Newmanstown, PA - This time, a lapped car did not spin in front of him. On this night, he did not have a mechanical problem or lose the lead late in the race. This time, he got to the front early and stayed there. This time, Dan Souder was victorious.
Souder, who has come so close on so many occasions, finally notched his first career 600cc triumph at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway on Saturday night.
He was joined in the winner's circle by Kenny Miller III (270cc); Sheena Schaffer (Sportsman); and Eddie Nocera (Sports n' Turf 250cc Four-Strokes). The 125cc feature was on its pace laps when rain began to pelt the speedway, forcing postponement of the final feature of the night. It will be made up this Saturday, May 7, as part of Fan Appreciation Night.
Souder, from the Quakertown area, started on the pole of the 600cc main event. He led all the way, but Taylor Troxel and Steve Whary kept the pressure on him for much of the 25-lapper. Souder would not be denied, however, racing to a 0.298-second victory over Troxel.
"This is so sweet," said a relieved Souder in his victory lane interview. "There have been so many bent parts and so many late nights in the shop...but this makes it all worthwhile. This is the place to win, and I finally got it done."
Troxel and Whary made things interesting in the middle portions of the race, wrestling one another for second and closing in to challenge the leader, but Souder repelled each attack and went on to record the well deserved win.
Troxel finished a strong second, with TJ Greve moving up to third after a last lap skirmish between Whary and Kyle Spence as they battled for that spot. Zach Light wound up fourth and Kyle Lick completed the top five.
Spence, Whary, and Lick were heat race winners while Luke Thomas won the consolation. There were 32 entries in the 600cc field on Saturday.
Pole sitter Kenny Miller III set the pace for all 25 circuits of the 270cc feature, but he had to survive seven caution periods - five of which produced double-file restarts. Miller, from Birdsboro, chose the inside lane each time, and motored away from his pursuers on each restart.
Mike Skias flew into third place with ten laps in the books, then passed his brother, Nick, for the runner-up position at the halfway point. Mike had a few shots at the leader on double-file restarts, but could not overtake the Ken's Cycle Repair/ Habecker Excavating No. 23m with Miller at the controls.
Miller led M. Skias to the checkered, with Tyler Ulrich earning third place money. Ken Miller, the winner's dad, finished fourth and Richie Hartman rounded out the first five.
Three heats were run for the 26 car field of 270cc racers, with victories going to Dylan Adams, Mike Rutherford, and Bradley Brown. Kyle Weiss was the consolation victor.
Sheena Schaffer, Denver Pa., inherited the top spot when race leader Mike Miller suddenly slowed and dropped out of the Sportsman feature with only eight tours remaining. Schaffer had just been passed by the previous week's winner, Dan Lane Jr., but the yellow for Miller's disabled car wiped out Lane's pass and put Schaffer in the lead.
Schaffer pulled away by a couple car-lengths on the ensuing restart and went on to register the triumph by almost a half-second over Lane. Tyler Ulrich scored another third place finish with Toby Blumenshine and Ava Bellinger ending up fourth and fifth.
With 30 Sportsman teams in the pit area, the three heat race winners included Lane, Dave Schroeder, and Mike Miller. Angelo Mercado won the consolation race.
Eddie Nocera launched from his outside front row starting spot to lead all 25 laps of the Sports n' Turf 250cc Four-Stroke main event. The race went non-stop and Nocera, from Mohnton, romped to victory in 5:08.611.
Kassidy Michael snared the runner-up position from Ron Wechter on the 12th revolution, but Nocera was long gone by that time. Michael finished a distant second to the defending Four-Stroke point champ, with Jarrett Imler taking third place cash over Ron Wechter and Zak Vickers, who won the feature one week prior.
Along with his first place prize money, Nocera was also the recipient of an American Racer/ Lias Tire gift certificate.
The lone Four-Stroke heat race was also won by Nocera. Only 11 of the Four-Strokes turned out for action on Saturday.
