Rhodes is the Latest to Earn the Nittany 40 at Clinton County
MILL HALL – Zach Rhodes of McVeyton won the coveted Nittany 40 for the RaceSaver Sprint Cars on Friday night at the 1/3 mile, Clinton County Speedway. Rhodes competed against a stout field of 45 sprint cars. Jeffrey Weaver of Lock Haven won the 270 Micro Sprints, Cory Long of Selinsgrove won the Pro Stocks and Matt Weaver of Spring Mills won the 4 Cylinders.
Kasey Weaver and Rhodes started on the front row for the 40 lapper. Weaver darted into the lead with Rhodes and Mike Koehler running int the top three. On lap three the red flag came out for a tow car incident in turn two. Johnny Smith, while running fourth spun at the top of speedway, and Dakota Schweikart slid into him causing his car to roll over. Both drivers were ok. The field came back to racing action with Weaver leading Rhodes, Koehler, Matt Tebbs and Timmy Bittner. The caution flag waved on lap number 12 for debris on the front stretch.
As the field approached the halfway mark of the race, the leaders were racing through lapped traffic. Bittner passed Tebbs and Koehler and finally caught Rhodes by lap number 25. Weaver and Bittner battled for several laps. On lap number 38, Weaver and Bittner tangled in turn number two, causing Weavers car to be spun out in front of the field. Track officials deemed Bittner’s involvement as aggressive and put him to the rear of the lead lap. Rhodes inherited the lead and brought the field back to green with Koehler, John Scarborough, Matt Tebbs and Kruz Kepner restarting in the top five. Kepner made a last lap passes to advance two spots. The win was the second of the season for Rhodes, who also won on opening day. Mike Koehler, Kruz Kepner, Matt Tebbs and John Scarborough finished in the top five. Sixth through tenth were Ken Duke, Mikey Smith, Austin Reed, Christian Rumsey, and Jim Pattock. Heat races were won by Kasey Weaver, Christian Rumsey, Rhodes, and Johnny Smith. Austin Reed won the B-Main and Fred Arnold won the C-Main. Weaver set a fast time of
Brent Gordner and Rich Fye were the front row starters of the Pro Stock feature event. Fye led the first lap. Cory Long took the lead on lap number two with AJ Hoffman running in second. By the completion of lap number five, Long was leading Hoffman, Fye, Noah Kissinger and Larry Knight. Kissing took the third spot on lap number six. Long began to pull away from the rest of the field. Hoffman held a several car length advantage over the cars battling for third, fourth and fifth. Long continued to pace the field and won by 2 seconds over Hoffman. Kissinger, AY Schilling and Larry Knight rounded out the top. Sixth through tenth were Fye, Gordner, Nate Stroup, Mike gray and Jim Farley. Heat races were won by Gordner and Hoffman.
Michael Petock jumped into the lead of the 270 Micro Sprint event. By lap five, Petock was leading Cory Long, Jeffrey Weaver, Marc Wert and Logan Hammaker. On lap number six, Wever moved into second place. The caution waved on lap number seven when Tom Quiggle stopped on the speedway. Weaver used the restart to make at run at Petock and made the pass by the completion of lap seven. Tyler Clowes moved into third on number eleven. Weaver led the final half of the race to claim in the victory over Petock, Clowes, Wert and Stabley. Sixth through tenth were Denny Rinehimer, Jillian Maurer, Logan Hammaker, Bobby Sanso, and Paris Hewes. Heats were won by Jillian Maurer and Clowes.
Matt Weaver advanced from the outside of row number one to take the lead of the 4 Cylinder feature event. Zak Kline quickly moved into second place. The Coty Maines made it a three car battle. Weaver led every lap of the event with Kline and Maines giving chase. Jason Koch and Hunter Flook completed the top five. Heats were won by Weaver and Kevin Trimpey
The Clinton County Speedway returns this Friday with the return of the 410 Sprint Cars paying $4,000 to win. Also on the card will be the East Coast Legneds and the four cylinders. Gates open at 5PM and hot laps begin at 7PM. For the latest speedway information visit the speedways website at clintoncountyspeedway.com
Sprint Cars: 1. Zach Rhodes 2. Mike Koehler 3. Kruz Kepner 4. Matt Tebbs 5. John Scarborough 6. Ken Duke Jr. 7. Mikey Smith 8. Austin Reed 9. Christian Rumsey 10. Jim Pattock 11. Josh Beamer 12. Dale Schweikart 13. Owen Dimm 14. Tim Ilug 15. Ryan Lynn 16. Paul Moyer 17. Timmy Bittner 18. Wyatt Walizer 19. Kasey Weaver 20. Kolby Weaver 21. Josh Fox 22. Jeffrey Weaver 23. John Smith 24. Dakota Schweikart
DNS: Mike Alleman, Austin Greenland, Kyle Hart, Dustin Prettyleaf, Dustin Young, Erick Knopp, Fred Arnold, Matt Heimbach, Reed Thompson, Karl Walizer, Matt Kline, DJ Cassler, Croix Beasom, Kyle Knopp, Mia Koponen, Jeremy Hill, Todd Lynn, Bill Sheehan, AJ Barton, Jim Kennedy, Drew Young.
Pro Stocks 1, Cory Long 2. AJ Hoffman 3. Noah Kissinger 4. AY Schilling 5. Larry Knight 6. Rich Fye 7. Brent Gordner 8. Nate Stoup 9. Mike Gray 10. Jim Farley 11. Rodney Wagner 12. Marc Bitler 13. AJ Stoup 14. Ronnie Ergott
270 Micros: 1. Jeffrey Weaver 2. Michael Petock 3. Tyler Clowes 4. Mac Wert 5. Cory Stabley 6. Denny Rinehimer 7. Jillian Maurer 8. Logan Hammaker 9. Bobby Sanso 10. Paris Hewes 11. Matt Dixson 12. Chase Roberts 13. Andrew Petock 14. Blade Myers 15. Lester Stabley 16. Tom Quiggle DNS Matthew Dixson, Colton Guiher
Four Cylinders: 1. Matt Weaver 2. Zak Kline 3. Coty Maines 4. Jason Koch 5. Hunter Flook 6. Kevin Trimpey 7. Dalton Lucas 8. Brett Shirk 9. Ken Smith