Matt Miller Uses Baltes Classic Win As World 100 Tune Up

ROSSBURG, OH (Sept. 1) – Sunday night’s feature action at Eldora Speedway included a tune-up by Matt Miller (Sunoco American Late Model Series), a clean-up by Barney Craig (Eldora Stocks) and continuation of parity by Jeff Babcock (UMP DIRTcar Modifieds). The WIX Filters sponsored evening was a tribute to Eldora founders Earl and Berneice Baltes, and the 98 race teams responded with highly competitive action on the .500-mile clay oval.

For Miller, the 25-lap main event was a tune-up for this weekend’s (Sept. 5-7) World 100. Moving into victory lane for the third time this season, he was pumped, “Rick (Delong) and guys had this car dialed in tonight, it could go anywhere I put it. I feel great going into next week’s World 100.”

When the green flag dropped, it was former champion Brian Ruhlman darting into the lead, with Kent Robinson and Chris Keller in pursuit, while Miller was charging from his seventh starting slot. At the end of two circuits, Miller moved into third behind Ruhlman and Robinson.

Two laps later a yellow caution flag appeared for a two-car tangle in turn 2 and with the double-file restart policy, it moved Miller on the outside behind leader Ruhlman. That fell right into Miller’s playbook and he made the most of it by dogging Ruhlman for two laps before taking the lead he was to hold to the finish.

It became clear sailing for Miller at that point, while Ruhlman and Robinson began their own battle that was soon joined by Jon Henry. Henry appeared to be the fastest car on the track, but a lack of any further caution periods prevented him from getting close enough to mount a challenge.

At the stripe, it was Miller over Henry, Robinson, Jeff Babcock and Ruhlman.

For the Stock Cars, it was their final night of Eldora competition for the season, and defending champion Barney Craig continued his domination of the division.

It was Earnie Woodard leading the first several circuits over Rob Trent, with Craig inching forward. Craig first disposed of Trent, and then Woodard to clinch the checkered flag and the season-long title.

Trent turned in his best performance of the season to finish second with Paul Pardo inching ahead of Woodard for third. Anthony Goode completed the top five.

Doing double duty on the night, Babcock was able to continue an amazing string of parity in the Modified class; becoming the seventh different winner in as many feature events this season.

Just like in the Late Model headliner, Ruhlman (also doing double duty) jumped into the early lead to keep the 24-car starting field at bay. But, by lap three, it was Babcock overtaking him for the lead.

There was no denying Babcock of the win – even with the likes of defending champion Joey Kramer; along with former champions Ruhlman and Jerry Bowersock chasing him down.

Two yellow flag periods slowed the pace, but not enough to stop Babcock. Kramer finished 1.284 seconds behind in second at the finish, with Ruhlman, Bowersock and Aaron Orr completing the top five.

Eldora returns to action Thursday evening for the first night of the 43rd annual World 100. Ticket and campsite purchases may be done online at www.EldoraSpeedway.com or by calling the speedway office at 937.338.3815.

Event: WIX FILTERS BALTES CLASSIC
Date: September 1, 2013

UMP DIRTcar Late Models

TIME TRIALS – 1. 20W-Chad White [17.228]; 2. 27S-Eric Spangler [16.993]; 3. 3G-Brian Gray [18.019]; 4. 49-Brian Ruhlman [16.283]; 5. 1CO-Chad Oberson [16.352]; 6. 19-Chad Smith [16.200]; 7. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [15.917]; 8. 23V-Ryan Vanderveen [16.160]; 9. 7W-Ricky Weiss [16.091]; 10. 1J-Jeff Babcock [15.721]; 11. 32J-Jason Jaggers [15.776]; 12. 1N-Casey Noonan [15.926]; 13. 15A-Phil Ausra [16.730]; 14. 91S-Rusty Schlenk [16.268]; 15. 33-Don Gordon [17.759]; 16. 3-Matt Miller [15.826]; 17. 77K-Steve Kester [16.223]; 18. 79U-Shane Unger [99.991]; 19. 11S-Ryan Sutter [16.680]; 20. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [16.006]; 21. 18R-Chris Ross [16.504]; 22. 742-Terry Casey [16.484]; 23. 13-Jr Hotovy [16.025]; 24. 98-Mason Combs [19.048]; 25. M14-Brandon Thirlby [16.360]; 26. 7R-Kent Robinson [16.366]; 27. 2-Justin Chance [99.992]; 28. 00K-Chris Keller [16.264]; 29. 88-Andrew Reaume [15.988]; 30. 15H-Jon Henry [16.108]; 31. 8A-Rob Anderzack [17.883];

HEAT 1 – 1. 49-Brian Ruhlman [1]; 2. 23V-Ryan Vanderveen [3]; 3. 19-Chad Smith [2]; 4. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [4]; 5. 27S-Eric Spangler [6]; 6. 1CO-Chad Oberson [5]; 7. 20W-Chad White [8]; 8. 3G-Brian Gray [DNF];

