Lincoln Speedway 2000-07-29

JESSE WENTZ POWERS HIS WAY TO LINCOLN SPRINT WIN;
Tim Hershey scores impressive 358 win; Greg Feltch wins on final lap pass in thundercars

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA, 7/29/00 - Some call him the hardest working racer around. Manchester, Maryland's Jesse Wentz went toe-to-toe fellow Maryland racer Chris Knopp Saturday night at Lincoln Speedway in the 25 lap super sprint feature. Wentz's hard work paid off with a powerful highside move though the third and fourth turns of the 19th lap to grab the lead from Knopp and went on to take the checkered for his first win of the season - and the fourth of his career at the Pigeon hills oval. Enola's Billy Simms started on the pole for the feature and paced the field for the first few laps before one-time feature winner Jimmy McBee spun the 10N in turn three, bringing out the caution flag. Simms was trailed by Josh Wells, Chris Knopp and Wentz for the restart. Fourth starter Knopp powered into the lead over Simms amidst traffic on lap eight and began putting distance between he and the rest of the field as Wentz moved into second. The red flag appeared with 11 laps to go when Wells turned the 6W on its side in turn three, collecting the machines of Jeremy Trout, Danny Jones, Bobby Weaver, and Niki Young. For the restart, Knopp had Wentz, Johnny Mackison Jr. and Steve Siegel trying to snare the lead away. Wentz pushed his black No. 2W out in front for the first time with eight to go only to see Knopp grab hold on the bottom of the second turn and power back into the lead. Wentz then regrouped and make his bold race-winning move in the third and fourth turns to take the lead for good with six to go. Wentz's win, worth $2,500, made him the eighth different winner in 16 races held this year at Lincoln. Knopp settled for second, followed by Johnny Mackison Jr., Steve Siegel, Brook Weibley, Jeff Rohrbaugh, Sims, Mike Lutz, Bobby Weaver and Niki Young. Heats for the 25 super sprints on hand were won by Wentz, Danny Jones, and Knopp, with Marshall Whitesel Jr. winning the consolation.

The 358 sprint feature started off with a ten care melee on the backstretch involving the machines of Kevin Welsh, Billy Dietrich, Bob Camilli, Jake Raudabaugh, Dough Esh, Darren Eash, Danny Jones, T.J. Stutts, Tracy Templin and Eric Stambaugh. When action resumed, Jerry Stinson found himself in control of the field at the completion of one lap over Mike Creaghan and eighth starter Tim Hershey. Hershey wasted no time getting to the front, blowing by Stinson for the lead on the third go-around and then checking out on the field. The Dillsburg driver took the checkered flag by a straightaway in traffic over Joe Ilg, Stinson, Cory Hass and Stutts for his first career win at Lincoln. Heats for the 31 limited sprints on hand were won by Esh, Elmer Stoltzfus, and Cory Hass, with Adrian Shaffer winning the consolation.

Hanover's Ken Berwager started on the outside of the front row and nearly wired the field for his first-career win in the the 15 lap thundercar feature. But he watched it slip away as he headed off of turn four to take the checkered flag when he hooked the cushion with the checkered flag in sight. That opened the door for third-starting Hanover racer Greg Felch who took the lead exiting the final turn and scored his first win of the season at Lincoln, and the second of his career. Jerry Bingaman was second, followed by Berwager, Steve Clabaugh and Duane Watson. Heats for the 32 thundercars on hand were won by M.R. Teal, Berwager, and Bobby Beard, with Mike Zeigler getting the win in the consolation event.

Next Saturday night, August 5th, Lincoln Speedway will host Checkered Flag Fan Club Night with all three regular divisions - the super sprints, 358 sprints, and thundercars - in action. Gates will open at 5 PM, with hot laps at 7 PM and qualifying events getting underway at 7:30 PM.

