APPLESEED CLASSIC PRODUCES PAIR OF FIRST-TIMERS AND PAIR OF REPEATERS
Busy 24-Event Program Presented by Miller Lite Attracts Stellar 129-Car Field
ROSSBURG, OH (May 26) – A pair of new names were etched into the Johnny Appleseed Classic by Miller Lite record books Sunday night at Eldora Speedway, while another pair of veterans returned to familiar roots on the coveted Eldora stage. Ruling over a jammed pit area of 129 race teams were Jeff Babcock (Sunoco American Late Model Series) and Ron Blair (NRA Sprint Invaders) for their initial wins, while Brian Ruhlman (UMP DIRTcar Modifieds) and Paul Pardo (Stock Cars) added to their Eldora win totals.
The Sunoco ALMS 25-lap chase was slowed by only one caution, but for young sensation Jacob Hawkins that was one caution too many. After chasing down and reeling in early race leader, and eventual winner, Babock, Hawkins had just completed a well executed pass for the lead when defending UMP DIRTcar Late Model champion Rusty Schlenk dropped off the pass and looped it in turn three.
With scoring reverting back to the previously completed lap, Babcock re-inherited the top spot. A double-file restart line-up gave Hawkins a second chance, but with Babcock taking the more preferred high line on the .500-mile clay oval on the restart, he was able to get the jump on the reappearing green flag. He took with him Jonathan Davenport as Hawkins slipped back to third.
That set up a wild three-car battle for the victory bragging rights, as no less than six cars engaged in a similar chase behind them.
Babcock maintained a smooth line through lapped traffic as the checkered flag approached and it couldn’t come any sooner, as Hawkins finally cleared Davenport with two laps remaining and had his sights on taking back the premier position. Time ran out, allowing Babcock to get his initial ALMS win at Eldora. Hawkins registered his best-ever Eldora Late Model run for runner-up honors, followed in close pursuit by Davenport, defending Eldora Late Model champion Jeep VanWormer and Kent Robinson.
Blair has knocked on the Eldora doors of victory many times, but had never been ever to cross the threshold until Sunday evening. His preliminary entrance was nothing short of spectacular.
At the dropping of the green flag he shot as if out of cannon into the early lead to set a blistering pace around the quick oval. In doing so, he dropped Darren Long into second, with Butch Schroeder in third. Within three laps, Schroeder advanced into the runner-up slot, but the car on the move was Brandon Wimmer; coming from his seventh starting slot.
Only one caution, for a stopped Gregg Dalman, bunched up the field. When the racing action resumed, it was Blair again the class of the field. Schroeder used lapped traffic and his many years of Eldora experience to narrow the gap in the waning laps, but time was against him, as an excited Blair captured Eldora win number one. Schroeder and Wimmer followed in second and third, with Jared Horstman and Ryan Ruhl completing the top five.
Ruhlman was making his first Modified visit of the 2013 Eldora season, as was defending champion Joey Kramer; yet both looked as if they had never left. Ruhlman inherited the early lead, as Kramer tucked in behind to mount a serious challenge for the top spot. Ruhlman was not to be denied on the multi-grooved surface as he kept Kramer at bay throughout the 18-lap distance. Rounding out the top five behind them were Collin Thirlby, Jon Henry and Jacoby Hines.
Attrition played havoc in the Stock Car finale, but through it all, Paul Pardo maintained mastery out front to clinch his first 2013 Eldora triumph. Jeremy Creech remained within striking distance throughout the chase, but Pardo was not to be denied. Adam Schaeff crossed the line in third for his best-ever Eldora run, while Earnie Woodard and young charger Jordan Conover completed the top five at the checkered flag, which completed a wild 24-event program.
Eldora now prepares for the $304,000 Dirt Late Model Dream by Ferris Commercial Mowers, set for June 6,7 and 8. Tickets and campsites for that event, and others on the busy Eldora slated, may be purchased online at www.EldoraSpeedway.com at any time of the day or night; or by calling the speedway office (937) 338-3815 during normal business hours.
