Stockton And Bowers Take Initial Eldora Wins As Babcock Repeats
7 min read
ROSSBURG, OH (May 16) – A first-time visit to Eldora Speedway’s victory lane is becoming the norm rather than the exception, as Saturday night’s Mobil 1 Family Fun Night action produced another pair of new Eldora winners, Chase Stockon and Nick Bowers, while Jeff Babcock, no stranger to the festivities, rounded out the tripleheader of action before a huge throng of chilled race fans.
After knocking on the door several times without success, Stockon finally etched his name into the Eldora record books, by besting a strong 42-car field of BOSS (Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series) non winged Sprint Cars.
“I have to tell you,” shouted the jubilant Sullivan, IN driver, “my biggest win so far was at Terre Haute, but this has to rank right up there with it.”
Stockon shot into the lead at the dropping of the green flag, with Justin Grant behind him in pursuit as the pole-sitter, Brandon Spithaler, dropped to third. While Stockon began opening a margin over Grant, deep the in the field a pair of drivers making their moves noticed were Robert Ballou and Brady Bacon.
Ballou completed lap one of the 25-lap A-Feature in eighth spot and every other lap was picking off the cars until he moved into third spot behind Stockon and Grant. After four laps of riding third, Ballou made his bid on lap 13 to move into second and set up a whale of a battle with Stockon. The duo began executing successful slide jobs on each through the lapped traffic, with the crowd in awe at the finesse.
Three laps from the finish, Stockon was able to pin a lapped car between himself and Ballou to take the victory by .270 seconds. Grant hung on for third, while Brandon Whited came on strong in the second-half of the race to finish fourth, just ahead of Mike Miller in fifth.
While Bacon didn’t finish in the top five, he easily passed the most cars on the track. After starting 18th in the 24-car field, he was dialed in and had gotten as high as sixth before looping the car to bring out the caution flag and a restart from the tail of the field. Undaunted, he again picked up where he left off, but simply ran out of time as he had to settle for eighth at the finish.
In only his second full year of Stock Car racing, Bowers showed the moves of a veteran Saturday night on Eldora’s high-banks.
It was Dean Pitts taking charge at the start of the event, with opening night winner Chris Douglas hot on his tail, along with defending champion Barney Craig. Hunting them down was the most recent feature winner, Paul Pardo, while Bowers was looming in fifth.
Pitts was sailing along, until a hard hit into the wall by Emily Gade brought out the yellow flag on lap three. During the caution flag, Pitts shot into the pit area with mechanical issues to hand the lead over to Douglas. At this point Pardo had gotten by Craig and brought Bowers along with him.
When the green flag reappeared, Douglas was able to hold Bowers at bay for two circuits, before giving up that top spot. Once in front, Bowers was untouchable and he cruised to 1.477 second victory over Douglas, while Jeff Koz came charging in the closing laps to finish third. Craig and Pardo completed the top five.
Keeping the newcomers from sharing the total limelight Saturday was Babcock for his second UMP DRTcar Modified win o the season, but this one wasn’t each.
Defending champion Jerry Bowersock bolted to the front at the start of the race, but right behind him was Jonathan Taylor. Normally, when Bowersock startsup front like that, it spells trouble for the rest of the field; but apparently the word didn’t get out this weekend.
Taylor dogged Bowersock for the first four laps, before making his move on a lap five restart to take charge of the 27-car feature. While that restart was to the favor of Taylor, it was another restart five laps later that found Taylor overtaken by Babcock in a typical Eldora slide job.
At this point, Babcock was simply dialed in and proved to be no match for the balance of the field. Matt Westfall felt otherwise and made several strong moves to reel in Babcock, but just couldn’t get the job done and had to settle for second at the checkered flag. Taylor dropped to third, with his brother Evan and Bowersock completing the top five.
The unseasonable cold weather and threat of rain failed to keep the popular Family Fun Night themed event from packing the stands, as a huge fireworks display culminated the night. Eldora returns to action next weekend in a rare Sunday time slot due to the Memorial Day holiday. Dubbed the Johnny Appleseed Classic presented by Miller Lite, four divisions of cars will swell the pit area. The Sunoco American Late Model Series will be joined by the National Racing Alliance (NRA) Sprint Invaders, UMP DIRTcar Modifieds and Eldora Stock Cars.
