July 4th Weekend

4th of July weekend anything but spectacular

Photo By Sue Stevenson

Conneaut, OH

July 2, 2004

By Jay Pees and Rich Berry

Roberts Trucking presented the Ohio Nationals on Friday night at Raceway 7 with Todd Andrews from Eldred, PA winning the 50-lap event. It was his second victory of the season, and it was worth $5,000. With Andrews 20th victory at the track, it tied him for sixth place on the all-time Late Model win list with Skip Evans and Dave Hess, Sr.

Other winners on the racing program included Bill Henry from Conneautville, PA, winning his fifth feature of the season in the Laser Tool and Plastic Semi-Lates. Mike Hess from Waterford, PA was the winner in the Maloney Tool and Mold E-Mods, his second victory of the season. Becoming the first repeat winner in the Fame RV Center Street Stocks was Jim McFadden from Painesville, Ohio. David McLaughlin from Conneaut, Ohio picked up his third win of the season in the J 'n D Door Company Hobby Stocks.

Todd Andrews and Kirk Bradley led the field to the green flag in the 50 lap Bolt Place Super Late Model Special sponsored by Roberts Trucking. At the end Andrews would win in convincing fashion, but it certainly would not be a wire-to-wire victory. Bradley jumped into the lead from his outside front row berth and showed considerable strength in the opening laps, leading Andrews and Dick Barton. Barton took over the runner-up position on lap 11 with Alan Dellinger, Rich Gardner, Chub Frank, and Matt Urban getting by as well with Andrews dropping all the way to eighth at the completion of lap 11. From there Andrews had to come back through traffic, expertly gaining positions as the race wore on.

At the front, Bradley was leading Dellinger, who had taken second on lap 13, and Barton running a strong third. On lap 19, Bradley faltered in turn two allowing Dellinger to get by for the lead. Barton, defending Raceway 7 points Champion, took over the second spot on lap 23. On lap 24 Barton suddenly slowed in turn two, a victim of a dropped driveshaft. That left Chub Frank second with Andrews back up to third for the restart.

Andrews appeared to be getting stronger every lap and dropped Frank to third on lap 34 and quickly replaced Dellinger at the top two laps later. From there, the race was all Andrews as he powered away every straight, never again challenged for the lead. His margin of victory was 3.441 seconds. Frank got by Dellinger for the runner-up spot on lap 40 when Dellinger faltered, dropping him back to sixth. Point leader Dellinger came back to third in the final ten laps. Brent Rhebergen had a strong run to finish fourth at the end with Bradley winding up fifth. Ten cautions slowed the race with mechanical attrition and accidents eliminating all but nine of the twenty-four starters from the event. Ryan Markham was sixth as Jay Watson, Mickey Wright, Andy Kania, and Matt Urban rounded out the top ten. With 33 entries, heat winners were Frank, Bradley, and Dellinger. The Last Chance Race winner was Dan Armbruster.

The Bolt Place Late Models - Car Count - 33. Heat winners - Chub Frank, Kirk Bradley, Alan Dellinger. Last Chance Race winner - Dan Armbruster.

Feature winner Todd Andrews by 3.441 seconds. 2)Chub Frank. 3)Alan Dellinger. 4)Brent Rhebergen. 5)Kirk Bradley. 6)Ryan Markham. 7)Jay Watson. 8)Mickey Wright. 9)Andy Kania. 10)Matt Urban. 11)Bill Cunningham. 12)Dutch Davies. 13)Darrell Bossard. 14)Scott Johnson. 15)Bob Close. 16)Mark Osburn. 17)Dick Barton. 18)Chris Hackett. 19)Todd Roncaglione. 20)Dan Armbruster. 21)Rich Gardner. 22)Lou Gentile. 23)David Scott. 24)Scott Gurdak.

