6/6/2020
BAPS Motor Speedway
Rick Laubach Claims Impromptu Victory at BAPS Motor Speedway
YORK HAVEN, Pa.: Rick Laubach was probably feeling a little nostalgic when he rolled into BAPS Motor Speedway Saturday night.
There was a time when the Hellertown, Pa., native was a regular at the speedway. In fact, there were two different stints when he called the York Haven facility home.
On Saturday, that experience paid off. Laubach zipped past Jeff Strunk and collected the victory in the 30-lap Modified A-Main. It was his first victory at the speedway since 2003.
“It’s just been a rough time with everybody not getting to the races,” Laubach said. “Thank you to BAPS for having us race here.
“When I first started, we used to drive past Penn National on the way out here. I raced a half season there and came out here. This is the first place I qualified for a feature in my career. We stayed here for several years, and I don’t think I won in that little stint.
“I came back and the first night here, I won and won a few races that season. I always loved this place. I’m glad they put some water down and had a bottom and a top. This is a nice racy track, and it’s a lot of fun.”
The complexion of the race changed a bit before the start of the main event, as pole-sitter Duane Howard had the steering break on his machine.
Jeff Strunk, who started on the outside pole, controlled the early stage of the event, with Laubach following close behind. The top two raced wheel-to-wheel, with Strunk owning the top spot on the high side of the speedway.
The caution was displayed before the completion of Lap 11. Laubach took advantage of the restart and blasted through the bottom of Turns 1 and 2 to nudge out front and lead the 11th circuit.
Over the next seven laps, Laubach tried three different lines. That allowed Strunk to stay close and Tim Buckwalter, who started ninth, time to get into the fight.
Buckwalter dipped under Strunk for the runner-up spot on Lap 18. But before he could get past the leader, Laubach dropped to the bottom and was able to fight off two late restarts to claim the victory.
“At the time, I knew [Jeff] was faster than me, so I settled in and waited for a yellow,” Laubach said after the $4,000 win. “I was able to get him on the start and for the next five laps, I didn’t want anyone to know what I was doing.
“I went high there, low here, and middle over there. I was just hoping it would shake them up behind me until I could get in a good rhythm. Then, I settled into the bottom. It seemed like that was the place to be.”
Continued Laubach, “We have new cars and new motors this year, and we are more prepared to run the small blocks this year. I think that showed tonight, and I’m pumped about this. I’m ready.”
Buckwalter settled for second, with Strunk winning the battle for third over Ryan Watt and Frank Cozze.
Cozze, Doug Manmiller, Laubach, and Jared Umbenhauer were heat winners for the 40-car Modified field. Kevin Hirthler and Dominick Buffalino were B-Main winners.
Ben Whitaker took the lead at the drop of the green flag and wired the field to capture the 20-lap Creekside Auto Sales 358 Late Model feature.
Whitaker lined up third on the grid and had the lead by the completion of Lap 1. He survived six restarts to collect the win over Alan Sagi, Doug Surra, Troy Miller, who started 26th, and Travis Mease. Eric Hohol, Whitaker, and Sagi were heat winners for the 26-car field.
In Central PA Legends competition, Joe Ryan Osborne topped a huge field to earn the victory in the 20-lap feature.
Travis McClelland started on the pole and led the first seven circuits before Osborne surged out front and led the rest of the way.
Billy Workman Jr. made his way up to second in the final rundown. McClelland, Seth Kearchner, and Aaron Updegraff completed the top five.
Jeremy Ott, Workman, Greg Burd, and McClelland were heat winners for the 47-car field. Jorjie Sweger and Shaun Abney won the twin B-Mains.
