
This, That and the other...
Exclusive for Auto Locator by Ernie Saxton
As printed in Issue Dated 10-11-2002
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KEITH BRIGHTBILL, son of legendary dirt track
modified racer Kenny Brightbill, wheeled the Knuckleheadz Bar
& Grill/Warko Group #14 Modified to victory on Saturday
night in two 30-lap Modified stock car feature events at
Grandview Speedway. Randy Stoudt drove the Rogers Auto Parts #22
Late Model to a win in the opening 20-lap Late Model feature
while Mike Wharton was able to bring the Pizza Palace
Restaurant/Warrior Chassis #100 home first in the second 20-lap
main event for Late Models. In the first 30-lapper for the
Modifieds, an event rained out the previous Saturday night,
Donny Erb was able to control first spot for the first two laps.
Brightbill (Mohnton) came from fourth to grab the lead on the
third lap. Once in front the second generation racer was able
move out to a commanding lead several times in a race that was
marred by several cautions. Ryan Watt, looking for his first
career win, gave Brightbill quite a battle for the lead until a
flat left rear tire took him out of action on the 22nd lap. Rick
Schaffer (Woxall) was able to put pressure on the leader for the
balance of the main event but Brightbill held off the veteran
racer to gab his first career win in Modified competition at
Grandview Speedway.
Second spot in the 30 lapper went to Rick Schaffer followed by former track champion Terry Meitzler (Kutztown), Kyle Weiss (Pottsville) and Larry Solomon (Birdsboro). In the second 30-lapper for the Modifieds, in open competition format, Brightbill took command on the first lap from his second place starting spot. Jon Kellner Jr. (Lansdale) was able to give the leader plenty of competition for 12 laps of the feature but had a tire go down causing him to spin in the fourth turn. Kevin Hartnett then charged up from 8th spot to take second spot and put heavy pressure on Brightbill for the balance of the 30-lap feature. Hartnett (Perkasie) was able to hold on to second for his best finish of the season. Third spot went to Kevin Hirthler (Green Lane) followed by Craig VonDohren (Oley) and Meme DeSantis (Temple). The two feature wins for Brightbill gave him $4400 for his night of racing. In victory lane he called his father and found out that his dad, Kenny Brightbill, had been able to win the modified feature race at New Egypt Speedway. A story book night for the Brightbills. In the 20-lap opening feature for the Late Models, Randy Stoudt was the leader at nine laps, where the feature started after being rained out at the point last Saturday. Stoudt (Pottstown) was able to hold on to the top spot with the Rogers Auto Parts #22 to grab his ninth win of the season. Second spot went to Ron Kline (Harleysville) followed by Dean Stoudt (East Greenville), Luke Hoffner and Ron Chrisman (Schwenksville). The second 20-lapper for open competition Late Models saw John Durling get the early lead and then surrender first spot to Luke Hoffner on the third lap. Mike Wharton (Bridgemont, Delaware) took command on the fourth lap and held on to the top spot for the balance of the 20-lap season finale. Randy Stoudt put some strong pressure on Wharton in the final laps but fell short having to settle for second. Third place was earned by Rick Todorow (Quakertown) followed by Chuck Schutz (Pottstown), he had put a lot of pressure on Wharton in the early part of the main event, and fifth was earned by Jason Miller (New Tripoli). The win was Wharton's first career victory and came as he was celebrating his 28th birthday. Qualifying heats for the open competition Modifieds went to Jon Kellner Jr., Keith Brightbill, Meme DeSantis and Kenny Gilmore. Consolation wins were earned by Jim Stong and Tad Cox. The Automotive Machining Services Cash Dash went to Meme DeSantis. In qualifying events for the Late Models wins were earned by John Durling, Luke Hoffner and Mike Wharton. The Saturday night show closed out the regular season schedule for modifieds and late models. Next on the schedule is the Saturday, October 19, 6 p.m. NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Series Finale which will offer fans the opportunity to seen an exciting features only program. The show will include 25-lap features for the URC Sprints, ARDC Wingless Midgets, 410 Sprints, NASCAR Modifieds and Late Models. There will also be a URC Non-Winners Feature added to the program. And there will be some fun activities centered on Halloween Day. And on Saturday, October 26th, 7 a.m., the annual Racer's Flea Market will take place. The 40th Annual Grandview Speedway Awards Banquet is set for Saturday, November 16th, 6 p.m. Tickets are presently available from Vicki Gehris at 610.367.2776. The banquet, featuring awards presentation, music for dancing and some great food, will take place at the Gilbertsville, PA Fire Co. Social Hall. Tentative plans for the 2003 season include a free-to-the-public practice session on Saturday, March 29th, 12 noon. And on April 5, 6 p.m. the season will get the green flag with Patriot Bank sponsoring the opening night of NASCAR Modifieds and Late Models. LANCE DEWEASE drove to the richest victory in the storied history of Williams Grove Speedway in Saturday night's 40-lap National Open sanctioned by the Pennzoil World of Outlaws and sponsored by Cleveland Brothers. Dewease started 13th in the star-studded 26-car field and was only running tenth at the midway point as defending champion Danny Lasoski set the pace. |
Dewease, who clinched his 4th Cindy Rowe Auto
Glass track championship, struggled to clear Steve Kinser, but
when he did there was no stopping him. The defending National Open
champion got by Kinser on lap 24. Three laps later he was in the
top five and with eight laps to go Dewease charged through the
middle of some traffic to take the lead from Danny Lasoski and
ride to victory. The win was worth $30,000. The Friday night
Pennzoil World of Outlaw show was canceled due to rain. There will
be no racing at Williams Grove Speedway this weekend but two more
dates do remain on the racing calendar.