Portsmouth, OH

July 3, 2004

By Jeff Geesey

Dale McDowell, Chickamauga, GA, captured the first night of the MACS/WoO “Rumble on the River” 50 taking the $5,000 winner’s share in the Big Sandy’s Super Store sponsored event at Portsmouth Raceway Park.

McDowell and young gun Tim McCreadie paced the 24 car starting field. McCreadie got the jump on the veteran McDowell and led the first two circuits before McDowell roared back past him recapturing the top spot.

Lap 6 saw two slow downs with the most significant victim being third place contender R.J. Conley as he looped his mount in turn two. The reshuffled order included McDowell, Tim McCreadie, Steve Francis, Clint Smith and Chub Frank from eighth.

One the restart, McDowell bolted back in front as Francis catapulted past McCreadie for second. With ten laps in the books, McDowell was keeping Francis at bay with Smith, Scott Bloomquist, from fifteenth; and McCreadie all rounding out the top five.

The action was phenomenal as the drivers were using every inch of the spacious, wide surface. On lap 16, Bloomquist vaulted past Francis for second and was hot after the leader McDowell. The driving prowess all the drivers were exhausting as the fans were riveted to the edge of their seats by the thrilling action.

Bloomquist took the measure of McDowell on lap 21 as he swept past the leader. McDowell was having nothing of it as he returned the favored one circuit later. McDowell and Bloomquist were having an all out brawl for the win.

McDowell first entered lapped traffic trying to skim off Bloomquist’s relentless assault. The final caution appeared on lap 38 for Denny Chamberlain who had spun in turn four after making contact with the leader.

On the restart, McDowell paced the field followed by Bloomquist, Francis, Smith, and R.J. Conley, recovering from his misfortune on lap 6. Bloomquist tried inside, outside and all over the surface trying to dethrone McDowell as the two were engaged in a torrid battle.

McDowell caught the back of the field once again with just five laps to go and tried to buy real estate by using lapped cars for insulation trying to thwart the onslaught from Bloomquist, Francis, Smith and Conley.

With two laps to go, Bloomquist had shredded all the lapped traffic in front of him and quickly reeled in McDowell setting up a dash to the checkers. With the white waving, Smith rolled into third over Francis.

As the checkers flew, McDowell narrowly nipped Bloomquist for the win over Smith, Francis, and Conley. The next flight of five included Rick Aukland, from seventeenth; Bart Hartman, from twenty-fourth; Mike Balzano, from eighteenth; Robbie Blair, and Rick Eckert, from sixteenth.

“Rumble on the River 50” sponsored by Big Sandy’s Superstore:
FEATURE (50 LAPS): 1. 17M-Dale McDowell, 2. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 3. 44-Clint Smith, 4. 15-Steve Francis, 5. 71C-R.J. Conley 6. 12-Rick Aukland, 7. 75-Bart Hartman, 8. E1-Mike Balzano, 9. WON11-Rob Blair, 10. 24-Rick Eckert, 11. 1*-Chub Frank, 12. 00H-Chuck Harper, 13. 9-Dan Schlieper, 14. 31-Denny Chamberlin 15. 71-Delmas Conley, 16. 25-Kerry Hansen, 17. B1-Paul Wilmoth, 18. 77-Barry Bragdon, 19. 68-Tim Hitt, 20. 39-Tim McCreadie, 21. 21-Billy Moyer, 22. 23-John Blankenship, 23. 29-Darrell Lanigan, 24. 17B-Keith Barbara.

Portsmouth, OH

July 4, 2004

By: Jeff Geesey

Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN, seized the $10,000 top prize on the second night of the MACS/WoO co-sanctioned “Rumble on the River” at Portsmouth Raceway Park. He notched another win on his “Outlaw” gun copping the 10^th Annual “Cornett Clash 100” sponsored by Cornett Building Supplies and Vinyl Craft Custom Windows.

Robbie Blair, current MACS point leader, and Steve Francis, currently third in the WoO standings, paced the 26 car starting field trackside. Eventual winner, Bloomquist was riding in eight.