MODIFIEDS
Feature (30 Laps) – 1. 7-Rick Laubach[5]; 2. 23X-Tim Buckwalter[9]; 3. 126-Jeff Strunk[2]; 4. 14W-Ryan Watt[20]; 5. 5-Frank Cooze[7]; 6. 32-Danny Bouc[3]; 7. 44-Doug Manmiller[6]; 8. 21K-Kyle Weiss[16]; 9. 1H-Jared Umbenhauer[4]; 10. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[8]; 11. 01-Dan Waisempacher[18]; 12. 2-Dominick Buffalino[22]; 13. 19K-Brett Kressley[12]; 14. 17T-Ryan Grim[15]; 15. 64-Wayne Witmer[17]; 16. (DNF) 30-Craig Vondohren[11]; 17. (DNF) 15-Billy Pauch Jr[24]; 18. (DNF) 78-Briggs Danner[10]; 19. (DNF) 117-Kevin Hirthler[21]; 20. (DNF) 33-Ray Swinehart[19]; 21. (DNF) 112-Cale Ross[14]; 22. (DNF) 15L-Mike Lisowski[23]; 23. (DNF) 6-Matt Stangle[13]; 24. (DNS) 357-Duane Howard.
Lap Leaders – Jeff Strunk (1-11), Rick Laubach (12-30)
Modified Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/Top 5 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 5-Frank Cooze[2]; 2. 32-Danny Bouc[1]; 3. 23X-Tim Buckwalter[9]; 4. 6-Matt Stangle[3]; 5. 64-Wayne Witmer[8]; 6. 117-Kevin Hirthler[10]; 7. 67-JR Fulper[5]; 8. 13-Steve Davis[4]; 9. 04-Mike Butler[7]; 10. (DNF) 3-Ronald Kline[6].
Modified Heat 2 Finish (10 Laps/Top 5 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 44-Doug Manmiller[1]; 2. 126-Jeff Strunk[10]; 3. 78-Briggs Danner[3]; 4. 112-Cale Ross[2]; 5. 01-Dan Waisempacher[8]; 6. 17-T J Lilly[6]; 7. 15L-Mike Lisowski[4]; 8. 17X-Kevin Beach[9]; 9. 12-Trent VanVorst[7]; 10. (DNF) 14RR-Joe Funk[5].
Modified Heat 3 Finish (10 Laps/Top 5 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 7-Rick Laubach[1]; 2. 357-Duane Howard[6]; 3. 30-Craig Vondohren[9]; 4. 17T-Ryan Grim[4]; 5. 33-Ray Swinehart[5]; 6. 2-Dominick Buffalino[2]; 7. 99-Craig Whitmoyer[7]; 8. 14-Nathan Brinker[8]; 9. 61-Justin Grim[3]; 10. 74W-John Willman[10].
Modified Heat 4 Finish (10 Laps/Top 5 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 1H-Jared Umbenhauer[2]; 2. 84Y-Alex Yankowski[4]; 3. 19K-Brett Kressley[6]; 4. 21K-Kyle Weiss[3]; 5. 14W-Ryan Watt[8]; 6. 16-Louden Reimert[1]; 7. 29-Ryan Krachun[5]; 8. 23-Brad Grim[10]; 9. T 102-Shawn Fitzpatrick[9]; 10. (DNF) 15-Billy Pauch Jr[7].
Modified Consolation #1 Finish (10 Laps/Top 2 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 117-Kevin Hirthler[1]; 2. 15L-Mike Lisowski[4]; 3. 13-Steve Davis[5]; 4. 67-JR Fulper[3]; 5. 04-Mike Butler[7]; 6. 17X-Kevin Beach[6]; 7. 12-Trent VanVorst[8]; 8. 3-Ronald Kline[9]; 9. 17-T J Lilly[2]; 10. 14RR-Joe Funk[10].
Modified Consolation #2 Finish (10 Laps/Top 2 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 2-Dominick Buffalino[1]; 2. 15-Billy Pauch Jr[9]; 3. 29-Ryan Krachun[4]; 4. 16-Louden Reimert[2]; 5. 23-Brad Grim[5]; 6. T 102-Shawn Fitzpatrick[6]; 7. (DNF) 61-Justin Grim[8]; 8. (DNF) 14-Nathan Brinker[7]; 9. (DNF) 74W-John Willman[10]; 10. (DNF) 99-Craig Whitmoyer[3].
