| |
Rahmer Wins Sunshine Showdown Round #2
Sunday, 03 February 2008
LAKE CITY, FL (2-2-08) Night number two of the Icebreaker 2008: The
Sunshine Showdown at North Florida Speedway had some of the greatest
sprint car drivers in the country battling for $5000 on the fast 4/10 mile in Lake
City, FL. There were 31 winged 410 sprint cars putting on a show for the North
Florida crowd - most of whom had never experienced these 800+ horsepower
war machines.
Heat race action was packed with excitement with wins going to Bob Felmlee,
Paul McMahan, Ryan Myers, and Dustin Morgan. The top five finishers of each
heat receive points toward the season championship, making each position
critical when the checkered flag falls.
Danny Smith won the O’Reilly Dash as there was plenty of bumping and
banging going on through the pack. In 2008, the O’Reilly Dash points will
count toward the season points totals. With 2007’s championship coming down
to a two point margin on the final night of the season, every point is critical
throughout the year.
The redraw for the top six spots, the new fan involvement portion of the
program, put the PA Posse in great position to strike sending Lucas Wolfe to
the pole position with Fast Freddie Rahmer to his outside. Randy Hannagan
would start from the inside of the second row with Lance Dewease to his
outside. The 2007 All Star champion, Greg Wilson, would line up inside of row
three next to 2007 All Star runner up, Danny Smith.
Brock Mayes won the B-main event over Brian Paulus, tony Bruce Jr., and
Casey Shuman who snuck in by virtue of a spinning Geoff Dodge who had the
final transfer spot all but locked up.
After a short break to work the track to break up the rubber seal put down
during the heats and B-main, the drivers were anxious to get strapped in and
on the hammer to put the cap on the two night event. The North Florida
Speedway track crew did a fantastic job getting the track back in shape so the
fans would see the great side by side action that the All Stars are famous for.
Fast Freddie Rahmer took the initial green flag and showed the fans why he is
the King of the PA Posse by holding off fellow Central PA star Lucas Wolfe for
30 laps. Wolfe made several challenges when Rahmer hit lapped traffic, but
the veteran showed the kid the faster way around the speedway dodging in
and out of back markers. The Posse tri-fecta was completed by Lance
Dewease chasing down the leaders.
Danny Smith rode Deweases’ rear bumper as an early caution flew for Casey
Shuman. On the restart, Wolfe got under Rahmer and spent the next several
laps trying to get to the front, but Rahmer pulled away. Into heavy traffic for the
remainder of the race, Rahmer was followed by Wolfe, Dewease, Smith, and
Brandon Martin who got by Randy Hannagan in the late stages of the 30
lapper.
Wolfe made one last charge with 5 laps to go, but Rahmer had too much
under his right foot and pulled ahead of the field, leaving the battles for
position to the middle of the pack. The top three spots were dominated by
Posse regulars, while the next three were held by All Star contenders. Round
#2 of the Sunshine Showdown goes to Central PA, though it should be noted
that Rahmer is also an All Star member who will compete in many of the events
in 2008 as he has in past years and Dewease will compete full time on the All
Star tour in 2008.
The Comp Cams Hard Charger award went to the previous night's winner, Sam
Haefertepe Jr. for his run from mid-pack to nearly cracking the Top 10.
The All Stars move on to Volusia Speedway on Tuesday Feb. 5th, Wednesday
Feb. 6th, and Thursday Feb. 7th. The series officials and drivers thank the
staff at North Florida Speedway for their hospitality and also the fans for
braving the cool weather to join us in kicking off the 2008 racing season.
