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KYLE HARDY TUNES UP FOR LATE MODEL SPEEDWEEKS WITH THIRD WIN

HAGERSTOWN, MD. (May 23) – Kyle Hardy was on a rail Saturday evening at Hagerstown Speedway/Dirt Capitol and recorded his third Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic win of the season which was the $2,500 Western Maryland Hagerstown/Cumberland Challenge event. The event gives him momentum heading into next week’s Appalachian Mountain Late Model Speedweek. Hardy of Stephens City, Va. came from seventh to get into second by the 10th lap and then passed Keith Jackson following a 14th lap restart and later took the checkered flag by .702 second.

“We didn’t start off too good, but this thing is fast around here,” Hardy said. “That restart helped us a good bit but I didn’t think I had anything for Keith if the caution didn’t come out. . The car was good and we’re here again.”

Point leader Scott Palmer from Greencastle, Pa. posted win number four in the Malloy Ford Late Model Sportsman Spring Championship with a last turn pass of Justin Weaver to win by a mere .148 seconds. Jamie Zentmyer, Waynesboro, Pa held off Chris Ebersole in a drag race to the checkered to post his career first K-Lynn Management Pure Stock by less than a foot in the Spring Championship double point event. Tom Caravello of Baltimore won his season second Mason Dixon Auto Auction Hobby Stock over Gary Proctor. Ryan Laye of Ft. Loudon, Pa won the debut event for the P.A.M.S. Four Cylinder series with a heavy heart after losing his father Chet Jr. this week.

Keith Jackson quickly grabbed the Late Model lead over Tyler Hershey but in one lap, Hershey slowed with billowing smoke for the second straight week as Trever Feathers took over the runner up spot for the restart.

Jackson easily was out front while Hardy arrived in third on the seventh lap and then got past Feathers on the tenth to set his sights on Jackson which was made easier with the 14th lap caution flag.

Hardy just overpowered Jackson to stretch his lead to nearly 1 ½ seconds by the 20th lap while Jackson could be seen making up ground with each lap and was able to cut the lead to .702 second by the finish and settle for the runner up position. Ninth starting Allen Brannon was third over Feathers and Jeff Rine. .

Justin Weaver seized the Late Model Sportsman lead over Rodney Walls and Wayne Dillman and pulled ahead following fifth and eighth lap restarts. Palmer had started seventh and passed Dillman just before the eighth lap caution and went to work on Walls following the restart to take the position on the 15th. Palmer quickly cut into Weaver’s 1.70 second lead and with two to go and then narrowed it to .65.second with lapped traffic ahead. Palmer saw the opportunity and grabbed it to get to the finish by.146 second. Walls ended third with Dillman and 10th starter Bobby Beard completing the top five.

“Justin was pretty good,” Palmer said. ”I noticed it was about the last three laps that he was pushing coming off turns two and four .so I was trying to get a run off the bottom and the lapped traffic come into play I think that forced him up a little bit more and played in my favor.”

Chris Ebersole took the Pure Stock lead from the pole while Zentmyer passed Brian Miller for second on the fourth lap. Zentmyer continued to trail by no more than two lengths until Ebersole brushed the fourth turn walls and he quickly sped past and then held off Ebersole’s last lap challenge by no more than six inches at the finish for his first Dirt Capitol win.

“I’ve worked at this a long time,.” Zentmyer said. ”It’s hard to win here. When you win here, you’ve done something. I saw him on the top and I kept trying the middle to the bottom. It just worked for me and worked out.”

Mike Corbin ended third with Miller and previous week’s winner Keith Koontz next.

Gary Proctor took the Hobby Stock lead from Jason Sarver on the third lap awhile had Caravello followed along and the two pulled ahead of Kenny Thomas. Caravello started his challenges by the eighth lap and finally was successful to taking over the top spot on the 11th lap. He drove on with Proctor finishing three lengths back. Thomas, Ralph Hansberger and Sarver were next.