CREEKSIDE AUTO SALES LATE MODELS
Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 13X-Ben Whitaker[3]; 2. NINE-Alan Sagi[1]; 3. 3XAA-Doug Surra[6]; 4. 115-Troy Miller[26]; 5. 116-Travis Mease[21]; 6. 72-Wayne Pfeil[5]; 7. 41-Jake Moser[14]; 8. 5-Dustin Hollinger[4]; 9. 68-DJ Groft[16]; 10. 9-Matt Adams[10]; 11. 62-Devin Frey[13]; 12. 21M-Matt Murphy[18]; 13. 115S-Shaun Miller[7]; 14. 18-Derrick Mease[8]; 15. 112-Brandon Little[19]; 16. 21-Joey Hoffer[17]; 17. 79-Chase Bowsman[11]; 18. 711-Jennifer Hartz[15]; 19. (DNF) NINEX-Ross Leinbach[20]; 20. (DNF) X4-Lou Egrie[23]; 21. (DNF) 00-Harold Ranck[12]; 22. (DNF) H22-Eric Hohol[2]; 23. (DNF) 38-Scott Landis[24]; 24. (DNF) 12-Bobby Beard[9]; 25. (DNF) 22-Chase Billet[22]; 26. (DNS) 88C-Chuck Cox III.
Lap Leaders – Ben Whitaker (1-20)
Late Model Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. 13X-Ben Whitaker[3]; 2. 5-Dustin Hollinger[7]; 3. 115S-Shaun Miller[5]; 4. 9-Matt Adams[2]; 5. 62-Devin Frey[6]; 6. 68-DJ Groft[4]; 7. 21M-Matt Murphy[8]; 8. NINEX-Ross Leinbach[9]; 9. (DNF) 38-Scott Landis[1].
Late Model Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. H22-Eric Hohol[1]; 2. 72-Wayne Pfeil[2]; 3. 18-Derrick Mease[4]; 4. 79-Chase Bowsman[3]; 5. 41-Jake Moser[7]; 6. 21-Joey Hoffer[6]; 7. 112-Brandon Little[9]; 8. 116-Travis Mease[5]; 9. (DNF) 88C-Chuck Cox III[8].
Late Model Heat 3 Finish (8 Laps/All Qualify) – 1. NINE-Alan Sagi[3]; 2. 3XAA-Doug Surra[7]; 3. 12-Bobby Beard[5]; 4. 00-Harold Ranck[2]; 5. 711-Jennifer Hartz[1]; 6. 22-Chase Billet[6]; 7. (DNF) X4-Lou Egrie[4]; 8. (DNS) 115-Troy Miller.
GENE LATTA FORD CENTRAL PA LEGENDS PRESENTED BY BAKER DOOR COMPANY
Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 13-Joe Osborne[7]; 2. 64-Billy Workman Jr[3]; 3. 51-Travis McClelland[1]; 4. 30K-Seth Kearchner[8]; 5. 77A-Aaron Updegraff[5]; 6. 18-Chris Transeau[17]; 7. 30-Alex Robinson[6]; 8. 19-Travis Perry[10]; 9. 5-Scott Houdeshell[11]; 10. 53-Bill Diehl[9]; 11. 94-Greg Burd[2]; 12. 13T-Casey Traxler[14]; 13. 93-Brent Marquis[15]; 14. 14W-Stephen Wurtzer[16]; 15. 77-Quinn Trimmer[23]; 16. 18J-Jorjie Sweger[20]; 17. (DNF) 18H-Jeremy Hahn[13]; 18. (DNF) 78-Zac Smith[19]; 19. (DNF) 99-Bryan Green[22]; 20. (DNF) 26-Shaun Abney[18]; 21. (DNF) 0-Michael McClane[21]; 22. (DNF) 91-Adam Lyman[24]; 23. (DNF) 10-Jeremy Ott[4]; 24. (DNF) 2-Scott Smith[12].