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Event: JOHNNY APPLESEED CLASSIC BY MILLER LITE
Date: May 26, 2013
UMP DIRTcar Late Model
TIME TRIALS 1 – 1. 00K-Chris Keller [1]; 2. 36-Matt Irey [2]; 3. 4S-Rob Starkey [3]; 4. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [4]; 5. 49D-Jonathan Davenport [5]; 6. 49-Brian Ruhlman [6]; 7. 25S-Jason Smith [7]; 8. 46-Tim Rivers [8]; 9. 7R-Kent Robinson [9]; 10. 91S-Rusty Schlenk [10];
TIME TRIALS 2 – 1. 15A-Phil Ausra [1]; 2. 1J-Jeff Babcock [2]; 3. 1N-Casey Noonan [3]; 4. 88-Andrew Reaume [4]; 5. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [5]; 6. 19-Chad Smith [6]; 7. 34R-Herb Reich [7]; 8. M14-Brandon Thirlby [8]; 9. 13G-Andy Galgoci [9]; 10. 21B-Rich Bell [10];
TIME TRIALS 3 – 1. 32S-Chad Stapleton [10]; 2. 87-Richard Neiser [1]; 3. 2-Justin Chance [2]; 4. 75M-Dusty Moore [3]; 5. 11S-Ryan Sutter [4]; 6. 13-Jr Hotovy [5]; 7. 77K-Steve Kester [6]; 8. 42*-Bob Mayer [7]; 9. 79U-Shane Unger [8]; 10. 33-Don Gordon [9];
TIME TRIALS 4 – 1. 15H-Jon Henry [1]; 2. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [3]; 3. 20H-Jacob Hawkins [8]; 4. 555-Justin Coulter [6]; 5. 3-Matt Miller [4]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr [2]; 7. 89-Mike Spatola [9]; 8. 11R-James Rice [10]; 9. 9G-Larry Greer [5]; 10. RH21-Gregg Haskell [7];
HEAT 1 – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [1]; 2. 49D-Jonathan Davenport [3]; 3. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [4]; 4. 7R-Kent Robinson [2]; 5. 46-Tim Rivers [5]; 6. 25S-Jason Smith [6]; 7. 00K-Chris Keller [9]; 8. 4S-Rob Starkey [8]; 9. 36-Matt Irey [10]; 10. 91S-Rusty Schlenk [DNF];
HEAT 2 – 1. 1J-Jeff Babcock [3]; 2. 88-Andrew Reaume [6]; 3. 1N-Casey Noonan [1]; 4. M14-Brandon Thirlby [5]; 5. 19-Chad Smith [2]; 6. 15A-Phil Ausra [10]; 7. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [4]; 8. 21B-Rich Bell [7]; 9. 13G-Andy Galgoci [8]; 10. 34R-Herb Reich [9];
HEAT 3 – 1. 13-Jr Hotovy [3]; 2. 32S-Chad Stapleton [6]; 3. 75M-Dusty Moore [4]; 4. 77K-Steve Kester [1]; 5. 2-Justin Chance [5]; 6. 33-Don Gordon [9]; 7. 79U-Shane Unger [10]; 8. 87-Richard Neiser [DNF]; 9. 11S-Ryan Sutter [DNF]; 10. 42*-Bob Mayer [DNF];
HEAT 4 – 1. 20H-Jacob Hawkins [2]; 2. 3-Matt Miller [5]; 3. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [3]; 4. 15H-Jon Henry [4]; 5. 89-Mike Spatola [7]; 6. 11R-James Rice [8]; 7. 9G-Larry Greer [9]; 8. RH21-Gregg Haskell [10]; 9. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr [DNF]; 10. 555-Justin Coulter [DNF];
