SELINSGROVE, Pa. September 3 - Gary Stuhler of Greencastle drove a patient race from his 14th starting position and came away with the $10,000 victory in Sunday night's 63-lap Third Annual Selinsgrove Ford Paul Long Memorial for Late Models at Selinsgrove Speedway. The win was the third of Stuhler's career at the track and the ninth overall in 2006.
Dustin Hoffman of Richfield was the night's H&H Racing Equipment fast qualifier with a new one-lap track record of 19.822 (96.184 average MPH). Hoffman made track history by becoming the first driver to record a lap in the 19-second bracket for stock cars.
AJ Stroup of Evandale won his second 15-lap pro stock main event of the season.
Selinsgrove Speedway will present the final points race of the season at 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 9 for 358 sprint cars, late models, pro stocks and roadrunners sponsored by Apex Homes and Eastern Tree Service.
Second-place starter Tony Adams powered into the lead at the start of the late model main event. Adams was chased by polesitter JT Spence and sixth-place starter Ricky Elliott. Elliott passed Spence for second on the sixth circuit and began to close in on Adams. On the 12th circuit, Elliott made an inside pass by Adams in turns three and four to take the lead.
The event's first caution flag unfurled on lap 15 for a six-car pileup in turn one. All drivers escaped injury. When the race resumed, Elliott continued to set the pace with Adams, Spence and seventh-place starter and two-time defending Long Memorial champion Jeff Rine in pursuit.
On the 17th lap, Rine horsepowered his way into the second position and began to reel in Elliott. On the 25th lap, Rine passed Elliott for the lead in turn one. Rine's lead was short-lived, however, when his race car came to a stop in a cloud of smoke on the frontstretch a lap later.
Elliott was back in the lead at the expense of Rine's misfortune, with Adams, ninth-place starter Donnie Schick and fourth-place starter Chris Shuey in tow.
Elliott appeared to have the dominant race car for the duration of the event until engine failure ended his hopes of a victory on lap 50. At this point, 14th-place starter Gary Stuhler, who had been battling with Adams for the second position for many laps, inherited the lead position. Stuhler led the field the rest of the way, while Adams and Schick dueled for the runner up position. Adams finished second, while Schick settled for third. Shuey and Dustin Hoffman, who restarted the race following the lap 15 incident, rounded out the top five.
Fourth-place starter Brad Trump drove into the lead at the start of the pro stock feature. Trump was trailed by third-place starter Sammy Troup and 10th-place starter AJ Stroup. Stroup advanced to second on the 10th circuit and set his sites on race
leader Trump. On the 14th lap, Trump drifted high in turns three and four and Stroup made an inside pass for the lead. At the same time, 11th-place starter and seven time winner AJ Hoffman moved into second.
At the finish, Stroup was victorious by just .32 of a second over Hoffman, points leader Gary Beward, Larry Hare and Troup.
SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY SUMMARY - 3 September 2006
Late Models - 49 Entries
63-Lap A-Main: 1) 90 Gary Stuhler $10,000 2) 88 Tony Adams 3) 6 Donnie Schick 4) 21X Chris Shuey 5) 7 Dustin Hoffman 6) 91 JT Spence 7) 3 Tim Wilson 8) 64 Chris Wilkinson 9) U10 Bud Witmer 10) 21 Mike Bingaman 11) 99 Rick Singleton 12) 8L Scott Lebarron 13) F1 Colby Frye 14) 91 Ricky Elliott 15) 22D Travis Dillman 16) 68 Luke Hoffner 17) 92 Randall Paxton 18) 32 Jeff Smith 19) 2J Jeff Rine 20) 1W Billy Wampler 21) 215 Al Shawver, Jr. 22) 27 Jim Yoder 23) 2 Steve Campbell 24) 75T Terry Neitz 25) 76 Scott Haus
Time Trials: 1) Hoffman 19.822 NTR 2) Rine 20.076 3) Elliott 20.176 4) Schick 20.427 5) Yoder 20.499 6) 21X Shuey 20.659 7) Campbell 20.818 8) Shawver 20.845 9) Adams 20.856 10) Spence 20.905 11) Smith 20.915 12) Frye 20.918 13) Greg Fetters 20.945 14) Wilson 20.947 15) Robbie Smith 21.028 16) Stuhler 21.045 17) Haus 21.125 18) Wilkinson 21.135 19) Lebarron 21.184 20) Hoffner 21.189 21) Wampler 21.215 22) Dillman 21.271 23) Bingaman 21.317 24) Witmer 21.389 25) Neitz 21.424 26) Bobby Stokes 21.473 27) Dave Shulski 21.502 28) Rich Hulson 21.561 29) Alan Sagi 21.592 30) Singleton 21.599 31) Paxton 21.625 32) Brent Smith 21.688 33) DJ Myers 21.694 34) Brett Schadel 21.985 35) Mike Hess 22.090 36) Nate Kerstetter 22.161 37) Dave Reed 22.205 38) Eric Hons 22.327 39) Mike Atherton 22.483 40) Travis Mease 22.856 41) Glen Heddings 22.879 42) Gary Beward 23.194 43) Kyle Rhoads 23.353 44) Jeff Black 23.641 45) Steve Barnes 25.033 46) Jim Farley 25.360 47) Dale Kerstetter DNT 48) Roger Myers DNT 49) Bobby Croop DNT
Heat Winners: Gary Stuhler, Scott Haus, Ricky Elliott, Bud Witmer, Terry Neitz
C-Main Winner: Mike Hess
B-Main Winner: Donnie Schick
Pro Stocks - 32 Entries
15-Lap A-Main: 1) 26 AJ Stroup 2) 21 AJ Hoffman 3) 19 Gary Beward 4) 19H Larry Hare 5) 54 Sammy Troup 6) 5 Neil Langtry 7) 23 Jim Somers 8) 76 Brad Trump 9) 115 Troy Miller 10) 6 Dan Jensen 11) 28 Jason Smith 12) 7S Terry Shedden 13) 10M Brad Mitch 14) 28J John Bouse 15) 14B Dave Brouse Jr. 16) 7 Meade Hahn 17) 81 Todd Kiger 18) USA1 Lon Savage Jr. 19) 70 Bill Glass 20) 18 Roger Stoneroad 21) 99H Peanut Heintzelman 22) 27 Jess Trometter 23) 10 Gerald Kratzer 24) 1W John Wert Heat Winners: Brad Trump, Bill Glass, Sammy Troup, AJ Hoffman
Consolation Winner: Brad Mitch
