The racing at Shellhammer's last night had it's share of yellows and a few reds ,but when the green was waving,the well prepped track made for some 3 and 4 wide racing that keeps the fans coming back for more.
If someone said how close is close,the Junior Slingshots made their point as the top 5 were separated by less than 1 second as Colton Williams and Chase Schott had their 9 lap private battle invaded by some fast closing hot rods with Ryan Rochelle getting by Daniel Betz setting his sights on the front pair.2 laps later Parker Hendricks had the same idea also getting by Betz who went slightly high coming out of turn 4.With the checkered waving it was Williams,Schott,Rochelle,Hendricks and Betz separated by just .97 seconds.Miles Zehner felt no pressure coming home in 6th as TJ Roswell warded off the advances of Gavin Wolfe for 7th.
The 125's kept the excitement going with polesitter John Maurer looking like a sure shot winner until Chase Layser finally took command of 2nd on lap 14 from A J Gerhart and within 6 laps was looking to overtake Maurer for the win.These 3 would be the podium finishers ,but the run for 4th had to wait until lap 20 to be decided with Dan Lane,Jr.getting 4th ahead of Chris Dolan who went from 7th to 5th in 2 laps.Showing improvement with every outing is Dave Schroeder putting the X car in for 6th.Easton Miller slotted in for 7th with Jesse Smith just beating teammate Jase Smith for 8th
.
It was a bumper to bumper finish for the All Star Slingshots as Tucker Cole was literally shadowed by Nolen Layser for the full 20 laps as Layser's last lap effort left him just .3 seconds behind Cole's 44.Current point leader Lindsey Garl was a solid 3rd on the evening in her 17L.Former champion Dylan Hoch took a ride in the McCloskey team car and brought it to the finish 4th just ahead of Brett Bieber who rallied from the 12th starting slot and an early race yellow to get 5th.6th spot went to a quick closing Tyler Hoch with Luke McCloskey getting a 7th place payout.A steady run for George Manion had his # 14 in for 8th.Hard luck to Jax Yohn as the 24Y was a DNF while running in the top 5
.
With what possibly might be the fastest lap around the high banks in a micro Steven Snyder,Jr. got around the 1/8th mile in 8.794 seconds,but had to counter the advances of Matt Warner who tried a restart slide job that fell just short of working as the 21S took to the lowside of turn 2 to reclaim the top spot for which he would never give up enroute to the 600 micro checker.There wasn't a dull moment in the 25 lap main as Trevor Kobylarz and Trent Warner had a 4th place battle for 5 laps with Kobylarz getting clay in his wheel forcing him to fall back a few spots only to rebound in the later laps.With Snyder,Jr. out front Adam Buchel had his sights set on the runner up finish and after 4 circuits were completed he took the lowside under Matt Warner to get by.All eyes were now on point leader Richie Hartman who was involved in a lap 2 three car tangle and with 2 to go slipped under Trent Warner to get the 3rd place money..Top 5 were Snyder,Jr.,Buchel,Hartman,Trent Warner and Kobylarz gaining 2 spots in the last 2 laps for 5th,Matthew Warner got 6th ,just ahead of the 76 of JT Bierman who had Tyler Bowman and Matt McAnally trailing right behind.
If Stage 1 point leader A J Gerhart had a mirror he would have seen the # 4 of Bryce Dodig trying every line imaginable to get by his S1 coming to the checkered,once Dodig cleared the hot pink # 6 of Mike Glass.Riley Wanamaker was unchallenged in the late going to get 4th place money.5th through 7th was anybody's guess as Alexis Spatz,a heavily smoking #93 of Chad Riddle and Fabian Allaico-Cushman all were mixing up once the 5 lap sign was shown.They crossed the line in that order with Slingshot hot shoe Jax Yohn getting behind the wheel of the #18 to finish 8th.
With Louden Reimert starting in the front row of the 270 micro main,it was simply who got to turn 1 first on deciding the leader with Reimert out powering Jarrett Imler to claim the top spot,never to be headed.A lap 5 flip involving a 6th place running Brandon Confer,Richie Hartman and Ben Layser,would bring the field back together with quite a few drivers wheeling and dealing to gain some spots as Adam Buchel,Matt McAnally and Patrick Kirn got past Imler who now had to keep the 46 of Louis Horvath,Sr and Jeffrey Confer behind him. to claim the 5th spot,which he did.Making the final Elite 8 position was the 88X of Richie Hartman,who seemed to have had some handling issues after the lap 5 tangle.
It was a night where left tires were lifting regularly,3 and 4 wides were at both ends of the speedway and the red flag flew more times then any other night of the season.With 2 weeks remaining on the 2022 schedule,there isn't a scenario that is set in stone as some new faces are appearing in the top running spots,giving the fans another driver to cheer for.
The $25.00 Race Chasing Awards were presented to the 3rd place finishers if they sported the RC decal.If they took the Gambler's Bonus their reward was doubled.
