6/29/06
Susquehanna Speedway Park
Pennsylvania Speedweek Round 3
33 cars
Fred Rahmer (1st car out to time) set the standard in qualifications at 15.789 seconds around the red clay 1/3 mile. He was followed by Lucas Wolfe (2nd car out), Chad Layton (3rd), Bobby Weaver (7th), Lance Dewease (28th), Jeff Shepard (27th), Keith Kauffman (9th), Mark Smith (18th), Greg Hodnett (26th) and Don Kreitz Jr. (10th). The track dried in a hurry, so early qualifiers benefited.
Heat one (started): 1. Doug Esh 30 (2) 2. Michael Carber 69 (1) 3. Kreitz 69K (4) 4. Mike Erdley 11 (3) 5. Kauffman 7 (5) 6. Rahmer 22 (7) / 7. Weaver X (6) 8. Cory Haas 11c (9) 9. Dave Hahn 2H (8) 10. Bob Bennett 3 (10) 11. Chad Jumper 28 (11)
Carber led the first lap until Esh took control and pulled away on lap two of the 10 lapper. Rahmer had to work to get around Weaver for the final transfer, but did so at the halfway point.
Heat two (started): 1. Mark Coldren 07 (2) 2. Stevie Smith 19 (3) 3. Dewease 25 (6) 4. Niki Young 10n (1) 5. M. Smith 1 (5) 6. Brian Montieth 21 (4) / 7. Wolfe 5w (7) 8. Scott Lutz 33 (8) 9. Steve Buckwalter 17B (10) 10. Rich Eichelberger 8 (9) 11. Billy Kimmel 47 (11)
Coldren led flag to flag. The best battle was for the final transfer between Montieth and Wolfe. Wolfe couldn't find room to squeeze by for the final transfer. Dewease was the class of the field and came just short of getting by S. Smith at the line for second.
Heat three (started): 1. Alan Krimes 87 (1) 2. TJ Stutts 88 (2) 3. Blane Heimbach 12c (4) 4. Hodnett 77 (5) 5. Shepard 4J (6) 6. Alan Cole 35 (9) / 7. Dan Shetler 98 (10) 8. Johnny Mackison Jr. 65 (8) 9. Brian Leppo 71 (3) 10. Layton 12 (7) 11. Cody Darrah 89 (11)
Darrah exited immediately, and suffered mechanical woes all night starting in hot laps. Leppo spun in turn one on the initial try at green and collected Layton, who suffered severe damage to the rear of the Apple machine. While Krimes led the distance, Stutts and Heimbach battled fiercely for the runner-up spot, with the former holding on.
B main (started): 1. Wolfe (1) 2. Leppo (2) 3. Weaver (3) 4. Lutz (4) 5. Mackison (7) 6. Haas (6) / 7. Hahn (5) 8. Eichelberger (9) 9. Shetler (10) 10. Buckwalter (11) 11. Bennett (8) 12. Jumper (13) 13. Kimmel (12) DNS - Layton, Darrah
Layton tried to start the event, but could not. Wolfe grabbed the early lead and never looked back in the 10 lapper. Haas grabbed the final transfer from a rim riding Hahn with three to go.
A main (started): 1. S. Smith (13) 2. Shepard (2) 3. Rahmer (4) 4. Dewease (3) 5. Kauffman (1) 6. Hodnett (6) 7. Heimbach (11) 8. Esh (15) 9. M. Smith (5) 10. Kreitz (7) 11. Krimes (20) 12. Weaver (10) 13. Cole (24) 14. Wolfe (9) 15. Carber (18) 16. Leppo (14) 17. Young (19) 18. Stutts (17) 19. Haas (23) 20. Coldren (16) 21. Mackison (22) 22. Montieth (8) 23. Lutz (21) 24. Erdley (12)
Erdley had a fuel nozzle dislodge from a flying object and exited immediately, while Shepard took the lead in the 30 lapper. Three laps in, Wolfe spun in turn one, collecting Coldren and Lutz, who retired. Once back underway, Shepard pulled away from the field. On lap 10, Rahmer started applying pressure as the duo approached lapped traffic. Dewease joined the pair to stage a three-way battle for the lead before that was halted when Montieth was struck in the shoulder with an object and stopped in turn four on lap 13. He was otherwise uninjured, but done. The restart saw Shepard leading Rahmer, Dewease, Kauffman, Hodnett and a surging S. Smith, all former or current Al Hamilton pilots. Shepard held of the challenges of Rahmer throughout the remaining laps, but there was a new challenger in the form of S. Smith. He had the 19 working both high and low and slid in front of Rahmer for second with four to go. He then set his sights on the leader and slid under him in turn four of the 28th circuit to take the lead for good in exciting fashion as the sizable crowd was on its feet. The win was S. Smith's second in a row in Speedweek action at SSP. He was also the hard-charger, earning an additional $100.