Blair and Francis ignited the field with Francis grabbing the lead over Blair, Bart Hartman, Dale McDowell, and Jackie Boggs all giving chase. By the conclusion of lap 1, Bloomquist had already made the top five as Boggs was quickly dispatched to sixth.

By lap 8, Bloomquist had worked his way into fourth with Francis fending off the stiff challenges of Blair.
The fleet Francis encountered back markers for the first time on lap 11 as his skill in lapped traffic shown brightly. Bloomquist moved into fourth on lap 11 sliding McDowell, the previous nights winner, to fifth.

Hartman was giving Blair constant pressure for the runner-up spot, but Blair was successfully fighting off his advances, as well as keeping Francis within striking distance. Bloomquist moved past Hartman into third on lap 13.

Blair continued to menace Francis as the Bloomquist edged ever closer to taking over second place. On lap 24, Francis was still firmly in control when Bloomquist made a darting move as he sped past Blair.

With that thrust of momentum, Bloomquist seemed to kick it into overdrive as he quickly reeled in the leader. The action was fierce and the pace was blistering as Francis saw the nose of Bloomquist several times before the first caution flew on lap 26. The field reformed with Francis on point over Bloomquist, Blair, Hartman, and McDowell.

Francis was up to the attack of Bloomquist as the duo diced inside and out of at almost every turn with Francis maintaining the spot. While the leaders were hooked in their battle Earl Pearson was on a march from his fourteenth place start. By lap 45, he had slide into fifth displacing Hartman.

With 30 laps remaining, Francis had handled all the advances of Bloomquist and looked as though he may be able to keep him at bay to the checkers. The rest of the top five included Blair, McDowell and Pearson. Francis, at lap 80, was showing signs of a push coming out of the corners and Bloomquist, propelled forward standing at the ready waiting for the opportunity to present itself. Francis fought to maintain the lead as he wrestled an increasing ill-handling car.

Finally, on lap 86, Bloomquist found all the opening he needed and squirted past Francis into the lead.    Francis continued to press forward attempting to regain the lead but wasn’t getting the responsiveness he needed.

The final caution appeared on lap 88 for Hartman, who had sheared the wheel from the hub on the rear of the car. Bloomquist reformed the field behind him, as Francis hoped that his leading set-up would return for one final push on the leader. Blair was still in third over McDowell and Pearson. As the field went green, Bloomquist launched away. Francis quickly attempted to regain the real estate lost, but to no avail. Bloomquist would go on to the take the victory by a comfortable margin over Francis, Blair, McDowell, and Pearson. The next tier of five drivers included Dan Schlieper, from seventeenth; Chub Frank, Donnie Moran, from twelfth; Rick Eckert, from eleventh; and Billy Moyer.

“10^th Annual Cornett Clash 100”
Sponsored by Cornett Building supplies and Vinyl Craft Custom Windows

1. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 2. 15-Steve Shaver, 3. WON11-Robbie Blair, 4. 17M-Dale McDowell, 5. 1-Earl Pearson, Jr., 6. 9-Dan Schlieper, 7. 1*-Chub Frank, 8. 99-Donnie Moran, 9. 24-Rick Eckert, 10. 21-Billy Moyer, 11. 25-Shane Clanton, 12. 71C-R.J. Conley, 13. 4B-Jackie Boggs, 14. 19-Davey Johnson, 15. 0-Steve Shaver, 16. 29-Darrell Lanigan, 17. 44-Clint Smith, 18. E1-Mike Balzano, 19. 39-Tim McCreadie, 20. 71R-Rod Conley, 21. 00H-Chuck Harper, 22. 75-Bart Hartman, 23. B1-Paul Wilmoth, Jr., 24. 68-Tim Hitt, 25. 15B-Brian Birkhofer, 26. 28-Jimmy Mars.

