Hodnett Wins York County Nationals and SSP Track Championship on Thursday
Newberrytown, PA (September 1, 2005) - Greg Hodnett won the battle and the war on Thursday evening at Susquehanna Speedway Park. Hodnett’s win in the 32-lap York County National Open also clinched the 2005 SSP Sprint Car point title. Gene Knaub won the Xtreme Stock car feature, while Rich Lomman topped the XSC Rookie Rumble. Ronnie Dunstan pulled out a last lap win in the Legends car feature. Hodnett earned the pole for the Sprint Car feature by besting Fred Rahmer in the final match of the King of the Posse Match Races. He then led all 32 laps of the feature event for his fourth SSP win of the season, and the tenth of his career. Hodnett also took the point title, which is his first in this area, and his first anywhere since 1987. Rahmer ran second for the entire race despite some pressure from Blane Heimbach, who finished third. Lance Dewease and Alan Krimes completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten were Jason Johnson, Cory Haas, Chad Jumper, Chris Meleason, and Pat Cooper. Knaub started last in the 26 car field for the Xtreme Stock cars and took the lead from Larry Hughes Jr. with two laps remaining in the 25 lap race. Hughes finished second, while Mike Goodwin captured the XSC point crown with his third place finish. Matt Smith and Tom Slanker completed the top five. Rick Reinoehl won the Pepsi Challenge. Dunstan came from deep in the pack to take the lead from Randy Fetterhoff on the final lap of the 15 lap Legends car feature. Dunstan, an SSP Late Model champion in the 1960’s, also claimed the Legends point title for the season. Fetterhoff settled for second followed by Randy Kissinger, Jim Halbert, and Austin Kirby. Lomman took the lead from Ken Johns on the 11th of 15 laps to win the XSC Rookie Rumble. Les Scrivens Jr. finished second followed by Zac Beck, Johns and Matt Newcomber. This Sunday night, September 4, the Super Sportsman at SSP culminates with the Inaugural 75-lap Trail Motors Championship paying $2,500 to the winner, $175 to start. The total purse for the 24 starters is $10,275. For the championship race, there will be 12 automatic qualifiers for the event determined by the winners of the following events: 1) Silver Spring (Sat., May 28 – Craig Morrow); 2) SSP (Sun., May 29 – Russ Mitten); 3) SSP (Sun., June 5 – Dave Calaman); 4) Port Royal (Wed., June 15 - Pat Cannon); 5) SSP (Sun., June 19 – Rich Eichelberger); 6) Williams Grove (Fri., June 24 – Danny Hager); 7) Silver Spring (Sat., July 2 – Billy Schoffstall); 8) SSP (Sun., July 3 – Frankie Herr); 9) Lincoln (Wed., July 20 – Carmen Perigo Jr.); 10) SSP (Sun., July 24 – Gregg Foster); 11) SSP (Sun., Aug. 14 – Aaron Eichelberger); 12) SSP (Sun., Aug. 21 – Bob Fannasy). The remainder of the field for the championship will qualify through heats and a last chance race. The heats will be lined up by overall point standings with the highest point non-qualifier starting on the pole of the 1st heat and so on. The 12 qualifiers will compete in two-(2) six-car dash races to determine the starting spots for the top 12 starting spots. The dash races will be 4 laps. The starting positions for dash one will be Craig Morrow, Dave Calaman, Rich Eichelberger, Billy Schoffstall, Carmen Perigo Jr., and Aaron Eichelberger. Dash two will lineup as follows: Russ Mitten, Pat Cannon, Danny Hager, Frankie Herr, Gregg Foster and Bob Fannasy. The finish of dash one will determine the starting positions for the inside of the first rows and dash two will be the outside of the first six rows. All 75 laps counted for the feature event will be green flag laps only. At lap 50, all cars will be permitted to go to the pit area for 10 minutes. At this time, teams will be permitted to make necessary changes to the car including fuel, gears, tires, shocks, etc. Any car not returning to the track at the expiration of 10 