Rex King, Carl Bowser and Alex Ferree reel in Titles with fourth wins of 2014
Rob Shook prevails as Fosnaught and McPherson tangle behind him
Sarver, PA (August 2, 2014) On another beautiful Friday Night of Fab Four Racing, our friends from the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club made their annual visit to the Action Track. And while the temps weren’t exactly typical of the Dog Days of Summer, the action on the track is really starting to heat up in all four divisions. Brian Swartzlander and Dave Murdick tangled in the opening laps of the Diehl Mods feature and surrendered the lead to Bud Points leader Rex King Jr. who then ran away with his fourth win of the season. AJ Flick led over a dozen laps on the way to what would have been his first Peoples TWP Sprint feature, only to give way to Brandon Matus and then Carl Bowser. Matus’s broke, but Bowser went on to chug the Turner’s Premium Iced Tea after his fourth win of the season. Alex Ferree battled Jared Miley in a late race restart that saw Miley surrender the lead as he slid off the top of turn two and Ferree cruise to his fourth win of the season in the Precise Late Models. Finally, Rob Shook sealed the deal this week after losing the lead in the final turn of the final lap last week to score his first Pic-A-Part Sportsman win of the season as points leaders Jim Fosnaught and Corey McPherson tangled behind him in turn three coming to the checkered flag.
The Diehl Auto Group DIRTcar Northeast Big Block Modifieds started the show with Brian Swartzlander alongside Jeff Miller on the front row and Dave Murdick started right behind Miller in third. Budweiser Points leader Rex King Jr. rolled to green from 10th on the starting grid after winning last week. Swartzlander took the early lead, but Murdick tried a slidejob on the lap five restart. The resulting contact sent Swartzlander sailing off turn four and Murdick was sent to the tail for rough driving. King had already made his way to fifth by the initial restart and thus third on the ensuing restart. King wasted little time as he took the lead in turns three & four and never looked back on the way to his fourth win of the season. He will carry a 23 point lead over his father and 37 points over Dave Murdick into next week.
Ransomville, NY’s Eric Rudolph made another visit to the Action Track and ran a rock solid second to King. Brian Swartzlander rallied from his early race incident to finish third ahead of Rex King Sr. in fourth. Tom Winkle finished fifth ahead of Steve Feder, Bob Warren, Rodney Beltz, Mike Turner and Tom Glenn. Dave Murdick was scored 15th as a DNF after charging back to third mid-race only to suffer mechanical failure. Heats were won by King Jr. and Swartzlander.
Third-generation star and Sprint division rookie AJ Flick started on the outside pole and appeared to be on a course to his first Peoples TWP DIRTcar Sprint win, only to see veterans Brandon Matus and Carl Bowser slide under him on late race restarts. Flick used a wicked slidejob in turn four to pass Mike Wagner to complete lap six; Wagner had just taken the lead from Cory Good two laps prior. Flick looked strong and confident on an open track and even through lapped traffic, but did not want to see a restart with Matus and Bowser on his tailtank. Matus’s slidejob was successful in turn two on the lap 20 restart, but Flick passed him back entering turn three as Matus slid up the track in turn four and then off the track in turn one with a broken tie-rod. On the lap 21 restart, Bowser used the same slidejob in turns one & two that Matus had to take the lead from Flick for good. His fourth win of the season extended his Budweiser Points lead to 44 over Brandon Matus who was scored as a DNF in 15th.
Flick held on to score his best finish of the season in second. Cory Good and Scott Priester in third and fourth also scored their best finishes of the season, while Mike Lutz tied his best finish of the season in fifth. Brent Matus, Michael Wagner, Dan Shetler, Bill Jones Jr. and George Hobaugh rounded out the top ten. Priester, Wagner and Bowser all won their respective heat races and Bill Jones Jr. won the B-Main.
