SELINSGROVE, Pa. - June 10, 2006 - Pat Cannon of Etters held off current point leader Blane Heimbach of Selinsgrove for his first career win at Selinsgrove Speedway in Saturday night's 25-lap 358 sprint car race.
Brett Schadel of Herndon wired the field for his first career win in the 25-lap late model feature, while Gerald Kratzer of Selinsgrove won his first 15-lap pro stock race of the season. Donnie Murphy of Minersville won his third 12-lap roadrunner feature in a row.
Selinsgrove Speedway will present the Third Annual Joe Whitcomb Memorial for 358 sprint cars at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 17, plus late models, pro stocks and roadrunners. The Whitcomb Memorial will be 30 laps and pay $1,571 to win. Time trials, heats and a B-Main will be the format for qualifying.
At the start of the sprint car feature, 16th-place starter Cale Reigle took a violent series of flips out over the first turn guardrail. Reigle was not injured. When the race restarted, second-place starter Scott Tate powered into the lead and was chased by polesitter Chris Weiss. By the tenth circuit, 11th-place starter Pat Cannon advanced to third and set his sites on the leaders. On the 12th lap, Cannon stormed around the outside of Tate in turn four for the lead.
In the next several laps, Cannon stretched his lead to a straightaway advantage. Meanwhile, 15th-place starter Blane Heimbach drove his way into the top five and by lap 19 was racing second. The event's final caution flag unfurled on lap 20 when Weiss spun in turn four. The restart saw Heimbach slide under Cannon entering turn one, only to drift high in turn two and allow Cannon to reclaim the lead. Cannon then checked out from the field and posted a 2.12 second margin of victory.
Heimbach, Jake Raudabaugh, Jeff Furlong and Jamie Schwartz completed the top five.
Polesitter Brett Schadel and second-place starter Randall Paxton broke away from the pack at the start of the late model feature. The first lap saw Tony Adams, Kenny Trevitz and Rob Baker collide in the third turn. When the race resumed, Schadel continued to lead the way with Paxton racing a close second. Fifth-place starter Dustin Hoffman maintained the third position, while Bud Witmer raced fourth.
At the midway point of the event, Paxton moved into striking distance but could not find enough speed to get around Schadel. At the finish, Schadel was victorious over Paxton, Hoffman, Chris Shuey and Witmer.
Fourth-place starter Gerald Kratzer took the lead at the start of the pro stock feature. Kratzer was trailed by third-place starter Peanut Heintzelman for the duration of the race. Tenth-place starter Troy Miller advanced to third on the second circuit.
On the tenth circuit, 12th-place starter Gary Beward advanced to third, while a torrid battle for the lead developed between Kratzer and Heintzelman. At the finish, Kratzer was victorious by .34 of a second over Heintzelman, Beward, Miller and Chris Badger.
Fifth-place starter Donnie Murphy wired the field for his win in the roadrunner race. Seventh-place starter Ray Rothfuss maintained the runner up position until the eighth circuit, when ninth-place starter Brad Mitch advanced to second. At the finish, Murphy was victorious by .88 of a second over Mitch, Rothfuss, Keith Bissinger and Gary Kerstetter.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY - 10 June 2006
Sprint Cars - 31 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 3 Pat Cannon 2) 12 Blane Heimbach 3) 1J Jake Raudabaugh 4) 10 Jeff Furlong 5) 98 Jamie Schwartz 6) 3K Len Krautheim 7) 5 Nate Snyder 8) 4B Adrian Shaffer 9) 1 Adam Romig 10) 2 Jason Shultz 11) 63 Mike Walter 12) 9 Scott Tate 13) 1N Brian Nornhold 14) 5W Phil Walter 15) 99B Nyle Berkes 16) 81 Bob Beidleman 17) 21 Duane Mausteller 18) 29 Chris Weiss 19) 28 Keith Prutzman 20) 19 Jordan Frontz 21) 99 Kyle Bachman 22) 77 John Matrafailo 23) 1A Cale Reigle 24) 43 Doug Dodson (DNS)
Heat Winners: Chris Weiss, Scott Tate, Nate Snyder
Late Models - 23 Entries
25-Lap A-Main: 1) 0 Brett Schadel 2) 92 Randall Paxton 3) 7 Dustin Hoffman 4) 21 Chris Shuey 5) U10 Bud Witmer 6) 6 Donnie Schick 7) 27 Jim Yoder 8) 16 Brian Cochran 9) 12S Robbie Smith 10) 88X JR Kiefer 11) 61T Ken Trevitz 12) 215 Al Shauver, Jr. 13) 2J Jeff Rine 14) 4S Dave Shulski 15) 64 Chris Wilkinson 16) 1 Gary Beward 17) 14 Dave Reed 18) 8 AJ Stroup 19) 90 Kyle Rhoads 20) 00 Leo Bomboy 21) 88 Tony Adams 22) 38 Rob Baker 23) 45 Eric Hons (DNS)
Heat Winners: Dave Shulski, Tony Adams, Dustin Hoffman
Pro Stocks - 26 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1) 10 Gerald Kratzer 2) 99H Peanut Heintzelman 3) 19 Gary Beward 4) 115 Troy Miller 5) 13 Chris Badger 6) 7 Meade Hahn 7) 19H Larry Hare 8) 6F Frank Reisser 9) 14B Dave Brouse, Jr. 10) 14 Bill Conrad 11) 76 Brad Trump 12) 70G Bill Glass 13) 6 Dan Jensen 14) 4 Rob Baker 15) 5 Neil Langtry 16) 54 Sammy Troup 17) USA1 Lon Savage, Jr. 18) 83 Heath Moyle 19) 23 Jim Somers 20) 711 Jim Jursaich 21) 8 Jace Cresswell 22) 7X Jeff Rayson 23) 21 AJ Hoffman 24) 26 AJ Stroup
Heat Winners: Troy Miller, Gerald Kratzer, Jim Somers
Consolation Winner: Lon Savage, Jr.
Roadrunners - 20 Entries
12-Lap A-Main: 1) 23 Donnie Murphy 2) 10M Brad Mitch 3) 17 Ray Rothfuss 4) 11B Keith Bissinger 5) 05 Gary Kerstetter 6) 10 Tim Mitch 7) 27 Wayne Weist 8) 57 Mark Spencer 9) 19 Chad Davis 10) 69 Tim Campbell 11) 48 Matt Drum 12) 41 Dennis Conrad 13) 3 Chris Herman 14) 31 Brandon Shultz 15) 12 Doug Minium 16) 32 Matt Dutter 17) 1 Kyle Miller 18) 69 Scott Dunham 19) 9 Dave Kamp 20) 67 Anthony Munn (DNS)
Heat Winners: Gary Kerstetter, Ray Rothfuss