B-FEATURE 1 – 1. 46-Tim Rivers [1]; 2. 2-Justin Chance [2]; 3. 91S-Rusty Schlenk [11]; 4. 25S-Jason Smith [3]; 5. 00K-Chris Keller [5]; 6. 11S-Ryan Sutter [10]; 7. 36-Matt Irey [9]; 8. 79U-Shane Unger [6]; 9. 4S-Rob Starkey [DNF]; 10. 33-Don Gordon [DNS]; 11. 87-Richard Neiser [DNS]; 12. 42*-Bob Mayer [DNS];
B-FEATURE 2 – 1. 89-Mike Spatola [2]; 2. 19-Chad Smith [1]; 3. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [5]; 4. 13G-Andy Galgoci [9]; 5. 555-Justin Coulter [12]; 6. 34R-Herb Reich [11]; 7. 15A-Phil Ausra [DNF]; 8. 21B-Rich Bell [DNF]; 9. RH21-Gregg Haskell [DNF]; 10. 11R-James Rice [DNF]; 11. 9G-Larry Greer [DNS]; 12. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr [DNS];
A FEATURE – 1. 1J-Jeff Babcock [2]; 2. 20H-Jacob Hawkins [4]; 3. 49D-Jonathan Davenport [5]; 4. 55-Jeep Vanwormer [9]; 5. 7R-Kent Robinson [13]; 6. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [12]; 7. 88-Andrew Reaume [6]; 8. 3-Matt Miller [8]; 9. 49-Brian Ruhlman [1]; 10. 13-Jr Hotovy [3]; 11. 15H-Jon Henry [16]; 12. 89-Mike Spatola [18]; 13. 75M-Dusty Moore [11]; 14. 32S-Chad Stapleton [7]; 15. 1N-Casey Noonan [10]; 16. 77K-Steve Kester [15]; 17. M14-Brandon Thirlby [14]; 18. 19-Chad Smith [20]; 19. 15A-Phil Ausra [22]; 20. 46-Tim Rivers [17]; 21. 2-Justin Chance [DNF]; 22. 91S-Rusty Schlenk [DNF];
NRA Sprint
TIME TRIALS – 1. 22H-Randy Hannagan [14.216]; 2. 7KD-Cole Duncan [14.460]; 3. 17-Jared Horstman [14.538]; 4. B20-Butch Schroeder [14.541]; 5. 16-Ryan Ruhl [14.548]; 6. 11-Tim Allison [14.629]; 7. 35-Ron Blair [14.638]; 8. 7-Darren Long [14.648]; 9. 9W-Brandon Wimmer [14.653]; 10. 49-Shawn Dancer [14.669]; 11. 18-Todd Heuerman [14.699]; 12. 16C-Greg Wheeler [14.737]; 13. 2S-Kyle Sauder [14.740]; 14. 220Z-Aaron Shaffer [14.758]; 15. 00N-Jim Nier [14.774]; 16. 00-Ryan Grubaugh [14.775]; 17. 28H-Hud Horton [14.786]; 18. 2MD-Dustin Daggett [14.822]; 19. 27-Beau Stewart [14.842]; 20. 49T-Gregg Dalman [14.862]; 21. 6JS-Jr Stewart [14.896]; 22. 12-Kent Wolters [14.918]; 23. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [14.927]; 24. 34H-Luke Hall [14.933]; 25. 31-Andy Teunnessen [14.965]; 26. 12R-Nick Roberts [15.148]; 27. 23-Devon Dobie [15.148]; 28. 23G-Joe Geibe [15.368]; 29. 27K-Ryan Kirkendall [15.531]; 30. 20A-Andy Chehowski [15.603]; 31. 46-Robert Huisken [15.622]; 32. 19-Jimmy Snead [16.161]; 33. 4-Eric Smith [16.674];
HEAT 1 – 1. 9W-Brandon Wimmer [4]; 2. 6JS-Jr Stewart [1]; 3. 16-Ryan Ruhl [5]; 4. 28H-Hud Horton [2]; 5. 31-Andy Teunnessen [7]; 6. 4-Eric Smith [9]; 7. 2S-Kyle Sauder [DNF]; 8. 22H-Randy Hannagan [DNF]; 9. 27K-Ryan Kirkendall [DNF];
