By CHARLIE BROWN
DELMAR, DE – Thursday night it was the second round of the Battle of the Bay series sponsored by S.R. Pete & Sons at the Delaware International Speedway. Austin Hubbard took advantage of staying near his Bridgeville, Del. home on a Thursday night and it paid off big.
Nick Davis set a new track record in qualifying turning the half mile in a time of 17.579 seconds at a speed of 102.395 miles per hour. Heats would go to Davis and The “Wild Child” Amanda Whaley.
Hubbard started on the pole and quickly pulled away from Ricky Elliott in second. Dale Hollidge began to pressure Elliott from third and took second on lap four. By lap six the top cars were already working traffic.
The first yellow would fly on lap 11. Two laps later it was out again spelling an end to the night for Donald Lingo, Jr. and Kerry King.
Hollidge grabbed second on the restart but would head to the pits with a flat tire on a lap 16 yellow for Whaley who spun in turn four. Hollidge was able to return to the rear of the field on the tail of the lead lap. On the restart Ross Robinson grabbed the second spot and at halfway the top five were Hubbard, Robinson, Davis, Dylan Evans and Hollidge.
Hubbard was able to pull away from the field in the second half of the race which was run caution free. Davis put on a classic battle for third. Davis was able to get by Robinson with Hollidge following a lap later into third.
The pair would continue their dog fight right up to the checkered with Hubbard taking the $3000 victory and Davis holding off Hollidge to finish second and third. Fourth went to Robinson and Dylan Evans came on strong in the closing laps to finish in fifth.
A solid field of 25 RUSH Crate Late Models were on hand Thursday night. Heat race wins went to Allen Brannon, David Pettyjohn and Darren Alvey while Paul McGinley took the consolation.
It was a rough start for the field as the yellow would fly three consecutive times before the first lap was in the books for tangle involving at least nine cars. When the first lap did get in it was Chip Disharoon setting the pace from the pole with Allen Brannon chasing in second.
The caution was out again on lap two when Matt Tarbox got crossed up collecting John Imler, Jamie Eichholz, Brandon Sturgis and Scott Hitchens. On the restart Matt Hill, who had started in fourth, took the point from Disharoon and began to pull away from the field.
By the halfway sign Hill had a comfortable lead over Disharoon with David Pettyjohn, Matt Glanden and Darren Alvey running in a tight pack in the top five.
With five to go Pettyjohn made a strong bid for second but spun bringing out the yellow. On the yellow, Hill’s left front tire began to go flat and on the restart Hill slipped high and Disharoon made a bid for the lead. There was contact with Disharoon spinning and collecting Alvey and Magee. Under the yellow Hill headed to the pits with the flat tire and Glanden became the new leader with just two laps to go.
Glandon was able to hold off the hard charging Joe Warren who came from the rear with a great drive. The $1000 victory was Glanden’s second win of the season and the biggest of his racing career. Warren settle for a hard earned second with Brannon third. Fourth went to Sparky White and Chuck Bowie rounded out the top five.
The 12-lap Super Truck feature would turn out to be a battle between the Smith brothers, David and Robert. David Smith and Dale Elliott won the heats and started in the top two spots. By the time the first lap was completed it was David Smith on top with his brother Robert Smith challenging from second.
The race would go caution free and David was flawless as he drove to the victory. Robert finished in second with Matt Esham putting on a good drive to finish in third. Fourth went to Matthew Smith and Elliott rounded out the top five.
Scott Calhoun took the lead from Robert “Pacman” Paczkowski on the second lap and never looked back to win the 12-lap Delmarva Charger feature. A caution with two laps to go gave Marvel one final shot but Calhoun made no mistakes and Marvel had to settle for second.
Paczkowski made several bids to regain second but ended up in third with Ashley Merritt fourth and Randy Merritt fifth.
S.R. Pete & Sons Super Late Model Finish: 1. Austin Hubbard; 2. Nick Davis; 3. Dale Hollidge; 4. Ross Robinson; 5. Dylan Evans; 6. Kevin Scott, Jr.; 7. Jason Dean; 8. Dale Murphy; 9. Bob Geiger; 10. Kellie Lewis; 11. Ricky Elliott; 12. Amanda Whaley; 13. Donald Lingo, Jr.; 14. Kerry King; 15. Tyler Horst; 16. Geoff Carey; 17. Mark Pettyjohn; 18. Rob Schirmer.
RUSH Crate Late Model Finish (Pending RUSH tech): 1. Matt Glanden; 2. Joe Warren; 3. Allen Brannon; 4. Sparky White; 5. Chuck Bowie; 6. Cory Lawler; 7. Matt Tarbox; 8. Devin Brannon; 9. David Pettyjohn; 10. Derek Magee; 11. Trevor Collins; 12. Matt Hill; 13. Tyler Reed; 14. Chip Disharoon; 15. Darren Alvey; 16. Paul McGinley; 17. Scott Tessman; 18. Levi Crowel; 19. Jamie Eichholz; 20. Scott Hitchens; 21. John Imler; 22. Brandon Sturgis; 23. Zac Weller; DNS: James Hill; DNQ: Jamie Emory.
Super Truck Finish: 1. David Smith; 2. Robert Smith; 3. Matt Esham; 4. Matthew Smith; 5. Dale Elliott; 6. Kirk Miles; 7. Brian Meisenholder; 8. Jerry Hill; 9. Mike Kennedy; 10. Dick Beauchamp; 11. Marvin Smith; 12. Rocky Whitley; 13. J.C. White; 14. Thomas “Action” Jackson; 15. Bobby Reed.ac
Delmarva Charger Finish: 1. Scott Calhoun; 2. Tanner Marvel; 3. Robert Paczkowski; 4. Ashley Merritt; 5. Randy Merritt.
