champion Keith Barbara in third. A quick caution on the first lap halted the action. On the restart it was still Blair in the lead with Stone second and another defending champion, Shane Clanton, now in third. Stone took the lead on lap four, but he was the next caution when he spun the car in turn three. He was done for the night.
Blair was then the recipient of the lead once again and he had Clanton in second with D.J. Myers in third. Colby Frye, Gregg Satterlee and Barbara were jockeying for fourth as the front three waged their own battle.
On the 13th lap Myers moved past Clanton and into second and just six laps later he was looking under Blair on the backstretch, as the field worked into the third turn, Blair went high and Myers was low, and off the fourth turn, it was Myers in the lead. He went the rest of the way out front but Blair kept reeling him in but losing ground.
A caution on lap 49 set up a two lap shoot out for the finish, with the field now regrouped it was a dash for the cash with Myers holding off Blair, Satterlee and a fast closing Boom Briggs. Devin Friese rounded out the top five, as Myers headed to victory lane to pick up the $10,000 top prize.
Tim McCreadie, Shane Clanton, Kenny Schrader and Gregg Satterlee won the heats while Matt Gaston and Mike Blose split the twin 12 lap \”B\” Mains. Colby Frye set the fastest time at 15.447 seconds, setting a new late model track record.
The street stocks were every bit as exciting as Rusty Martz beat Jamie Barber off the front row. Martz continued to lead the race for the first nine laps before Allen \”Jim Dandy Jr.\” Dillenger took the lead entering the first and second turns, but exiting turn four, Dillenger made an abrupt left and pitted for the night, giving the lead back to Martz.
As Martz set the pace, second was not decided until the finish. Gary Little, Barber, Dominic Surra, Tim Krape and Craig Bainey jockeyed for position. On lap 15, exiting the fourth turn, Little made his move and took the lead from Martz but Martz wasn\’t about to give up without a fight, as the top three were Little, Martz and Surra, Krape was in third, but he got a flat and tried to ride it out, but on lap 19 the tire exploded, sending debris as far into the air that it landed in the grandstands. No one was injured.
As the second two-lap shoot out of the night was getting the green, Little was still in command, but Martz went to the outside of Little and Surra went to the inside as they exited the fourth turn for the final time, Martz surged out front by just a few inches and took the win over Little. Surra held on to third, Bainey was fourth and Barber came home fifth.
Dan Smeal, Allen Dillenger, Craig Bainey and Dominic Surra copped heat wins while Bob Connor and Ben Asel won the \”B\” Mains.
BEAR TRAX: 84 teams packed the infield, including 44 O\’Reilly Late Models and 40 street stocks…Six states were represented, including: Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, West Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia…Three of the drivers are licensed NASCAR drivers, including: Tim McCreadie, Benny Gordon and Kenny Schrader…Schrader is the NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver who was returning to Clearfield Speedway for the first time since the mid-1980\’s…The next event on the CPS Schedule is a two-day go-kart event on August 1 & 2…Check out the website at www.thebigtrack.com for details.
SUMMARY:
O\’Reilly All Star Late Models, Yankee Doodle 50: 1. D.J. Myers, Greencastle; 2. Robbie Blair, Hydetown; 3. Gregg Satterlee, Rochester Mills; 4. Boom Briggs, Bear Lake; 5. Devin Friese, Chambersburg; 6. Scott Haus, Hamburg; 7. Matt Gaston, Rochester Mills; 8. Jeff Rine, Danville; 9. Rod Conley, Wheelersburg, OH; 10. Jared Miley, South Park; 11. Jeremy Miller, Gettysburg; 12. Jared Hawkins, Fairmont, WV; 13. Mike Blose, New Bethlehem; 14. Chris Farrell, Clearfield; 15. Shane Clanton, Locus Grove GA; 16. Ron Davies, Warren; 17. Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY; 18. Kenny Schrader, Concord, NC; 19. Colby Frye, Dover; 20. Dave Hess Jr., Waterford; 21. Keith Barbara, South Park; 22. Denton Boyer, Punxsutawney; 23. Dan Stone, Thompson; 24. Greg Fetters, Bedford.
Failed to qualify: Duane Brooks, Waylon Wagner, Josh Young, Mike Knight, Derek Rodkey, Gary Beward, Billy Dickson, Bryan Sipes, Chuck Kennedy, Chad Maney, Bob Dunn, Mike Mort, Jason Witherite, Benny Gordon, Jason Walker, Jason Dupont, John Flinner, Jim Yoder, Dylan Yoder and Matt Lux.
Street Stocks: 1. Rusty Martz, Brookville; 2. Gary Little, Clearfield; 3. Dominic Surra, Kersey; 4. Craig Bainey, Philipsburg; 5. Jamie Barber, Grampian; 6. Bob Connor, DuBois; 7. Eric Baun, Rochester Mills, 8. Gary Fisher, North East; 9. Brandon Connor, DuBois; 10. Rick Hemphill, Osceola Mills; 11. Tim Burns, Greenville; 12. Joe Kott, DuBois; 13. Matt Thomas, Erie; 14. Denny Crawford, Cooperstown; 15. Gary Luzier, Luthersburg; 16. Bob Rosman, Sykesville, 17. Jackson Humanick; 18. Tim Krape, Bellefonte; 19. Brian Duffy, Bedford; 20. Allen Dillenger, Hermitage; 21. Fuzzy Fields, Brockway; 22. Ben Asel, Kane; 23. Dan Smeal, Ramey; 24.