HEAT 2 – 1. 7W-Ricky Weiss [1]; 2. 32J-Jason Jaggers [3]; 3. 1J-Jeff Babcock [4]; 4. 1N-Casey Noonan [2]; 5. 15A-Phil Ausra [6]; 6. 33-Don Gordon [7]; 7. 91S-Rusty Schlenk [DNF];

HEAT 3 – 1. 13-Jr Hotovy [2]; 2. 3-Matt Miller [4]; 3. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [3]; 4. 742-Terry Casey [5]; 5. 18R-Chris Ross [6]; 6. 77K-Steve Kester [1]; 7. 11S-Ryan Sutter [DNF]; 8. 79U-Shane Unger [DNF];

HEAT 4 – 1. 00K-Chris Keller [2]; 2. 7R-Kent Robinson [5]; 3. 15H-Jon Henry [3]; 4. 88-Andrew Reaume [4]; 5. M14-Brandon Thirlby [1]; 6. 8A-Rob Anderzack [6]; 7. 98-Mason Combs [7]; 8. 2-Justin Chance [DNS];

B-FEATURE – 1. 15A-Phil Ausra [2]; 2. 18R-Chris Ross [3]; 3. 91S-Rusty Schlenk [10]; 4. 77K-Steve Kester [7]; 5. 11S-Ryan Sutter [11]; 6. 20W-Chad White [9]; 7. 1CO-Chad Oberson [5]; 8. 3G-Brian Gray [13]; 9. 33-Don Gordon [6]; 10. 8A-Rob Anderzack [8]; 11. 98-Mason Combs [DNF]; 12. 27S-Eric Spangler [DNF]; 13. 79U-Shane Unger [DNF]; 14. M14-Brandon Thirlby [DNS]; 15. 2-Justin Chance [DNS];

A FEATURE – 1. 3-Matt Miller [7]; 2. 15H-Jon Henry [12]; 3. 7R-Kent Robinson [8]; 4. 1J-Jeff Babcock [10]; 5. 49-Brian Ruhlman [1]; 6. 7W-Ricky Weiss [2]; 7. 32J-Jason Jaggers [6]; 8. 23V-Ryan Vanderveen [5]; 9. 1N-Casey Noonan [14]; 10. 13-Jr Hotovy [3]; 11. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [11]; 12. 88-Andrew Reaume [16]; 13. 91S-Rusty Schlenk [19]; 14. 95J-Jerry Bowersock [13]; 15. 15A-Phil Ausra [17]; 16. 00K-Chris Keller [4]; 17. 742-Terry Casey [DNF]; 18. 8A-Rob Anderzack [21]; 19. 77K-Steve Kester [DNF]; 20. 19-Chad Smith [DNF]; 21. 18R-Chris Ross [DNF]; 22. 11S-Ryan Sutter [DNF];

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UMP DIRTcar Modifieds

HEAT 1 – 1. 77-Joey Kramer [1]; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman [4]; 3. 36-Brandon Vaughan [2]; 4. 1AS-Andy Sprague [3]; 5. 225-Jesse Bitterling [7]; 6. 18-Ryan Sutter [10]; 7. 1-Steve Billenstein [9]; 8. 4J-David Treon, Jr [6]; 9. 35W-Matt Westfall [DNF]; 10. 64-Nick Katterhenry [DNF];

HEAT 2 – 1. 188-Aaron Orr [1]; 2. 4B-Darryl Banks [2]; 3. 11W-Scott Williams [9]; 4. 509-Kevin Copher [3]; 5. 5N-Tyler Nicely [8]; 6. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [6]; 7. 20CW-Chad White [10]; 8. 21T-Tom Treon [4]; 9. 14T-Mario Toniolo [5]; 10. 86-Drew Smith [7];

HEAT 3 – 1. 7B-Jeff Babcock [3]; 2. 111-Curt Spalding [4]; 3. 55S-Zach Schroeder [5]; 4. 28R-Chad Rosenbeck [7]; 5. 3GW-Dylan Woodling [2]; 6. 5X-Tim Richardson [8]; 7. 22T-Tony Anderson [9]; 8. 55-Clayton Smith [1]; 9. 91-Adam Thrush [10]; 10. 28S-Scott Mackenzie [6];

HEAT 4 – 1. 5XB-Jerry Bowersock [7]; 2. 20-Josh Morton [1]; 3. 2S-Travis Stemler [8]; 4. 00-Dave Daughtery [3]; 5. 04-Aaron Raby [2]; 6. 00JB-John Brooks [4]; 7. 26D-Mike Dirksen [5]; 8. 51-Cody Timmerman [6]; 9. 23J-Jon Henry [DNF];

