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Trail-Way Speedway results 2003-07-11

HANOVER, PA, 7/11/03 - They'll soon be looking for a nickname for the son of "Daring Dan." Rim-Riding Billy Dietrich stormed to his third win of the year in the 20-lap "358" sprint feature at Trail-Way Speedway Friday night. Billy's impressive win ...

Edited: Jul 15, 2003, 3:24 AM

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HANOVER, PA, 7/11/03 - They'll soon be looking for a nickname for the son of "Daring Dan." Rim-Riding Billy Dietrich stormed to his third win of the year in the 20-lap "358" sprint feature at Trail-Way Speedway Friday night.

Billy's impressive win salvaged the night for the Dietrich team, which lost a car when Billy's dad Dan took a violent series of flips on the front stretch on the original start. Dan was uninjured when his car made contact with the 22D of two-time winner Jeff Young and hit the outside wall just beyond the flag stand. His flipping car also collected the sprinters of Scott Tate, Brian Allman, and Brian Eichelberger, all three cars which had to be towed from the scene. Dietrich's car was upside down when it stopped flipping, and Young's car came to a stop with front end damage on turns one and two.

Dan's crash moved Billy up to the inside of row three for the restart, and he wasted little time getting to the front. He was second behind polesitter Tony Strine by the end of the first lap, and the winner took the race lead on lap two.

"It was a little bit of a rough night for us," said Dietrich upon exiting the Shellhamer's Hay & Straw/Racers Used Parts Warehouse No.8D, "but we'll be back. We have three cars here, but everybody helps out. I want to thank Dad and the crew. They do an outstanding job."

Though they ran up front the whole way, points leader Brad McClelland, Dale Hammaker, and Mike Bittinger were never able to challenge Dietrich, who ran the cushion the whole way around, whose final margin of victory was 3.59 seconds.

"The top is where it's at," said Dietrich when asked about his rim-riding style, "it's more exciting up there!" McClelland grabbed the runner-up spot from Strine on lap four, with Hammaker moving by Strine for third on lap six. Bittinger passed both Danny Dietrich and Strine to move into fourth on lap ten. Those three ran second through fourth until the last lap, when Hammaker drove around McClelland, whose right rear tire was going flat. McClelland was able to edge Bittinger by inches for third, with Woody Linton completing the top five. Sixth through tenth were Rory Janney, Danny Dietrich (who came from the back after a 15th-lap spin), Bill Case, Jr. (collected by Danny in the same spin), Rusty Rupp, and Neal Amspacher (who spun on lap 12). Strine was still running fifth when he dropped to the infield with mechanical problems on lap 16. He was credited with a 12th-place finish.

Dietrich's win broke a tie with Darren Eash, making him the division's all-time winningest driver at the Hanover oval.

"This track was awesome," said Dietrich, "I see we're getting some more people here, and that's what it's all about."

Heats for the 23 "358" sprints on hand were won by Billy Dietrich, Danny Dietrich, and Bittinger. Dan Richcreek won the consolation event.

Gettysburg's Craig Wagaman also dominated in the 20-lap thundercar feature, coming from the outside of row four to grab the top spot from outside front row starter and early-race leader Mike Glatfelter on lap six and driving away from the rest of the field. Polesitter Chad Myers of Hampstead, Maryland, faded to fourth by lap three, but advanced to second when third-place Gladfelter suffered a flat and second-place Dale Hunt dropped into the pits during an eighth-lap caution for Bobby Beard, who came to a stop with a flat of his own.

Myers ran second the rest of the way, for his best-ever Trail-Way finish. Third through fifth were Jeremy Brown (who started 17th), Nat Tuckey, and Robert Bopst.

Heats for the 21 thundercars in attendance were won by Craig Wagaman and Tuckey.