minutes will be relegated to the rear of the field (in front of lapped cars only if that car was not one lap down). All Trail Motors Super Sportsman Series events at SSP will require the use of Hoosier Tires on all four corners with a Hoosier 105/18-15 plated (HTMA or HTE) right rear spec tire. Also racing on Sunday will be the Silver Springs Street Stocks paying $400 to win and the Four Cylinders. This will also be the final point event of the season for the Trail Motors Super Sportman and the Street Stocks. Gates open on Sunday in the pit area and grandstands at 5:00 p.m. Warm-ups begin at 7:00 p.m. with racing beginning promptly at 7:30 p.m. Grandstand ticket prices are Adults (18 & older) $15.00; Teens (13-17) $8.00; Children (6-12) $4.00; and Children (5 & under) are free. SSP will continue its Repeat Fan Discount in which there will be a $2.00 discount for each person on September 4 with a ticket stub from the August 21, August 25 or September 1 events only. Returning fans are encouraged to write their name, address and phone number on the back of the stub to be entered into special drawings during the season for great prizes. Last season, the grand prize was two tickets for the October NASCAR race at the Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Pit pass prices are $25.00 with a reduced price of $22.00 for all track licensee holders. For more information, visit ww.sspracing.net or call the SSP home office at (717) 292-1696. The Susquehanna Speedway Park is located off I-83 to exit 32, then 1.4 miles NW on SR382 to York Road, then 1.3 miles south. On raceday, use the track phone at (717) 938-9170. SSP Results from Thursday, September 1, 2005 Sprint Cars Feature (32 Laps): 1. Greg Hodnett; 2. Fred Rahmer; 3. Blane Heimbach; 4. Lance Dewease; 5. Alan Krimes; 6. Jason Johnson; 7. Cory Haas; 8. Chad Jumper; 9. Chris Meleason; 10. Pat Cooper; 11. Beeca Anderson; 12. Scott Lutz; 13. Eric Stambaugh; 14. Phil Walter; 15. Michael Carber; 16. Rod Ort; 17. Bobby Weaver; 18. Billy Heltzel Jr. Did Not Start: Aaron Long FEATURE LAP LEADER: Greg Hodnett (1-32) HEAT RACE WINNERS: Weaver, Krimes KING OF THE POSSE CHALLENGE QUARTERFINALS: Greg Hodnett bye; Blane Heimbach def Eric Stambaugh; Fred Rahmer def Alan Krimes; Lance Dewease def Bobby Weaver SEMIFINALS: Hodnett def Heimbach; Rahmer def Dewease FINALS: Hodnett def Rahmer Xtreme Stock Cars Feature (30 Laps) 1. Gene Knaub; 2. Larry Hughes Jr.; 3. Mike Goodwin; 4. Matt Smith; 5. Tom Slanker; 6. Daryl Beakler; 7. Adam Smith; 8. Ron Vance; 9. Ronnie Thomas; 10. Charlie Pensinger; 11. Bobby Guise; 12. Tom Johns; 13. Jim Smith; 14. Karl Windish; 15. Kevin Higgins; 16. Chris Heller; 17. Duane Prowell; 18. Jerry Blauch; 19. Jason Failor; 20. Trevor Stark; 21. Bryon Sipe; 22. Steve Clemens; 23. Raymond Repp; 24. Rick Reinoehl; 25. Sam Rial; 26. Mike Mixell. FEATURE LAP LEADER: Larry Hughes (1-23); Knaub (24-25) PEPSI DASH WINNER: Rick Reinoehl XSC Rookie Rumble Feature (15 Laps) 1. Rich Lomman 2. Les Scrivens Jr. 3. Zac Beck 4. Ken Johns 5. Matt Newcomber 6. Eric Snoke 7. Nate Heindel 8. Brian Lomman 9. Raymond Ritter 10. Adam Doll 11. Gerald Barnes 12. Perry Good 13. Mark Heller 14. Terry Myers 15. John Scrivens 16. Harry Sipe 17. John Remlein 18. Bill Paulus 19. Jeff Thrush 20. Matt Deardorff 21. Carl Sipe 22. Charles Potts 23. John Hiden Jr. 24. Matt Mixell 25. Brent Fogelsanger 26. Jed Latshaw 27. Brian Erb 28. Shad Showater DNS Brad Reger, Penny Repp, Bob Bender, Chris Caggion FEATURE LAP LEADER: Johns 1-10, R. Lomman 11-15 Legends Cars Feature (15 Laps) 1. Ronnie Dunstan; 2. Randy Fetterhoff; 3. Randy Kissinger; 4. Jim Halbert; 5. Austin Kirby; 6. Gerry Eldrige; 7. Pat Zellers; 8. Andy Lupfer; 9. Zach Dieter; 10. Bob Murley; 11. Bob Lash; 12. Kenny Kayton; 13. Greg Burd; 14. Amy Stauer; 15. Steven Nedercostek; 16. Jason Rochelle; 17. Bill Harris; 18. Geremy Sheaffer; 19. Rick Haring; 20. Dallas