Laye quickly grabbed the lead as third starter Jason Stoner took over second in the debut event for the Pennsylvania Mini Stock Series with Shaine Sixeas and Frankie Gordon joining the effort. Laye was in total control as the others battled for the runner up spot with Sixeas winning out on the 12th lap and then begin to close on Laye but came up five lengths short. Stoner, Gordon and Gary Newell were next.

“My whole family, my grandfather, my dad, everybody in my family loves this race track and nothing meant more to them than to win here,” Laye said. “Due to the recent circumstances with my dad (Chet Jr.); he loved coming down here and winning races and this means the world to win this race for him. My uncle (Charlie) and I have been working on the car nonstop. Him and my dad built this car for me and I can’t ask for any better piece of metal under my rear end to keep me running.”

The latest news, results, photos, schedule or rule changes will also be found on the speedway’s website: www.hagerstownspeedway.com. Also check the website for any changes in weather conditions that may delay or cancel the program or contact the speedway office at 301-582-0640.

HAGERSTOWN SPEEDWAY/DIRT CAPITOL LLC RESULTS

Hoosier Tire Mid Atlantic Late Models: Western Maryland Challenge, Hagerstown/Cumberland, 25 Laps: 1.Kyle Hardy, 2.Keith Jackson, 3.Allen Brannon, 4.Trever Feathers, 5.Jeff Rine, 6.D.J. Myers, 7.Brad Omps, 8.Jason Miller, 9.Kyle Lear, 10.Kirk Baker, 11.Roy Deese Jr., 12.Glenn Elliott, 13.Devin Friese, 14.Jake Jones, 15.Joe Leavell, 16.Jerry Bard, 17.Wayne Johnson, 18.Barry Miller, 19.Andy Anderson, 20.Jim Bernheisel, 21.Gary Stuhler, 22.Tyler Hershey, 23.Marvin Winters, 24.C.S. Fitzgerald

Malloy Ford Late Model Sportsman): 20 Laps: 1.Scott Palmer, 2.Justin Weaver, 3.Rodney Walls, 4.Wayne Dillman, 5.Bobby Beard, 6.Kyle Lee, 7.Justin Fulton, 8.Keith Walls, 9.Mike Walls, 10.Paul Cursey, 11.Larry Neiderer, 12.Brayden Anderson, 13.Garrett Walls, 14.Joe Westerman Jr., 15.Elwood Sord, 16.Chaz Walls, 17.Cody Kershner, 18.Barry Lear Sr.

K-Lynn Management Pure Stocks, (Spring Championship), 20 Laps: 1.Jamie Zentmyer, 2.Chris Ebersole, 3.Mike Corbin, 4.Brian Miller, 5.Keith Koontz, 6.Dickie Tharp, 7.Nick Dibella, 8.Rick Stouffer, 9.Michelle Walls, 10.Wayne Hawbaker, 11.Brian Walls, 12.Frank Dibella, DNS- Darrin Younker, Jeremy Mills

Mason Dixon Auto Auction Hobby Stocks, 15 Laps: 1.Tom Caravello, 2.Gary Proctor, 3.Kenny Thomas, 4.Ralph Hansberger, 5.Jason Sarver, 6.William Crook, 7.Jeff Dillon, 8.Davey Gross Jr., 9.Jamie Mills, 10.Dwayne Snyder, 11.Zach Reid, 12.Zack Greenlee, 13.Marshall McMullen, 14.Bryan Neff

PAMS, (Pennsylvania Mini Stock Series), 15 Laps: 1.Ryan Laye, 2.Shaine Sixeas, 3.Jason Stoner, 4.Frankie Gordon III, 5.Gary Newell, 6.Jeremy Ott, 7.Charles Stallman, 8.Eddie Kirby, 9.Ronnie Garlock, 10.Bill Kennedy, 11.Eric Seibert, 12.Tony Hampton, 13.Kurt Knepper, 14.Tim Williamson, 15.Stacey Atherton

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