B-FEATURE 1 – 1. 3GW-Dylan Woodling [2]; 2. 225-Jesse Bitterling [1]; 3. 18-Ryan Sutter [3]; 4. 35W-Matt Westfall [9]; 5. 22T-Tony Anderson [6]; 6. 1-Steve Billenstein [5]; 7. 55-Clayton Smith [8]; 8. 91-Adam Thrush [10]; 9. 28S-Scott Mackenzie [12]; 10. 5X-Tim Richardson [DNF]; 11. 4J-David Treon, Jr [DNF]; 12. 64-Nick Katterhenry [DNS];

B-FEATURE 2 – 1. 5N-Tyler Nicely [1]; 2. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [3]; 3. 23J-Jon Henry [10]; 4. 04-Aaron Raby [2]; 5. 26D-Mike Dirksen [6]; 6. 20CW-Chad White [5]; 7. 00JB-John Brooks [4]; 8. 51-Cody Timmerman [8]; 9. 86-Drew Smith [DNF]; 10. 14T-Mario Toniolo [DNF]; 11. 21T-Tom Treon [DNF];

A FEATURE – 1. 7B-Jeff Babcock [4]; 2. 77-Joey Kramer [6]; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman [2]; 4. 5XB-Jerry Bowersock [3]; 5. 188-Aaron Orr [5]; 6. 55S-Zach Schroeder [11]; 7. 11W-Scott Williams [10]; 8. 1AS-Andy Sprague [13]; 9. 35W-Matt Westfall [23]; 10. 23J-Jon Henry [22]; 11. 4B-Darryl Banks [1]; 12. 2S-Travis Stemler [12]; 13. 509-Kevin Copher [14]; 14. 225-Jesse Bitterling [19]; 15. 36-Brandon Vaughan [9]; 16. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [20]; 17. 00-Dave Daughtery [16]; 18. 18-Ryan Sutter [21]; 19. 3GW-Dylan Woodling [17]; 20. 5N-Tyler Nicely [DNF]; 21. 28R-Chad Rosenbeck [DNF]; 22. 111-Curt Spalding [DNF]; 23. 20-Josh Morton [DNF]; 24. 04-Aaron Raby [DNF];

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Stock Cars

HEAT 1 – 1. 5G-Anthony Goode [2]; 2. 61-Rob Trent [4]; 3. 1W-Mark Wooten [6]; 4. 82-Chris Douglas [1]; 5. 49-Eric Sandlin [9]; 6. 22T-Tony Anderson [10]; 7. 36-Adam Schaeff [8]; 8. 27-Frank Paladino [3]; 9. 65-Rodney Lacey [5]; 10. 7-Jordan Conover [DNF];

HEAT 2 – 1. 25-Nick Bowers [7]; 2. 23-Casey Barr [4]; 3. 7D-Dan Wooten [8]; 4. 20-Shawn Phillippi [9]; 5. 1L-Jr Callahan [3]; 6. 19-Wayne Williams [2]; 7. 98-Cale Ramey [DNF]; 8. 00-Dean Pitts [DNF]; 9. J7-John Jones [DNF];

HEAT 3 – 1. 71C-Barney Craig [3]; 2. 01-Earnie Woodard [5]; 3. 16-Jeff Koz [6]; 4. 410-Paul Pardo [9]; 5. 6-Emily Gade [7]; 6. 21-Brad Conover [2]; 7. 17-Jeremy Creech [8]; 8. 9-Dave Keysor [1]; 9. 58-Alex Peace [4];

B-FEATURE – 1. 22T-Tony Anderson [1]; 2. 7-Jordan Conover [13]; 3. 17-Jeremy Creech [6]; 4. 27-Frank Paladino [7]; 5. 19-Wayne Williams [2]; 6. 65-Rodney Lacey [10]; 7. J7-John Jones [11]; 8. 21-Brad Conover [DNF]; 9. 9-Dave Keysor [DNF]; 10. 98-Cale Ramey [DNF]; 11. 36-Adam Schaeff [DNF]; 12. 58-Alex Peace [DNF]; 13. 00-Dean Pitts [DNS];

A FEATURE – 1. 71C-Barney Craig [4]; 2. 61-Rob Trent [3]; 3. 410-Paul Pardo [12]; 4. 01-Earnie Woodard [1]; 5. 5G-Anthony Goode [6]; 6. 49-Eric Sandlin [13]; 7. 82-Chris Douglas [10]; 8. 20-Shawn Phillippi [11]; 9. 7D-Dan Wooten [8]; 10. 21-Brad Conover [23]; 11. 16-Jeff Koz [9]; 12. 6-Emily Gade [15]; 13. 1L-Jr Callahan [14]; 14. 19-Wayne Williams [20]; 15. 7-Jordan Conover [17]; 16. 27-Frank Paladino [19]; 17. 17-Jeremy Creech [18]; 18. 25-Nick Bowers [5]; 19. 22T-Tony Anderson [16]; 20. 23-Casey Barr [2]; 21. 1W-Mark Wooten [7]; 22. J7-John Jones [22]; 23. 9-Dave Keysor [DNS]; 24. 65-Rodney Lacey [DNS];