Rain began to fall as the 125cc cars were lining up for their 25-lap feature. As the precipitation intensified, the car were taken off the track and the decision was made to postpone the 25 lap main until this Saturday, May 7.
The make-up feature will be part of Fan Appreciation Night presented by AJ Blosenski Trash Hauling & Recycling, along with Grace & Truth Fellowship Church. Adult general admission is just $1.00 on Saturday, with kids 12 and under getting in for free. There will be lots of giveaways and special activities as part of Fan Appreciation Night as well.
Gates open at 4 p.m. with warm-ups beginning at 5:30. Racing gets underway at 6:30.
The five weekly divisions - 600cc, 270cc, Sportsman, 125cc, and the Sports n' Turf 250cc Four-Stroke Micro-Sprints will compete in qualifying heats, consolations, and 25 lap main events on Saturday with the 125cc make up feature leading off the program.
An admission price of just one dollar and Fan Appreciation Night means you've gotta come out and LIVE the excitement that is Lanco this Saturday, May 7!
RESULTS:
600cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Dan Souder, 2.Taylor Troxel, 3.TJ Greve, 4.Zach Light, 5.Kyle Lick, 6.Jarid Kunkle, 7.Chris Gerhart, 8.Heath Hehnly, 9.Rebecca LaMothe, 10.Matt Carr, 11.Luke Thomas, 12.Brent Ely, 13.Amber Oraschin, 14.Ryan Hook, 15.Chris Panczner, 16.Jesse Maurer, 17.Chris Oraschin, 18.Steve Whary, 19.Kyle Spence, 20.Cameron Bellinger, 21.Shaun Lawton, 22.Bradley Brown, 23.Bret Cronrath, 24.Kenny Miller III.
DNQ: Shaun Brandel, Ryan Groff, Kassidy Michael, Eric Bodine, Rick Horn, Walt Wampole, Will Urkuski, Kelby Stauffer.
270cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Kenny Miller III, 2.Mike Skias, 3.Tyler Ulrich, 4.Ken Miller, 5.Richie Hartman, 6.Bradley Brown, 7.Mike Rutherford, 8.Mike Miller, 9.Christi Sweigart, 10.Kyle Weiss, 11.Kyle Spence, 12.Toby Blumenshine, 13.Dylan Adams, 14.Brandon Heist, 15.Dustin Fox, 16.Daryl Davis, 17.Brian Sholley, 18.Greg Miller, 19.Billy Logeman, 20.Josh Stoyer, 21.Jason Rhoades, 22.Nick Skias, 23.Dan Lane Jr., 24.Nick Sweigart.
DNQ: Jarrett Imler, Mike Uhrich.
Sportsman Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Sheena Schaffer, 2.Dan Lane Jr., 3.Tyler Ulrich, 4.Toby Blumenshine, 5.Ava Bellinger, 6.Ken Miller, 7.Phil Durham, 8.Curtis R. Miller, 9.Angelo Mercado, 10.Dave Ravel, 11.Nick Skias, 12.Zak Vickers, 13.Sami Schenck, 14.Patrick Kirn, 15.Dave Schroeder, 16.Alan Durham, 17.Kerry Lengle, 18.Ricky Sechrist, 19.Michael Keiser, 20.Robert Shanaman, 21.Mike Miller, 22.Anthony Yerger, 23.Austin Graby, 24.Jeff Harnish.
DNQ: Steve Smith, Katelin Vragovich, Kane Rogers, Cody Sechrist, Brandon Gibble, Ken Davis.
Sports n' Turf 250cc Four-Stroke Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: 1.Eddie Nocera, 2.Kassidy Michael, 3.Jarrett Imler, 4.Ron Wechter, 5.Zak Vickers, 6.Dick Huzzard, 7.Andrew Potts, 8.Cliff Brian Jr., 9.Lewis Kepple, 10.Mike Coen, 11.Zachary Young.
125cc Micro-Sprint Feature, 25 laps: Postponed by rain to Saturday, May 7.