Ticketing information for that event, or any of Eldora’s other upcoming major events can be found on the track’s website www.EldoraSpeedway.com or can be obtained by calling the speedway office (937) 338-3815 during normal business hours. Additionally, race fans and race teams can get behind-the-scenes access by following @EldoraSpeedway on Twitter, hitting ‘Like’ at Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway and view video highlights at YouTube.com/EldoraSpeedwayInc. Mobile device users can access the Eldora Speedway app for the iPhone, iPad and Android which is available for download via iTunes and Google Play.
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FAMILY FUN NIGHT RESULTS
MAY 17, 2013
BOSS SPRINT CARS
HEAT 1 – 1. 2X-Chase Stockon [9]; 2. 18-Todd Keen [1]; 3. 82M-Mike Miller [4]; 4. 3JB-Johnny Beaber [3]; 5. 39-Matt Goodnight [6]; 6. 10-Aric Centry [8]; 7. 14W-Chad Wilson [5]; 8. 15F-Brandon Ferguson [7]; 9. 83-Adam Cruea [DNF];
HEAT 2 – 1. 40-Justin Grant [3]; 2. 17-Nick Bilbee [2]; 3. 2H-Brian Hayden [1]; 4. 2M-Logan Hupp [6]; 5. 59J-Kirk Jeffries [5]; 6. 23S-Kyle Simon [7]; 7. 5-Bob Mcmillin [8]; 8. 53-Steve Little [9]; 9. 8-Lewie Christian [DNF];
HEAT 3 – 1. 12-Robert Ballou [5]; 2. 15-Brandon Whited [3]; 3. 32M-Derek Hastings [1]; 4. 31-Chuck Wilson [2]; 5. 2K-Kevin Klatte [8]; 6. 5S-Mark Silva [6]; 7. 97-Scott Hardman [7]; 8. 63-Huston Hewitt [DNF];
HEAT 4 – 1. 18W-Scotty Weir [4]; 2. 57B-Brandon Spithaler [1]; 3. 41-Thomas Meseraull [8]; 4. 99-Brady Bacon [7]; 5. 4-Michael Fischesser [3]; 6. 24M-Adam Miller [2]; 7. 91X-Aaron Middaugh [6]; 8. 21-Travis Hery [5];
HEAT 5 – 1. 22S-Dallas Hewitt [5]; 2. 5G-Dalton Gabbard [6]; 3. 77-Dustin Smith [4]; 4. 11X-David Applegate [1]; 5. 74M-Tony Main [8]; 6. 3T-Tony Beaber [2]; 7. 19-Jimmy Snead [7]; 8. 3-Joe Butera [3];
B-FEATURE 1 – 1. 39-Matt Goodnight [1]; 2. 24M-Adam Miller [5]; 3. 74M-Tony Main [3]; 4. 14W-Chad Wilson [6]; 5. 23S-Kyle Simon [4]; 6. 2K-Kevin Klatte [2]; 7. 21-Travis Hery [10]; 8. 19-Jimmy Snead [8]; 9. 53-Steve Little [9]; 10. 97-Scott Hardman [7]; 11. 83-Adam Cruea [DNF];
B-FEATURE 2 – 1. 91X-Aaron Middaugh [7]; 2. 4-Michael Fischesser [2]; 3. 59J-Kirk Jeffries [1]; 4. 3T-Tony Beaber [5]; 5. 10-Aric Centry [3]; 6. 15F-Brandon Ferguson [8]; 7. 5S-Mark Silva [4]; 8. 5-Bob Mcmillin [6]; 9. 8-Lewie Christian [11]; 10. 63-Huston Hewitt [9]; 11. 3-Joe Butera [10];
