9/20/2015
Hagerstown Speedway
JUSTIN WEAVER IS KING OF THE CAPITOL, TOPS LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN FIELD IN SMALL CAR NATIONALS, MOORE, PROCTOR, T. WHITT, BOOZEL and ZIMMERMAN ALSO CLAI
HAGERSTOWN, MD: Starting fifth in Hagerstown Speedway/Dirt Capitol’s Late Model Sportsman 30-lap feature of the 9th Annual Small Car Nationals Justin Weaver made it a battle of the young guns as he and Kyle Lee were out front by the fifth lap before Weaver got under Lee on the 18th lap and led the rest of the way to beat Lee to the $2,000 triumph by 4.277 seconds.
“This is probably one of the biggest wins in my career,” Weaver the 2013 winner from nearby Williamsport said. “The amount of competition that’s here and to run this good. I knew I was there in the beginning with a good car. Kyle was awesome. He gave me racing room. I knew if I could just hang there with him, I could use him up a little bit. He kind of ran his stuff out there a little bit. Man, that was a good race.”
Other Nationals winners were PA driver Greg Moore in the $1,500 to win Pure Stock event; Gary Proctor, Big Pool MD, his third consecutive in the $650 to win Hobby Stocks; Winchester’s Tommy Whitt, taking $700 in the Four Cylinders, Mount Union’s Eric Boozel in the $400 to win Rookie Cars, Kurt Zimmerman from Pasadena MD in the All American Outlaws while Paul Armstrong won the Four Cylinder Demo Derby worth $400.
With the top four locked in from time trials, Steve Axtell Jr. occupied the pole position with Kyle Lee alongside as Lee burst into the lead but a red flag marred the opening lap when several cars were collected in the first turn. It then took several more tries before the second lap got completed.
Following lap five, things got sorted out and Lee was still in the lead with Weaver ready to chase or pass with Paul Cursey and defending winner Scott Palmer next in line.
Lee was strong but Weaver wasn’t going to let him drive away as the two young drivers pulled away from Cursey as the race remained under green.
Palmer got past Cursey at the halfway mark but Lee and Weaver were still shining out front with Weaver making his pass three laps later.
Into lapped traffic a lap later, Weaver didn’t let that intimidate him as he kept stretching his lead until taking the prestigious triumph by 4.277 seconds over Lee with Palmer, Cursey and ninth starter Alan Sagi next.
Zane Weicht’s lap of 21.968 was the fastest of several Pure Stock drivers to bypass the track record on Friday evening and was locked into the pole position with Mike Desch alongside. Desch powered to the lead while fourth starting Mike Corbin moved into the runner up spot on lap two.
Jamie Zentmyer was on the way from seventh and charged into the lead on the 12th lap while Greg Moore moved into second two laps later and continued around Zentmyer for the lead on the 15th. Moore held the upper hand in the final laps with Zentmyer finishing eight lengths back ahead of Ridge Bookwalter and defending Nationals winner, Chris Ebersole who came from 17th.
“This is just unbelievable,” Pennsylvania’s Moore said. “This is probably the biggest race I’ve ever won. I really didn’t think I was going to get to come up through the field. It didn’t seem like the tires were working and then one lap, they started working and started driving to the front and here we are.”
In the Hobby Stock feature, Mike Duck and Jonathan Raley took off from the front row while fourth starting Gary Proctor sped past Duck following a third lap restart. Pat McClane advanced from 15th to join the front four car battle by the fifth lap as he maneuvered past Duck into second with two to go. He ended just .517 seconds behind Proctor, who has won the past three Nationals consecutively and also the first one when the Hobby Stocks were added in 2011.
“These guys that come here this week; really tough class and very competitive,” Proctor of Big Pool, MD, said. “I knew once we got the run on the yellow car of Duck, I had to make my move and get to the top. To win the championship and then come here and win the Nationals, I can’t thank Ernie, Keya and all the employees at Hagerstown. It’s great to win at the Capitol.”
Allen Whitt Jr. and third starter Tommy Whitt blew by pole sitter Jason Stoner on the Four Cylinder start as Tommy W. pressured and took the lead on lap three. When Allen W. jumped the restart on lap four and was sent back, Winchester’s Tommy W., the 2011-12 winner, took over with Stoner closing to three lengths at the checkered while Austin Stover was a distant third.
Rookie Car heat winners Garrett Watkins and Eric Boozel led the field to green as Boozel checked out more than a straightaway by a seventh lap yellow. Boozel, of Mt. Union again drove off following an 11th lap yellow as ninth starter Haley Kaiser charged into second but trailed Boozel by a straightaway who picked up the $400.
Doing double duty, Kurt Zimmerman of Pasadena, MD, jumped from his Late Model Sportsman where he’d just finished 11th, into the All American Outlaw where he earned the pole position from Friday’s heat win. Zimmerman was off and running with Bryan Green chasing most of the way until being passed by Rick Hulson on the final lap who ended two lengths back.
“This track has always been my Achilles heel,” Zimmerman said. “I always run good with my street stock and lead the big race, then blow up while leading. I can’t believe it; I finally won Hagerstown.”
