D.J. MYERS COLLECTS $2000 IN ZACHARY CROUSE T.L.L.M. NIGHT AT PATH VALLEY SPEEDWAY
By Judy McGee Timmons
Dr. Zachary Crouse’s Topless Limited Late Model Night at Path Valley Speedway began with a four wide racer salute, bringing cheers from the fans, & concluded with D.J. Myers claiming the $2000.00 purse after gaining the lead with two laps remaining in the thirty lap feature event.
Frankie Gordon & Scott Palmer were in the hot seats of the 24 car field, with Gordon taking the lead on green, & fourth place starter, D.J. Myers, moving to second. Codey Breeden, Jakob Piper, & Scott Palmer, claimed the top five positions before the first caution, resulting in Trenton Beasom, Gunner Walls, & Kyle Lee, heading to the pits for the evening. Dillan Stake’s ride went upside down going into turn four, putting him out of the competition, as well as Harry Shipe III, who retired his racer with three laps complete.
The restart put Gordon, Myers, Breeden, Piper & Palmer, sitting in the top five, where they remained till Trent Merkel developed issues in turn four, from which he had to be towed. The next twelve laps had the Gordon & Myers fans on the edge of their seats as the drivers pulled away from their competitors, as they battled for first place. Eighteen laps were recorded when the caution waved for Rodney Walls, when his racer went sideways after rounding turn one, putting him to the back of the line. The final laps were approaching & the determination of the top in line to get to the front became obvious as Breeden, & Myers shared second position, changing control of the spot. Myers held second place as he navigated his ride to both sides of the oval to plan his attempt to move by Gordon. Breeden remained in the trio as the final laps approached, with Myers finding his advantage point to pass Gordon & take control of the front, while Breeden also passed Gordon, moving into second, as the checkered flag waved, giving Gordon, Piper, & Taylor Farling, the final top five positions. Myers had the best lap speed, traveling 76.518 MPH in 11.762 seconds. Jaxton Garman received the Hard Charger Award, after starting in eighteenth place, & finishing in ninth.
Jacob Piper had the best time trial statistics, clocking a speed of 80.15 MPH in 11.229 seconds. Following Piper was Scott Palmer, Codey Breeden, Ray Ciccarelli, and Frankie Gordon for the top five in qualifier times.
The Macri Concrete 600 Sprints were brought to the line by Tanner Pressley & Justin Yohn, with Pressley taking the lead, before a prelap caution for Vincent Guadiosi was waved, when his racer got into the turn 4 infield, followed by Chris Cash, who got his ride into the turn two infield. Jack Thorton & Dawson Walls also exited the oval, after 1 lap was completed, & Dylan Anderson added his ride to the list when it developed issues, going into the frontstretch infield.
Pressley & Yohn escorted the rearranged line-up back to an original restart with Pressley taking the lead, as Sheaffer, Justin Yohn, Jim Young, & Aden Myers sat in the top five spots. Pressley & Sheaffer held the top two spots as Young was on the move, pulling by Yohn, to take third, then passing Sheaffer on the next lap to take control of second place. Sheaffer, Yohn, & Myers maintained their top five positions till midrace, when cautions waved for Chase Robinson & Travis Keiser, finishing their racing for the evening. The restart had Pressley still at the top when the light went green, from where he advanced his racer, gaining momentum as the next seven laps ran nonstop. Three more laps remained, when Shawn Rumbaugh’s car got sideways between turns three & four, putting him to the rear.
The reline tightened front to back, with Pressley, Young, Sheaffer, Yohn & Myers in the top five. On green, Randy Kunkle passed Myers for fifth as Young was closing the gap behind Pressley, preparing to take control. The caution flag waved once more when Aden Myers, got his ride into the turn four infield, from which he entered the pits. The reline was Pressley, Young, Sheaffer, Yohn & Kunkle, till the final lap when Young came out of turn three, passing Pressley on the frontstretch, to take the win. Pressley had the best lap speed at 80.689 MPH in 11.154 seconds.
The Kathy Baker Coldwell Bank Realty Modifieds were escorted to the oval by Kirk Baker & Ron Patterson, with Baker pulling to the lead on the wave of green. Spike Moore & Ron Patterson went into an immediate door to door battle for second place as Baker started to pull away from his competition. Moore took control of second, & started to gain on Baker by lap 5, as he worked to take the lead. A caution for Nick Dibella came out when he lost power to his machine, & pulled to the infield, then continued to the pits.
