HEIMBACH SCORES FOR PORT ROYAL SPEEDWEEK LAURELS, NICK DICKSON TAKES LATES, DERON HENRY WINS FIRST IN ENDUROS
Port Royal – Blane Heimbach of Selinsgrove made it two sprint car wins in a row Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway when he made a pass with just over a lap to go to score the Pennsylvania Speedweek feature event worth $5,000.
In the 20-lap late model main, Nick Dickson drove to just his second career win at the track while Deron Henry took the enduro dash feature event.
Heimbach started second in the 30-lap speedweek feature race and took the lead over polesitter Doug Esh when the green flag appeared.
The first 13 laps of the event went non-stop with Heimbach entering traffic on the seventh tour with Esh, Stevie Smith, Mike Erdley and Lance Dewease chasing him.
Fast timer Logan Schuchart was the reason for the first caution flag with 17 laps to go when he stopped in the second turn.
And on the restart Esh pounced for control which he took before crossing the stripe as the new leader just before the red flag unfurled for a nasty first turn spill by Brent Marks.
Now with 14 laps recorded, Heimbach was second for the restart and when action resumed he watched as Stevie Smith bolted to his inside for second.
But Heimbach had the momentum of rolling the high side through the first and second turns and held onto the spot as the race went down the backchute.
For a time after the restart it seemed as if Esh might streak to this third win of the season at the track but then as the race hit its final 10 laps, Heimbach dropped off of the high groove to begin circling the middle of the track and that’s when he began really biting into Esh’s amassed advantage.
But it took until just before the white flag for Heimbach to regain control after the leaders again entered the rear of the field with seven laps to go.
With Esh circling the high outside of the speedway, Heimbach put a drive on low into the third turn as they headed for the white flag that saw him drive up in front of Esh in the middle of the corners only to see Esh turn the car and try to rally back running low off of the fourth turn.
But it was not to be for Esh as instead Heimbach went back to back in the 410-sprint division at Port Royal, scoring his third of the season at the track and second in a row after also winning on June 22 at the oval.
Esh crossed the finish line .847 seconds behind the winner followed by Smith, Erdley and Greg Hodnett.
Sixth through 10th went to Danny Lasoski, Fred Rahmer, Dewease, Steve Buckwalter and Dylan Cisney.
A series high 40 sprint cars entered the event with Schuchart setting fast time and collecting $200 from Packers Concessions for a lap of 16.528 seconds.
Heats went to Erdley, Hodnett, Rahmer and Heimbach with Nate Snyder scoring the B Main.
Hodnett took the speedweek series point lead with one race to go as the series concludes on Sunday night.
The top four in series points of Hodnett, Rahmer, Smith and Sam Hafertepe Jr. are separated by just 27 points in their quest for the title.
Chad Hollenbeck led the first five laps of the late model main before Dickson took over.
However once in front, Dickson had to hold on over repeated restarts including one with 13 laps to go that saw some 10 cars pile up just off of the second turn when Hollenbeck looped his car in front of nearly the entire field.
Mike Lupfer raced second over the final distance and had plenty of shots at Dickson for the lead but instead was forced to fend off restart challenges by Derek Byler to hold onto the runner up position.
With Dickson taking the win, Lupfer crossed the line second at the finish 1.033 seconds behind him.
Point leader Terry Naugle got by both Andy Haus and Byler during the closing laps to finish a strong run in third.
Byler was fourth and Haus ended up fifth.
Sixth through 10th went to AJ Hoffman, Brett Schadel, Eric Zembower, Patrick Bryner and Tim Wilson.
Heats for the 27-car field went to Byler, Naugle and Glenn Elliott with Schadel taking the consolation race.
The 20-lap enduro dash proved to be a survival of the fittest contest with Deron Henry taking the win before losing a wheel after crossing the finish line.
Before Henry got the lead, Bill Powell held control for the first eight laps before falling out of the race.
Jared Fulkroad took the lead after Powell’s misfortune but then he too gave up the lead to Henry with nine laps to go.
It was Henry’s first ever win in the enduro dash division.
Pete Leister finished second after Rich Adair gave up the spot late in the race.
Mark Aucker was third followed by Adair and Sharon Aucker.
July 6, 2013 feature finishes:
410 sprints, 30 laps, 40 entries: 1. Blane Heimbach, 2. Doug Esh, 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Mike Erdley, 5. Greg Hodnett, 6. Danny Lasoski, 7. Fred Rahmer, 8. Lance Dewease, 9. Steve Buckwalter, 10. Dylan Cisney, 11. Chad Layton, 12. Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13. Brady Bacon, 14. Mike Wagner, 15. Nate Snyder, 16. Davey Sammons, 17. Brent Marks, 18. Danny Dietrich, 19. Logan Schuchart, 20. Ryan Taylor, 21. Brian Montieth, 22. Cliff Brian, 23. Dave Hahn, 24. Joey Hershey
DNQ: Kyle Moody, Rodney Westhafer, Kyle Reinhardt, Eric Riggins Jr., Darren Mollenoyux, Bob Bennett, Daryl Stimeling, Jacob Allen, Trenton Scheaffer, Karl Baker, Curt Stroup, Aaron Ott, Mark Smith, Keith Kauffman, Rod Stroup, Dustin Baney
Late models, 20 laps, 27 entries: 1. Nick Dickson, 2. Mike Lupfer, 3. Terry Naugle, 4. Derek Byler, 5. Andy Haus, 6. AJ Hoffman, 7. Brett Schadel, 8. Eric Zembower, 9. Patrick Bryner, 10. Tim Wilson, 11. Harold Ranck, 12. Trent Brenneman, 13. Waylon Wagner, 14. Mike Mort, 15. Chaz Walls Sr,, 16. Mitch Hack, 17. Chad Hollenbeck, 18. Scott Flickinger, 19. Glenn Elliott, 20. Derek Casner, 21. Scott Haus, 22. Todd Snook, 23. Ken Stitt , 24. Chris Casner
DNQ: Chuck Haydt Jr., Bryon Sipe, Jason Schmidt
Enduro dash, 20 laps, 14 entries: 1. Deron Henry, 2. Pete Leister, 3. Mark Aucker, 4. Rich Adair, 5. Sharon Aucker, 6. Jesse Brown, 7. Devin Hart, 8. Jared Fulkroad, 9. Brady Cauffman, 10. Tyler Amtower, 11. Anthony Tumas, 12. Bill Powell, 13. Jason Davis, 14. Jason Zook