Paul Armstrong got the last hit in on Cody Hunter to collect the $400 winnings in the Four Cylinder Demo Derby.
Follow the speedway on Twitter and Facebook at Dirt Capitol LLC and also check out Ernie D’s Turn 5 on Facebook with information about events, driver’s interviews and more. The latest news, results, photos, schedule or rule changes can found be 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 Results
9th Annual Small Car Nationals King of the Capitol
Late Model Sportsman, 30 Laps: 1.Justin Weaver, 2.Kyle Lee, 3.Scott Palmer, 4.Paul Cursey, 5.Alan Sagi, 6.Jake Jones, 7.Kyle Lear, 8.Travis Stickley, 9.David Williams, 10.Wayne Dillman, 11.Kurt Zimmerman, 12.Roy Deese Jr., 13.Mike Walls, 14.Matt Nailor, 15.Keith Walls, 16.Jim Dawson, 17.Jimmy Jesmer Jr., 18.Dillan Stake, 19. Steve Axtell Jr., 20.Rodney Walls, 21.Chaz Walls, 22.Eddie Cornett, 23.Brayden Anderson, 24.Ernie Shirley, 25.Dan Sollers, 26.Elwood Sord, 27.Garrett Walls, 28.John Rowland, DNS – Jeffrey King, Rance Garlock, Shaun Jones, Ray Ciccarelli
Pure Stocks, 20 Laps: 1.Greg Moore, 2.Jamie Zentmyer, 3.Ridge Bookwalter, 4.Chris Ebersole, 5.Mike Potts, 6.Mike Franklin, 7.Mike Corbin, 8.Kory Sites, 9.Mike Desch, 10.Brian Luttrell, 11.Brandon Churchey, 12.Craig Parrill, 13.Brian Miller, 14.Kenny Dillon, 15.Mike Grady Jr., 16.Kevin Koontz, 17.Troy Kassiris, 18.Tony Catlett, 19.Bryan Kerns, 20.Ben Bowie, 21.Wayne Hawbaker, 22.Zane Weicht, 23.Frank Dibella, 24.Jamie Swank, 25.BillyEcton, 26.Dickie Tharp, 27.Ronnie Garlock, 28.Sean Dawson, 29. Darrin Younker, 20.Jerry Jenkins Jr., 31.Tony Stoneberger, 32.Keith Koontz, DNQ – Sean Todd, Scotty Nelson, Walter Lemmon, Scott Wilson, Rick Stouffer, Kevin Thomas, Jeff Wood, Joe Marple, Barry Williams Sr., Jesse Snyder, Randy Rowe
Hobby Stocks, 15 Laps 1.Gary Proctor, 2.Pat McClane, 3.Mike Duck, 4.Jonathan Raley, 5.William Ecton, 6.James Mills, 7.Shawn Shoemaker, 8.Marshall McMullen, 9.Dylan Rutherford, 10.Amber Mills, 11.Chuck Bowie, 12.John Catlett, 13.Jamie Sutphin, 14.Gregory Morgan, 15.Brandie Mills, 16.James Jones, 17.Brian Ringer, 18.Rodney Miner, 19.Jeff Dillon, 20.Jason Sarver, 21.Jonathan Oliver, 22.Dwayne Snyder, 23.James Gray, 24.Paul Jones, 25.Bobby Meixsell, 26.Jake Buck
Four Cylinders, 15 Laps: 1.Tommy Whitt, 2.Jason Stoner, 3.Austin Stoner, 4.Gary Newell, 5.Ed Gageby, 6.Allen Whitt Jr., 7.Jesse Boyce, 8.Willie Dodson, 9. D. J. Keefer, 10.Alan Vaughan, 11.Shane Seville, 12.Matthew Williamson, 13.Michael Praff, DNS-Randy Linaburg
Rookie Cars, 15 Laps: 1.Eric Boozel, 2.Haley Kaiser, 3.Gregory Carrico, 4.Justin Williamson, 5.Devon Iser, 6.Larry Lamb, 7.Wayne Brenize, 8.Ricky Feltner, 9.Tyler Vincent, 10.Terry Leach, 11.Robert Wilson, 12.Jeff Watkins, 13.Garrett Watkins, 14.Josh Ringer, 15.Tim Osheehan, 16.Steve McMahon, 17.Jerry Deason
All American Outlaws 12 Laps: 1.Kurt Zimmerman, 2.Rick Hulson, 3.Bryan Green, 4.Randy Doty, 5.Fred Cullum, 6.Danny Holmes, 7.Jim Minter, 8.Justin Cullum, 9.Tim Stem, 10.Hunter Nester, 11.Jeff McCauley, 12.Steve Jorda, 13.Phil Williams, 14.Tony Jorda, 15.Gary Moreland Sr.
Demo Derby: 1.Paul Armstrong, 2.Cody Hunter, 3.Zach Reid, 4.Nicki Harshman, 5.Eric Reid, 6.Mike Likens, 7.Allan Griffins, 8.Alex Keaton, 9.Jim Harshman
Article Credit: Danny Wilson
Submitted By: Josh Fries