SHYANN SMITH COLLECTS $1200 LATE MODEL WIN AT PATH VALLEY
By Judy McGee Timmons
Shyann Smith started her Late Model feature event on the pole, pulling to the front on green & holding the lead for 25 laps, including 5 cautions, to claim a green to checkered win ahead of 22 competitors, giving her a $1200.00 purse.
Smith & Randy Burkholder were in the elite seats when the flag went green but Shyann pulled to the front with Burkholder in 2nd & Gunner Walls in 3rd till lap 6 when Walls & Brad Benton made contact out of turn 2, putting them to the rear. The reline put Smith, Burkholder, Jake Moser, Michael Walls & Bryan Benton in the top five positions where they remained for seven laps. The competition level increased as the last 10 laps were in sight, with Devin Frey & Kyle Moser making contact; Cayden Ranck getting off balance in turn 2 & going to the rear; followed by Steve Lowery, 2nd place runner, Seth Kerchner & John Moser creating action out of turn 3 retiring Burkholder & Moser for the evening, as Lowery was towed to the pits. Smith survived the rumble as she led the circuit on the restart with Jake Moser, Michael Walls, Bryan Benton, & Devin Frey sitting in the top five spots. Brad Benton brought out the next caution; going to the pits from turn 1; which tightened the reline even more as Smith, Moser, Walls, Benton, & now D.J. Myers sat in the top five. The green waved & the action intensified as the racers entered the turns in a sideways fashion to gain momentum.
Seven laps were remaining when 4th place runner, Benton, got his racer into the turn 4 infield, returning to the rear as Drew Weisser exited the oval for the evening. Ralph Morgan & Trent Merkel were the final recipients of the caution flag when they made contact on lap 19 resulting in Morgan retiring to the pits. Fourteen racers remained for the final 6 laps as Smith collected the checkered flag with Jake Moser taking 2nd place; D.J. Myers moving to 3rd, Michael Walls in 4th & Devin Frey finishing out the top five. Smith had the best lap speed piloting her #72B at 70.434 MPH in 12.778 seconds.
The Cisney Auto Parts Thunder Cars feature was an undefinable event with a 22 car starting field that ended with 15 finishers after 11 cautions; putting fans at the edge of their seats as to what was going to happen next! Aaron Updegraff & Jeremy Shoup brought the racers to the green with an immediate prelap caution for Shoup who returned to the rear. The next lap, William Sterner & Charlie Stallman made contact, turning Stallman, but Sterner continued moving to hold position as Stallman exited to the pit area. Updegraff was in the lead, with Eric Seibert, Kevin Bard, Cheyenne Ingram & Jeremy Ott in the top five. Rhyann Arcq spun out in turn 4 going to the rear; Brian Pecht entered the pits from turn two; William Sterner slid into the infield coming out of turn three, going to the rear; Rodney Walls got into the turn 4 infield & was pushed to the pits, & Dustin Moore's racer got into the turn 2 infield, going to the rear. The feature event at this point, was half complete as Updegraff & Bard were still in the top two spots but 9th place starter, Jeremy Ott, had moved up to 3rd, Eric Seibert in 4th & Jake Shoup in fifth position. Michael Danner & Rhyann Arcq shared a caution as Danner got into the frontstretch infield & Arcq stopped in the turn 4 infield, with both going to the rear. Dustin Moore & Michael Danner made contact on the backstretch putting both into the pits.
The reline was now Bard, who had passed Updegraff for the lead, Jeremy Ott in 3rd, Eric Seibert in fourth & Jake Shoup finishing out the top five. Kevin Bard had the best lap speed, going 62.578 MPH in 14.382 seconds.
Aiden Lutz & Jim Young were on top of the deck for the Macri Concrete 600 Sprint feature with Lutz taking the lead till a prerace caution came out for Mike Sherman & Tanner Pressley, who both went to the pits. Lutz held the lead with Randy Kunkle moving by Young to take 2nd. Cole Dewease was running in Young’s tracks as Travis Keiser came from 7th to 5th on the 1st lap. Lutz & Kunkle pulled away from the remaining competitors as Young & Dewease also spread their wings, running in their own spaces as Travis Keiser held the top five spot in their non-stop 20 lap feature. Only 2 laps remained, when the 18 lap leader got his racer into a third turn slide, putting the frontrunner to the back of the line. Randy Kunkle moved to the front followed by Young, Dewease, Travis Keiser & Ryan McAndrew. Aiden Lutz had the best speed lap running 76.001 MPH in 11.842 seconds.
The Mason Dixson 270 Sprints made their first appearance of the season with Brady Paull & Colton McAndrew in pole positions. The racers came off the 4th turn on green but an immediate red flag came out when Alex Reinsmith, Bailey Green, Bobby Bush & Cory Thorton got together coming into turn 1. Green
& Reinsmith called it a night as they entered the pits while Bush & Thorton rejoined the back of the pack.
One lap was complete when Hunter Forsythe had problems going into turn 2, putting his racer to the pits while Colton McAndrew lead the racers to their second reline. Parker Lucas, Lake Laughman, Zach Glass & Brady Paull were lined behind McAndrew, with McAndrew staying in control of the lead on green, only to meet with additional cautions when Jason Paisley & Brett Kauffman got together in turn three, followed by Cory Myers getting his racer on its side coming out of turn four, two laps later, resulting in all drivers returning their racers to the end of the lineup. Tyler Brown exited the oval with his racer as McAndrew led Lucas, Laughman, Glass & Paull to the green. Lucas made his move on McAndrew on lap 13, taking the lead as Craig Myers was moving his machine to the front, taking over 4th place & moving forward to move into 3rd two laps later as the sprints ran a nonstop 10 laps. Lucas caught up with the rear of the field but still held a favorable lead on McAndrew. Bobby Bush put his racer into the pit area with three laps remaining as Bradyn Kuhn pulled his ride behind Craig Myers for 4th where he remained as Lucas claimed the checkered flag. Lucas, Colton McAndrew, Craig Myers, Bradyn Kuhn & Zach Glass were the top five finishers.
Parker Lucas had the best lap speed at 77.114 MPH in 11.671 seconds.