Exciting Night at Shellhammer's

A Too Close For Comfort Night.

If you missed the racing at the Race Track by the River last night,you missed one of the most competitive nights in quite some time.Blanket finishes in qualifying,last lap passes for the win and some new faces headed to victory lane.

Let me say the top 5 in the Junior Slingshot race put on one helluva of a show and should be proud of their time on the high banks. Hailey Eroh outgunned Collin Carpenter for the race lead in the early going with Barry Seaman already to 3rd from his 7th starting spot by lap 5.Not to be counted out was a determined Aubrey Romig and point leader Chase Schott.On lap 10 Schott scooted up to 2nd and these 5 were not going to determine the outcome until the checker.Lap 19 found Eroh drifting a little high off of turn 4 with Schott taking the inside line heading into turn 1. Schott had the momentum into turn 3 taking the lead and the win.Romig found last lap speed to get by Seaman with Carpenter under the checker for 5th. Looking impressive in the 20 lap main was a 6th place finishing Cheyenne Snodderly.

Corey Harting had one thing to do from his front row starting spot and on lap 2 he did just that by passing Abby Witter to take the lead and get his 1st 125 micro win at Shellhammer's.It wasn't an easy win with challenges coming from Shane Davis,Easton Miller and a late race surge by AJ Gerhart.Miller got to 2nd on lap 9 with Gerhart shadowing his every move.With 3 laps to go John Maurer entered the picture and picked up 4 spots in the closing stages of the race to slot in for 4th with Davis getting 5th.

Car owner James Mohr supplied Jay Garris with a Stage 1 rocket and he proceeded to put it to good use. The polesitter saw another Mohr ride,the #9 of Matt Mertz aside him on lap 12 but was not going to be denied the win. As these 2 were off and running Stephen Smith III and Riley Wanamaker had their own little battle with Mark Mohr joining the fray on lap 13. Garris notched the win with Mertz 2nd.Wanamaker used a nice move in slower traffic to seal the deal for 3rd by just .2 seconds over Smith III.Mohr's last lap challenge to overtake Smith III on the final lap fell short with him getting 5th.AJ Gerhart improved 5th spots to get 6th.

Matt Hoffman put the past behind him and was not going to be overtaken for his 1st win of 2023,no matter what Louie Horvath,Sr and Richie Hartman threw at him in the 25 lap 270 main.A lap 1 yellow found Matt McAnally joining Jeff Ubel and Adam Buchel to the rear.The McAnally show began on lap 2 as the 45 went from 18th to 10th in 5 laps and still on the move.Jeffrey Confer was on rails in the 4J ride advancing 12 spots in the 1st 5 laps to be part of the top 5.Lap 8 found Hartman nosing out Horvath,Sr in turn 2 and setting his sights on race leader Hoffman.Alex Reinsmith was juggling 5th and 6th for the mid stages of the 25 lapper as him and Confer had a private duel.With 10 to go the McAnally show continues as he passes Reinsmith and Confer for 4th and still wanted more.Hoffman stretched his lead after lap 20 for the win over Hartman,as McAnally overtakes Horvath,Sr. for 3rd.Reinsmith got the 5th place payout over Confer.

If there was a race that was a position juggler it was the All Star Slingshots 20 lap A Main.James Benz stayed to the high side of Tucker Cole in turn 2 to show the way for the next 12 laps with Cole staying within striking distance.The fans were on "Relief Driver Lookout" as Dave Cordier III slotted in for 2022 point champion Lindsey Garl and vaulted into 3rd on lap 4 after starting 6th.The Benz / Cole party was now being joined by Cordier III,Tess Horvath and a hooked up 911C of Colton Williams.In 5 laps these 5 swapped positions every lap until the checkered was thrown.Cordier III passed Benz on lap 13 with Cole and Williams doing the same thing on lap 15.Nolen Layser entered the top 5 on lap 15 as Horvath fell to 6th. Cordier III distanced himself from Cole for the win with Williams getting the final podium spot.Benz took the Strapped In TV Show Driver of the Week free pit pass for his 4th place run ,just nosing out the fast closing Nolen Layser.Some late race speed slotted Wyatt Taschler and Matt Miller ahead of Horvath.

Not to be outdone, the night's closing 20 lap event for the 600 micros had a lap 1 red after a Damian Bower turn 2 tumble and a stalled 54 of Dakota Barlet on lap 6 to be the only race stoppages.It was truly a 5 car showdown for the full distance with Hartman being pressured by Trevor Kobylarz,who had to contend with Dan Lane,Jr. and Adam Buchel for the entire 20 laps.Having the best seat in the house was 5th place runner Trent Warner waiting for something to unfold in front of him.That was not going to happen as these 5 were joined by Chris Kurtz with 3 laps remaining.Kobylarz had a lap 18 lead pass attempt that just missed as Hartman secured his 2nd 600 win of 2023. Dan Lane,Jr. was 3rd just ahead of a steady Adam Buchel.Warner brought last week's winning car home 5th with Kurtz advancing 6 spots for 6th.

For those of you that didn't want to brave the cooler temperatures,you missed a fine racing program as the final checker was thrown at 10:06.

These guys and gals gave the fans their money's worth Track surface produced many 3 wide instances with many of the qualifiers just as exciting as the A Mains.

A big thank you to the race sponsors last night,Jimbo's Gutters,ERMS Racing,Mullet Man Racing,JMF Inc and Strapped In TV Show.

May 24th will see another Wingless Weds racing program at the Race Track by the River,Shellhammer Dirt Track.