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Duane Howard Leads Georgetown Sunday Winners with $4,049 Small-Block Modified Triumph

Written by Chris Moore

GEORGETOWN, DE – Following the war of tire attrition
that took place Saturday night, many drivers and fans wondered what Sunday
afternoon would bring at Georgetown Speedway.  

The
track crew at Georgetown answered the call and an outstanding daytime racing surface
was prepared for the Sunday matinee, which had been postponed by rain from
Friday night.

Oley,
Pa.s Duane Howard and the Norm Hansell Motorsports team continued their
affinity for the Georgetown oval, topping the 30-lap Sunoco Small-Block
Modified event on Day No. 2 of the Melvin L. Joseph Memorial weekend. Howard
earned $4,049 for his efforts in front of a healthy Sunday afternoon crowd.

Howard
launched off the pole for the main event, but his victory was far from easy.

Howard
led the field to the green flag. Fellow Oley, Pa., driver Craig Von Dohren was
on the gas early. Von Dohren moved from his fourth starting position to second
on the first lap before the yellow flag fell. On the ensuing restart, CVD took
the lead from the outside and the chase was on from there.

Von
Dohren led a close following duo of Howard and the hard charging Billy Pauch
Jr. in the Rick Holsten-owned No. 96. The trio pulled away from the rest of the
field and caught the tail end of the field by lap 11. For the next five laps,
the top three went high, low, and through the middle to get through lap traffic
before a spinning Roger Henion Jr. brought out the yellow.

“Racing
through the traffic was really fun,â Howard said of the intense laps on the
semi-banked half-mile oval. “We had a really good track to run on today.â

On
the ensuing restart attempts got interesting. First, the problems occurred in row two,
where Pauch Jr. and the Richie Pratt Jr. made contact, sending Pauch Jr.s car
over the edge of the track and outside the top-10.  

Howard
and Von Dohren then battled each other hard with Howard losing spots and
showing displeasure with longtime rival CVD. However, due a spin in the back of
the field, the lap and positions lost were nullified.

Howard
powered into the lead on the next restart with 13 laps to go and was never
headed for the remainder of the distance.

“Its
nice to get a win early,â Howard said afterward. “This team is poised for a
really good year. I have to thank Norm (Hansell) for providing this equipment.â

Von
Dohrens Dick Biever-owned No. 14s, which had shown signs of smoke at times in
the second half of the race, held on for second spot followed by Pratt of
Woodbury Heights, N.J., in a solid effort for the Daniel Sommeling No. 51 team.
Returning to the family owned No. 71 for the day, David Van Horn Jr. of
Harmony, N.J., snagged a fourth-place result, with Frank Cozze of Wind Gap,
Pa., completing the front five.

Howard,
Von Dohren and Demetrios Drellos topped the heat races with 34 Sunoco
Small-Block Modifieds on hand.

The
RUSH Crate Late Model Weekly Series point battle began Sunday at Georgetown
with 19 cars on hand for a 20-lap, $1,049-to-win program.

Michael
Duritsky made his long haul from Masonville, Pa., worthwhile leading every lap
of the main event. Duritsky made the trip for second weekend in a row, being
one of the 72 cars in attendance for last weeks Open Practice day. 

Matt
Glanden of Denton, Md., didnt have quite the day he was looking for. Following
a spin on lap four, Glanden was coming back through the field when the No. 11F
of Ryan Frazee went around in turn four. Glanden hit Frazee nearly head on, and
wound up on his roof. Both drivers were uninjured.

Following
the only red of the day, and multiple restarts on lap eight, things settled
down and the field went the rest of the way caution-free. “I was worried on all
those restarts, but I knew if I held my line Id be alright,â Duritsky would
say of his seemingly stress-free race.

Georgetown
native Ross Robinson drove the Daniel Hudson-owned car to a second-place finish,
besting Mechanicsville, Md., driver Dale Hollidge to the line by three
car-lengths. Hollidge now has a RUSH-legal crate engine at his disposal for
special events in the area. Amanda Whaley and Tyler Reed completed the front
five.

