Hummingbird Speedway Race Report
Saturday, August 29, 2015
By: Randy Albert
The moon was in its full glory as it shone on Hummingbird Speedway during the last point race of the season. Paul Kot from Brockway benefited from the moon’s effect winning the BWP Bats steel Block Late Model division. Sean McAndrew out of Apollo took the honors in the Sunny 106.5 Micro Sprints. In the Street Stock class Bob Connor from DuBois was the victor while Dustin Challingsworth did the same in the Pure Stock cars. The Aarons of DuBois Front Wheel Drives closed out the point battles with Randy Albert from Morrisdale taking the win. The Micro Sprint cars also held a wingless challenge race with Robert Garvey Jr from Grassflat taking the victory. Hummingbird Speedway thanks Prontock Distributing for sponsoring the trophies for the race winners and for continuing to support local dirt track racing.
Point Championships were settled at the end of the night with the following drivers taking the honors of 2015 Hummingbird Speedway Point Champion in their division: BWP Bats Steel Block Late Models; Paul Kot from Brockway, Street Stock; Bruce Hartzfeld from Stump Creek, Pure Stock; Dustin Challingsworth out of St Marys, Aarons of DuBois Front Wheel Drives; John Campisano from Punxsutawney, and in the Sunny 106.5 Micro Sprint cars the 2015 point champion is Robert Garvey Jr. from Grassflat.
The BWP Bats Steel Block Late Models were led onto the racing surface by Chris Farrell from Clearfield and Tim Krape from Bellefonte. Farrell took the early lead with Paul Kot from Brockway looking to the inside of both drivers. Krape slid high in turn two allowing Kot, Eric Moore from Frenchville and Colton Gearhart out of DuBois to slip by him. Gearhart lost the handle coming out of turn four as Moore was applying the pressure from behind. Farrell, Kot, and Krape were all using the cushion with Moore looking low on Krape lap after lap but not finding any grip down against the tires. Krape was in his usual all out style riding the high line and managed to loop his ride in turns one and two sending him to the back for the restart and moving Dan Smeal from Houtzdale into contention in fourth place. Other drivers putting on a show for fifth through eighth included Tim Fannin from Ridgway, Joe Kot and Ed Connor out of DuBois, and Jeff Taylor from Corsica. No driver could make the bottom work to their advantage so the safe route was to stay in line and hope for something to open up, the driver in front to make a mistake or the full moon to come into play. Moore was racing hard and managed to tap Kot going into turn one with Connor also stopping on the track to avoid the mayhem. To Moore’s credit he took responsibility for the incident allowing Kot and Connor to get their positions back. Farrell had the race under control holding the lead with no one able to come alongside him to challenge for the lead. Krape was back in the hunt taking fifth from Fannin then moving up to challenge Smeal. Smeal did a good job holding him off, first from the inside then from the outside, all while enduring numerous cautions that plagued the entire race. The full moon found Farrell as he darted to the outside of turn four with engine trouble giving the lead to Kot in second and another restart. The next victim to “Moon Madness” was Connor. He had been working the high line in fifth but the cushion didn’t hold coming out of turn four causing him to tap the wall hard and bringing out the yellow flag. Kot was on the hot seat in the lead with Smeal taking a look down low to take the position. Krape was again riding the high line hard as he worked his way above Smeal to take second with Moore doing the same on Fannin for fourth. Kot avoided the moon’s influence and managed to hold on to the lead as the checkered flag waved in Bob Sullinger’s hand. Krape crossed the line a few car lengths behind him with a good finish for Smeal in third and Moore recovering from the earlier incident to bring it home in fourth.
Chris Farrell had the fast lap of the evening at just over 81 miles per hour and was the winner of one of the heat races. Tim Krape and Paul Kot won the other two heat races for the division.
Sean McAndrew out of Apollo and Robert Garvey Jr form Grassflat made up the front row for the Sunny 106.5 Micro Sprint feature race. Garvey quickly tucked in behind McAndrew with Jeff Weaver from Lock Haven and Dave Hawkins from Lower Burrell doing the same. Hawkins made a clean pass on Weaver in turn three to take away the third position. Lots of two and three wide racing takes place in the middle of the pack with these quick winged warriors and they don’t get much mention due to space limitations but if you watch one of these races don’t forget to watch the cars in fifth through fifteenth. Some of the best racing takes place there. McAndrew stretched out a nice lead and began to encounter slower cars but managed to get by cleanly keeping his edge over Garvey. McAndrew took the checkered flag with about ¾ of a straight away lead over his competitors. He also had the fastest average time and speed of the race at almost 81 miles per hour.
Heat race winners included Sean McAndrew, Robert Garvey Jr, and Dave Hawkins.
