![5/10/2008](https://dy5vgx5yyjho5.cloudfront.net/images/v2/profile-E2w4bUnI6Q3x699413.jpg)
5/10/2008
All Star Circuit of Champions
"The Jet" Takes Off and Wins Bob Weikert Memorial
"The Jet" Takes Off and Wins Bob Weikert Memorial
PORT ROYAL, PA (5-10-08) By Bryan Autullo – All Star PR Director
After heavy rains washed out the O’Reilly All Star’s travel plans to
Central PA on Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway, the series moved
on to Port Royal Speedway to take on the tough as nails PA Posse in
their own back yard. The Posse and their rabid fans filled the speedway
to see their local heroes fend off the invaders. With 32 cars on hand,
10 of which were traveling O’Reilly All Star regulars, the field was
stacked with talent adding to the already exciting Central PA brand of
winged 410 racing action.
The track was fast when the All Stars lined up for qualifying with Paul
McMahan setting the Kistler Engines quick time for the 6th Annual Bob
Weikert Memorial event. The invading All Stars showed their teeth in
heat race action as 7 of the 10 travelers transferred into the A-main
event. Rookie Lee Stark was running in position to transfer when he got
sideways in turn two and kissed the inside fence.
The 6-lap O’Reilly All Star Dash win went to last year’s Bob Weikert
Memorial winner, Greg Hodnett. Hodnett is always tough in All Star
competition and is always a favorite to win at Port Royal Speedway. He
led the way in the Dash with Dale Blaney in tow. Lance Dewease, Paul
McMahan, Greg Wilson, and Brandon Martin rounded out the finishing order.
The All Star “Pick 6” redraw on the front stretch with six young fans
drawing for the driver’s starting spots put Keith Kauffman on the pole
next to Jeff Shepard. Row two would see Mark Smith line up inside of
Dale Blaney. Row three put Paul McMahan inside of Todd Shaffer. With
Dewease, Hodnett, and Wilson in rows four and five the front of the
field was stacked and it was anybody’s race, however everyone knew "The
Jet" was going to have the car to beat.
Shepard jumped out to the early lead with Kauffman hot on his heels.
Shepard started to pull away from the front pack, but entered traffic on
lap 7 as Todd Shaffer was on the move from his 6th row starting
position. By lap 13 Shaffer was on Shepard’s bumper when the caution
flew for a slowing Mark Smith.
On the restart Shepard led over Shaffer, Kauffman, Dewease, Hodnett,
Paulus, Michael, Wilson, Wagner, and Martin. Paul McMahan exited the
speedway during the caution to make repairs and was able to restart at
the tail. Dale Blaney left the race with power steering problems.
Mike Erdley hit the restart cone on when the green flag dropped bringing
out the yellow flag once again. On the following restart, Brian
Ellenberger came to a stop on the speedway putting the event past the
fuel window for the number of laps run and a quick fuel stop was
required. Under the red, Todd Shaffer discovered a broken front shock,
but All Star rules allow no adjustments to the car during a fuel stop
other than adding fuel or adding air to the tires.
Once the green flag flew again, it was non-stop to the checkered flag
with Shepard leading the way. Dewease made his way into second place
with five laps to go and looked to be the fastest car on the speedway as
he began to run Shepard down in traffic. Shepard was able to get through
the back markers and go on to victory with Dewease coming home second
followed by Greg Hodnett, Todd Shaffer, and Keith Kauffman.
All Star Circuit of Champions Statistics - Port Royal Speedway (5-10-08)
Kistler Engines Qualifying
- 0-Paul McMahan, 16.110
All Pro Heads Heat #1
- 20e-Brian Ellenberger; 2. 4-Todd Hestor; 3. w20-Greg Wilson; 4.
6-Sean Michael; 5. 0-Paul McMahan; 6. 28-Brian Paulus; 7. 56r-Ryan
Myers; 8. 81-Craig Folmer
Engler Machine & Tool Heat #2
- 30c-Lance Dewease; 2. 1x-Randy Hannagan; 3. 55-Mike Wagner; 4.
1z-Jeff Shepard; 5. 7m-Mark Smith; 6. 28j-Chad Jumper; 7. 16r-Craig
Robinson; 8. 16s-Lee Stark
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat #3
- 2h-Dave Hahn; 2. 2-Dale Blaney; 3. 19-Cale Grubb; 4. 22-Greg Hodnett;
- 7k-Keith Kauffman; 6. 11e-Mike Erdley; 7. 3-Bob Bennett; 8. 44-Joey
Hershey
Hank's Performance Products Heat #4
- 16-Cliff Brian; 2. 88-Todd Shaffer; 3. 11m-Brandon Martin; 4. 35-Alan
Cole; 5. 45-Bill Brian; 6. 16h-Matt Horst; 7. 4k-Randy Kaylor; 8.
17b-Steve Buckwalter
O'Reilly Auto Parts Dash
- 22-Greg Hodnett; 2. 2-Dale Blaney; 3. 30C-Lance Dewease; 4. 0-Paul
Mcmahan; 5. W20-Greg Wilson; 6. 11M-Brandon Martin
University of Northwest Ohio B-Main (Top 4 transfer)
- 17b-Steve Buckwalter; 2. 28-Brian Paulus; 3. 16h-Matt Horst; 4.
11e-Mike Erdley
MSD Ignition A-Main Starting Position [X]
- 1Z-Jeff Shepard[2]; 2. 30C-Lance Dewease[8]; 3. 22-Greg Hodnett[9];
- 88-Todd Shaffer[6]; 5. 7K-Keith Kauffman[1]; 6. 28-Brian Paulus[12];
- 6-Sean Michael[7]; 8. 7M-Mark Smith[3]; 9. 35-Alan Cole[11]; 10.
55-Mike Wagner[14]; 11. 1X-Randy Hannagan[17]; 12. 0-Paul McMahan[5]; - W20-Greg Wilson[10]; 14. 11E-Mike Erdley[23]; 15. 11M-Brandon
Martin[15]; 16. 4-Todd Hestor[20]; 17. 20E-Brian Ellenberger[16]; 18.
17B-Steve Buckwalter[13]; 19. 16H-Matt Horst[22]; 20. 2H-Dave Hahn[21]; - 16-Cliff Brian[19]; 22. 19-Cale Grubb[18]; 23. 2-Dale Blaney[4]; 24.
45-Bill Brian[24]
Article Credit: Bryan Autullo
Submitted By: Ross Paulson