Lincoln Speedway results 2003-08-17

Rahmer Claims 8th Of Year In Lincoln Sprint Crashfest; Stimely wins ARDC wingless thriller; Beard nears title third thundercar win

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA, 8/17/02 - Fred Rahmer was back in victory lane at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night. But this win was quite different than his other 119 in the Pigeon Hills.

Quite frankly, it was like driving through a minefield for the leaders, with lapped traffic a factor in crashes that took out two apparent winners. Doug Esh looked to be driving to his third Lincoln win of the year when he smacked into the slower car of Danny Murray and then slammed into the wall on the first turn of lap six. On lap 24, leader Cris Eash, on route to his second win of the year, collided with Mark Coldren and plowed into the outside wall as he was trying to avoid a three-car tangle in the middle of the track on turns three and four.

"Cris Eash deserved to win the race tonight," said Rahmer upon exiting his Miller Brothers/Harz Racing #88H, "He was the fastest car and got to the front first. He was doing a great job."

Rahmer was almost apologetic in chastising lapped cars that factored into several crashes. "It's just so frustrating. We called it before the race ever started. They deserve to be here as much as we do, but it's frustrating to see Cris get taken out for no reason. It's ridiculous."

Lincoln's high-speed version of "Survivor" began with two first-lap cautions involving first a Danny Murray spin in turn one and then a five-car tangle involving Coldren, Jeff Rohrbaugh Chris Knopp, Murray, and Dan Shetler.

Doug Esh started outside the front row and was the leader when a third caution flag flew on lap two for Coldren and Murray. Esh caught lapped traffic two laps after the restart, and his lead was nearly two seconds when he and Murray ended up against the outside wall.

Niki Young assumed the lead for the restart, and paced the field for the next eight laps before Cris Eash, who started tenth, slid low in heavy lapped traffic to take the top spot exiting turn four of lap 15. Young finally yielded to Rahmer one lap later, and his night ended when he ran into the back of the lapped car of Chappy Knaack and spun out exiting turn two of lap 19. At the time, he was racing with Lance Dewease for third.

Eash had a comfortable lead when disaster struck on lap 24. He left the track on a wrecker, handing the lead over to Rahmer.

Dewease was second for the restart, but had nothing for Rahmer, who crossed 1.84 seconds in front of Dewease for his eighth Lincoln win and tenth win overall in 2002.

Chris Knopp came from the back after the first-lap crash to finish third, with Bobby Weaver running in the top five all night to finish fourth and Brook Weibley steering clear of all incidents to cross fifth. Sixth through eighth were Kevin Drury, Billy Sims (who came from the back after replacing a flat tire), and Jerry Parrish. Chappy Knaack and Pat Cooper, both a lap down, were scored ninth and tenth.

"We've been struggling, and realizing that when you go to a new team, you have to pay the price and learn. Keith Kauffman and Todd Shaffer have been with the same team, and they're good, established teams and hard to beat. Greg Hodnett struggled for a few years, but he's the fastest car around right now. It's a learning process, and you don't deserve to win until you learn."

Heats for the 25 super sprints were won by Dewease, Rahmer, and Eash, with Murray scored the winner of a shortened consolation which was checkered following a backstretch crash involving Steve Siegel.

Ed Stimely, Jr. scored his fourth career Lincoln win in a thrilling 25-lap wingless ARDC midget feature that saw three different leaders in the first three laps and a race-long duel with Steve Buckwalter. Stimely, who started tenth, watched Mark Freeland, Bryan Kobylarz, and Buckwalter lead successive laps at the beginning, climbed to second by lap five, lost the runner-up spot to a charging Ray Bull on lap seven, reclaimed second from Bull on lap 11, and slid under Buckwalter on turns three and four for the race lead on lap 14.

Buckwalter yielded second to Ray Bull on lap 16, only to assume the runner-up spot when Bull took a wild series of flips after striking the outside wall in turn two of a 17th-lap restart.

Although Stimely led the rest of the way, he raced wheel-to-wheel with Buckwalter through every turn. He finally pulled away over the last two laps for the 1.67-second victory.

