Three Wides The Norm at Shellhammer's Weds. Night
If you are a fan of close, competitive three wide racing then Shellhammer Dirt Track was the place to be on Weds. night as 4 of the 6 mains had top 5 battles that produced 3 wides late in their A Mains.103 entries filled the pit area.
Chase Schott led the Junior Slingshots to Dave Cordier ,Jr.'s green and set sail from there to capture his 2nd win of the season.What he didn't realize was the intense battle behind him as Parker Hendricks and Dylan Hahn ran side by side for 3 laps until Chase Zimmer entered the mix with these 3 having a 3 wide battle out of turn # 2 with a few laps remaining for the runner-up spot with Hendricks putting the 8 in 2nd.Hahn got 3rd with Zimmer 4th.Colton Williams charged from his 10th starting spot for 5th.6th through 8th was hotly contested as a last lap run to the checker gave Griffin Hendershot the 6th position just ahead of last week's winner Ryan Rochelle.Miles Zehner hit his marks for the 8th place payout.
At the drop of the green Shane Davis was a man on a mission,but after 7 laps of chasing the leader,Chris Dolan found an inside bite off of turn 2 to power by the race leader and never look back in taking his 2nd win of the season.Only 1 caution slowed down the 125 micro racers and another 3 wide battle ensued for the next 3 spots as AJ Gerhart got his 44G up to Dolan but could not make the pass ,but now had to contend with high flying Easton Miller who found an outside groove to his liking and John Maurer,who quickly recovered from a slight bobble a lap earlier.These 3 put on quite a show the last 3 laps with Gerhart getting 2nd over Miller and Maurer.Starting 5th and finishing 5th was steady Chase Layser.Steve Simmons slotted in for 6th with Jesse Smith just nosing out the 04 of Sam Borger.All cars finished the A Main on the lead lap.
The Stage 1's were not going to deny the fans some excitement as a few driver's attempts to overtake Mike Glass fell just shy after the 20 laps were completed.First to challenge Glass was opening night winner Anthony Chrobak,who lost a few spots after getting stuck behind some slower traffic.Next on the scene was Lawson Szerencits who also had some difficulty with the lapped cars.The 3rd lead challenge came from CJ Fritz who was dialed in to the point of possibly out powering Glass on the last circuit but just fell short.Szerencits claimed 3rd and Chrobak stayed tough for the 4th place payout.5th through 8th virtually was not decided until the white was being shown as AJ Gerhart,2021 Stage 1 champion Matthew Mertz and Riley Wanamaker comprised the 5th,6th and 7th positions.JT Bierman slotted in for the 8th spot.
The show of the night was the 20 lap 270 micro main as 3 and 4 wide racing had the fans on their feet .Matt McAnally is emerging as a contender in the 36R and he showed it battling with Adam Buchel Now throwing his hat into the ring was Matt Hoffman who got by McAnally and was full throttle in his move to the front.It was a sight to see exiting turn 2 as Buchel,Richie Hartman,Dakota Barlet and McAnally all had racing room on the wide smooth racing surface.Hard luck struck Buchel again as the 10 slowed off of turn 4 bringing out a yellow.Hoffman just got under the checker .3 seconds ahead of Hartman with Barlet getting 3rd.McAnally got 4th with Louis Horvath's efforts getting a solid 5th place run.Jarrett Imler continues to earn his top 8 runs with a 6th place finish.Barnstorming through the field from his 19th starting place was Jeffrey Confer passing 12 cars to get 7th.Brandon Kressler also soldiered by 8 cars to have his 42 in for 8th.
A lap 1 yellow for the All Star Slingshots slowed the field down and put Patrick O'Brien and Lindsey Garl to the rear,but once racing resumed these 2 were a show.April 20th winner Jax Yohn was hoping to put win # 2 on his resume' and after an early race tussle with Jeff Haduck he succeeded.Yohn had little to worry about as the 24Y was on rails.Haduck was doing everything in his bag of tricks to keep the quick closing Alex Lagun behind him.Lagun and 4th place runner Tucker Cole who also joined Lagun moving up to the All Star class ,kept things interesting.Garl and O'Brien came from the back and was running 5th and 6th only to now have some drivers finding a new gear with Tess Horvath coming on strong after some early race issues to nab 5th.Garl claimed the 6th spot with Mason Pittenger and last week winner Ryan Raidline both getting by O'Brien on the final circuit to get 7th and 8th.
The final main of the night featured the 600 micros and the top 5 positions could've changed at any point in the race.Trevor Kobylarz worked the inside of turns 1 and 2 and the outside line in 3 and 4 but could only get to Dan Lane's back tires,he just could not get by the speedy 25x.After these 2 it was whoever wanted 3rd pace the most was gonna get it and it was time for more 3 wide racing as Adam Buchel,Dakota Barlet and Jacob Homnick became the show with slicing and dicing putting the fans on the edge of their seats.Barlet showed some power with 2 to go to distance himself from Homnick and Buchel who finished 4th and 5th.Jacob Severn continues to impress as he placed 6th.BJ Antonio returns to the high banks for a solid 7th place run as Matthew Warner notches the 8th spot from Jarrid Kunkle in the late going.
A fine mist and a few showers was not going to slow down the fast paced action on the 1/8th mile as a smooth tacky racing surface gave the drivers the whole width of the speedway to show off their talents behind the wheel and they did just that for another enjoyable Wingless Weds .racing program.
Cordier Family Productions would like to thank all race teams for their cooperation in keeping the show moving before the actual rain hit 10 minutes after the final checker at 10:02.
These 6 classes will again compete for top honors on May 25th.Make sure you put a trip to Shellhammer Dirt Track on your racing schedule,you won't leave disappointed.
