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JULY
7, 2007-
RACE
5
Dicely
Collects $10,000 at 600 Show Down
Lancaster, PA –
Clyde Martin
Memorial Speedway (LANCO ) Mike Dicely, by
virtue of his win in Dash #1, started on the
pole in the Showdown. He led every lap, but
Dietz and Rutherford were right behind him,
especially as they negotiated heavy lapped
traffic during the final ten laps. A caution
flag with one to go allowed the leaders to run
the final circuit without any traffic in front
of them, and Dicely pulled ahead to register the
$10,000 victory by three car-lengths over Dietz.
The winner's comments after the race, "We
changed one torsion bar and three tires right
before our heat race. I went from a dry, slick
set-up to a "rubber-down" set-up, and it worked
perfectly for the rest of the day." Asked if he
was nervous as he encountered the heavy lapped
traffic in the final stages, Hyper Mike replied,
"No, I was pretty relaxed the whole time. Of
course, I didn't know how close anyone really
was. This is great, though...I got to lead three
Hypers across the line." Dicely was referring to
the fact that runner-up Tim Dietz and
third-place Mike Rutherford also drive cars
built by his company. Perhaps his best quote of
the evening was this one... "I remember, years
ago, when we were running for trophies, and only
trophies, here at Lanco. Look where we are
now..." he exclaimed, as he clutched the big
check bearing his name and the $10,000 amount
that goes to the Showdown victor.
With his 10th place finish, A.J. Bast clinched
the 600 Speedweek title. He becomes the
first-ever champion of the 600 Speedweek series,
earning the $500 Winner-Take-All point money.
Bast scored two wins during the series, at Path
Valley on Monday, July 2nd, and at Linda's
Speedway on Friday, July 6. He also finished
fifth at Hill Valley and was runner-up to Jimmy
Brookens at Susquehanna Speedway Park. The Tower
City hot-shoe barely made it into the Showdown
on Saturday, passing two cars on the final lap
of his B-Main to secure a starting spot in the
50-lap finale.
A huge crowd, the largest in many years at
Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway,
witnessed the day's events. Perfect weather,
especially when the sun went down, graced the
third running of the Super 600 Showdown. The
race was held at Hill Valley in 2005 and 2006,
but organizer Dale Thomas decided to move the
event to Lanco for 2007.
The total car count for the Showdown was 112.
The field was split into 14 qualifying heats,
with eight cars starting each ten-lap
preliminary. Points were awarded for each
driver's finishing position, and passing points
were earned according to the number of positions
a driver advanced from his/her starting spot.
For example, 20 points were given for winning a
heat race. Drivers earned one passing point for
each position gained. Dicely started eighth in
his heat race (because he drew a very high
number when he signed in on Saturday) and won
it, so he earned 27 points. He was the only
driver to start last in his heat race and win,
thereby earning more points than anyone else.
The top 12 in points after the heats transferred
directly into the A-Main. Everyone else was
slotted for one of the "alphabet mains",
beginning with a pair of E-Mains. Drivers had to
race their way into the Showdown from that
point. And a couple of wheel-twisters almost ran
through the alphabet to make it into the
A-Main...Billy Ney, a Lanco regular, won his
E-Main, then came from the back to finish 3rd in
D-1. His luck ran out in the first C-Main,
however, as he missed the transfer by one
position. Another midwestern ace, Billy Perry,
picked up the win in D-2, then maneuvered
through the pack to finish third in C-2. He
couldn't quite crack the top six in his B-Main,
however, and had to watch the Showdown from the
grandstand. Indiana's Josh Ross managed to
transfer from his C-Main to B-1, then qualified
for the Showdown by climbing to fourth in the B.
He advanced from 19th to 11th in the 50-lapper.
There were many who predicted a "crash fest" on
the extremely fast, high-banked, eighth-mile
oval. Fortunately, the naysayers were completely
mistaken. The A-Main featured some real good
racing for position, long stretches of
green-flag competition, and was slowed by only
six cautions (unofficial count) for minor
incidents. A total of 24 qualifying races were
held during the long day, with just two
significant flips. Wesley Gordon, who's car
number is 23 3/4, tumbled hard in his heat race.
And Eddie Moss, from Florida, twirled completely
up and over Kerry Gilbert's No. 99 in one of the
B-Mains. Both drivers were okay, but their cars
were mangled.
Brent Marks, the 16-year old from Myerstown, PA,
was the Hard Charger of the event, picking up 15
positions during the 50-lapper. Marks started
22nd and finished seventh.
