Even though bike races were held for
the children, action at New Castle's Hickory Speedway was concluded
at 9:00. Two of the winners were making repeat appearances in
victory lane with Russ Dunn winning his third in the SMODA Modifieds
and Chris Matthews claiming his second in the 305's. The other
two winners picked up first wins of the season. Bryan Shimek earned
his career first win in the Micro Sprints and Jim Hooks was back
in the saddle in the Stocks.
The SMODA Modifieds were the first feature
trackside. Jeff Haefke and Russ Dunn started on the front row
with Dunn coming out on top. He led the entire race, holding off
the challenges of Dale Fuller who had started third. Haefke would
eventually be relegated to fifth, unable to defend against the
challenges of Bob McCann and Jim Frontz. McCann had been charging
hard, working his way up from starting eleventh. Fuller and Dunn
won the heat races.
Next up were the 305 Sprint cars, lead
to the green by Chris Matthews and Brad Miller. Matthews took
the lead from the line and lead the entire race, lapping half
the field. By lap four, Goob Schuller had worked his way up to
third from starting eleventh. He would not advance any further
as engine problems sidelined him with five to go. Paul Long took
over the third spot when Schuller pulled off the track and held
onto the position for the rest of the race. Shawn Watkins followed
with Nathan Hines rounding out the top five. Matthews and Schuller
won the heat races.
Jim Hooks and Keith Nagy paced the Stock
feature. Hooks jumped into the lead and ended up posting a wire-to-wire
win. The sixth caution flag flew on lap 17 when Dwayne Clay and
Terry Kroner were involved in a turn two incident. The pair had
been running third and fourth when they collided. This allowed
Shaun Hooks, now up to third from twelfth, to focus on the leaders.
On the restart, Chuck Taylor gave everything he had to try and
pass Jim Hooks, but he couldn't quite do it. Shaun caught up in
the meantime and began challenging Taylor for second. It was unclear
who would come out on top, but Shaun crossed the line just a half
of a car length ahead of Taylor. Jim Davis finished fourth with
Bob McConnell. Hooks, Clay and Nagy won the heats.
Last, but not least were the Micro Sprints.
Bryan Shimek and Tim Graham shared the front row with Shimek taking
the lead from the green. Only one lap had been completed when
the red came out for Russ Kost. He flipped hard at the end of
the front stretch but was uninjured. Tom Jasen was second on the
restart, but J.J. Kapuchuck took over that spot just past halfway.
Jim Young had been weaving his way up from ninth and also passed
Jasen on the same lap. Jasen would finish the evening in eighth.
Shimek worked lapped traffic well and held on to the top spot
for the win. Kapuchuck was second, Young was third and Pup Nystrom
finished fourth. The hard charging award went to Craig Stephens
who managed to round out the top five after starting fifteenth.
Bike race winners were Gerald Best, Jeffrey
Haefke, Jeff Work, Chelsea Best, Josh McCrackin and Morgan Miller.
The winners in each age group got to take home a nice trophy.
Next Sunday is Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Night at Hickory. Monday, the 410 Sprints will take to the ¼-mile oval for a special show, along with the York Series SMODA Modifieds. (No Micro Sprints on Monday.) Be sure to come out for both days of action. New Castle's Hickory Speedway is located four miles east of New Castle on 108, Harlansurg Road.
SMODA MODIFIEDS: 1. Russ Dunn 2. Dale Fuller 3. Bob McCann 4. Jim
Frontz 5. Jeff Haefke 6. Shawn Domhoff 7. Chuck List Sr. 8. Casey
Allen 9. Bob Williams 10. John Strickler
305 SPRINTS: 1. Chris Matthews 2. Brad Miller 3. Paul Long 4.
Shawn Watkins 5. Nathan Hines 6. Maria Mayerchak 7. Doug Anderson
8. Paul "Bubba" Kapuchuck 9. Jeff Kasbee 10. Jim Kurpakus
STOCK CARS: 1. Jim Hooks 2. Shaun Hooks 3. Chuck Taylor 4.
Jim Davis 5. Bob McConnell 6. Matt Rubright 7. Gary Norman 8.
Keith Nagy 9. Rick Norco 10. Tony "Spaghetti" Buno
MICRO SPRINTS: 1. Bryan Shimek 2. J.J. Kapuchuck 3. Jim Young 4. Pup Nystrom 5. Craig Stephens 6. Brandon King 7. Tim Robertson 8. Tom Jasen 9. Karlan Miller 10. Jay Groves