The reline had Baker, Moore, Sam Reeder, Ron Patterson. & Darin Hoover in the top five. On green, Baker & Moore went door to door in their clash to be in control of the lead as Reeder, Patterson, & Hoover spread out in distance behind them. Seven laps were complete when a caution for Jerry Bouse was waved, after his racer got into the turn two infield, eventually going to the pits.
The reline tightened as Baker, Moore, Reeder, Patterson & Hoover took the green, with continued contact being made between Baker & Moore. Baker gained some distance between his racer & Moore, as Reeder & Hoover were running side by side in their bid for 3rd place while Gary Warehime’s ride went out of control in turn one, putting him in seventh position. Fifteen laps were complete when the wheel to wheel battle with Moore & Baker intensified as Moore collected the lead spot with the checkered flag lap approaching. Reeder came across the line for third, followed by Darin Hoover & Dan Patterson for the finish. Spike Moore had the best lap for speed traveling 71.828 MPH in 12.53.0 seconds.
The T.A Ward Construction 270 Sprint division was brought to the green by a display of fireworks, provided by Tod Ward, the 270 Sprint Division sponsor. Brad Cowan & Bradyn Kuhn were at the front of the 24 car feature event, with Cowan taking the lead for one lap before cautions in turns two & on the backstretch brought everything to a restart. Stephanie Welk flipped her racer after contact from other drivers caused her problems, while Kenzie Lane & Bobby Bush also retired their racers for the evening, & Matthew Dixon went to the rear after losing control in turn 4.
Cowan, Kuhn, Dakota Yeingst, Grayson Zook, & Jason Houtz were the top runners on the restart, with Kuhn taking the lead on lap 4, while Jason Houtz moved from eighth starting spot to 2nd by lap 7 as Kuhn met the back of the field.
Kuhn gained a marginal lead with Houtz, Dakota Yeingst, & Cowan at the top, as they ran nine laps nonstop till Houtz lost power coming out of turn three & had to be pushed to the pit area. A major caution on the backstretch followed Houtz’s departure, which caused top runner, Brad Cowan, to be towed to the pits. Jason Paisley & Travis Hodge went to the rear; Gaitlin Kauffman was pushed to the pits & Hunter Forsythe’s racer ended on it’s side.
Kuhn ,Cory Myers, Yeingst, Eric Forsythe Sr., Zach Glass, Brett Kauffman, Jamie Connelly & Travis Hodge, were now at the front of the line after caution adjustments, as the flag went green, with Kuhn & Cory Myers maintaining their top two positions & Yeingst was running third. Fifth place runner, Zach Glass, exited the oval on his own with two laps remaining, moving Brett Kauffman to fourth. Bradyn Kuhn took the win, with Cory Myers, in second, followed by Yeingst, Brett Kauffman & Eric Forsythe Sr. for the top five. Bradyn Kuhn had the best speed lap at 76.407 MPH in 11.779 seconds.
The Cisney Auto Parts Thunder Cars were brought to the green by Robert McQuade & Matt Williamson, with a pre-lap caution for Jeff Koser & Michael Danner, putting the line-up to it’s original restart. Matt Williamson took the lead on the reline, with McQuade taking second, then Charlie Stallman, Jackson Eutzy, & Cameron Defender.
Jackson Eutzy came from 7th starting position to second place by lap three, then had door to door action with Charlie Stallman, for four laps, before maintaining second place, including lapped traffic that slowed down the circuit. Stallman was holding the third place position, with Defenderfer & Jeremy Eutzy claiming the top five.
Thirteen laps were recorded when leader, Matt Williamson, pulled his racer into the infield, moving Jackson Eutzy to the front to maintain his position. Kevin Bard moved into the top five spot, as Defenderfer, Stallman & Jeremy Eutzy exchanged positions between them.
As the checkered flag approached, Defenderfer moved behind Jackson Eutzy, as Jeremy Eutzy advanced to third as Stallman & Bard finished out the top five.
Tenth place starter, & sixth place finisher, Dan Smith, had the best speed lap, traveling 62.609 MPH in 14.375 seconds.
The Randy Burkholder Racing Supplies Strictly Stock division was the final race for the evening with Matt DuVall taking the win. A summary of all racing information for this class was not available for News Release Deadline.