Good guys Chuck Sarver and Chris Schneider led the Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Models to the green flag and Schneider took the early lead. Jared Miley, Alex Ferree, Mike Pegher Jr. and Russ King all started deep in the field. Fourth starting John Garvin Jr. took the lead the lap eight restart, but Miley was already to fifth and Ferree was sixth. By lap 10, Norris who started fifth, was second, Miley was third, Ferree was fourth and it was anyone’s race at that point. Norris tried to slide under Garvin in turns one & two on lap 13, but the move cost Norris his momentum as Miley and Ferree got by for second and third. You could have thrown a blanket over Garvin, Miley and Ferree battling for the lead as they entered lapped traffic on lap 16. Miley took the lead on lap 17, Ferree took the lead on lap 19 and then Miley took the lead back on lap 20. Instead of trading slide jobs with five to go in heavy lapped traffic, Ferree wisely fell in line behind Miley and they dispatched lapped traffic around the top of both ends of the track. By lap 24, they finally cleared lapped traffic, if even momentarily, but one final caution slowed the race as Michael Norris was facing the wrong direction on the grass inside turn one. On the restart, Miley and Ferree were door-to-door and while they did not make contact, Miley slid off the top of turn two and Ferree rocketed down the back straightaway on the way to his fourth win of the season and 29th of his career. In doing so, Ferree stretched his lead to 66 points over second place Russ King.
“Double Duty” Dave Murdick ran a real strong race in the Pitkavish #1 to finish second ahead of Miley, Garvin and Mike Pegher Jr. Russ King finished sixth, Brian Swartzlander was seventh, Colton Flinner beat his uncle John Flinner to the line for eighth and Chris Schneider rounded out the top ten. Michael Norris and Garrett Krummert claimed heat race checkers.
And then there was the Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman feature! Mike Miller and Rob Shook brought the Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman field to the green flag; each seeking their first feature win of the season. Miller took the lead at the green flag, but a front stretch melee involving several cars slowed the race with just three laps in. By that third lap, Fosnaught had already made his way to fourth place on the track and he took third from Terry Young on the restart. As Fosnaught battled Rob Shook, Miller pulled away, but a few cautions still lay ahead. On the lap 12 restart, McPherson moved to fourth as Shook took the lead with a great run into turns one & two. Fosnaught came to second on lap 15 and McPherson came to third on lap 17. A caution on lap 18 set the table for a thrilling final two laps.
On the first lap 18 restart, Fosnaught took a slight lead in turns one & two, but Shook had a big run off the top of turn two and held the lead down the backstretch only to see another caution wave for Eric Piotrowski and Jeff Miller in turn two. On the second lap 18 restart, McPherson, Fosnaught and Shook were just about three-wide coming out of turn two with Shook leading the way by a nose. Fosnaught and Shook were door-to-door exiting turn four with Shook leading at the stripe. Fosnaught slid up in front of Shook in turn two, but Shook crossed back under and charged back into the lead down the back straightaway. As the leaders entered turn three, Fosnaught appeared to slow entering turn three just enough that McPherson had to check up to avoid rearending him, but ended up driving into his left rear quarter panel and sending both drivers spinning out of contention. McPherson sailed off the top of the apex of turns three & four, while Fosnaught rolled backwards towards the bottom of the track as Shook motored away to his first checkered flag of the season. The incident cost Fosnaught a second place finish; instead he was a 16th place DNF. McPherson was disqualified for the night, (no points, no purse money), for intentional rough driving.
Lost in the chaos that followed was that Rob Shook’s persistence and consistency finally paid off with his first win of the season to go along with three runner-up finishes, 10 top fives and 12 top tens. Friday Night’s win was Shook’s first since July 6, 2012.
The last lap chaos also shook up the finishing order, as Shook, Young and Aaron Easler came to the checkered flag, but most of the rest of the field was scored as they finished the previous lap unless they stopped under caution; needless to say, it wasn’t the easiest situation to score. According to official MyLaps Sports Timing results, after Young and Easler in second and third, Mike Miller finished fourth and Pat Hanley finished fifth. Brett McDonald, Joey Zambotti, Paul Schreckengost, Stan Riggle and Wayne Carbo rounded out the top ten. Terry Young, Paul Schreckengost and Pat Hanley won their respective heat races. Shook’s win, Fosnaught’s 16th place finish and McPherson’s DQ has the points as such: Fosnaught leads Shook by 17 and McPherson by 36 with three races remaining on the schedule.
Fab Four Racing continues next week on Friday, July 8 with Nostalgia Night and the MRO Injured Driver’s Benefit Auction. Friday, July 15 is Turner Dairy Farm Night and everything comes to a close with Championship Night on Friday, August 22.