Mark Freeland, Fred Schell, and Kobylarz completed the top five.

Heats for the 23 ARDC Midgets were won by Freeland, Bull, and Stimely.

Abbottstown racers Bernie Beard and Duane Watson waged a classic duel over the final 15 laps of the 20 lap thundercar feature, with the official scoreboard showing the lead changing hands five times. But in actuality, it was swapped almost every lap with point leader Beard getting the upper hand in the end to score his third win of the season, and the 66th of his career. Neil Smith came from his 15th starting spot to edge out Watson for second at the finish, with David Prunkl and Nat Tuckey completing the top-five.

Heats for the 25 thundercars were won by Bobby Rudisill, Nat Tuckey, and Bernie Beard.

Next Saturday night, August 24th, it will be KIDS NIGHT with driver autographs, kids' carnival-style games, and many special prizes giveaways for the children. The evening's racing action will feature all three Lincoln Speedway point divisions - the Cindy Rowe Auto Glass Super Sprints, the Budweiser 358 Sprints and Miller Brothers Thundercars - all competing together for the final time in 2002. Gates will open at 5:30 PM, with hot-laps getting underway at 7 PM, and the first heat getting underway at 7:30 PM

RACE RESULTS
Saturday - August 17, 2002
LINCOLN SPEEDWAY
Abbottstown, PA

Super Sprints:
Feature (25 Laps) - 1. 88H-Fred Rahmer ($2,500); 2. 77-Lance Dewease; 3. 10N-Chris Knopp; 4. X-Bobby Weaver; 5. 32-Brook Weibley; 6. 31D-Kevin Drury; 7. 55S-Billy Sims; 8. 12-Jerry Parrish; 9. 51-Chappy Knack; 10. 26-Pat Cooper; 11. 7K-Dan Shetler; 12. 17E-Cris Eash; 13. 17K-Jeff Rohrbaugh; 14. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr. (DNF); 15. 43-Larry Shive; 16. I07-Mark Coldren (DNF); 17. 5A-Brian Allman (DNF); 18. 17N-Niki Young (DNF); 19. 8-Scott Grace (DNF); 20. 51-Karl Baker (DNF); 21. 30-Doug Esh (DNF); 22. 21M-Danny Murray (DNF); 23. 3C-Chris Webb (DNF); 24. 94-Glenndon Forsythe (DNF). No time.

Lap Leaders - Doug Esh (1-6), Niki Young (7-14), Cris Eash (15-23), Fred Rahmer (24-25)

1st Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 77-Lance Dewease; 2. 55S-Billy Sims; 3. 30-Doug Esh; 4. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr.; 5. 10N-Chris Knopp; 6. 51-Chappy Knaack; 7. 21M-Danny Murray; 8. 5A-Brian Allman; 9. 43-Larry Shive. Time - 2:25.32

2nd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 88H-Fred Rahmer; 2. 17K-Jeff Rohrbaugh; 3. 32-Brook Weibley; 4. 31D-Kevin Drury; 5. 94-Glenndon Forsythe; 6. 26-Pat Cooper; 7. 3C-Chris Webb; 8. 7K-Dan Shetler. Time - 2:24.66

3rd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 17E-Cris Eash; 2. X-Bobby Weaver; 3. 17N-Niki Young; 4. I07-Mark Coldren; 5. 21-Jerry Parrish; 6. 51-Karl Baker; 7. 8-Scott Grace; 8. 66-Steve Siegel (DNF). Time - 2:27.84.

