4/22/2019
Max Blair goes 2 for 2 in Battle of the Bay!
(Georgetown, DE)...The Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series presented by Pace Performance moved on to Georgetown Speedway on Thursday night. Night two of the second annual "Battle of the Bay" Speedweek presented by Wehrs Machine & Racing Parts brought out a Georgetown record 50 race teams from seven different states plus Ontario, Canada one night after setting a Speedweek record of 53 cars at Delaware International Speedway (DIS). It was a summer-like day with sunshine and 85-degree weather, which saw a large crowd turn out.
On Wednesday night, Max Blair opened Speedweek by sweeping the night setting fast time, winning his heat, the dash, and feature taking home $4,325 in the "Raelyn Huffman Memorial" at DIS. On Thursday night, Blair nearly duplicated the feat doing everything but setting fast time as he pocketed $3,075 after his career first Georgetown win bringing his two-night Speedweek cash earnings to $7,400. Blair has now made four career starts in the "First State" and has won three of them.
"You're not going to find a better deal for crate racing than this Battle of the Bay," stated the 29-year-old Centerville, Pa. racer. "Huge props to Mike (Leone) and Vicki (Emig) along with all of the race tracks. This is a really, really good deal for crate guys. It's the best stretch deal going in the country for us. This is a really stout field of race cars. To win both nights is pretty awesome. Hopefully we can keep it going. Ross (Robinson) is really close in the point deal so it's going to come down to the wire."
Following his dash win, Blair raced to the early lead in the 30-lap feature event with Dillon Brown passing both Darrell Bossard and Matt Hill for second. Bossard, who started third, dropped to fifth after the first lap and was feeling pressure from seventh starting Logan Roberson on lap three. The two ran side-by-side for the position on laps five, six, and seven. Roberson finally made the pass on lap seven; however, a caution for Zac Weller and Darren Alvey negated the pass with six laps scored.
When racing resumed, Hill and fifth starting Ross Robinson had a great restart as they moved into second and third respectively and dropped Brown back to fourth before a caution for a spin by Nick Davis with seven laps completed. Back under green, Hill made a great cross-over move going from the top in turn one and surprised Blair driving back under him to lead off turn two. The pass though wouldn't count as several cars tangled on the backstretch that saw Logan Zarin go on his side bringing out the red and the last stoppage of the event. Zarin was okay, but done from the event.
Back under green for the final time as the last 23 laps would go green-to-checkered, 12th starting Dale Hollidge was on the move as he passed both Roberson and Brown to take over fourth on lap eight. In front of Hollidge, Hill and Robinson were racing side-by-side on lap nine with Robinson going to the inside to make the pass for second, while Hollidge followed in third.
As Blair continued to lead at the halfway point, Hollidge ran down Robinson in the battle for second. Out front, Blair caught lapped traffic for the first time on lap 19; meanwhile, Brown and Roberson closed in on Robinson and Hollidge making it a four-car race for second with 10 laps to go. Blair was back in traffic again on lap 24. His lead would shrink over the final six laps, but still was a margin of 3.656 seconds when the checkered flag waved on his all-time leading 23rd career Sweeney Tour victory in his Murphy's Logging/C&J Dairy/Previty's Auto Wrecking/Specialty Products/Moody & Son Welding-sponsored #111. Blair once again received a Sunoco 5-Gallon Race Jug in victory lane.
"I almost really messed up that one restart," revealed Blair. "I was so worried about someone rolling by me on the top. I thought I was clear on the frontstretch so I moved up going into (turn) one and left that bottom wide open. I wasn't expecting that (Hill to go by him)- that's for sure. That one caught me by surprise; we definitely got lucky with that caution. I couldn't decide if I wanted to take the top on the restarts. I knew I wanted to end up on the bottom- I think the top is better on the starts, but it's pretty hard not to take the bottom on restarts."
One night after earning $2,000 for finishing second to Blair in the "Raelyn Huffman Memorial" at DIS, Robinson pocketed $1,500 for another runner-up finish to Blair. Robinson also received the "Spoiler Alert" $150 rear spoiler from Ontime Body & Graphic. "This was a really good night for us," stated the 28-year-old hometown Georgetown driver, who won the event last year. "Everything was going good up until the features. I thought we were really good in the Super Late Model too then that one caution came out. I can't complain to run second to the 111- he's one of the best in the country in crate racing."
Hollidge had a great run in third for his best career Sweeney Tour finish. "We ran a really good heat race and battled hard for the win, but to finish second- that's six spots in the feature and we had to start 12th," explained the 30-year-old Clements, MD racer. "I really wish I could have started up front. Max is really good, but we had a good car tonight and I think we could have had something for him if we had a caution with a few laps to go. I have to thank all of the guys and my family. We've been on the road for two days and to run two cars is tough. Seems like I've been in the car all night."
South Carolina's Brown improved on his fifth place finish in his first career RUSH start on Wednesday at DIS with a fourth on Thursday night, while Roberson dropped a position to fifth. Michael Duritsky, Jr., who won the RUSH Weekly Series season opener at Georgetown last month in his first ever appearance, had a solid sixth place effort. Kyle Lukon raced from the 18th starting spot to a seventh place finish. Jason Genco moved from 14th to eighth over defending Sweeney Tour champion, Jeremy Wonderling. Scott Gunn rallied from 17th to 10th.
After taking a Series provisional, Trevor Feathers stormed from 25th to 12th to earn the $100 Precise Racing Products "Pedal Down" Hard Charger award. Bill Kessler, who took a Series provisional on Wednesday night, ironically did a great job to hold off Feathers for the third and final transfer spot in heat race three, and was selected as Dirt Defender's "Defensive Drive of the Night". After nearly winning his heat race, "Futures Cup" racer, Logan Zarin, was picked for the TBM Brakes "Tough Brake of the Night" after getting on his side in the feature.
One night after winning his first ever Non-Qualifier race, Joe Warren duplicated his victory by leading all 10 laps to become just the fourth driver in the history of the "Wheelman" Bonus Event Challenge Series to win multiple events in the 40 races run all-time. The hometown Georgetown resident led all 10 laps for the second straight night and once again earned the $200 prize in his #11. Warren used the outside to pass Sandercock on the start, and while Sandercock stayed within striking distance throughout the event, the Canadian had to fend off fellow Ontario province racer, Sam Pennacchio, for the runner-up spot. Brad Rigdon was fourth over 17th starting Matt Glanden.
Brown set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 19.820 as he was the only driver that ran a sub 20-second lap to earn the $100 "Shock the Clock" honor from FK Rod Ends. Picking up $75 FK Rod Ends heat race wins presented by Preferred Power Wash were Brown, Blair, Robinson, Hill, Dawson, and Bossard. Blair won the dash, while Alvey, Kevin Scott, Jr., and Braeden Dillinger split the three last chance B mains.
For the second consecutive race, Mark Pettyjohn of PJ1 Motorsports presented the "$500 Club" with five $100 cash drawings. The following five drivers from 2018 DIS track points were selected by a random draw: Sparky White, Joe Warren, Derek Magee, Trevor Collins, and Mike Wharton. It was the second straight night that Collins and Magee earned an extra $100 to go with the race winnings.
The Sweeney Tour event at Potomac Speedway in Mechanicsville, Maryland on Friday night is cancelled due to the high likelihood of rain throughout the day and night. Action returns on Saturday night at Winchester (VA) Speedway for the $3,000 to-win Speedweek finale, where the weather forecast is very promising.
Article Credit: Mike Leone