Yankee Dirt Track Classic - Thursday night report

Welcome to another episode of Views from the Driver’s Seat.  I am here at Farley for the Thursday night edition of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic.  Before I get started, I just wanted to say a few words about the track and announcers,  I like the strobe light system that they have in place around the track for cautions,  I believe this system makes it a lot easier for the driver’s to see while racing.  On an announcing note it was easy to see why Jerry Mackey is one of the best at what he does as there were two announcers in the booth.  The other announcer had an annoying habit of announcing when the cars were coming down the front stretch as well as giving the final results while cars were still racing in front of the crowd.  This made it extremely difficult for me to hear some of the names of the drivers which is why somw of this report may be spotty for a few of the classes.  Anyway, onto the show. 

The first feature to take to the track was the IMCA Sport Compacts.  13 cars were on hand tonight  fro the 15 lap feature.  Bill Whalen, Jr took the early lead, but a bobble with two laps to go allowed Merv Chandler to take over the top spot and the checkers.  Whalen, Jr finished second with Ricky Kay, Kyle Vohringer, and Jacob Ellithorpe the unofficial top 5.  Heat races were won by Ellithorpe and Pat Penney.

Next up was the IMCA Sport Mods.  19 cars were here tonight for their 20 lap feature.  Eric Pollard took the early lead from the outside pole.  By lap 5, Austin Moyer took the lead from Pollard and would go on to take the checkers.  During the course of the race, Jeff Schmidt rolled in turn 3.  Flagman Doug Haack was quick to throw the red.  Pollard finished second and Lee Kinsella rounded out the top 3.  Car numbers 71 and 98 finished 4^th and 5^th.  I apologize as I did not get the names of those two drivers.  Heat races were won by Kinsella, Pollard, and Moyer.

The IMCA Stock Cars were next for their 12 lap feature.  6 of the 7 cars that showed up started the feature with Phil Holtz not starting the feature.  Sean Johnson would take the early lead and go on to win the feature event followed by Damon Murty, Tim Helle, Tommy Thompson, and 85.  Helle won the heat race.

Next up was the 20 lap Legend feature with 15 cars checked in to lay claim as Yankee Champion.  Hal Russell was the early leader and held the point through most of the feature.  On the last lap, Tyler Kelly passed Russell and went on the score the feature win.  From what I understand, Kelly gets an invite to a major Legends race in Charlotte due to his feature win.  Heat race winners were Warren Ropp and Russell.

The main event feature for tonight was the SPI Modifieds.  Bruce Hanford took the early lead from the outside pole.  Around lap 5, Kelly Shryock passed Hanford for the lead and would go on the take the checkers.  Hanford finished second with Bret Diercks, Wednesday nights’ winner, Dan Bohr and Mike Burbridge the unofficial top 5.  Heat races were won by Burbridge, Hanford, and Kurt Kile.  The 3^rd heat race must have been a scorers nightmare with 3 number 3 cars in that heat.

The final event for the night was tgeh king of the hill challenge which featured 12 of the best IMCA Late Model drivers in the local area racing head-to-head for 2 laps with the winner advancing.  Four of the drivers received first round byes.  Included in the byes were Andy Echrich, Jeff Aikey, Justin kay, and Ray Guss Jr.

First round matches were Nick Marolf vs Jon Merfeld, Luke Goedert vs. Jeremiah Hurst, Tyler Breuning vs. Travis Smock, and Joel Callahan vs. Spencer Diercks.  First round winners were:  Merfeld, Goedert, Breuning, and Callahan.   Second round matches were Merfeld vs. Aikey, Breuning vs. Kay, Goedert vs. Eckrich, and Callahan vs. Guss Jr.  Winners of this round were Merfeld, Breuning, Eckrich, and Callahan. 

The semi-final round pitted Merfeld vs. Breuning and Eckrch vs. Callahan.  Breuning and Eckrich both won setting the scene for the final round match to decide King of the Hill.  Eckrich beat Breuning becoming the King of the Hill.  That’s all for now and hopefully sometime tomorrow I will have views posted from tonight’s action.

Thanks ior reading.