Saturday Night Thunder: Hesston Speedway
The beautiful, mild August weather led to new stops for the mid-summer weekend. Saturday night was spent under the lights and cloud of dirt at Hesston Speedway in Hesston, Pennsylvania.
Twenty-four limited lates took to the track for the early evening racing. While Tim Smith, Jr. appeared to have the early car to beat, his #39 went up in an impressive cloud of smoke during the heats. This led to another strong showing by Derek Byler, who shot away from the field early in the feature and took his second trip to Hesston’s Victory Lane over a persistent Rance Garlock.
As most of the field spread to single file in the feature; Mike Shoemaker, Shawn Bilger and Mike Altobelli, Jr. put on the best show of the evening and rounded out the top five. The feature ran with few caution laps and showcased a fast Limited Late field with great side-by-side action.
The Street Stock car count and competition at Hesston did not fail to disappoint any fan. As the green dropped on the twenty-four car feature, Bill Henney, Dave Brown and Jarrett Walker began to carefully pick their way through traffic and move to the front -- pursuing race leader Bill Heffner and Mike Desch.
As quickly as the race began, the end of the field piled up in turns one and two. The incident ended the evening for both Dave Swanger and Jessie Snyder; bringing a red flag to the Stocker action. Swanger was sent to JC Blair Hospital for treatment of a foot injury and was later released.
When racing resumed, Heffner and Desch were continuing to battle in front as Walker reeled them in. Henney and Brown were working their way through the field but could not catch Walker’s #44. Walker tallied another 2006 win at Hesston, with Henney, Brown, Galen Sheffield and Desch in tow.
Mike Freet garnered his first Hesston victory on Saturday in 305 Sprint action. The #11 sprinter was tops over Craig Robinson, Tommy Beavers, Richie Fitz and Ryan Lynn.
The action was red flagged briefly after Roger Irvine and George Ridden got together coming out of turn two. After hitting the inside wall, Irvine tumbled wildly down the backstretch and came to rest at the pit entrance. Irvine’s car had suffered slight damage from a racing incident a few laps earlier and found the second round of contact to be an end to his evening.
The hobby stock feature rounded out the night with a great battle between Curtis Heath and Bill Replogle. Lap after lap saw the lead become a game of cat and mouse between the racers. Heath and Replogle exchanged positions throughout the entire event, but not out of striking distance from Jeff Shoemaker.
At the checkers Heath edged out Replogle, with Shoemaker, Brian Ayers and Joe Hammers finishing closely behind.
Pit Patter: Sunday found this staff member visiting Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (for the first time, ever) and taking in the Nick Garin Memorial. Though a review will not be in the works, I’m very interested to return to the track during the weekend of the Pittsburgher 100. You may see something from me then!
Next up will be the (4) 20’s at Thunder Valley on Saturday and a visit to Challenger Raceway for their highly advertised, long-named August event on Sunday. Look for articles showcasing the exciting racing and competitors at both facilities.
Comments, story suggestions and stalker mail is always appreciated. Contact me here, find me at the track or e-mail corlebs@aol.com.
The beautiful, mild August weather led to new stops for the mid-summer weekend. Saturday night was spent under the lights and cloud of dirt at Hesston Speedway in Hesston, Pennsylvania.
Twenty-four limited lates took to the track for the early evening racing. While Tim Smith, Jr. appeared to have the early car to beat, his #39 went up in an impressive cloud of smoke during the heats. This led to another strong showing by Derek Byler, who shot away from the field early in the feature and took his second trip to Hesston’s Victory Lane over a persistent Rance Garlock.
As most of the field spread to single file in the feature; Mike Shoemaker, Shawn Bilger and Mike Altobelli, Jr. put on the best show of the evening and rounded out the top five. The feature ran with few caution laps and showcased a fast Limited Late field with great side-by-side action.
The Street Stock car count and competition at Hesston did not fail to disappoint any fan. As the green dropped on the twenty-four car feature, Bill Henney, Dave Brown and Jarrett Walker began to carefully pick their way through traffic and move to the front -- pursuing race leader Bill Heffner and Mike Desch.
As quickly as the race began, the end of the field piled up in turns one and two. The incident ended the evening for both Dave Swanger and Jessie Snyder; bringing a red flag to the Stocker action. Swanger was sent to JC Blair Hospital for treatment of a foot injury and was later released.
When racing resumed, Heffner and Desch were continuing to battle in front as Walker reeled them in. Henney and Brown were working their way through the field but could not catch Walker’s #44. Walker tallied another 2006 win at Hesston, with Henney, Brown, Galen Sheffield and Desch in tow.
Mike Freet garnered his first Hesston victory on Saturday in 305 Sprint action. The #11 sprinter was tops over Craig Robinson, Tommy Beavers, Richie Fitz and Ryan Lynn.
The action was red flagged briefly after Roger Irvine and George Ridden got together coming out of turn two. After hitting the inside wall, Irvine tumbled wildly down the backstretch and came to rest at the pit entrance. Irvine’s car had suffered slight damage from a racing incident a few laps earlier and found the second round of contact to be an end to his evening.
The hobby stock feature rounded out the night with a great battle between Curtis Heath and Bill Replogle. Lap after lap saw the lead become a game of cat and mouse between the racers. Heath and Replogle exchanged positions throughout the entire event, but not out of striking distance from Jeff Shoemaker.
At the checkers Heath edged out Replogle, with Shoemaker, Brian Ayers and Joe Hammers finishing closely behind.
Pit Patter: Sunday found this staff member visiting Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (for the first time, ever) and taking in the Nick Garin Memorial. Though a review will not be in the works, I’m very interested to return to the track during the weekend of the Pittsburgher 100. You may see something from me then!
Next up will be the (4) 20’s at Thunder Valley on Saturday and a visit to Challenger Raceway for their highly advertised, long-named August event on Sunday. Look for articles showcasing the exciting racing and competitors at both facilities.
Comments, story suggestions and stalker mail is always appreciated. Contact me here, find me at the track or e-mail corlebs@aol.com.
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