HEAT 2 – 1. 2MD-Dustin Daggett [2]; 2. 49-Shawn Dancer [4]; 3. 7KD-Cole Duncan [6]; 4. 12-Kent Wolters [1]; 5. 23-Devon Dobie [7]; 6. 220Z-Aaron Shaffer [3]; 7. 11-Tim Allison [5]; 8. 20A-Andy Chehowski [8];
HEAT 3 – 1. 27-Beau Stewart [2]; 2. 35-Ron Blair [5]; 3. 00N-Jim Nier [3]; 4. 17-Jared Horstman [6]; 5. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [1]; 6. 18-Todd Heuerman [4]; 7. 12R-Nick Roberts [7]; 8. 46-Robert Huisken [8];
HEAT 4 – 1. B20-Butch Schroeder [6]; 2. 49T-Gregg Dalman [2]; 3. 34H-Luke Hall [1]; 4. 7-Darren Long [5]; 5. 16C-Greg Wheeler [4]; 6. 19-Jimmy Snead [8]; 7. 23G-Joe Geibe [7]; 8. 00-Ryan Grubaugh [DNF];
B-FEATURE – 1. 18-Todd Heuerman [3]; 2. 23-Devon Dobie [10]; 3. 16C-Greg Wheeler [4]; 4. 11-Tim Allison [2]; 5. 00-Ryan Grubaugh [7]; 6. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [8]; 7. 31-Andy Teunnessen [9]; 8. 220Z-Aaron Shaffer [6]; 9. 46-Robert Huisken [15]; 10. 23G-Joe Geibe [12]; 11. 12R-Nick Roberts [DNF]; 12. 20A-Andy Chehowski [14]; 13. 19-Jimmy Snead [16]; 14. 22H-Randy Hannagan [DNS]; 15. 2S-Kyle Sauder [DNS]; 16. 27K-Ryan Kirkendall [DNS]; 17. 4-Eric Smith [DNS];
A FEATURE – 1. 35-Ron Blair [2]; 2. B20-Butch Schroeder [4]; 3. 9W-Brandon Wimmer [7]; 4. 17-Jared Horstman [5]; 5. 16-Ryan Ruhl [3]; 6. 2MD-Dustin Daggett [11]; 7. 49-Shawn Dancer [8]; 8. 7-Darren Long [1]; 9. 18-Todd Heuerman [17]; 10. 7KD-Cole Duncan [6]; 11. 00N-Jim Nier [9]; 12. 27-Beau Stewart [DNF]; 13. 6JS-Jr Stewart [DNF]; 14. 12-Kent Wolters [DNF]; 15. 28H-Hud Horton [DNF]; 16. 23-Devon Dobie [DNF]; 17. 16C-Greg Wheeler [DNF]; 18. 11-Tim Allison [DNF]; 19. 34H-Luke Hall [DNF]; 20. 49T-Gregg Dalman [DNF];
UMP DIRTcar MODIFIED
HEAT 1 – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [2]; 2. 115-Jacoby Hines [7]; 3. 67-Eddie Shaner [1]; 4. 26-Mike Dirksen [4]; 5. 1SB-Steve Billenstein [9]; 6. 55-Clayton Smith [6]; 7. 5X-Tim Richardson [8]; 8. 24-Terry Grillot [3]; 9. 91-Adam Thrush [DNS];
HEAT 2 – 1. 188-Aaron Orr [1]; 2. 47-Collin Thirlby [6]; 3. 20-Josh Morton [2]; 4. 18-Ryan Sutter [3]; 5. 55S-Zach Schroeder [4]; 6. 4J-David Treon, Jr [5]; 7. 79-Shane Unger [8]; 8. 04-Aaron Raby [9]; 9. 0A-Derrick Austin [7];
HEAT 3 – 1. 77-Joey Kramer [1]; 2. 45P-Brian Post [2]; 3. 5XB-Jerry Bowersock [5]; 4. 54-Matt Westfall [7]; 5. 35-Tim Cornett [8]; 6. 31J-John Brooks [3]; 7. 36-Brandon Vaughan [DNF]; 8. 82-Jacob Poel [DNS]; 9. 1SW-Scott Williams [DNS];
HEAT 4 – 1. 23J-Jon Henry [1]; 2. 15-Nick Katterhenry [2]; 3. 7B-Jeff Babcock [8]; 4. 29-Mark Kowarsch [5]; 5. 15H-Jeff Hamby [3]; 6. 0-Brent Hole [7]; 7. 21T-Tom Treon [6]; 8. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [DNS];
