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JOSH WELLER SCORES URC CAREER FIRST SATURDAY NIGHT AT GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY
BECHTELSVILLE, PA Josh Weller of Mertztown, PA scored his first
career URC sprint car victory Saturday night at the Grandview Speedway.
For the URC Bar's Leaks Sprint Series, this was the eighth event of the
season and the third race of the Valley Forge INC Pennsylvania Sprint
Series. At age twenty, Weller works as an Auto Glass Installer and is a
college student. Weller led the entire twenty-five lap feature but it
was no easy task, holding off a late race challenge from Chris Coyle and
Curt Michael.
A field of thirty URC Sprint Cars turned out for the Grandview event
with heat race victories going to Joe Zuczek, Josh Weller and Todd
Rittenhouse as the Don Ott "B" Main was won by Brian Seidel.
In the twenty-five lap feature event, Josh Weller and URC point leader
Ed Aikin went to battle as Chris Coyle and Curt Michael were on a
charge. Michael started tenth and was racing in fifth by lap three. On
lap seven, the red flag was displayed for Davey Sammons who flipped in
turn three. Sammons walked away uninjured but unable to restart the
event.
When green flag racing resumed, Weller remained in command with Coyle
now in second. As the groove moved higher on the race track, Weller ran
closer to the outside wall with Coyle and Aikin in the chase. On lap
ten, the yellow was displayed, this time for Mares Stellfox who made
hard contact with the third turn wall. The green flew again, but only
one lap was completed before the yellow was displayed on lap eleven for
Justin Collett who stopped in turn one.
Back to green flag racing and Weller was again on point, but the company
was getting closer. Like any sprint car race at Grandview, the final
laps are always the best and this show was setting up for a grand
finish. Weller, Coyle and Michael were now racing under a blanket for
the lead with just ten laps remaining. The three front runners ran up
against the outside wall and with just five laps to go, Michael dove to
the bottom of the track looking for an open lane. Weller moved ahead
slightly as Coyle and Michael battled for second. With just two laps
remaining, Michael passed Coyle but that was short-lived and Coyle
fought back for the runner-up spot.
On the final lap, the top three were in nose-to-tail formation as Weller
appeared to calculate every corner so not to make a mistake. Michael
threw caution to the wind and made a last lap bid in turn two, again
slipping by Coyle for just a moment, as Coyle came back and regained the
runner-up spot. Weller dashed under the black & whites to score his
first career URC sprint car feature win. Coyle finished second followed
by Curt Michael, Ed Aikin and Kramer Williamson who made up the top
five.
FEATURE FINISH: Josh Weller, Chris Coyle, Curt Michael, Ed Aikin,
Kramer Williamson, Kevin Welsh, J.J. Grasso, Michael Carber, Brian
Seidel, Mark Bitner, Brook Weibley, Mike Haggenbottom, Kyle Purks, Todd
Rittenhouse, Jason Clauss, Jimmy Stitzel, Justin Collett, Adam Gordon,
Joe Zuczek, Andy Hannula, Mares Stellfox, Gary Gollub, Davey Sammons,
Dave Ely. DNQ- - Joe Biasi, Tim Hogue, Robbie Stillwaggon, Jimmy
Martin, Jamie Bodo, Randy West.
LikeWise Construction Fast Time of the Night- - Josh Weller
Fred's Trailer Parts Hard Charger- - Brian Seidel, advanced ten cars in
the feature.
URC COMING EVENTS IN JUNE & JULY
JUNE 23 New Egypt
JUNE 27 Williams Grove Kasey Kahne Foundation
JUNE 30 Delaware Intl
JULY 6 Bridgeport Speedway Kent Construction
JULY 14 New Egypt
JULY 20 Big Diamond
JULY 21 Selinsgrove
JULY 28 Bridgeport
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