Lap Leaders – Travis McClelland (1-7), Joe Ryan Osborne (8-20)
Legend Heat 1 Finish (8 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 10-Jeremy Ott[3]; 2. 77A-Aaron Updegraff[7]; 3. 53-Bill Diehl[1]; 4. 18H-Jeremy Hahn[6]; 5. 9-Rick Hartwig[10]; 6. 0-Michael McClane[5]; 7. 71-Ron Dick[4]; 8. 99-Bryan Green[9]; 9. (DNF) 77R-Scott Musselman[12]; 10. (DNF) 19L-Jonathan Robinson[2]; 11. (DNF) 15S-John Snavely[11]; 12. (DNS) 17-Cory Phillips.
Legend Heat 2 Finish (8 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 64-Billy Workman Jr[2]; 2. 30-Alex Robinson[4]; 3. 19-Travis Perry[5]; 4. 13T-Casey Traxler[1]; 5. 78-Zac Smith[3]; 6. 18-Chris Transeau[8]; 7. 90X-eric McClane[10]; 8. 79-Ed Trump[9]; 9. 69-Cole Hahn[6]; 10. 56-Zach Baxter[12]; 11. (DNF) 19R-Roy Denike[7]; 12. (DNS) 2G-Tyler Groft.
Legend Heat 3 Finish (8 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 94-Greg Burd[1]; 2. 13-Joe Osborne[9]; 3. 5-Scott Houdeshell[8]; 4. 93-Brent Marquis[3]; 5. 90-Scott Spidle[2]; 6. 41-Chuck Dell Jr[7]; 7. 77-Quinn Trimmer[10]; 8. P40-Mike Rabold[4]; 9. 91-Adam Lyman[11]; 10. 27-Logan Carbaugh[12]; 11. 43B-Brandon Reiblich[5]; 12. (BF) 8-Austin Bellemare[6].
Legend Heat 4 Finish (8 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 51-Travis McClelland[6]; 2. 30K-Seth Kearchner[2]; 3. 2-Scott Smith[5]; 4. 14W-Stephen Wurtzer[4]; 5. 26-Shaun Abney[7]; 6. 17H-Timothy Hahn[3]; 7. 18J-Jorjie Sweger[1]; 8. 1G-Shawn Groft[11]; 9. 25-Eric Hurst[8]; 10. 43-Ronald Little Jr[10]; 11. (DNF) 74-Brian Racine[9].
Legend Consolation #1 Finish (8 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 18-Chris Transeau[4]; 2. 78-Zac Smith[2]; 3. 0-Michael McClane[3]; 4. 99-Bryan Green[6]; 5. 79-Ed Trump[7]; 6. 77R-Scott Musselman[13]; 7. 71-Ron Dick[5]; 8. 90X-eric McClane[12]; 9. (DNF) 9-Rick Hartwig[1]; 10. (DNF) 69-Cole Hahn[8]; 11. (DNF) 15S-John Snavely[15]; 12. (DNS) 19L-Jonathan Robinson; 13. (DNS) 19R-Roy Denike; 14. (DNS) 17-Cory Phillips; 15. (DNS) 56-Zach Baxter; 16. (DNS) 2G-Tyler Groft.
Legend Consolation #2 Finish (8 Laps/Top 4 Qualify to A Main) – 1. 26-Shaun Abney[2]; 2. 18J-Jorjie Sweger[6]; 3. 77-Quinn Trimmer[11]; 4. 91-Adam Lyman[13]; 5. 27-Logan Carbaugh[14]; 6. 43B-Brandon Reiblich[7]; 7. 43-Ronald Little Jr[15]; 8. 1G-Shawn Groft[12]; 9. (DNF) 25-Eric Hurst[8]; 10. (DNF) 8-Austin Bellemare[10]; 11. (DNF) 74-Brian Racine[9]; 12. (DNF) 41-Chuck Dell Jr[3]; 13. (DNF) 90-Scott Spidle[1]; 14. (DNF) P40-Mike Rabold[5]; 15. (DNS) 17H-Timothy Hahn.
Photo Credit: Tim Basehore (WRT Speedwerx)
Article Credit: BAPS Motor Speedway