Consolation (2 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 21M-Danny Murray; 2. 8-Scott Green; 3. 7K-Dan Shetler; 4. 5A-Brian Allman; 5. 43-Larry Shive; 6. 66-Steve Siegel; 7. 3C-Chris Webb. No Time

ARDC Midgets (Wingless):
Feature (25 Laps) - 1. 6-Ed Stimely Jr.; 2. 5-Steve Buckwalter; 3. 4-Mark Freeland; 4. 75-Fred Schell; 5. 49-Bryan Kobylarz; 6. 91-Gary Halteman; 7. 18-Don Trent; 8. 54-Shawn Burke; 9. 15-Chris Morway; 10. 28-Brian Suchy; 11. 29-Jim Knickerbocher; 12. 99-Scott Zipp; 13. 72-Kathy Kurtz; 14. 33-Lew Blair; 15. 57-Mike Krause; 16. 25-Duane Mausteller; 17. 1-Ray Bull; 18. 88-FRank Fiore Jr.; 19. 09-Scott Lawrence; 20. 94-Chris Rupp; 21. 24-Ted Schmid; DNS - 55-Steve Craig, 21-Randy Mausteller. No Time

Lap Leaders - Mark Freeland (1), Bryan Kobylarz (2), Steve Buckwalter (3-13), Ed Stimeling Jr. (14-25)

1st Heat (8 Laps) - 1. 4-Mark Freeland; 2. 5-Steve Buckwalter; 3. 18-Don Trent; 4. 15-Chris Morway; 5. 54-Shawn Burke; 6. 09-Scott Lawrence; 7. 33-Lew Blair; 8. 21-Randy Maustller. Time - 2:18.63

2nd Heat (8 Laps) - 1. 1-Ray Bull; 2. 49-Bryan Kobylarz; 3. 29-Jim Knickerbocker; 4. 99-Scott Zipp; 5. 57-Mike Krause; 6. 24-Ted Schmid; 7. 55-Steve Craig. Time - 2:18.71

3rd Heat (8 Laps) - 1. 6-Ed Stimely Jr.; 2. 75-Fred Schell; 3. 72-Kathy Kurtz; 4. 25-Duane Mausteller; 5. 91-Gary Halteman; 6. 28-Brian Suchy; 7. 94-Chris Rupp; 8. 88-Frank Fiore Jr.. Time - 2:19.64

Thundercars:
Feature (20 Laps) - 1. X-Bernie Beard; 2. 1-Neil Smith; 3. 3-Duane Watson; 4. 8MD-David Prunkl; 5. 22-Nat Tuckey; 6. 1W-Mike Walls; 7. 61-Mike Ciezobka; 8. 14-Chet McCormick; 9. 77-Ken Berwager; 10. 95A-Allen Cullum; 11. 31-Ron Shultz; 12. 4-Greg Feltch; 13. 17-Butch Harvey; 14. 39-Wayne Dutterer; 15. 3R-Bobby Rudisill; 16. 31H-Dave Highlands; 17. 10-Steve Clabaugh; 18. 63-William Knaus; 19. 2B-Steve Gantz; 20. 2-Jeremy Brown; 21. 99-Randy Zechman; 22. Z-Mike Ziegler Sr.; 23. 70-Duane Hahn; 24. 11M-Greg Messersmith. No Time

Lap Leaders - Jeremy Brown (1-5), Bernie Beard (6-7), Duane Watson (8-10), Bernie Beard (11-13), Duane Watson (14), Bernie Beard (15-20)

1st Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 3R-Bobby Rudisill; 2. 10-Steve Clabaugh; 3. 70-Duane Hahn; 4. 31-Ron Shultz; 5. 14-Chet McCormick; 6. 2B-Steve Gantz; 7. 63-William Knaus; 8. 17-Butch Harvey (DNF); 9. 11R-Jim Rost (DNS). No time.

2nd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 22-Nat Tuckey; 2. 99-Randy Zechman; 3. 3-Duane Watson; 4. Z-Mike Zeigler, Jr.; 5. 4-Greg Feltch; 6. 95A-Allen Cullum; 7. 77-Ken Berwager; 8. 31H-Dave Highlands. Time - 2:52.34.

3rd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. X-Bernie Beard; 2. 2-Jeremy Brown; 3. 8MD-David Prunkl; 4. 1W-Mike Walls; 5. 1-Neil Smith; 6. 61-Mike Ciezobka; 7. 39-Wayne Dutterer; 8. 11M-Gregg Messersmith. Time - 2:51.31

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