Heath Hehnly, driving Dicely's orange-and-white
No. 44h after a hard crash eliminated his own
car on Friday night at Linda's, advanced 14
positions in the finale, moving from 23rd to
ninth. Bast, who rolled off 24th on the starting
grid, also gained 14 spots to record his
tenth-place finish. And Delaware's Glenn Heverin,
who appeared to have one of the best cars all
day, leap-frogged his way from 16th at the start
to an impressive fourth at the checkered.
While most of the field stayed glued to the
bottom groove throughout the 50-lap finale, Jack
Spence and Jimmy Glenn were determined to make
the high side work. And it did, at least for a
little while. Spence came from 10th to third in
the opening laps, trading that position with
Duane Harbaugh for several tours before Jack
eventually faded to a 12th place finish. Glenn
started 14th and utilized the high line to
steadily advance his position, ending up sixth
as the black-and-white fabric waved over the
field. Many observers, along with these two
chauffeurs, felt the top groove may have come in
even better, had more drivers ventured up there
during the A-Main.
Dietz made a slick, three-wide move under
Harbaugh and Spence to grab third on lap 16.
Flying under the two cars on the homestretch,
the 2006 Hill Valley Champ ducked as low as he
possibly could in one and two, and the car
stuck. Tim nailed the gas out of turn two and,
with the car pointed perfectly straight, he took
the position. Later, on lap 29 (and just before
the competition red was displayed to allow the
teams to make adjustments), he used the same
line to take the runner-up spot away from
Rutherford, who wiggled slightly in two, opening
up the bottom lane for Dietz.
The 14 qualifying heats were captured by Spence,
Dietz, Indiana's Jonathan Hendrick, Kyle Moody,
Jeremy "Jay Dog" Lynch, Chris Gerhart, Sammy
Casella, Rutherford, David Gravel, Heverin,
Kenny Vincent, Dicely, Oklahoma's Kevin Bayer,
and Randy Oswald.
E-Main winners: Billy Ney and Jimmy Dunckley.
D-Main winners: Pete Skias and Billy Perry.
C-Main winners: Heath Hehnly and Caleb
Armstrong.
B-Main winners: Brett Schoenly and Jimmy Glenn.
Dash winners: Mike Dicely and Sammy Casella.
Heartbreaker of the night...Kevin Bayer, from
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, won his heat race and
was leading the first B-Main when his left-rear
wheel broke and flew off the car in turns one
and two. The misfortune occurred with just a few
laps remaining, forcing the owner/operator of
Factor One Racing to become a spectator for the
Showdown. California's Stan Yockey, the builder
of PMP Chassis, started mid-pack in the same
B-Main. Yockey moved up close to a transfer
spot, then faded as the handle went away on his
No. 7x.
The 15-lap Sidewinder Sprints exhibition race
was won by Denny Landvater in Jason Morrison's
No. 55.
I met Dan Little at the Showdown on Saturday.
What a great guy, and what a terrific
representative for 600cc Micro-Sprint racing.
Along with Trip Kone, Dan helped to organize and
coordinate last week's inaugural 600 Speedweek
series. Both Little and Kone are car owners; Dan
owns the No. 9 that Tim Dietz steered to a
runner-up finish in the Showdown, as well as the
bridesmaid spot in Speedweek points. Kone and
his son, Greg, also have a 600cc racecar, and
they compete on a regular basis at Hill Valley.
Dan told me that he and Trip were overwhelmed
with the response of the race teams...the first
four events of Speedweek pulled in an average of
more than 60 Micro-Sprints! And, of course,
those 112 racers who entered the Showdown really
increased that average car count for Speedweek
shows. "It's funny," said Little, "but we were
amazed at all of the details and all the
back-and-forth communications we had to do with
the tracks and the teams. We wondered, at times,
if it was really going to happen and if it did,
would it be worthwhile? To see all the teams
support the series like this, and to see
everyone getting along and acting
professionally, well, it makes all those phone
calls and headaches worthwhile." Little reported
that he, Kone, and Dale Thomas will meet in
three to four weeks to begin discussions about
next year's 600 Speedweek. "We'll talk about
what went well and what didn't during this
year's series, and we will make preparations for
next year. One or two tracks may change because
Linda's offered to be involved on an
every-other-year basis as the Friday night
track. And, now that other promoters see how
successful the tour was, we may have tracks who
were not involved this year, asking for a date
for next season's Speedweek." Little looked
tired after the long week, but he was smiling.
As he should have been.
