7/21/2005
HEHR AND JOHNSON PICK UP MIDSEASON CHAMPIONSHIP RACE WINS IN THURSDAY NIGHT SPECIAL AT LANCASTER
To make room for the extended Sunday Niagara nostalgia drag racing weekend, the Lancaster Raceway Park moved their stock car program from Saturday night to Thursday as Coors’ Light and Certo Bros. Distributing presented the midseason championship races for the Modified and Late Model division.
In the 30-lap main for the Advance Auto Parts Modifieds, Karl Hehr would earn his third victory of the year and thrust himself into the thick of the division points race. Hehr would start on the outside pole alongside Ron Williams in a race that would get off to a rough start.
It took three tries to get beyond the first lap as three crashes kept the race from getting underway. The first yellow flag came out when Eddie Murray and Sean O’Neill got together in turn one. On the ensuing restart Bill Mislin got loose which jammed up the field behind. Chuck Hossfeld spun while Sege Fidanza was sent head first into the wall in turn one. Fidanza walked away uninjured, but the car was done for the night. The race was restarted again, but this time Bill Mislin and Tom McGrath temporarily locked bumpers in turn one and then collided on the backstretch.
After all the carnage, the race would finally get some green flag laps run with Karl Hehr in front. Chuck Hossfeld would quickly move into second and then went after Hehr. He did not waste any time in trying to take the lead, as Hossfeld would be on the heels of Hehr for the entire the race. Hossfeld pressed Hehr to the limit, taking a couple of shots at the back bumper of the leader.
Hehr, however, could not be moved out of the top spot as he held ground through several attempts by Hossfeld to get the lead. Hehr picked up his third win of the season, tying Sege Fidanza for most win this year. He also gained ground on the three drivers ahead of him in the points standings which he had been trailing by 32 before the race.
Bobby Holmes turned some heads as he finished third in only his second career start. The current SST Modified point leader got by Tim Mangus for the spot with less than five laps to go as the young third-generation driver handled himself like a veteran as he ran with the lead pack. Mangus and Dave Wollaber completed the top five.
In the Bobcat of Buffalo Late Model midseason championship race, T.J. Johnson earned his first career Lancaster Raceway Park Late Model victory as he held off Ron Nurmi. Johnson started in the second row for the 25-lap race, but latched on to pole sitter Tommy Reese to move into the second spot.
On lap three, Johnson passed Reese to take the lead and brought along Ron Nurmi into the second spot. Johnson and Nurmi distanced themselves from the rest of the field. Nurmi tried to get by Johnson, but as the laps ran down he began to slip away from the leader. Johnson was able to cruise to his first win since coming over to Lancaster from Holland late last season. Following Johnson and Nurmi across the line were Tom MacLeod, Mark Bliss, and Todd Hoddick.
All the lap leaders in both the Modified and Late Model were given six-packs of Coors’ Light for every lap they lead courtesy of Coors and Certo Bros.
Russ Gian was also a first time winner as he recorded his first ever Signworks SST Sportsman feature. Gian passed Mike Shields for the lead on lap 12 and then held off John Barber in the final laps to take the win. Barber, Shields, Eddie Murray, and Bobby Holmes closed out the top five.
In the Probity Construction Super Stocks, Wayne Bernhard scored his second win of the season. Bernhard surged ahead of A.J. Cole on lap eight and would not look back. Doug Evans would finish second as he made a last lap dash to try and get by Bernhard, but came up short. Mike Scott, Mark Hoch, and Tom Carney completed the top five.
Jim Offhaus returned to his familiar “awesome” form as he picked up his first Glen Campbell Chevrolet Street Stock win of 2005. Offhaus blew by Jim Bryant with seven laps to go to take the lead. He would have to hold off point leader Frank Batista, Jr. in the last laps to secure the win. Bryant held on to third behind Offhaus and Batista after leading the first 12 laps of the race. Jeff Madill and John Shurmatz had strong runs as the came home in the top five.
LRP’s stock car racing program returns to its regularly scheduled night on Saturday, July 30 with a full race card scheduled. Racing starts at 6:30 PM.
RESULTS
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MODIFIEDS
Heat Winners – Bill Mislin, Tom McGrath
Feature –
1. (2) KARL HEHR
2. (8) Chuck Hossfeld
3. (9) Bobby Holmes
4. (6) Tim Mangus
5. (4) Dave Wollaber
6. (10) Bill Putney
7. (5) Tom McGrath
8. (12) Brett Scherrer
9. (1) Ron Williams
10. (14) Sean O'Neill
11. (15) Kevin Lewis
12. (17) Ed Weber
13. (13) Eddie Murray
14. (3) Bill Mislin
15. (18) Neil Hopkins
16. (16) Bill Torrisi
17. (7) Sege Fidanza
18. (11) Jeff Ulrich
BOBCAT OF BUFFALO LATE MODELS
Heat Winners – Ron Nurmi, Tom MacLeod
Feature –
1. (3) T.J. JOHNSON
2. (4) Ron Nurmi
3. (5) Tom MacLeod
4. (9) Mark Bliss
5. (10) Todd Hoddick
6. (7) Joe Carbone
7. (1) Tommy Reese
8. (2) John Julicher
9. (8) Dave Russell
10. (11) Mark Pennell
11. (6) Tim Windnagle
12. (18) Brandon Metz
13. (12) George Skora, III
14. (15) Dan Habuda
15. (13) Scott Nurmi
16. (14) Scott Skora
17. (16) Mike Ticco
18. (20) Darryl McKay
19. (17) Craig Orr
20. (19) Bob Nye
SIGNWORKS SST SPORTSMAN
Heat Winners – Eddie Murray, Sherri Hogan
Feature –
1. (5) RUSS GIAN
2. (8) John Barber
3. (3) Mike Shields
4. (4) Eddie Murray
5. (6) Bobby Holmes
6. (1) Don Wylie
7. (11) Justin Shepker
8. (10) Ed Grimmer
9. (15) Jim Pierce
10. (13) Jack Grainy
11. (12) Mike Mitchell
12. (2) Sherri Hogan
13. (7) Ed Weber
14. (9) Frank Booker, Jr.
15. (14) Steve Krietzbender
PROBITY CONSTRUCTION SUPER STOCKS
Heat Winners – Wayne Bernhard, Ed Collver
Feature –
1. WAYNE BERNHARD
2. Doug Evans
3. Mike Scott
4. Mark Hoch
5. Tom Carney
6. Ed Lechner
7. Jay Mudra
8. A.J. Cole
9. Ed Collver
10. Chris Pennell
11. Jay Canonico
GLEN CAMPBELL CHEVROLET STREET STOCKS
Heat Winners – Scott Mutka, Rick Widmer, Kyle Volk
Feature –
1. JIM OFFHAUS
2. Frank Batista, Jr.
3. Jim Bryant
4. Jeff Madill
5. John Shurmatz
6. Rick Widmer
7. Joe Mergl
8. Scott Mutka
9. Dave Johnson
10. Wayne Lavis
11. Pete Hackett
12. Andy Jankowiak
13. Mike Maggiore
14. Don Deville
15. Gary Light
16. Tom Agen
17. Kyle Volk
18. Paul Tessier
19. Gary Bartella
20. Tim Garlock
21. Joe Light
22. Andy Cryan
23. Mark Pew
24. Jim Stein
25. Rick Ortwein
26. Tom Deville
27. Mike Fedele
28. Kevin Mendel
29. Rob Bulger
DNS: Tim Offhaus
Source: Dave Buchanan/Lancaster Raceway Park PR
Posted: July 22, 2005