Prelude to the Golden Hammer Have Top Runners In Form.
It was a night where many of the top runners were prepping for next week's Golden Hammer,by being one of the front runners or even heading to victory lane.
It was 20 straight laps of green flag action for the All Star Slingshots once they got the original start yellow out of the way and quite an early race battle it was with Alex Lagun and Lindsey Garl showing early race speed with Garl finally getting past Legun's # 86 on lap 7 as a new challenger was lurking not far behind her.Once Jason Dunkleberger slid past Legun,he quickly was gaining ground on Garl,but had to settle for a well run 2nd place payout.Lagun held strong to notch the final podium spot of 3rd.Tyler Ulsh had the speed to run with the leaders ,but not enough to get by them but still getting the big 4th place money.It was the 5th through 8th show with none of these spots finalized until the checkered was thrown as these 4 spots were separated by less than a second as Tucker Cole,just nudged current point leader Jax Yohn to the finish for 5th.Ryan Raidline and Joey Lyle wheeled and dealed to the finish with Raidline getting 7th and Lyle finishing 8th.The 20 lap distance was covered in 6:44.
If you were running at the front of the pack in the 600 micro main,it was a sign of possible bad luck to hit you.Race leaders Jacob Homnick and Wayne Scott both found misfortune turn their way as Homnick called it a night on lap 21 and early race leader Wayne Scott heading off the speedway on lap 19.The lead battle for the last 5 laps was a classic as Jarid Kunkle had to ward off all advances from Richie Hartman who tried different lines at each end of the speedway to pass Kunkle but to no avail.Kunkle took the win by .4 seconds.Last race winner Matthew Warner continued his impressive runs with a solid 3rd place finish.Another fine outing by one of the top 600 drivers had Adam Buchel taking the checkered in 4th.5th place went to BJ Antonio who marched through the field from his 20th starting spot to claim a well run 5th just getting by a steady Dakota Barlet in the final turns.Hard charger of the race had to go to Dan Lane,Jr. ,who qualified through the B Main to finish 7th in the final rundown.After heading to the rear of the field during the midstages of the race ,Aidan Svanda was on a mission to capture an Elite 8 finish and he did just that in his 76S.
There was nothing that was going to deny Mark Mohr from a victory lane appearance in the Stage 1 mod main and that held firm for the full 25 lap distance.CJ Fritz was starting to see light at the end of the tunnel as lapped traffic slowed Mohr down considerably,with Fritz needing a few more laps to change the finish outcome.A midrace rash of yellows and a nasty turn 3 flip by "Smooth" Mike Glass closed the field for the stretch run with Riley Wanamaker getting a photo finish for 3rd over a high side running Anthony Chrobak by just .15 seconds.Back starters A J Gerhart and Dylan Kontra made the most the of the race stoppages to get 5th and 7th with Owen Cassel having his 57 ahead of the Kontra 12K by .13 seconds.Another consistent top 8 finish for Stephen Smith III in his #88 hot rod.
You can start Louden Reimert anywhere in the 270 field and he will usually end up as a top 3 finisher and last night he started 7th and wasted no time at all coming through a stout field ,once bad luck struck race leader Dan Lane,Jr. on lap 3 and the upfront battle for 4 laps between Adam Buchel and Dakota Barlet with Barlet getting the top spot on lap 7,only to be the next yellow on lap 14 and a DNF.Stalking every Reimert move was Matt Hoffman who virtually had his 21H ride dialed in on every part of the speedway ,only to encounter the 88X of Richie Hartman to duel it out for 2nd in the final 3 laps with Hoffman getting the position.Matt McAnally continues to amaze as he wheeled the 36R to a 4th place finish from his 15th starting slot.Buchel could not maintain his early race speed but still had an impressive 5th place run.Josh Patterson literally nosed out "Sleeveless "Mike Kalman for a determined 6th place payout.Soldiering on from his 17th starting position Louis Horvath improved 9 positions for 8th.
The Junior Slingshot 25 lapper had quite a few strong outings with Griffin Hendershot setting a blistering early race pace as Colten Williams,Ryan Rochelle and Chase Schott were having their own little battle.Behind these 4 it was the Zimmer,Gular,Hahn show with these young racers giving the fans a show.Hendershot withstood all advances until lapped traffic had Chase Schott enter the picture.Schott got by both Hendershot and the lapped car off of turn 2 on lap 21 to march on to the waving checkered.Rochelle's bid for 2nd was thwarted by Hendershot by just .14 seconds.Zimmer was 4th and rounding out the top 5 was another strong effort by Dylan Hahn.Making his way back through the pack was Colten Williams who was sent to the rear and charging back for a 6th place showing.Chase Gular continues to impress as the 53 garnered 7th place money.Joining the final 8 was Miles Zehner holding off a last lap bid by Weston Doklan.
The final A Main of the night was the 125 micros and the 3 dominant cars and drivers of 2022 were in peak form as the top 3 in points finished that way after the 20 laps were completed.Steve Simmons had his # 16 out in the lead,but making contact with a lapped car,it put him to the rear of the field and set the way for the Dolan / Gerhart showdown.With laps clicking off at a brisk pace,Gerhart was searching for a quicker line on the high banks,but could only get to Dolan's rear tires and not past him.Dolan got a .16 second victory over Gerhart with Chase Layser entering the mix at the halfway signal.Layser had a 3rd place showing for his efforts.The Smith Racing Team continues to get top 8 runs with Jesse getting 4th and Jase scoring an 8th place slot.Shane Davis made 1 stab at notching the 4th spot in his # 13,but it was a 5th place evening for Shane.Celebrating his 13th birthday in style was Easton Miller,with a strong 6th in his 17e.Week after week,this driver finds a way of making the Elite 8 as the 22cw driver Chase Wehr just lost out for 6th to Miller.
The racing was action packed with a few 4 wides scattered throughout the evening,prepping for next week's Golden Hammer.
The staff of Shellhammer's has to thank from the bottom of our hearts,the Buchel # 10 Racing Team for their generosity in splitting their 50 / 50 winnings to 2 race teams by giving $71 to the 2nd place driver in the 600 A Main and $71 to the 2nd place finisher in the 270 A Main.Receiving that added money was Richie Hartman in the 600's and Matt Hoffman in the 270's.Both drivers expressed their sincere thanks when presented this added bonus at payout.
Coming up is the Golden Hammer on July 6th with big $$$ on the line and many race sponsors coming onboard for various awards in all 5 classes being run.
The Stage 1 Modifieds will have the night off.
121 entries were pit side with quite a few new faces stating they will be returning next week.