On Saturday evening, October 12, Williams Grove will present the second annual Fall Fest. This is an event that includes feature races only. Participants compete by invitation only. The Fall Fest will include 410-sprint cars, 358 sprints, super sportsman and limited late models from Silver Spring Speedway. And on October 19th three stock car divisions will be featured including Lincoln Speedway's Thundercars, Silver Spring street stocks and a 100-lap Enduro. Both of the shows will start at 7 p.m. IN OTHER WORLD OF OUTLAWS NEWS, the show scheduled for Hagerstown, MD Speedway on Thursday night was rained out. There was no rain date. I still can not understand why tracks schedule major events, such as a World of Outlaw show, and not have a rain date in place. And on Sunday night Brad Furr won the Pennzoil World of Outlaws sprint car feature race at Port Royal, PA Speedway and that event closes out the season at the popular half mile clay oval. RAIN washed out the Friday night racing action at Clinton County Speedway in Lock Haven, PA. With the rainout the championship battles came to a close with George Fultz taking the Late Model Championship for the third time. Kent Wheeler got his second Super Stock championship. Gus Champman secured his second consecutive speedway Four Cylinder title and Dave Riddell won his second straight Daredevil championship. Blane Heimbach won the sprint car title and there are plans to include more sprint car racing in the schedule for 2003. The Clinton County Speedway season will close out this weekend, October 5-6, with eight divisions of racing being featured. Sprints, Late Models and Small Block Modifieds will compete in features each paying $1,000 to win. The sprints and late models will qualify on Saturday and compete in features on Sunday. Small block modifieds will run a complete show on Sunday. Micro sprints will be in action and they will run on Saturday. The Super Stock, Four Cylinder and Daredevil divisions will run complete shows on both Saturday and Sunday. And the new 4-cylinder division will run both days. Racing will start at 4 p.m. on Saturday and at 1 p.m. on Sunday. On Saturday, after the races, there will be free entertainment with a popular area band, Slate, performing and there will be a pig roast. For more information telephone 570.494.4169. WADE HENDRICKSON won his eighth modified feature of the season at Bridgeport, NJ Speedway on Saturday night but Duane Howard, who flipped during the feature event, come back to earn enough points to win the title for the Glen Hyneman team in the Big Spring Car Wash modified. Scott Pursell won the URC sprint car feature which was either 25-laps according to the track news release or 20 laps according to the URC news release. It was his second win of the season. Due to the large number of cautions and red flags, the sportsman and enduro features could not be completed due to curfew restrictions. This Sunday, October 6, 1 p.m. the BIG SHOW will feature the 410-open competition sprints (2 features) plus big block modifieds and open competition sportsman (2 features). On Friday, October 4, 7 p.m. the micro sprints are feature along with 4-cylinder stocks on the ¼ mile and there is open competition sportsman competition. BILL BRIAN JR of Ephrata continues to lead the United Racing Club sprint car point standings as the traveling organization heads to Delaware International Speedway for a Saturday, October 5 show. AND ON Saturday, October 5, the prestigious 6th Annual Kenny Weld Memorial sprint car championship will be presented at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, PA along with Thundercar racing. It all gets started at 7 p.m. The local auto racing season continues to wind down. This column will continue to appear as long as there are enough tracks running to fill the weekly effort with news. Ernie Saxton can be reached at Esaxton144@aol.com. |