The
Delaware Super Trucks were back for the second day in a row. This time it was
Robert Smith coming his fifth-place starting position to pick up the win in the
12-lap feature. Saturday nights winner, Matt Esham was charging hard from his
last place starting position to finish second and Jerry Hill rounding out the
top three.

The
Delmarva Chargers also came out for the second consecutive day with Ashley
Merritt getting her first win since a six win-season in 2014. “It feels awesome.
This is my favorite track and Ive been trying and trying to win here again,â she
said in Victory Lane.

Derek
Swafford and Chris Carroll finished second and third, respectively. Joe Waters
ended up fifth after leading the first 10 laps of the 12-lap affair.

GEORGETOWN NOTES: Saturday nights winner Stewart
Friesen was up to fifth from his 12th-place starting position before
pulling off with apparent rear end issues on the Halmar International No. 44….

Matt
Sheppard, Andy Bachetti, and Wade Hendrickson were the three cars failing to
make the green flag after all suffered engine issues in their respective heat
races. A field of 31 cars started the main….

The
cars of Ryan Watt, Joseph Watson and Brad Roberts all showed signs of smoke at
different times during the 30-lap Small-Block event….

Racing
resumes at Georgetown Speedway in one month with the ‘Battle of the Bay on
Thursday, April 18 featuring Sunoco Super Late Models paying $3,026 to win plus
the RUSH Late Model Series ($3,000 to win), Southern Delaware Vintage Stock
Cars, Delmarva Chargers and Delaware Super Trucks.

Georgetown
Speedway, originally constructed by Melvin L. Joseph in 1949, is located at the
intersection of Route 113 and Speedway Road in Georgetown, Del., just miles
from the Delaware beaches and less than a 40-minute drive from Ocean City, Md.

A website is
live for the speedway at www.thegeorgetownspeedway.com. Like Georgetown Speedway on
Facebook, follow @thegtownspdwy on Twitter, e-mail georgetownspeedway@gmail.com or contact the speedway hotline at
302.563.GTWN (4896).

MELVIN
L. JOSEPH MEMORIAL RESULTS SUMMARY – GEORGETOWN SPEEDWAY MARCH 17, 2019

Small-Block
Modified Feature Finish (30 laps): DUANE HOWARD, Craig Von Dohren, Richie Pratt
Jr., David Van Horn Jr., Frank Cozze, Michael Maresca, Alex Yankowski,
Demetrios Drellos, Cale Ross, Louden Reimert, Brad Roberts, Matt Stangle, Ryan
Anderson, Roger Manning, Kevin Sockriter, Norman Short, Michael White, Scott
Van Gorder, Jeff Strunk, Billy Pauch Jr., Roger Henion Jr., Stewart Friesen,
Mike Gular, Clay Tatman, Dylan Swinehart, Joseph Watson, H.J. Bunting, Ryan
Watt, Jordn Justice, John Willman, Brian Hitz.

Did
Not Start:
Andy Bachetti, Matt Sheppard, Wade Hendrickson.

RUSH
Late Model Feature (20 laps): MICHAEL DURITSKY, Ross Robinson, Dale
Hollidge, Amanda Whaley, Tyler Reed, Derek Magee, Joe Pete, Wes Clifton,
Jonathan Raley, Billy Thompson, Jason Dean, Nick Davis, Zac Weller, Charles
Shawver, Ben Scott, Ryan Frazee, Matt Glanden, Mike Wharton.

Did
Not Start:
Matt Hill.

Delaware
Super Truck Feature Finish (12 laps): ROBERT SMITH, Matt Esham, Jerry Hill,
David Smith, Dale Elliott, Mike Kennedy, Kurt Miles Sr., Kurt Miles Jr., George
Shupp, Bo Beauchamp, Bill Dean.

Delmarva
Charger Feature Finish (12 laps): ASHLEY MERRITT, Derek Swafford, Chris
Carroll, Randy Merritt, Joe Waters, Brandon Riefler, John Bailey, Robert
Paczkowski, Geoff Carey, Chris ‘Tippy Martinez, Joe Morrell, Jarett Chandler.

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