B-FEATURE 1 – 1. 1SB-Steve Billenstein [1]; 2. 1SW-Scott Williams [10]; 3. 5X-Tim Richardson [5]; 4. 36-Brandon Vaughan [6]; 5. 91-Adam Thrush [9]; 6. 24-Terry Grillot [7]; 7. 35-Tim Cornett [DNF]; 8. 55-Clayton Smith [DNF]; 9. 31J-John Brooks [DNF]; 10. 82-Jacob Poel [DNS];
B-FEATURE 2 – 1. 55S-Zach Schroeder [1]; 2. 04-Aaron Raby [7]; 3. 0A-Derrick Austin [9]; 4. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [8]; 5. 79-Shane Unger [5]; 6. 15H-Jeff Hamby [2]; 7. 0-Brent Hole [DNF]; 8. 21T-Tom Treon [DNF]; 9. 4J-David Treon, Jr [DNF];
A FEATURE – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [1]; 2. 77-Joey Kramer [3]; 3. 47-Collin Thirlby [6]; 4. 23J-Jon Henry [4]; 5. 115-Jacoby Hines [5]; 6. 5XB-Jerry Bowersock [11]; 7. 45P-Brian Post [7]; 8. 54-Matt Westfall [15]; 9. 18-Ryan Sutter [14]; 10. 188-Aaron Orr [2]; 11. 29-Mark Kowarsch [16]; 12. 15-Nick Katterhenry [8]; 13. 36-Brandon Vaughan [23]; 14. 04-Aaron Raby [20]; 15. 91-Adam Thrush [25]; 16. 20-Josh Morton [10]; 17. 1SW-Scott Williams [19]; 18. 1SB-Steve Billenstein [17]; 19. 26-Mike Dirksen [13]; 20. 0A-Derrick Austin [22]; 21. 67-Eddie Shaner [9]; 22. 5X-Tim Richardson [DNF]; 23. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [DNF]; 24. 55S-Zach Schroeder [DNF]; 25. 7B-Jeff Babcock [DNS];
STOCK CAR
HEAT 1 – 1. 82-Chris Douglas [4]; 2. 17-Jeremy Creech [3]; 3. 5G-Anthony Goode [2]; 4. 51-Cody Timmerman [7]; 5. 19-Wayne Williams [DNF]; 6. 8C-Brad Conover [DNF]; 7. 53-Jan Launder [DNF]; 8. 5W-Craig Swartz [DNS];
HEAT 2 – 1. 410-Paul Pardo [4]; 2. 00-Dean Pitts [1]; 3. 49-Eric Sandlin [2]; 4. 36-Adam Schaeff [6]; 5. 23-Casey Barr [7]; 6. 65-Rodney Lacey [5]; 7. 58-Alex Peace [DNF];
HEAT 3 – 1. 71C-Barney Craig [2]; 2. 7-Jordan Conover [1]; 3. 61-Rob Trent [3]; 4. 7D-Dan Wooten [4]; 5. 20-Shawn Phillippi [5]; 6. 01-Earnie Woodard [7]; 7. 77-Corey Wooten [DNF];
A FEATURE – 1. 410-Paul Pardo [7]; 2. 17-Jeremy Creech [5]; 3. 36-Adam Schaeff [11]; 4. 01-Earnie Woodard [18]; 5. 8C-Brad Conover [16]; 6. 20-Shawn Phillippi [15]; 7. 7-Jordan Conover [3]; 8. 71C-Barney Craig [6]; 9. 19-Wayne Williams [13]; 10. 82-Chris Douglas [8]; 11. 23-Casey Barr [14]; 12. 58-Alex Peace [20]; 13. 00-Dean Pitts [4]; 14. 65-Rodney Lacey [DNF]; 15. 53-Jan Launder [DNF]; 16. 51-Cody Timmerman [DNF]; 17. 5G-Anthony Goode [DNF]; 18. 61-Rob Trent [DNF]; 19. 49-Eric Sandlin [DNF]; 20. 7D-Dan Wooten [DNF]; 21. 77-Corey Wooten [DNS]; 22. 5W-Craig Swartz [DNS];