A FEATURE – 1. 2X-Chase Stockon [2]; 2. 12-Robert Ballou [8]; 3. 40-Justin Grant [6]; 4. 15-Brandon Whited [7]; 5. 82M-Mike Miller [11]; 6. 4-Michael Fischesser [24]; 7. 17-Nick Bilbee [9]; 8. 99-Brady Bacon [19]; 9. 18-Todd Keen [5]; 10. 24M-Adam Miller [23]; 11. 18W-Scotty Weir [4]; 12. 32M-Derek Hastings [13]; 13. 91X-Aaron Middaugh [22]; 14. 31-Chuck Wilson [18]; 15. 39-Matt Goodnight [21]; 16. 11X-David Applegate [20]; 17. 77-Dustin Smith [DNF]; 18. 57B-Brandon Spithaler [DNF]; 19. 2H-Brian Hayden [DNF]; 20. 5G-Dalton Gabbard [DNF]; 21. 22S-Dallas Hewitt [DNF]; 22. 41-Thomas Meseraull [DNF]; 23. 3JB-Johnny Beaber [DNF]; 24. 2M-Logan Hupp [DNS];
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UMP DIRTcar MODIFIEDS
TIME TRIALS – 1. 7B-Jeff Babcock [17.191]; 2. 54-Matt Westfall [17.236]; 3. 7-Evan Taylor [17.302]; 4. 5-Jonathan Taylor [17.444]; 5. 5JB-Jerry Bowersock [17.641]; 6. 36-Brandon Vaughan [17.644]; 7. 26L-Casey Luedeke [17.758]; 8. 10-Scott Bowersock [17.867]; 9. 55S-Zach Schroeder [17.918]; 10. 225-Jesse Bitterling [17.944]; 11. 3GW-Dylan Woodling [17.964]; 12. 22T-Tony Anderson [18.033]; 13. 05-David Smith [18.066]; 14. 1SW-Scott Williams [18.102]; 15. 5X-Tim Richardson [18.251]; 16. 23J-Jeff Koz [18.265]; 17. 14S-Terry Sroufe [18.282]; 18. 0A-Derrick Austin [18.424]; 19. 18-Ryan Sutter [18.495]; 20. 21T-Tom Treon [18.536]; 21. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [18.560]; 22. 35-Tim Cornett [18.587]; 23. 4J-David Treon, Jr [18.724]; 24. 93-Josh Greber [19.274]; 25. 51-Cody Timmerman [19.468]; 26. 11MH-Mike Hohlbein [19.503]; 27. 79-Shane Unger [19.744];
HEAT 1 – 1. 5-Jonathan Taylor [2]; 2. 23J-Jeff Koz [6]; 3. 7B-Jeff Babcock [1]; 4. 05-David Smith [5]; 5. 26L-Casey Luedeke [3]; 6. 18-Ryan Sutter [7]; 7. 35-Tim Cornett [8]; 8. 51-Cody Timmerman [9]; 9. 225-Jesse Bitterling [DNF];
HEAT 2 – 1. 10-Scott Bowersock [3]; 2. 5JB-Jerry Bowersock [2]; 3. 54-Matt Westfall [1]; 4. 1SW-Scott Williams [5]; 5. 14S-Terry Sroufe [6]; 6. 3GW-Dylan Woodling [4]; 7. 11MH-Mike Hohlbein [9]; 8. 21T-Tom Treon [7]; 9. 4J-David Treon, Jr [8];
HEAT 3 – 1. 7-Evan Taylor [1]; 2. 55S-Zach Schroeder [3]; 3. 5X-Tim Richardson [5]; 4. 36-Brandon Vaughan [2]; 5. 0A-Derrick Austin [6]; 6. 22T-Tony Anderson [4]; 7. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [7]; 8. 79-Shane Unger [9]; 9. 93-Josh Greber [8];