Dickerson, Maryland's Chris Holston drove around three-time winner Don Owens exiting turn four of the next-to-last lap to claim his second straight win in the 15-lap street stock feature. Holston was running fifth when leader Robert Stough lost a wheel and Owens dove under the No.07 to take the lead on lap 11. Seconds later, three cars battling for third (Mike Herman, Doug King, and Jamie Bigelow, Jr.) smacked together trying to steer clear of the debris. That put Holston on the back bumper of Owens for the restart. "Big Daddy" shadowed the leader for three laps before making the race-winning pass.

Owens settled for second, with Mike Kress, Ted Forsythe, and consolation winner and 19th-starting Danny Beard completing the top five.

Heats for the 21 street stocks were won by Don Owens, Randy May (who set a new 8-lap street stock track record of 2:44.45 in his heat), and Chris Holston.

Trail-Way swings back into action on Saturday, July 12th with the Predator Racecraft 250cc and 600cc Micro-Sprints, 4-Cylinder stocks in a double-points race, figure 8 racing, 4- and 6-cylinder scramble cars, and the second-ever appearance of the 4-cylinder scramble oval cars. Race time is 7:00 p.m.

"Checkered Flag Fan Club Nights" will be celebrated at Trail-Way on Friday, July 18th and Saturday, July 19th.

On Friday (7/18), the Coors Light 358 winged sprints, thundercars, and street stocks will run in a regular show. Gates will open at 5:15 p.m., with racing to begin at 7:30 p.m. Then on Saturday, July 19th, the Predator Racecraft 250cc and 600cc Micro-Sprints will both run in double-points races, and will be joined by the 4-cylinder stocks, 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder scramble cars, figure 8's, and the new scramble oval cars. Race time is 7:00 p.m., with gates opening at 4:45 p.m.

RACE RESULTS

Coors Light 358 Sprint Cars:

Feature (20 Laps) - 1. 8D-Billy Dietrich; 2. 66-Dale Hammaker; 3. 6-Brad McClelland; 4. 12-Mike Bittinger; 5. 96-Woody Linton; 6. 88J-Rory Janney; 7. 88-Danny Dietrich; 8. 9C-Bill Case Jr.; 9. 73-Rusty Rupp; 10. 29T-Neal Amspacher; 11. 09-Brandon Grandstaff; 12. 2X-Tony Strine (DNF); 13. 24-Pat Small (DNF); 14. 5A-Brian Allman (DNF); 15. 80R-Dan Richcreek (DNF); 16. 29-Joe Ross (DNF); 17. 8-Dan Dietrich (DNF); 18. 22D-Jeff Young (DNF); 19. 9-Scott Tate (DNF); 20. 55-Brian Eichelberger (DNF). No Time

Lap Leaders - Tony Strine (1), Billy Dietrich (2-20)

1st Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 8D-Bill Dietrich; 2. 2X-Tony Strine; 3. 9C-Bill Case Jr.; 4. 96-Woody Linton; 5. 29-Joe Ross; 6. 6-Brad McClelland; 7. 55-Brian Eichelberger; 8. 80R-Dan Richcreek. Time - 2:06.06

2nd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 88-Danny Dietrich; 2. 8-Dan Dietrich; 3. 22D-Jeff Young; 4. 9-Scott Tate; 5. 09-Brandon Grandstaff; 6. 24-Pat Small; 7. 28H-Billy Heltzel, Jr.; 8. 13-Bo Gordon (DNF). Time - 1:59.48

3rd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 12-Mike Bittinger; 2. 66H-Dale Hammaker; 3.73-Rusty Rupp ; 4. 88J-Rory Janney; 5. 29T-Neal Amspacher; 6. 5A-Brian Allman (DNF); 7. 20-Jon Keller (DNF). Time - 2:03.03

Consolation (8 Laps/2 to qualify) - 1. 80R-Dan Richcreek; 2. 55-Brian Eichelberger; 3. 20-Jon Keller; 4. 28H-Billy Heltzel Jr.; 5. 13-Bo Gordon (DNF). No Time

Thundercars:

Feature (20 Laps) - 1. 30-Craig Wagaman; 2. 51-Chad Myers; 3. 2-Jeremy Brown; 4. 52-Nat Tuckey; 5. 8-Robert Bopst; 6. 22-Mark Shorb; 7. 21-Jerry Bingaman; 8. W-Bryan Wagaman; 9. 83-Fred Lloyd; 10. 98X-Randy Zechman; 11. 39-Howard Williams; 12. 7X-Dale Hunt; 13. 15-Doug Devilbiss (DNF); 14. 1W-Mike Walls (DNF); 15. 34M-Jim Martz, Jr. (DNF); 16. 34-Marshall McMullen (DNF); 17. 25-Bobby Beard (DNF); 18. 3-Mike Gladfelter (DNF); 19. 88-Tim Hahn (DNF); 20.91-Tom Slusser Jr. (DNF). No Time

Lap Leaders - Mike Gladfelter (1-5), Craig Wagaman (6-20)

1st Heat (8 Laps/9 to qualify) - 1. 30-Craig Wagaman; 2. 3-Mike Gladfelter; 3. 25-Bobby Beard; 4. 34M-Jim Martz, Jr.; 5. 34-Marshall McMullen; 6. 8-Robert Bopst; 7. 91-Tom Slusser, Jr.; 8. 83-Fred Lloyd (DNF); 9. 2-Jeremy Brown (DNF); 10. 88-Dewain Toot (DNF); 11. 15-Doug Devilbiss (DNF). No Time

2nd Heat (8 Laps/9 to qualify) - 1. 52-Nat Tuckey; 2. 51-Chad Myers; 3. 7X-Dale Hunt; 4. 1W-Mike Walls; 5. 39-Howard Williams; 6. W-Bryan Wagaman; 7. 22-Mark Shorb; 8. 98X-Randy Zechman; 9. 21-Jerry Bingaman; 10. 17H-Tim Hahn. No Time

Street Stocks:

Feature (15 Laps) - 1. 20-Chris Holston; 2. 48-Don Owens; 3. 56-Mike Kress; 4. 12-Ted Forsythe; 5. 60-Danny Beard; 6. 94-Ron Myers, Jr.; 7. 6-Randy May; 8. 1R-Barry Rinehart; 9. 39-Mike Herman; 10. 23-Doug King; 11. 65-Walt Mann; 12. 84-Josh Wildasin; 13. 30-Richard Howes (DNF); 14. 3-Todd Miller (DNF); 15. 12X-Mike Poole (DNF); 16. 07-Robert Stough (DNF); 17. 42-Jamie Bigelow, Jr.(DNF); 18. 77-Justin Mong (DNF); 19. 2-Sam Gallagher (DNF); 20. 45-Phil Heffner (DNF). No Time

Lap Leaders - Walt Mann (1-3), Robert Stough (4-10), Don Owens (11-14), Chris Holston (15)

1st Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 48-Don Owens; 2. 3-Todd Miller; 3. 42-Jamie Bigelow, Jr.; 4. 56-Mike Kress; 5. 1R-Barry Rinehart; 6. 84-Josh Wildasin (DNF); 7. 45-Phil Heffner (DNF); 8. 12X-Mike Poole (DNF). No Time

2nd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 6-Randy May; 2. 94-Ron Myers, Jr.; 3. 30-Richard Howes; 4. 23-Doug King; 5. 2-Sam Gallagher; 6. 12-Ted Forsythe; 7. 60-Danny Beard; 8. 55-Scott Fisher (DNF). Time - 2:44.45 (New Track Record - breaks old record of 2:45.34 set by Doug King on 5/30/03)

3rd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 20-Chris Holston; 2. 07-Robert Stough; 3. 65-Walt Mann; 4. 39-Mike Herman; 5. 77-Justin Mong; 6. 70-Rick Weaver (DNF); 7. 18B-Bryan Stirn (DNF). No Time

Consolation (8 Laps/2 to qualify) - 1. 60-Danny Beard; 2. 12X-Mike Poole; 3. 55-Scott Fisher (DNF); DNS - 18B-Bryan Stirn. No Time

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