As mentioned, A.J. Bast won two of the Speeweek
shows (Path Valley and Linda's) enroute to his
overall title. In the Money Won Department,
though, Dicely came out on top. In addition to
his $10,000 payday at the Showdown, Hyper Mike
also won the Rumble in the Hills on Sunday, July
1. That victory, in the Hill Valley event that
kicked off the week of speed for the 600's, was
worth $5,000. So he earned $15,000 (now let's
remember that these are Micro-Sprint races) in
two events, and he finished fourth in the race
at Path Valley on Monday, July 2nd. He was
running fifth at Susky when he was forced to
retire with mechanical problems, and he fell out
at Linda's, too. No matter, though...he was
sporting a $15,000 grin after the Showdown at
Lanco.
Bast surrounded his two Speedweek victories with
finishes of fifth (at Hill Valley), second (at
Susquehanna, where Jimmy Brookens passed him for
the lead with the white flag waving), and tenth
at the Showdown. What was the secret to his
successful run during the five-event series? "I
can't explain it," he smiled. "I'm just enjoying
it and hoping for one more good day," he said
while relaxing in his trailer before the
Showdown. I don't know...his smile and the look
in his eyes makes me think he wasn't telling me
everything...
With so many people predicting a wreck-filled
Showdown on the bullring at Lanco, Kevin Bayer
had a different and refreshing perspective on
the big race. "One of my home tracks is smaller
than this place," stated the resident of Broken
Arrow, Oklahoma. "And it's banked even harder.
So it's fast, and it's tight. This place is no
problem...it's gonna be FUN!" Kevin looked right
at home in winning his heat race on the Clyde
Martin oval. A lack of passing points (he
started on the pole in heat 13) put him in the
first B-Main, where he led until Brett Schoenly
squeezed by late in the 20-lapper. And then the
left-rear wheel broke, ending his Showdown.
Billy Maynard, the promoter at Wyalusing Valley
Motorsports Park in northern Pennsylvania, may
have experienced a pleasant surprise on Sunday,
July 8. The many midwest and west coast teams
who ran the Speedweek series were going to race
their way back home. Heading toward next
weekend's big $10,000 to win show in Pittsfield,
IL, some of the biggest names in 600cc
Micro-Sprint racing were planning to make a stop
at Maynard's race track. "I talked to Bayer,
Stan Yockey, and a few of the others," said
David Evans, father of 15-year old pilot Parker
Evans. They're going to follow us to WVMP and
race there with us on Sunday. They've got some
time to kill before they need to be in Illinois,
anyway." Evans, from Owego, NY, competed on the
Speedweek tour despite not feeling well. "We
think it could be mono," said David. "But he's
toughing it out. We've learned so much this
week, running with these guys. It's been fun,
but I hate that Parker couldn't enjoy it more
because he's been under the weather."
What makes a racing facility a "good track"? A
few members of Ryan Langston's crew tried to
explain it to this writer at the Showdown on
Saturday. Langston, from Greenfield, Indiana,
and his team were offering positive comments
about Lanco's Clyde Martin facility. They told
me that they travel quite a bit, and don't
really have a home track, so they see lots of
speedways. "This place (Lanco) is better than
any that we've raced at," related one crew
member. That's when the lone female on
Langston's team spoke up. "Y'all got flush
toilets, and that's always the number one factor
with me!"
COMPLETE FINISHING ORDER:
Super 600 Showdown (50-Laps): 1.Mike Dicely
2.Tim Dietz 3.Mike Rutherford 4.Glenn Heverin
5.David Gravel 6.Jimmy Glenn 7.Brent Marks
8.Duane Harbaugh 9.Heath Hehnly 10.A.J. Bast
11.Josh Ross 12.Jack Spence 13.Dwayne Gutshall
14.Eric Brobst 15.Brandon Artibani 16.Jonathan
Hendrick 17.Bill Thomas 18.Shane Lewis 19.Chris
Gerhart 20.Sammy Casella 21.A.J. Michael 22.Joe
Goerner 23.Rodney Stealy 24.Brett Schoenly
25.Kyle Moody.
RESULTS WITH DRIVER'S HOMETOWN:
1.Mike Dicely................Etters, PA
2.Tim Dietz....................Hanover, PA
3.Mike Rutherford.........Newmanstown, PA
4.Glenn Heverin.............Middletown, DE
5.David Gravel..............Watertown, CT
6.Jimmy Glenn...............Branchburg, NJ
7.Brent Marks...............Myerstown, PA
8.Duane Harbaugh.........Hanover, PA
9.Heath Hehnly..............Manheim, PA
10.A.J. Bast..................Tower City, PA
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