FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PLEASE
RACE RESULT SUMMARY FROM LINDA'S SPEEDWAY
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2008
TRACK PHONE (717) 865-5330
MEDIA PHONE (717) 319-2391 TOM CHORPENNING
EMAIL: teclmc@ptd.net



RANDY WEST & MIKE GLASS CRUISE TO LINDA'S SPEEDWAY FEATURE WINS AS DAVID GRAVEL & NICK RUHL MAKE LAST LAP PASS TO WIN THEIR FEATURE RACES

By Tom Chorpenning

JONESTOWN, PA-Some great racing took place at the Linda's Speedway in Jonestown, PA on Friday evening as both the 600cc Sprint 25 lap feature and the Charger 15 lap feature saw the second place runner take the lead on the final half lap and then win in a drag race to the checkered flag. David Gravel made his winning move going into turn three on the final lap and then beat Brett Peters in a race to the finish line to claim his first win of the season in the RTS Chassis sponsored 600cc Sprints while in the Kreiser Fuel Service Chargers it was Chris Smith and Nick Ruhl racing hard on the final lap and as they went into turn three with three lapped cars in front of them Smith and Ruhl bobbed and weaved to get through the traffic and as they came off turn four it was Smith leading with Ruhl right along side and at the finish line it was Ruhl just nipping the Smith machine. It was the first Charger race of the season as on their first appearance back on April 11 the event was rained out after the heat races. Randy West started the 270cc Sprint feature back in position twelve and was leading on lap five as he took charge of the event and then cruised to the winners circle for the second time this season. The Vinyl Visions sponsored Tobias Slingshots saw Mike Glass and Jan Acker run the first three laps side by side before Glass secured the top spot and then drove a flawless race to his first victory of the 2008 season.

The RTS Chassis sponsored 270cc Sprint feature had its problems getting the first scored lap in the books and finally on the third try it was a complete restart but single file and the field managed to get a lap in the books before Ed Kenderdine stopped on the front stretch bringing out another caution. Pete Skias led the opening lap and would restart the race with Kent Weiss close behind. On lap three both Kent Weiss and Randy West moved by Skias to take the 1-2 spots. West showed he still knows how to get around the Linda's Speedway as he put the 94x on the high side and went sailing around Kent Weiss on lap five and then cruised to the winners circle despite another caution with 13 laps completed that brought the rest of the field in for a chance to battle the former track champion. Jeff Wilson drove one of the best races of his career to nail down third with former feature winner this season Richie Hartman fourth and 2007 track champion Mike Rutherford coming home fifth. Last weeks feature winner Ross Perchak finished sixth after being involved in a lap one multi car pile up. Completing the top ten were Dave Williams, Ken Wismer Jr, Matt Mountz and Mike Boyer. 31 270's on hand with Mike Rutherford, Scott Fick and Randy West winning the 10 lap heat races with John Ruoss taking the Consolation. Ken Wismer made his season debut and looked strong finishing in the top ten with his #6x while Dan Degler failed to qualify on his first trip to the speedway in 2008.

The Slingshot 20 lap feature was up next with Jan Acker and Mike Glass starting in the front row of the 22 car field. Glass and Acker ran side by side the first three laps with some great racing until lap four when Glass took sole possession of the top spot. Glass went on to take the win with Acker never more than a few car lengths back settling for second. Acker has been the talk of the early season thus far for the Slingshots as this guy just may well be on his way to Rookie Of The Year and maybe even win the Vinyl Visions point championship. Shannon Smith finished third with Brandon Bucher fourth. The top four starters finished in the top four positions. Last weeks winner Nate Christman rounded out the top five. 6-10 were Josh Dalrymple, Simon Egan, Brett Bieber, Chuck Whary and Ryan Wells. Jan Acker and Mike Glass won heat races.

The 600cc Sprint feature saw Brett Peters lead the opening two laps before a red flag was needed for a nine car crash in turn two that saw three cars get upside down. No one was injured but Matt Pupello, Kenny Harris III, Ryan Smith, Jasen Geesaman and Jermain Godshall all headed pit side and done for the night. Peters held the top spot on the restart and one more circuit was scored before a caution was needed for Joe Smith. Now with 22 laps to go it was back to green flag racing and again Brett Peters held the top spot with Alex Bright second with David Gravel third. On lap four Gravel slipped by Bright for second and now it was a four car race at the front of the pack as Lex Burritt was on the rear bumper of the Bright machine. The rest of the race went green as the laps clicked off in a hurry and on the final lap Gravel made a perfect move going into turn three to dive down low and got along side Peters and as they came off turn four Gravel had the top spot and took the win with Peters a very close second. It was a great finish that will have fans talking for quite a few weeks. Behind Gravel and Peters was young Alex Bright in third with Lex Burritt finally finishing a race to claim fourth. Jeff Hallagan rounded out the top five. Completing the top ten were Brenden Bright, Mike Rutherford, Jerry Schott Jr, Brock Zearfoss and Phil Griffith. 35 of the Super 600's on hand with Alex Bright, Brett Peters, Jeff Hallagan and David Gravel winning the heat races while Brenden Bright and Terry Schaeffer won the Consolation races. Ryan Smith made his first appearance of the season and did make it into the feature field but rolled his #2 in the lap three multi car pile up. Mark Yoder, Jason Sechrist and Tyler Ross were all newcomers and all failed to qualify.

The always exciting Chargers rounded out the night with a 15 lap feature. Chris Smith and Chris Derr started on the front row and it was going to be a race to turn one to see who would have the lead. Derr took the top spot with Smith second and Nick Ruhl third. They raced that was until lap 10 when the lapped car of Justin Riegel came into play. Derr was caught behind the lapped car and Smith was all of a sudden out front with Ruhl moving into second as Derr slipped back to third. More and More lapped traffic was now playing havoc with the leaders as they tried to get around the back markers. Going into the third turn on the final lap it was Smith out front but three lapped cars were just in front. Nick Ruhl drove into turn three on the bottom and slipped in front of a lapped car and all of a sudden he was along side Smith. Coming off turn four it was still Smith leading by a bumper as they raced to the checkered flag. At the line it was Nick Ruhl taking the win by an all so slim margin over Smith. Great finish for the first Charger feature of the season. Nick Ruhl picked up $225 for the win with Smith picking up $110 for second. In years past the Charger feature winner earned $100 but new for 2008 its $225 to win if at least 19 cars are on hand. Chris Derr finished third with Harold Smith fourth and Charles Wengerd fifth. TJ Kennedy, Dave Reightler, Mike Strunge, Larry Neal and Dale Reightler rounded out the top ten. Chris Smith, Chris Derr and Charles Wengerd won the heat races.

During intermission the restored races cars of years gone by took to the speedway for some hot laps as part of the Eastern Museum Of Motor Racing Night. The cars that were there looked great but it is a shame more don't turn out for this annual event. A move to a different club night may take place in 2009.

All the racing action that included 12 heats, three consolations and four features plus the restored race car track time was completed before 11:00.

Next Friday, May 9 will feature the 600cc Sprints, 270cc, Sprints, Slingshots and Chargers plus two make up Consolations and a 25 lap feature for the 600's from an April 11 rain out. Adult admission remains at $6 with children age 6-12 only $3. Come out to the best bargain in racing. Gates open at 5:30 with hot laps at 7:00 and the make up Consolations going off at 7:30.