Port Royal – Aaron Ott of East Berlin etched his name in the Port Royal Speedway opening day record books as the sprint car winner on Saturday night, staying in front of Nate Snyder and Lucas Wolfe for the $3,600 payday.
In the super late model main it was defending super late model champion Mike Lupfer of Shermansdale taking a $2,500 victory as sponsored by G N R Excavating and S & R Towing.
And in the 305 sprint main Lewistown’s Nate Gramley won his first career Port Royal feature.
Three attempts at a start of the 410 sprint feature were turned back, first for a tangle between Brad Howard and Blane Heimbach that sent Heimbach backing into the outside second turn wall.
Next it was second starter Dave Ely forcing the start back when as he raced with Ott for the lead in the third corner he lost the handle on the car and spun.
And then Greg Hodnett forced a restart on the next attempt at green when he connected with Mike Wagner as they raced onto the backstretch and careened toward the outside wall.
Ott took control once the race finally got going and entered the rear of the field on the sixth lap with Snyder, Wolfe and Logan Wagner in pursuit.
As the race headed toward the halfway point of the 25 circuit main, the front three cars all drew within striking distance of one another when Wolfe pulled the trigger on Snyder for second deep in the first corner.
In a hair-raising move, Snyder squeezed between the outside turn two wall and the right side of Wolfe’s car in order to slingshot back into second but the fracas between the two allowed Ott to open up a little distance.
Just then, as Snyder and Wolfe began to again reel in Ott, the yellow flag unfurled for a three car incident involving Wayne Dadetto, Curt Stroup and Steve Buckwalter.
On the restart, Ott streaked away from the field and the race that most were expecting for the win disappeared and Ott took the victory by 1.654 seconds.
Snyder finished a career-best second followed by Wolfe, Doug Esh and Mike Wagner.
Sixth through 10th went to Logan Wagner, Ryan Taylor, Davey Sammons, Dylan Cisney and Buckwalter.
Heats went to Wolfe, Ely and Snyder.
Mike Lupfer drew the pole for the start of the 22-lap super late model main and outraced Coleby Frye for the lead as the pair ran down the backstretch to complete the first circuit.
Frye raced Lupfer hard back to the line but Lupfer had the lead and it was a control he would not relinquish for the rest of the distance as he pretty much annihilated the field in the non-stop affair that saw third starter Dylan Yoder finish second as Frye faded late in the event.
In fact, Matt Parks who started eighth got around Frye for third near the finish with Frye ending up fourth and Tim Wilson rounding out the top five.
Sixth through 10th went to Nick Dickson, Andy Haus, Tim Smith Jr., Patrick Bryner and Justin Kann.
Heats went to Yoder and Kann.
A stopped Sean Kirkpatrick stalled the initial start of the 18-lap 305 sprint feature before Gramley could start his run at the front.
On the second circuit Tyler Reaser drove around Gramley in the first corner only to have Gramley wrestle the lead away down the backchute to lead the field back to the stripe.
Shortly after, with four laps recorded, Reaser’s good run came to and end when he stopped on the track, placing Cory Thornton in second.
Gramley would go on to win while defending Port Royal 305 champion Jeff Miller worked the field, taking over second with six laps to go.
A restart with two laps to go bunched the field but Miller was no match for Gramley to the finish.
Third went to Thornton followed by Scott Ellerman and Bill Jones Jr..
Sixth through 10th went to Zach Newlin, Jake Waters, Ken Duke, Cale Reigle and James Pryde.
Heats went to Ellerman and Gramley.
Race Results:
Feature Finishes
4/4/15
410 sprints, 25 laps: 1. Aaron Ott, 2. Nate Snyder, 3. Lucas Wolfe, 4. Doug Esh, 5. Mike Wagner, 6. Logan Wagner, 7. Ryan Taylor, 8. Davey Sammons, 9. Dylan Cisney, 10. Steve Buckwalter, 11. Joey Hershey, 12. Wayne Dadetto, 13. Curt Stroup, 14. Dave Hahn, 15. Tyler Bear, 16. Brad Howard, 17. Rick Lafferty, 18. Daryl Stimeling, 19. David Quackenbush, 20. Blane Heimbach, 21. Greg Hodnett, 22. Dave Ely
DNS: Brock Zearfoss
Late models, 22 laps: 1. Mike Lupfer, 2. Dylan Yoder, 3. Matt Parks, 4. Coleby Frye, 5. Tim Wilson, 6. Nick Dickson, 7. Andy Haus, 8. Tim Smith Jr., 9. Patrick Bryner, 10. Justin Kann, 11. Mitch Hack, 12. Trent Brenneman, 13. Jason Schmidt, 14. Waylon Wagner, 15. Eric Zembower, 16. Scott Flickinger, 17. Cole Amsden, 18. Tony Adams, 19. Mike Mort
305 sprints, 18 laps,: 1. Nathan Gramley, 2. Jeff Miller, 3. Cory Thornton, 4. Scott Ellerman, 5. Bill Jones Jr., 6. Zach Newlin, 7. Jake Waters, 8. Ken Duke, 9. Cale Reigle, 10. James Pryde, 11. Jim Kennedy, 12. Bradley Mellott, 13. Cody Hackenberry, 14. Tyler Reeser, 15. Dave Guss Jr., 16. Sean Kirkpatrick