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RAHMER TOPS DARRAH AND SEVENTY OTHER COMPETITORS TO WIN CINDY ROWE AUTO GLASS PA SPRINT SPEEDWEEK 2008
York Haven, Pa.....The 2008 Cindy Rowe Auto Glass Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek could go down in the record books as a number of things. It could be termed as another year in the continuing saga of Fred Rahmer as "Speedweek King". It could be termed as the year of rainouts, although 2008 didn't break any records in that department. It could even be termed as the year Rahmer even qualified well.
What it will be know as, is the year Rahmer, the wiley veteran, outgunned Cody Darrah, the recent high school graduate, to win his 11th Speedweek crown, in 18 years.
Simply put, Rahmer did everything well this year during Speedweek. He won two races, he passed cars, and he even time trialed well. For the record, Rahmer won two of the five races, finished second in one, third in one, and dropped out of the other while running third after starting tenth. Rahmer also set fast time for four of the five races, and won one heat race. In the end it was more than enough to best Darrah for the Speedweek crown.
Darrah, an 18 year old fourth generation driver, who just graduated from Red Lion High School, put together a very solid week to let everyone know that he is the real deal. Darrah won one race and never finished out of the top ten in the five races. His other finishes included a fourth, a seventh and two eighths.
Greg Hodnett quietly put together a solid week to claim third in the Speedweek series points. Hodnett's best finish was fourth, which he did twice. He also finished fifth twice, and had one DNF in 17th position. Hodnett also won two heat races.
Jeff Shepard made the biggest splash during Speedweek with his Hagerstown win over Rahmer. Rahmer had come from eighth spot to pass Shepard for the lead, but Shepard fought back for a popular win. Had his other Speedweek races gone as well, he would have fared better than fourth in the final rundown. Shepard also had finishes of fifth, sixth, 13th and 16th, plus one heat win.
Brian Leppo completed the top five in Speedweek points, and only missed out on all top ten runs by two positions. Leppo was also the only driver other than Rahmer to set fast time during this Speedweek. His best run was a third, with fifth, two tenths, and a 12th his other scores.
The 18th Annual Cindy Rowe Auto Glass Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek lost three of the scheduled eight races to rain. That is something that has also happened in two other Speedweeks (1995 and 1996). Events that were rained out were those at Bedford, Williams Grove, and the first of two scheduled for Port Royal.
Rahmer won events at Grandview and Selinsgrove, while Doug Esh won at Lincoln, Shepard at Hagerstown, and Darrah at Port Royal.
A total of 71 different drivers competed in Speedweek events this year, with about five others on hand for nights that rained out prior to competition.
To answer the question, Rahmer has more than four previous "Fast Times" in Speedweek competition, but in the past eleven years he had only set "Fast Time" five times. He nearly doubled that number in one week.
Rahmer pushed his series leading win total to 30 wins during Speedweek. Shepard and Esh each scored their third Speedweek wins, while Darrah's was his first. Twenty different drivers have now won a Speedweek event. There have been a total of 117 Speedweek races.
Rahmer's other Speedweek titles have come in 1992-95, 1998, 2000, and 2003-06.
2008 Cindy Rowe Auto Glass Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek Point Standings
1. 51 Fred Rahmer 749 5
2. 89 Cody Darrah 640 5
3. 22 Greg Hodnett 573 5
4. 1 Jeff Shepard 562 5
5. 71 Brian Leppo 559 5
6. 30 Doug Esh 524 5
7. 7m Mark Smith 500 5
8. 25 Chad Layton 464 5
9. 88 Todd Shaffer 458 5
10. 19 Stevie Smith 424 5
11. 7 Keith Kauffman 409 4
12. 35 Alan Cole 394 4
13. 21 Brian Montieth 347 4
14. 28 Brian Paulus 317 4
15. 30c Lance Dewease 253 2
16. 6 Sean Michael 250 2
17. 0 Rick Lafferty 209 2
18. 22z Michael Carber 206 3
19. 11 Mike Erdley 198 2
20. 11t T J winegardner 182 5
21. 10n Niki Young 181 2
22. 55 Mike Wagner 160 2
23 4 Todd Hestor 97 2
24. 17e Cris Eash 89 1
25. 9 Craig Keel 86 4
25. 49 Bob Howard 86 3
27. 25 Aaron Ott 81 2
28. 6w Josh Wells 80 1
29. 3 Bob Bennett 78 4
29. 59 Jim Siegel 78 1
31. 38n Nick Schlauch Jr. 77 2
32. 17B Steve Buckwalter 72 1
32. 11c Cory Haas 72 1
34. 20 Ryan Taylor 61 1
35. 2H Dave Hahn 53 2
36. 63 Josh Weller 51 1
37. 18 Daryl Stimeling 46 1
38. 1w Phil Walter 45 1
39. 47j Jeff Busby 43 2
40. 70 Sam Schlosberg 42 1
41. 12 Mike Bittinger 39 1
42. 69 Shawn Weaver 37 1
43. 4 John Rudisill 36 1
44. 87 Alan Krimes 35 1
45. 8H Michael Heckman 32 2
46. 16 Cliff Brian 29 2
47. 12 Blane Heimbach 28 1
48. 73 Kramer Williamson 22 1
49. 56d Jeff Van Dusen 21 1
50. 42 John Smith III 20 2
51. 43 Doug Dodson 19 2
52. 21 Duane Mausteller 18 1
52. 74JR J R Berry 18 1
54. 55z Mark Zimmerman 14 4
54. 26 Pat Cooper 14 2
54. 56 Robbie Stillwaggon 14 1
57. 26 Curt Stroup 11 1
57. 19 Cale Grubb 11 1
59. 4 Randy Kaylor 10 1
60. 16 Brett Schoenly 9 1
61. 1f Richie Fitz 8 1
61. 45 Scott Geesey 8 1
61. 18 Adam Gordon 8 2
64. 66 Ryan Kissinger 7 1
65. 07 Billy Schoffstall 5 1
65. 3B Randy Baughman 5 1
67. 44 Joey Hershey 3 2
68. 12j Bill Jones Jr. 1 1
68. 45 A J Michael 1 1
68. 5 Adam Lawrence 1 1
71. 15 Vince Snyder 0 1
FAST TIME
Fred Rahmer 4
Brian Leppo 1
HEAT WINS
Greg Hodnett 2
Chad Layton 2
Stevie Smith 2
Steve Buckwalter 1
Alan Cole 1
Brian Leppo 1
Jeff Shepard 1
Fred Rahmer 1
Mark Smith 1
Niki Young 1
Brian Paulus 1
Shawn Weaver 1
Michael Carber 1
Doug Esh 1
B-MAIN WINS
Blane Heimbach 1
Brian Montieth 1
Craig Keel 1
Sam Schlosberg 1
Cody Darrah 1
A-MAIN WINS
Fred Rahmer 2
Cody Darrah 1
Jeff Shepard 1
Doug Esh 1
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