RACE RESULTS
Saturday - July 29, 2000
LINCOLN SPEEDWAY
Abbottstown, PA

Super Sprints:

Feature (25 Laps) - 1. 2W-Jesse Wentz ($2,500); 2. 6K-Chris Knopp; 3. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr.; 4. 59-Steve Siegel; 5. 32-Brook Weibley; 6. 29-Jeff Rohrbaugh; 7. 55S-Bill Sims; 8. 07-Mike Lutz; 9. X-Bobby Weaver; 10. 17N-Niki Young; 11. 69-Shawn Weaver; 12. 21-Von McGee; 13. 7J-Jeremy Trout; 14. 5-Sam Ross; 15. 17K-Greg Klarr; 16. 707-Marshall Whitesel Jr.; 17. 1R-Mike Rabold; 18. C4-Dave Cook (DNF); 19. 10-Chad Wolf (DNF); 20. 10N-Jimmy McBee (DNF); 21. 99-Danny Jones (DNF); 22. 6W-Josh Wells (DNF); 23. 30B-Jimmy Layton (DNF); 24. 46-Chad Layton (DNF). No Time

Lap Leaders - Bill Sims (1-7), Chris Knopp (8-18), Jesse Wentz (19-25)

1st Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 2W-Jesse Wentz; 2. 32-Brook Weibley; 3. 69-Shawn Weaver; 4. 6W-Josh Wells; 5. 17K-Greg Klarr; 6. 1R-Mike Rabold; 7. 707-Marshall Whitesel Jr.; 8. 10X-Doug Rohrbaugh; 9. C4-Dave Cook. Time - 2:25.81

2nd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 99-Danny Jones; 2. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr.; 3. 55S-Bill Sims; 4. 10N-Jimmy McBee; 5. X-Bobby Weaver; 6. 17N-Niki Young; 7. 21-Von McGee; 8. 30B-Jimmy Layton. Time - 2:26.58

3rd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 6K-Chris Knopp; 2. 7J-Jeremy Trout; 3. 59-Steve Siegel; 4. 07-Mike Lutz; 5. 29-Jeff Rohrbaugh; 6. 5-Sam Ross; 7. 10-Chad Wolf; 8. 46-Chad Layton. Time - 2:24.91

358-Sprints:

Feature (20 laps) - 1. 56V-Tim Hershey; 2. 22J-Joe Ilg; 3. 2JS-Jerry Stinson; 4. 11C-Cory Hass; 5. 11T-T.J. Stutts; 6. U1-Chad Layton; 7. 11S-Duaine Smith; 8. 55-Jimmy Layton; 9. 18W-Kevin Welsh; 10. 15-Tracy Templin; 11. 1-Jimmy Nace; 12. 66-Eric Patteson; 13. 00-Elmer Stoltzfus; 14. 8D-Billy Dietrich; 15. 88-Danny Jones; 16. 17M-Michael Creaghan; 17. 4B-Jake Raudabaugh; 18. 51-Gary Gollub; 19. 2J-Billy Johns; 20. 30-Darren Eash; 21. 21-Adrian Shaffer; 22. 4-Eric Stambaugh; 23. 6E-Doug Esh; 24. 34-Bob Camilli. No Time

Lap Leaders - Jerry Stinson (1-2), Tim Hershey (3-20)

1st Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 6E-Doug Esh; 2. 2JS-Jerry Stinson; 3. 56V-Tim Hershey; 4. 30-Darren Eash; 5. 8D-Billy Dietrich; 6. 34-Bob Camilli; 7. 21-Adrian Shaffer; 8. 22T-Matt Boland; 9. 87-Alan Krimes; 10. 28-Bill Hetzel Jr.; 11. 80-Todd Reed. No Time

2nd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 00-Elmer Stoltzfus; 2. 2J-Billy Johns; 3. 22J-Joe Ilg; 4. 11S-Duaine Smith; 5. 4B-Jake Raudabaugh; 6. U1-Chad Layton; 7. 66-Eric Patteson; 8. 18W-Kevin Welsh; 9. 51-Gary Gollub; 10. 31J-Joey Palmerino. Time - 2:06.54