July 5, 2004

Challenger Raceway - Indiana, PA

By Rich Berry

Davey Johnson from Greensburg, PA was the winner of the 50-lap main event as the Challenger Raceway hosted the traveling World of Outlaw Late Model Series for the first time on Monday night.

Earl Pearson, Jr. smashed the former track record in time trials. The former record lap of 14.831, set by Rick Aukland on October 12, 2002, was eclipsed by four drivers. Earl Pearson, Jr. established the new record in setting fast time of the night, as his new record lap was 14.397.

Six qualifying heats were run, with wins going to Dale McDowell, Tim McCreadie, Brian Burkhofer, Ray Cook, Josh Richards, and Davey Johnson. Those heat winners went into the dash to determine the feature lineup, which was won by McDowell. Two B-Mains rounded out the starting field, and they were won by Scott Bloomquist and Dave Satterlee.

Dale McDowell and Davey Johnson led the field to the green flag for the 50-lap main event. McDowell grabbed the lead at the drop of the green flag, as the first yellow waved with two laps complete. After a pair of restarts, McDowell showed the way as racing resumed over Johnson, Tim McCreadie, Earl Pearson, and Rick Eckert. Brian Burkhofer grabbed fifth from Eckert on lap 8, and had passed Pearson for fourth by lap 12. McDowell's lead was a comfortable one, as he was approaching the tail end of the field. The next yellow appeared for Scott Bloomquist on lap 15, as he was up to 11th after starting 19th. Bloomquist retired to the pits for the evening under the caution period. Another lap was run before the next yellow appeared, this one for Eckert. After a quick pit stop, Eckert resumed on the tail of the field.

McDowell continued to show the way on the restart, ahead of Johnson, Pearson, McCreadie, and Birkhofer. While still leading, McDowell suffered rear suspension failure, and he slowed in turn four on lap 22. David Scott was battling for fifth, and spun at the same time as the yellow flag waved. Both retired to the pits for the rest of the race.

Johnson inherited the top spot, ahead of Pearson, Birkhofer, McCreadie, and Mike Balzano. Balzano and Ray Cook swapped fifth briefly, before Balzano finally regained the position. When the yellow waved for a slowing Chub Frank on lap 28, it would be the final yellow flag of the race.

With a 22-lap run to the finish, Johnson continued to show the way on the restart. Pearson would gain ground, then lose ground as the race progressed. The top three were using a line where they worked low in turns one and two, then high in turns three and four. McCreadie in fourth was using a line of his own, entering turn one very high. As the laps clicked by, the top five tightened in the closing laps as Francis entered the top five with five laps remaining. As the white flag waved, the top five was running under a blanket.

Pearson made a final bid at Johnson, but it fell short as Johnson would race home the winner. Pearson settled for a close second after starting seventh. Francis moved from fifth to third on the final lap, completing a charge from 21st starting spot. He would say after the race, "if I could have had a few more laps..." Burkhofer and McCreadie bumped on the final lap, and crossed the line fourth and fifth. Filling the top ten were Balzano, Cook, Eckert, Rob Blair, and Sam Stile.

Feature - 1)Davey Johnson. 2)Earl Pearson, Jr. 3)Steve Francis. 4)Brian Burkhofer. 5)Tim McCreadie. 6)Mike Balzano. 7)Ray Cook. 8)Rick Eckert. 9)Rob Blair. 10)Sam Stile. 11)Bart Hartman. 12)John Blankenship. 13)Clint Smith. 14)Dave Satterlee. 15)Josh Richards. 16)Dutch Davies. 17)Scott Rhodes. 18)John Flinner. 19)Chub Frank. 20)Todd Andrews. 21)Dale McDowell. 22)David Scott. 23)Scott Bloomquist. 24)Shane Clanton.

Chub Frank Racing

Rt.1 Box 146

Lottsville Niobe Rd.

Bear Lake, PA 16402