North Florida Speedway (2-2-08)
All Star Circuit of Champions
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 30C-Lance Dewease, 14.181; 2. 11B-Brock Mayes, 14.231; 3. 51R-Fred
Rahmer, 14.493; 4. 1X-Randy Hannagan, 14.514; 5. 4-Danny Smith, 14.521;
6. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 14.567; 7. 28-Brian Paulus, 14.611; 8. 51-Kaley Gharst,
14.620; 9. W20-Greg Wilson, 14.623; 10. 25-Chad Layton, 14.650; 11. 11M-
Brandon Martin, 14.671; 12. 22-Greg Hodnett, 14.691; 13. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.,
14.732; 14. 22B-Ben Gregg, 14.803; 15. 39-TJ Stutts, 14.820; 16. 15-Sam
Haefertepe, 14.829; 17. 2-Dale Blaney, 14.874; 18. 0-Paul McMahan, 14.977;
19. 20E-Brian Ellenberger, 15.064; 20. 71M-Paul May, 15.086; 21. 6F-Bob
Felmlee, 15.118; 22. 4N-Neil Shepherd, 15.122; 23. 56R-Ryan Myers, 15.148;
24. 8H-Dustin Morgan, 15.164; 25. 16S-Lee Stark, 15.483; 26. 7M-Geoff
Dodge, 15.490; 27. 20-Frank Carlsson, 16.007; 28. 4X-Casey Shuman,
16.018; 29. 80-Spud Gustin, 16.029; 30. 3W-John Westbrook, 18.493; 31. O9-
Craig Mintz, NT;
Heat 1 - All Pro Heads
1. 6F-Bob Felmlee; 2. 2-Dale Blaney; 3. W20-Greg Wilson; 4. 30C-Lance
Dewease; 5. 4-Danny Smith; 6. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.; 7. 16S-Lee Stark; 8. 80-
Spud Gustin;
Heat 2 - Engler Machine & Tool
1. 0-Paul McMahan; 2. 25-Chad Layton; 3. 22B-Ben Gregg; 4. 4N-Neil
Shepherd; 5. 5W-Lucas Wolfe; 6. 11B-Brock Mayes; 7. 7M-Geoff Dodge; 8.
3W-John Westbrook;
Heat 3 - Hoosier Racing Tire
1. 56R-Ryan Myers; 2. 20E-Brian Ellenberger; 3. 39-TJ Stutts; 4. 11M-
Brandon Martin; 5. 51R-Fred Rahmer; 6. 28-Brian Paulus; 7. 20-Frank
Carlsson; 8. O9-Craig Mintz;
Heat 4 - Hank's Performance Products
1. 8H-Dustin Morgan; 2. 71M-Paul May; 3. 15-Sam Haefertepe; 4. 22-Greg
Hodnett; 5. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 6. 4X-Casey Shuman; 7. 51-Kaley Gharst;
Dash - O'Reilly Auto Parts
1. 4-Danny Smith; 2. 30C-Lance Dewease; 3. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 4. 25-
Chad Layton; 5. 51R-Fred Rahmer; 6. W20-Greg Wilson;
B-main - University of Northwest Ohio
1. 11B-Brock Mayes; 2. 28-Brian Paulus; 3. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.; 4. 4X-Casey
Shuman; 5. 16S-Lee Stark; 6. 7M-Geoff Dodge; 7. 20-Frank Carlsson; 8. 3W-
John Westbrook; 9. O9-Craig Mintz; 10. 80-Spud Gustin; 11. 51-Kaley Gharst;
A-main - MSD Ignition Starting Position []
1. 51R-Fred Rahmer[2]; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[1]; 3. 30C-Lance Dewease[4]; 4.
4-Danny Smith[6]; 5. 11M-Brandon Martin[8]; 6. 1X-Randy Hannagan[3]; 7. 25-
Chad Layton[7]; 8. 22-Greg Hodnett[9]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson[5]; 10. 11B-Brock
Mayes[11]; 11. 15-Sam Haefertepe[15]; 12. 22B-Ben Gregg[10]; 13. 18-Tony
Bruce Jr.[13]; 14. 39-TJ Stutts[14]; 15. 28-Brian Paulus[12]; 16. 2-Dale Blaney
[16]; 17. 0-Paul McMahan[17]; 18. 20E-Brian Ellenberger[18]; 19. 71M-Paul
May[19]; 20. 4N-Neil Shepherd[21]; 21. 6F-Bob Felmlee[20]; 22. 8H-Dustin
Morgan[23]; 23. 56R-Ryan Myers[22]; 24. 4X-Casey Shuman[24];
|
|
|
|
|