Schittler Jr. FEATURE LAP LEADER: Jim Halbert (1-5); Randy Fetterhoff (6-14); Ronnie Dunstan (15). HEAT RACE WINNERS: Bill Harris; Randy Fetterhoff SSP News and Notes: - The next event following Sunday’s Trail Motors Super Sportsman Championship at SSP will be on Saturday, September 24 with the Newberry Community Fair and Smashfest ’05. The Newberry Community Fair Day begin with opening ceremonies at 9:00 a.m. and end at 5:00 p.m. There will be plenty of fun for the entire family with lots of rides (Ferris wheel, Giant Slide, Swings, Fun House and more), food vendors, helicopter rides, horse drawn hay rides, tractor hay rides, Monster Truck rides, games, music, fire company displays, antique tractor display, exotic petting zoo, presentations, crafts and more. Plus the Inaugural York County Radio Control Car Nationals presented by Bumps and Jumps will take place on the speedway’s frontstretch from 9:30 a.m.—4:30 p.m. More than 100 entries are expected. Then on Saturday night, Smashfest ‘05 will begin at 7:00 p.m. featuring the “ Black Jack�?? Monster Truck Car Crunch, Big Car and Small Car Smashmasters Demolition Derbies, Four Cylinder Roll Over Contest, XTREME Motorcycle Jumper, Mini Van Novelty Race and “Go Til Ya Blow�?? Race and GIGANTIC FIREWORKS DISPLAY ending the show. The Big Car Demolition Derby will pay $1,000 to win. Gates open for Smashfest ‘05 in the pit area and grandstands at 5:00 p.m. with the show beginning promptly at 7:00 p.m. Grandstand ticket prices are Adults (18 & older) $12.00; Teens (13-17) $8.00; Children (6-12) $4.00; and Children (5 & under) are free. Pit pass prices are $20.00. The rain date is Sunday, Sept. 25. Admission for the Community Fair is free. - On Saturday afternoon, October 1, the Susquehanna Speedway Park will host the Pumpkin 200 Enduro race. As a bonus attraction, the Great American School Buses and Mini Vans will take to the track before the 200 lap Enduro event. Fans will also be given complimentary school bus rides around the track at 12:30 p.m. The Enduro event will follow the specifications for the Xtreme Stock Car division that ran weekly at SSP during the 2005 season. The Pumpkin 200 event will be 200 laps regardless of the number of entries. The purse payout will be based on entry numbers and a payout can be found at the end of this release. Pre-entry for the event is encouraged but not mandatory. A Pre-entry fee is $50.00 and must be postmarked by Tuesday, September 27, 2005. All entries postmarked on or after September 28, 2005 will be $75.00. Entries will be taken on the day of the event. The starting positions for the Turkey 200 will be aligned through a blind draw at the pit gate on the day of the event. As a special bonus, all pre-entrants will be able to draw a second time for a starting position if he or she does not like their first draw for position. However, the entrant must take the second drawn spot regardless of whether or not it is a better starting position. Entry forms may be found at _www.sspracing.net_ (http://www.sspracing.net/) or contact (717) 292-1696 and leave an address or fax number for an entry. - The SSP Haunted Hayrides originally scheduled for October 14/15, October 21/22 and October 28/29 have been cancelled. - “The Candy Bowl�?? has been scheduled for Saturday, October 29 at 4:00 p.m. This event will feature the wingless ARDC Midgets, Silver Springs Street Stocks, Legends Cars, Lincoln Thundercars, Mini Vans, W.O.W. (Women on Wheels) in both Xtreme Stocks and School Buses, XSC Rookie Rumble. All divisions will be features only with extended laps with the exception of the midgets. The ARDC Midgets will have qualifying races as well. One more division may be added and will be announced in the near future. After the event, all teams are encouraged to stay for trick or treating in the pits with all kids in costumes. All kids in costumes will be admitted free to the races.