3rd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 11C-Cory Hass; 2. 4-Eric Stambaugh; 3. 17M-Michael Creaghan; 4. 88-Danny Jones; 5. 11T-T.J. Stutts; 6. 1-Jimmy Nace; 7. 15-Tracy Templin; 8. 55-Jimmy Layton; 9. 56X-Nate Snyder; DNS - 6F-Bill Fannasy. Time - 1:59.81

Consolation (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 21-Adrian Shaffer; 2. 15-Tracy Templin; 3. 66-Eric Patteson; 4. 18W-Kevin Welsh; 5. 51-Gary Gollub; 6. 55-Jimmy Layton; 7. 56X-Nate Snyder; 8. 6F-Bill Fannasy; 9. 31J-Joey Palmerino; 10. 87-Alan Krimes (DNF); DNS - 22T-Matt Boland, 28-Bill Hetzel Jr., 80-Todd Reed. No Time

Thundercars:

Feature (15 Laps) - 1. 4-Greg Feltch; 2. 21A-Mike Zeigler; 3. 77-Ken Berwager; 4. 10-Steve Clabaugh; 5. 3-Duane Watson; 6. 3R-Bobby Rudisill; 7. X-Bernie Beard; 8. 16J-Randy Zechman; 9. 100-Mike Zeigler Jr.; 10. 60-Cork Laughman; 11. 3B-John Rudisill; 12. 5-Bobby Beard; 13. M1-Mike Potts; 14. 7-Duane Hahn; 15. 22-Nat Tuckey; 16. 17H-Butch Harvey; 17. 21-Jerry Bingaman; 18. 2-Steve Gantz; 19. 95-Fred Cullum; 20. 9J-Mike Johnson; 21. 38-Roy Warehime; 22. 68-M.R. Teal; 23. 1-Neil Smith; 24. 6-Tony Kuhn. No Time

Lap Leaders - Ken Berwager (1-14), Greg Feltch (15)

1st Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 68-M.R. Teal; 2. 4-Greg Feltch; 3. 100-Mike Zeigler Jr.; 4. 21-Jerry Bingaman; 5. 3-Duane Watson; 6. 3R-Bobby Rudisill; 7. 19-John McDonough; 8. 21A-Mike Zeigler; 9. 16J-Randy Zechman; 10. 31-Dave Highlands; DNS - 39-Wayne Dutterer. Time - 2:27.38

2nd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 77-Ken Berwager; 2. 1-Neil Smith; 3. 22-Jerry Bingaman; 4. M1-Mike Potts; 5. X-Bernie Beard; 6. 38-Roy Warehime; 7. 78-Ron Farrar; 8. 95-Fred Cullum; 9. 3B-John Rudisill; 10. 12M-Jake Markey; 11. 24C-Keith Cook. Time - 2:50.31

3rd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 5-Bobby Beard; 2. 60-Cork Laughman; 3. 10-Steve Clabaugh; 4. 6-Tony Kuhn; 5. 17H-Butch Harvey; 6. 9J-Mike Johnson; 7. 2-Steve Gantz; 8. 8MD-David Prunkl; 9. 61-Mike Ciezobka; 10. 7-Duane Hahn. No Time

Consolation (10 Laps/6 to Qualify) - 1. 21A-Mike Ziegler; 2. 3B-John Rudisill; 3. 16J-Randy Zechman; 4. 95-Fred Cullum; 5. 2-Steve Gantz; 6. 7-Duane Hahn; 7. 78-Ron Farrar; 8. 12M-Jake Markey; 9. 24C-Keith Cook; 10. 39-Wayne Dutterer; DNS - 19-John McDonough Jr., 8MD-David Prunkl, 61-Mike Ciezobka, 31-Dave Highlands. No Time