A FEATURE – 1. 7B-Jeff Babcock [6]; 2. 54-Matt Westfall [5]; 3. 5-Jonathan Taylor [3]; 4. 7-Evan Taylor [4]; 5. 5JB-Jerry Bowersock [2]; 6. 55S-Zach Schroeder [9]; 7. 36-Brandon Vaughan [1]; 8. 1SW-Scott Williams [11]; 9. 3GW-Dylan Woodling [17]; 10. 18-Ryan Sutter [19]; 11. 14S-Terry Sroufe [14]; 12. 11MH-Mike Hohlbein [26]; 13. 26L-Casey Luedeke [7]; 14. 23J-Jeff Koz [13]; 15. 05-David Smith [10]; 16. 52-John Phlipot, Jr [21]; 17. 22T-Tony Anderson [18]; 18. 5X-Tim Richardson [12]; 19. 4J-David Treon, Jr [23]; 20. 51-Cody Timmerman [25]; 21. 79-Shane Unger [27]; 22. 93-Josh Greber [24]; 23. 21T-Tom Treon [DNF]; 24. 0A-Derrick Austin [DNF]; 25. 35-Tim Cornett [DNF]; 26. 10-Scott Bowersock [DNF]; 27. 225-Jesse Bitterling [DNS];
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STOCK CARS
TIME TRIALS – 1. 25-Nick Bowers [19.213]; 2. 410-Paul Pardo [19.320]; 3. 82-Chris Douglas [19.488]; 4. 49-Eric Sandlin [19.536]; 5. 22T-Tony Anderson [19.580]; 6. 71C-Barney Craig [19.695]; 7. 19-Wayne Williams [19.802]; 8. 00-Dean Pitts [19.833]; 9. 501-Emily Gade [19.890]; 10. 01-Earnie Woodard [19.895]; 11. 16-Jeff Koz [19.911]; 12. 61-Rob Trent [19.930]; 13. 7-Jordan Conover [19.984]; 14. 27-Frank Paladino [20.021]; 15. 99-Andy King [20.315]; 16. 36-Adam Schaeff [20.591]; 17. 55A-Brandon Archey [20.769]; 18. 7D-Dan Wooten [21.047]; 19. 23-Casey Barr [21.076]; 20. 9-Dave Keysor [21.450]; 21. 51H-Jay Huber [21.827]; 22. 1W-Mark Wooten [21.870]; 23. 32-Scott Boyd [22.682]; 24. 58-Alex Peace [23.704]; 25. 98R-Wilbert Ramey [25.000];
HEAT 1 – 1. 25-Nick Bowers [6]; 2. 7-Jordan Conover [2]; 3. 49-Eric Sandlin [5]; 4. 36-Adam Schaeff [1]; 5. 01-Earnie Woodard [3]; 6. 19-Wayne Williams [4]; 7. 23-Casey Barr [7]; 8. 98R-Wilbert Ramey [DNF]; 9. 1W-Mark Wooten [DNF];
HEAT 2 – 1. 27-Frank Paladino [2]; 2. 16-Jeff Koz [3]; 3. 410-Paul Pardo [6]; 4. 00-Dean Pitts [4]; 5. 9-Dave Keysor [7]; 6. 55A-Brandon Archey [DNF]; 7. 32-Scott Boyd [DNF]; 8. 22T-Tony Anderson [DNS];
HEAT 3 – 1. 82-Chris Douglas [6]; 2. 99-Andy King [2]; 3. 71C-Barney Craig [5]; 4. 501-Emily Gade [4]; 5. 7D-Dan Wooten [1]; 6. 51H-Jay Huber [7]; 7. 58-Alex Peace [8]; 8. 61-Rob Trent [DNF];
A FEATURE – 1. 25-Nick Bowers [6]; 2. 82-Chris Douglas [4]; 3. 16-Jeff Koz [9]; 4. 71C-Barney Craig [2]; 5. 410-Paul Pardo [5]; 6. 49-Eric Sandlin [3]; 7. 01-Earnie Woodard [8]; 8. 7-Jordan Conover [10]; 9. 19-Wayne Williams [17]; 10. 27-Frank Paladino [11]; 11. 1W-Mark Wooten [22]; 12. 51H-Jay Huber [21]; 13. 55A-Brandon Archey [19]; 14. 98R-Wilbert Ramey [25]; 15. 32-Scott Boyd [23]; 16. 9-Dave Keysor [DNF]; 17. 23-Casey Barr [DNF]; 18. 7D-Dan Wooten [DNF]; 19. 00-Dean Pitts [DNF]; 20. 501-Emily Gade [DNF]; 21. 36-Adam Schaeff [DNF]; 22. 99-Andy King [DNS]; 23. 22T-Tony Anderson [DNS]; 24. 61-Rob Trent [DNS]; 25. 58-Alex Peace [DNS];
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