The Street Stock cars were the next group to play tag with the moon with Bob McMillen from St Marys and Steve Arthurs out of Falls Creek leading the pack. McMillen took the early lead with Arthurs following in second. Bruce Hartzfeld from Stump Creek wedged his way past Arthurs coming out of turn four to take the position. Bob Connor from DuBois was on the move making the best of both the low and high groove also moving forward. McMillen chose the outside line for a restart with Hartzfeld running side by side with him for a few laps. Connor repositioned some loader tires down low but in the process rolled one onto the racing surface bringing out the caution and relinquishing him to the back for the restart. McMillen was still holding his own on the restart and Hartzfeld was trying to make it work on the bottom. Kyle Shannon from Brockway had moved up into third but slowed in turn four for a moment allowing Dom Surra from St Marys, Rich Howell out of Clearfield and Luke Barnett from Mahaffey, who had been going three wide behind the leaders, to get by him. Connor was back in the picture quickly again kissing the tires and looking for a way by the trio of Surra, Howell and Barnett. Surra stayed low under Barnett but couldn’t quite make it stick. Barnett then tried the same on Howell for a couple laps with the same result and had to fall back in line behind Howell with Surra right back to the low grove pulling up off of Barnett’s left door. Surra managed to make it work moving forward to challenge Howell with the same move and Connor taking up the low attack on Barnett. On a restart McMillen again was in control with Surra now looking under Hartzfeld but the moon hadn’t been heard from in a while and this time it shined on McMillen. With only a couple of laps to go he looped the car between turns one and two ending a very good run. It was Hartzfeld out front for the green white checkered restart but Connor switched tactics, abandoned the tires, and moved up top getting a good run off of turn two and down the back stretch. On the last lap he pulled alongside Hartzfeld and shot past him by half a car length at the flag stand taking the win.
Fast time of the race was posted by Bob McMillen at just over 73 miles per hour. He also had a heat race win with Steve Arthurs taking the other heat race win.
Dustin Challingsworth from St Marys and Josh Fields out of Brockport held the one and two starting spots for the Pure Stock Race. Challingsworth was in the lead followed by Fields with Mike Miller from Rockton and Jim Challingsworth from St Marys holding third and fourth in a side by side duel. Jim Challingsworth cleared Miller leaving him to contend with Doug Surra from St Marys with Eric Lucas from Clearfield and Scott Zimmerman out of Brookville hot on their tails. Jim then began to look for opportunities down low to advance on Fields. Dustin chose the outside line for a restart and moved out to a slight lead as Fields, Jim Challingsworth, Zimmerman and Lucas were racing hard behind the leader. Fields began to creep up on the leader in the closing laps diving hard into the turns with Challingsworth pulling back in the lead down the straights. A late race caution allowed Challingsworth to regroup and put a small distance between he and Fields to clinch the win.
Heat race winners included Dustin Challingsworth and Josh Fields. Josh Fields set the fast time and speed of the race at nearly 67 miles per hour.
The Aarons of DuBois Front Wheel Drive cars were the final regular feature race of the evening. They were led by Aaron Luzier from Clearfield with Randy Albert from Morrisdale to his right. Albert took advantage of the outside groove as John Campisano from Punxsutawney put the pressure on Luzier from the start pulling under him to challenge for second. Dustin Kemp from Clearfield was in fourth followed by Jim Fye out of Reynoldsville until Kemp slowed in turn four bringing out the caution. Albert chose the outside line using it to move to the lead coming out of turn two with Campisano making the move under Luzier into second. Luzier floated back around Campisano on the outside of turns three and four pulling up on Albert’s back bumper but Campisano came right back to continue the drag race down the back stretch. The three began to create some distance between the remainder of the field with Dylan Frantz from Luthersburg moving forward into fourth place. After another caution restart it was a repeat of the earlier battle with Albert out front and Luzier and Campisano vying for second in a side by side duel. When the checkered flag flew Albert was in control with the lead. Luzier edged out Campisano coming across the line head to tail with Frantz rolling home in fourth.
Aaron Luzier, Randy Albert, and John Campisano won the heat races. Dylan Frantz had the fast time of the race at nearly 63 miles per hour.
Closing out the evening the Sunny 106.5 Micro Sprints held a “Wingless Challenge” with Robert Garvey Jr taking the win capping off a very successful season.
Saturday September 5th will be a regular five division show. September 12 is a week off for the speedway in preparation for the special race the next week. The annual Mick Orsich Memorial is scheduled for Saturday, September 19, 2015. Steel Blocks and Super Lates will combine for a $2,000.00 to win purse and lap money for each lap led. This important race remembers one of Hummingbird’s own who battled the disease. His memory continues on each year as the friends of the speedway raise funds to continue the fight to cure this devastating disease. Join us to help the cause on September 19th. Hummingbird Speedway offers a family friendly racing experience with good food and reasonable admission. Looks us up on the web at www.hummingbirdspeedway.com and join us on Twitter for updates on rain delays as well as preliminary race results.
