A beautiful spring night greeted the fans and the 104 race teams for the April 30th night of racing at Shellhammer Dirt Track.
The Junior Slingshots were the 1st class on the speedway for their 20 A Main and taking the win in the 10s was EJ Hatch. Hatch assumed command early and wasn't denied the win. 3rd place finishing Miles Zehner was a race challenger until getting passed by Hailey Burnatowski with 2 laps to go. Strong runs for 4th place finishing Gavin Wolfe in the 23G and 12th starter Nick Peters was in the top 5 after just 5 laps and held his own for the remaining 15 laps to soldier in for 5th. Some nice early season showings for 6th place running Mackenzie Henn and Joey DeNisi getting 7th.Lap 3 wasn't kind to Barry Seaman and Aubrey Romig who both pulled to the infield with Seaman running 2nd and Romig 6th.
Polesitter Easton Miller did not have an easy time getting the 125 micro win as last weeks winner Steve Simmons closed ground with 1 lap to go and if not for a last lap turn 4 bobble might have had his 2nd checker. Miller took the win over Simmons with Dylan Yeingst rebounding for a turn 2 flip to slot in for a podium finish of 3rd.Corey Harting and Mason Cantello rounded out the top 5.
Eleven Junior Sprints took to the high banks for their 20 lap A Main and had virtually no race stoppages with race winner Enzo Iudicello getting by Carter Green on lap 7 and holding off the challenges of Braylon Morris for a decisive 2nd win. Morris was 2nd with the next 3 cars under the checkers less than a second apart. Leading this trio for 3rd was Barrett Bressler with Andrew Ferriola besting Logan Schibilia by a front bumper for 4th. Early race leader Carter Green was 6th.
Former point champion Richie Hartman returned and was dominant in the 25 lap 600 micro main. 2nd place finishing Trevor Kobylarz was part of a mid race skirmish but quickly regrouped and worked his way past Geezer Fanelli and Karter Kunsman enroute for 2nd. Last weeks winner Adam Buchel also had to make a late race run from the back to get 4th with JT Bierman awarded 5th after Brantley Floczak was light at the scale. Matt McAnally's run to front was put on hold as the 37 pulled to the infield on lap 15 while running 5th. Geezer Fanelli's top 5 run came to a unfortunate end as fuel issues moved him back to 6th at races end. Hard luck went to Luke Hess who was running 2nd with 1 lap to go being collected by a fellow competitor and slotting in for 8th at the finish.
Brett Smith had the life of luxury for his Stage 1 Modified run as there was no one in his path to the checkers until hitting slower traffic on lap 11 and now having to ward off 2024 Stage 1 champion A J Gerhart for the win. He did just that with Gerhart getting 2nd.The 4 car battle behind this pair was intense as Dylan Hoch, Carter Mullins, Dakota George and Tyler Hoch were literally under a blanket for the last 5 laps with Dylan getting to the checkers just .3 seconds ahead of George as Tyler rallied by Mullins for 5th. Last weeks winner Johnny Fugelo had a quick night as he pulled the 5Teen into the infield on lap 1.
A spirited 270 micro main with 18 cars taking the green saw the early race shuffle between Dustin Roberts and Clinton Hauser last all 20 laps with Roberts getting the win by .102 seconds. Adam Buchel kept pace with the front running pair for a strong 3rd.The 4th place battle was the attention getter as Matt McAnally,Chris Dolan and Dylan Kuronya swapped spots almost every lap late in the race with Dolan and Kuronya getting by McAnally for 4th and 5th with Matt getting a 6th place payout. Early race scare by Matt Bangs who flipped 3 times off of turn 2 on lap 1 but was uprighted and finished the 20 laps in 11th.
With 21 All Star Slingshots taking the green it was Zack Gerber and Hailey Eroh setting a blistering pace with Eroh getting by Zack on lap 2.Behind this pair was Mason Pittenger,Daniel Betz Brett Bieber and Lucas Pittenger all taking different lanes around the high banks. Lap 17 found Bieber getting by Gerber for 2nd and Jocelynn Darinsig forging into the top 5 just behind Mason. A last lap caution changed the race completely as Eroh entered turn 1 a little high with Bieber finding racing room on the lowside. The pair raced side by side off of turn 2 with Bieber powering off of turn 4 to gain the advantage and the win. Eroh getting 2nd as Zack Gerber completed the top 3. Darinsig got by Pittenger on the last lap for 4th. Colton Williams had his 911C on cruise control the last 3 laps to earn a solid 6th at feature's end after starting 14th.Only 2 race stoppages for the 25 lapper.
Final checkered was thrown at 10:14 and everyone was paid and heading home by 10:45.
Vouchers sponsors for the evening were JMF Inc.,Berks Deck Builders,Sills Family Campground and RRK Maintenance LLC.
Wingless Weds. returns to Shellhammer Dirt Track on May 7th.
