Diano and Sheppard Sweep Night
By Lynda Yates
Sandusky, OH. – G & W Blacktop sponsored a beautiful night of racing at Sandusky Speedway with the E-Mods making their first showing of the season at the track. Qualifying kicked the evening off with Jason Rowe breaking his own track record last weekend by setting an even faster time this weekend with a time of 21.84 in the Spectator Stocks. Mike Sheppard, Rodney Saunders and Nick Diano set fast times for the rest of the divisions.
An autograph session followed with Dash cars lining the track. Dash winners for the night were Darius Randall (Spectator Stocks), Mike Sheppard (Pure Stocks), Tom Clingan (Sportsman) and Nick Diano (E-Mods). Heats were ran next with Rowe and Randall taking home the wins in the Spectator Stocks, Mike Sheppard for the Pure Stocks, Rodney Saunders in the Sportsman and Nick Diano and Kenny Phillips for the E-Mods.
The first feature for the night was the E-Mods. Ed Colburn and Scott Hart were the pole cars for the 25 lap event. After two quick cautions, a complete restart was in order with Colburn taking the early lead. With a shuffle of the cars on the first go around, Andy Carroll shot out front on lap two and took over the top spot followed by Colburn and Nick Grodi. Colburn and Grodi came together but both were able to save their rides, only loosing positions as they both fell back into the pack letting Bernie Cook Jr. and Kenny Phillips fall into the second and third place spots. The caution was out again on lap five as Carroll broke his qualifying time and was sent to the tail. Cook was now the new leader followed by Phillips and Jim Blagg on the restart. Nick Diano joined the hunt as he and Blagg began to fight over third on lap six. Cook got loose the next lap giving the lead over to Phillips with Blagg hanging onto second. The next half dozen laps the top three were Phillips, Blagg and Diano. Diano finally made a pass for second stick on lap 14. Three laps later, Diano made a pass under Phillips in turns one and two, taking over the leader role. The remaining laps saw the top three continue the same allowing Diano to take home the first feature win for the E-Mods and sweeping the night with his fast time, dash, heat and feature win. Diano leads the points with an 11 points lead after one race.
The Five Star Bodies Sportsman hit the track next with Ed Jahnke and Roger Briere sitting on the front row. Mike Sims shot out to be scored the leader of the 20 lap feature with Briere and Tom Clingan behind him. Clingan passed Briere on lap two for second with the caution coming out the next lap for Randy Dawson coming into contact with the backstretch wall. Rodney “Rowdy” Saunders joined the pack taking over the third place spot fighting Clingan for second by lap four. On lap seven, Saunders was able to make the pass stick for second as he passed Clingan in turns three and four. By lap nine, the top three were racing bumper to bumper. The next lap, Saunders ducked under Sims in turn two to become the new leader. Sims made contact with the backstretch wall on lap 11, allowing Clingan and Sharp to take over the number two and three spots. The remaining laps were unchanged for the leaders as Saunders took the checkers and his first feature win of the season. Saunders took over the points with a five point difference ahead of second.
The Linden Propane Pure Stocks lined up for their 20 lap feature next. Joey Wyckoff and Kenny Calhoun brought the field around for the green. Wyckoff led the first lap with the caution coming out the following lap for Calhoun spinning on the backstretch. Calhoun was charged with the caution and was sent to the rear for the restart. Stephen Schlea took advantage of the restart and darted out front to take the lead with Wyckoff and Mike Sheppard following behind him. Sheppard passed Wyckoff for second on lap three and then stole the lead from Schlea the next lap. The caution was out once again on lap nine for Calhoun and Stephanie Rothacker coming together. Sheppard continued his lead with Kyle Watson taking over third. Watson battled with Schlea until lap 14 when Watson overtook second finally. Another yellow was out on lap 15 for Wyckoff spinning. Sheppard finished unchallenged with Watson in second and Wyckoff making his way back into third the final lap. Sheppard swept the night, setting fast time, winning the dash, heat and feature. He leads the standing by nine points after the second week out.
The final feature of the night was the Top Line Welding Spectator Stocks. Lou Ralston and Toots Hart brought the pack around for the start. A tangle with half the field in turns one and two resulted in a complete restart for the 15 lap feature. Ralston was scored the leader after a lap was in the books followed by Hart and Kevy Jaycox. Hart and Jaycox fell off the pace making room for Darius Randall and Jeremy Champion to move into second and third by lap number two. Randall took the lead over on lap three. Champion passed Ralston on lap four to take over second. Tara Hart moved into third with a pass under Ralston on lap six. Jason Rowe finally made his way from the back and passed Hart on the backstretch of lap seven for third. Rowe made an inside pass on lap 10 to take second from Champion. Rowe set his sights on Randall and after two consecutive cautions, passed inches ahead of Randall at the line of lap 12 for the lead. Rowe held on and took home his first feature win of the year with Randall and Champion finishing second and third. Rowe took over the point lead by a mere four points after the final races were run.
Reed’s Salvage out of Grafton, Ohio will sponsor next weekend with the first appearance by the Buckeye Super Sprints. Sportsman, Pure Stocks and Spectator Stocks will be running complete shows too. Racing starts at 6:30pm.
RESULTS
Spectator Stocks:
Fast Qualifier: Jason Rowe **track record 21.84
Dash: Darius Randall, Jeremy Champion, Justin Cranmore, Rowe
Heat#1: Rowe, Champion, Tara Hart, Toots Hart, Jim Morrison
Heat #2: Randall, Cranmore, Kevy Jaycox, Devin Gibson, Lou Ralston
Feature: Rowe, Randall, Champion, Tara Hart, Cranmore
Pure Stocks:
Fast Qualifier: Mike Sheppard
Dash: Mike Sheppard, Kyle Watson, Clayton Karl, Stephen Schlea
Heat: Sheppard, Schlea, Watson, Joey Wyckoff, Dylan Napier
Feature: Sheppard, Watson, Wyckoff, Napier, Schlea
Sportsman:
Fast Qualifier: Rodney Saunders
Dash: Tom Clingan, Greg Sharp, Saunders, Leo Cicerrella
Heat: Saunders, Sharp, Mike Sims, Cicerrella, Roger Briere,
Feature: Saunders, Clingan, Sharp, Sims, Cicerrella
E-Mods:
Fast Qualifier: Nick Diano
Dash: Diano, Dave Dobbins, Jim Blagg, Steve Jones
Heat #1: Diano, Todd Bachman, Scott Hart, Bryan Brown, Andy Carroll
Heat #2: Kenny Phillips, Bernie Cook Jr., Nick Grodi, Ed Colburn, Dobbins
Feature: Diano, Phillips, Blagg, Scott Hart, Cook Jr.