Final Results
BWP Bats Steel Block Late Models
1. 36 Paul Kot Brockway
2. 07 Tim Krape Bellefonte
3. 44 Dan Smeal Houtzdale
4. 00 Eric Moore Frenchville
5. 96E Tim Fannin Ridgway
6. 60 Jeff Taylor Corsica
7. 96 John Brady Clearfield
8. 11C Kevin Clark Olanta
9. 77X Tom Krape Bellefonte
10. 11 Curtis Teats Morrisdale
11. 37 Joe Kot DuBois
12. 50 Joe Malobicky Jr St Marys
13. 93 Kevin Dickson West Decatur
14. 68 Don Henry Falls Creek
15. 77R Roswell Babcock Curwensville
16. 102 Ed Connor DuBois
17. 53 Chris Farrell Clearfield
18. 25 Dylan Fenton Clearfield
19. 25L Colton Gearhart DuBois
20. 45 Tim Steis St Marys
21. 46 Tom Merryman Morrisdale
22. 23 Steve Dickson West Decatur
SUNNY 106.5 FM MICRO SPRINTS
1. 15 Sean McAndrew Apollo
2. 11X Robert Garvey, Jr Grassflat
3. 27 Dave Hawkins Lower Burrell
4. 92 Jeff Weaver Lock Haven
5. 71 Lee Lehnerd Cabot
6. 12X Bryce Craft Frenchville
7. 13R Robert Robertson Delmont
8. 27H Brandon Hawkins Salina
9. 18 Damon Doutt Cabot
10. X Skeetz Hockenbroch Paxinos
11. 3 Ryan Beatty Leechburg
12. 17 Brain Forester Saxonburg
13. 911 Mike Wenrick Pleasant Gap
14. 11 Anthony Pasquerella Leechburg
15. 29 D. Trey Straw West Decatur
16. 68 Jason Hamacek Clarksburg
17. 03 Craig Cummings Tarentum
18. 516 Zack Lennox Sykesville
19. 9 Ethan Siple Saxonburg
20. 4W Johnny Walker Natrona Heights
21. 26M Mike McIntyre Timblin
22. 37 Scott Hawkins Sarver
STREET STOCKS
1. 55 Bob Connor DuBois
2. 101 Bruce Hartzfeld Stump Creek
3. T3 Dom Surra Kersey
4. 88B Luke Barnett Mahaffey
5. 1S Kyle Shannon Brockway
6. 3 Rich Howell Clearfield
7. 960 Gary Luzier Luthersburg
8. 18 Bob McMillen St Marys
9. 51 Steve Arthurs Falls Creek
10. 54J Jamie Colwell Knox
11. 43 Pernell Beimel St Marys
12. 415 Colton Gearhart DuBois
13. 104 Alan Lamb Reynoldsville
PURE STOCKS
1. 46 Dustin Challingsworth St. Marys
2. 28 Josh Fields Brockport
3. 44 Jim Challingsworth St. Marys
4. 32 Scott Zimmerman Brookville
5. 8L Eric Lucas Clearfield
6. 88 Mike Miller Rockton
7. 55X Andrew Frey St Marys
8. 18 Stephen Brugmann DuBois
9. 8 Cory Silvis Brookville
10. 3AA Doug Surra Kersey
11. 3H Shawn Hadden Punxsutawney
AARON’S OF DUBOIS FWD 4-CYLINDERS
1. 17 Randy Albert Morrisdale
2. 5L Aaron Luzier Clearfield
3. 8C John Campisano Punxsutawney
4. 26 Dylan Frantz Luthersburg
5. 17J Zach Frantz Penfield
6. 4F Jim Fye Punxsutawney
7. 81 Daren Lucas
8. 23A Austin Hockenbury Morrisdale
9. 52 Dustin Hippler DuBois
10. 33 Bryan Snyder Clearfield
11. 77 Joseph Goldsborough Penfield
12. 69R Zachary Ruhl Penfield
13. 70 Damion Frantz Penfield
14. 92 Jerry Walls Sykesville
15. 126 Jeff McClure Luthersburg
16. 80 Dustin Kemp Clearfield
17. 96R Ricky Sheley Hazen
SUNNY 106.5 FM MICRO SPRINTS “Wingless”
1. 11X Robert Garvey, Jr Grassflat
2. 27H Brandon Hawkins Salina
3. 27 Dave Hawkins Lower Burrell
4. 92 Jeff Weaver Lock Haven
5. X Skeetz Hockenbroch Paxinos
6. 37 Scott Hawkins Sarver
7. 911 Mike Wenrick Pleasant Gap
8. 4W Johnny Walker Natrona Heights
9. 68 Jason Hamacek Clarksburg
10. 516 Zack Lennox Sykesville
11. 03 Craig Cummings Tarentum
